Reminiscences Part 17

Then a little man appeared on the platform, whom Mr. Ennis introduced to me as the Rev. Father Nugent, an Irish Catholic priest, very small in stature, but with a countenance beaming with intelligence and benevolence. He stepped to the front, and the moment he was seen by the vast audience order and perfect silence reigned.

Here was another Keshub-Chunder-Sen, but with no new religion or doctrine to advance, only re-echoing what the man of Nazareth had said to the same cla.s.s of people eighteen centuries ago. This priest has done much n.o.ble work, rescued many from a life of degradation, brought up and secured places in America for thousands of street gamins and orphans, and his name is better known, especially among the English-speaking Catholics, than that of any king or emperor. And who would not rather be a Father Nugent than a king?

In the morning of the fourth of July I arrived in New York city, and soon found President Chester Arthur, Gen. Garfield's successor, occupying rooms near my own in the Fifth Avenue hotel. After breakfast I was given an interview with him, and, of course, was pleased to learn that he had followed my little work in India with interest, and expressed much regret when I informed him of my intention to resign at the expiration of my leave of absence.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Home from India--A Friendly Reception--Journey to New Mexico--The Maxwell Land Grant Company--Renewed Visits to England and Holland--Re-elected Secretary of State--Visit of the Swedish Officers in Minneapolis and St. Paul--Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Landing of the First Swedes in Delaware.

On the 8th of July I was again home with family and friends in Minneapolis, and found everything pretty much as I had left it nearly two years previously; except that my good old father had gone to his final rest. A couple of days later I visited my farm, in the Red River valley, and my old and faithful friend Capt. H. Eustrom, who lived close by and was then holding an important office, and who had faithfully attended to my interests at that place during my absence.

My Scandinavian friends had meanwhile arranged a reception for me, and on the 11th some eighty of them joined in a banquet at Lyndale Hotel, then situated in the suburbs of Minneapolis at Lake Calhoun. The afternoon was devoted to a steamboat tour around the beautiful lake, and in the evening the party all sat down to a sumptuous banquet, where many addresses of welcome and tokens of friends.h.i.+p were spoken, read and sung. I had been absent nearly two years, seen and experienced much of the world and enjoyed many pleasures, but I found the old saying true; "There is no place like home." These two years had been of particular importance in the history of the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The population had nearly trebled during that time, and such improvements had been made that I could hardly recognize them.

A week after my return my friends from Holland arrived, and we proceeded to New Mexico, where we found the great Maxwell estate, valued at ten million dollars, and containing one and a half million acres of land, consisting of coal fields, gold mines, timber and grazing lands, in a deplorable condition caused by extravagance and mismanagement. We found that there was nearly a million dollars of current debts, while the income was not sufficient to buy postage stamps to carry on the necessary business correspondence.

An agreement was finally effected whereby the former president and American manager relinquished his interest and resigned his position; the Holland directors determined to raise the necessary funds in Europe, and I agreed to undertake the liquidation of the affairs of the company.

Shortly after I repaired to Was.h.i.+ngton to report my inspection tour in India, and tender my resignation, which was accepted, an unusual courtesy being shown me by extending my leave of absence to January the next year. The following two years were devoted princ.i.p.ally to business journeys to New Mexico, England and Holland. I visited the latter countries four times during that period. With the powerful aid of Baron Rebeque, who had spent several months with me in this country in the summer and fall of 1883, a syndicate, backed by several million dollars, was at last formed in Holland, and the whole estate was turned over to it. Having accomplished this, I voluntarily withdrew from the concern, and returned to my own farm and home in Minnesota.

The Maxwell estate is situated within the Rocky mountain region, on an elevation of from six thousand to twelve thousand feet above the sea.

The climate is delightful and the scenery beautiful, but the country is not fit for cultivation, except such parts as can be irrigated. Hence most of it is devoted to stock raising, and herds of countless cattle were roaming over the prairies, the Maxwell Company alone owning at the time I left its service nearly twenty thousand head.

In the fall of 1886 I was for the second time elected secretary of state by the citizens of Minnesota, re-elected in 1888, and thus made for the third time the head of the state department.

In the fall of 1887 the citizens of Minneapolis were honored by a visit from a large number of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish military officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers. They arrived by an express train from Chicago, and were met at the union depot by thousands of people.

