BEFORE THE

BEADLE COUNTY REPUBLICAN CONVEN

TION, HURON, MAY 5th, 1888.

To Elect Delegates to Jamestown Territorial

Convention, May 16th, 1888.

You are all familiar with the purpose for which we are gathered here today. And, if I interpret aright the thought which is uppermost in your minds and mine, it is, which of the grand leaders of the Republican party whose names have been mentioned in that connection, should the National Republican Convention, which meets at Chicago in June, place in nomination for the grandest official position, higher than prince or potentate, known to man, the President of our beloved Republic?

Shall it be that grand statesman and great financier from Ohio, who towers above other men in intellect and ability, even as he does in physical stature, whose services for the past quarter of a century in the Senate and in the Cabinet have been of such great value to his country, the illustrious John Sherman?

Shall it be the learned and eloquent man whom Indiana claims as its favorite son, the man whose voice during the past few years has pleaded so eloquently upon the floors of the United States Senate for our own Dakota's rights? Shall it be him of honored lineage and fair fame, the noble Harrison?

Shall it be the man whose immortal, martyred father first bore to victory the banner of our beloved party, the man who has proved himself, by his valuable services to his country, to be something more than the son of a great father, a great and good man himself, the honored and trusted Lincoln?

Shall it be Judge Gresham? The man whose purity and uprightness as a Judge, whose wisdom and executive ability as a servant of the people, and whose known antipathy for trusts and corporate corruption are known, and applauded by the entire Nation?

Shall it be the foremost citizen of our sister commonwealth (I grieve that I cannot say, our sister State), Iowa, whose grand devotion and never doubted fidelity to his party and to the great West, from which he comes, have made his name a household word, and a synonym for all that is good and true in politics and statesmanship, William B. Allison?

That any of the gentlemen whose names I have mentioned, would fill the office of the Chief Executive of this Nation with integrity and ability, I am sure there is not a man upon this floor will deny.

But there is yet another man, who, though he does not seek the nomination, is the property of the Republican party; and, who, if that party were to nominate him unasked, could not and would not, I believe, refuse to stand as its candidate. I refer to him of the

great heart and mighty brain, of whom it has been said that he would fire the hearts of the young men, stir the blood of our manhood, and rekindle the fervor of the veteran. I refer to the man who underwent defeat in the last National Campaign, but who rose,. Phoenix like, above the ashes of his defeat, and stands before the world today as America's foremost citizen. That man, gentlemen, is the great Commoner from Maine, James G. Blaine.

Like a rainbow of promise, the silken cords of affection and devotion stretch from a thousand times ten thousand hearts and homes in America, across the seas to the spot where now he lingers in a foreign land. I know not whether I voice the sentiments of many of citizens of this county, and I speak only for myself, but I say, frankly, that I have too much confidence in the people of America, to believe that in a second contest between Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine, the mistake of four years would be repeated.