14 BANQUET TO THE 



It is our good fortune, my friends, to live in an 

 age of remarkable progress and activity ; in a na- 

 tion whose growth, prosperity, and power are the 

 wonder and admiration of the world. Much of this 

 progress I have witnessed in my own day. At the 

 time of my birth the population of this nation was 

 only about five millions ; now it is more than fifty 

 millions. When I came to this city there was not 

 a mile of railroad on this continent ; now there are 

 120,000 miles. And let us never forget that it was 

 by the bold enterprise of one of our own citizens that 

 the first great railroad was opened across it to the 

 Pacific shores. All honor to the memory of Oakes 

 Ames and to his worthy associates ! And let us 

 also remember how much we are indebted to Ben- 

 jamin P. Cheney and his associates for the com- 

 pletion of that great northern road, opening another 

 thoroughfare for Europe and Asia, and for the de- 

 velopment of the immense resources of the great 

 Northwest of America. 



Mr. President, you have referred to me in con- 

 nection with those industrial interests on which 

 depend, more than on any other, the prosperity 

 and happiness of the world. It is true I have 

 done something for these, believing that I could do 

 nothing better for my fellow-men. At the time of 

 my birth there were not half a dozen agricultural 

 societies, and for nearly a quarter of a century after- 