The Swedish Guard, Normanna Infantry, and the society Dania were paraded outside the depot building. The guests were received by a committee, and conducted in procession through the illuminated and crowded streets to Dania hall, where a splendid banquet was enjoyed, while music was discoursed by the Svea and Normanna bands. The city mayor, Dr. Ames, made an address of welcome, after which several Scandinavians made speeches. I had been elected as the spokesman for the Swedes, and expressed myself as follows:

"_Honored Guests from Sweden, Norway and Denmark_:

"From the place where we now stand the roar of the St. Anthony falls may be heard through the still night. You are, therefore, far back in the depths of the American West; and yet this is only the modern gate of entrance to the great North-west.

"A couple of hours ago a half dozen railway trains left our depot over different roads and are now speeding on toward the setting sun, and some of them do not cease their journey until they have pa.s.sed distances greater than that between London and Rome, through fertile, but, as yet, mostly unsettled regions. Thirty-four years ago I, with a few other of your countrymen, some of the earliest in Minnesota, gazed for the first time at the St. Anthony falls. There was no city, not even a sign of a city, on this side of the river; the red man chased his game in the woods where our churches and school-houses now stand; the country west of us was an unknown wilderness, Minnesota did not exist as a state, and many of our western states, which now contain millions of happy inhabitants, were not even projected.

"Now, on the contrary, our state alone is a mighty empire, with a population of nearly a million and a half, and with an a.s.sessed valuation of six hundred million dollars. Minnesota now produces a hundred million bushels of grain annually on her fertile fields, six hundred and fifty million feet of lumber from her forests, and her infant iron mines already show an annual production of half a million tons of rich ore. The Scandinavians const.i.tute more than one-fourth of the population of the state, and produce at least one-third of our agricultural products on their own lands, as most of them are farmers.

The amount of grain which in Minnesota alone is annually produced, would be more than sufficient to furnish the whole population of Sweden with bread from the beginning to the end of each year.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CAPITOL OF MINNESOTA.]

"Our beautiful city of Minneapolis has already a population of one hundred and sixty thousand, of which at least one-fourth, or forty thousand, are Scandinavians or their descendants.

"I hope you will all have an opportunity to see our city with your own eyes before you leave us,--its mills, churches, schools and happy homes,--and will therefore not consume the time by referring to these.

"As to yourselves, gentlemen, we have heard what has been said to you so expressively in Chicago by our friends there, and we join them heartily in their praise.

"When we heard that the soldiers and representatives of Denmark, Norway and Sweden would honor us with a visit we all rejoiced, and we have come together this evening to express our joy in a cordial welcome.

"We have intentionally conducted you to this hall where we may, under our own roof, pay you our homage in the plain manner of our st.u.r.dy Scandinavian forefathers, and give you an opportunity to see us as we are in our daily life. We are men of the people; we have come here as poor immigrants, ignorant of the language and of the customs of the country. Our sole heritage was our strong arms and our good cheer,--no, excuse me, another heritage of more worth than gold or genius have we brought from our old homesteads,--our share of Northern fidelity, strength, and virtue; and the talent confided to us we have used in all branches of industry, science, fine arts, in the service of the community, the state, and the Union, in peace and in war, and we perform our share in the great national work, the result of which is a new and powerful commonwealth, the foundation of which lies in the individual worth and right of man.

"I think I can see a Providential dispensation in this, that when the time arrived for the new world to take its place among the nations with a new and powerful cosmopolitan race, the Scandinavian people were also chosen to contribute a part in that grand work, and that it was especially reserved for the 'men of the people' to receive in this country free and equal opportunity for their development. Who can fail to see the stamp of the Scandinavian people on the entire social fabric of the new world?

"We would be forgetful if we did not gratefully remember the great good which the fatherland has bestowed upon us from tender childhood to the very hour when we bid it farewell; we would be unworthy of the name and fame of our fathers if we did not honor and love as a dear mother the ever memorable land of our birth, and you, its worthy representatives, as our relatives and brothers.

"Your presence among us is a proud event, and its remembrance shall be cherished as one of the most pleasant. And when you return to those dear places where we took the first steps on life's eventful journey, we wish you to take back cordial greetings from us all, and say to our kindred that we teach our children to love and honor the people and inst.i.tutions in the Northern lands, although they have never seen them; and say to them that, far out in the wide West by the laughing water of Hiawatha, and hundreds of miles beyond, are friends and brothers whose fidelity and affection neither time nor distance can obliterate."

The address was responded to with much feeling by Col. Liljehok of Sweden. The festivities continued amid addresses, music and song until long past midnight. The following day the guests were shown around the city, after which they visited St. Paul, where they also received a cordial welcome, and were presented to the governor.

The following year, on the 14th of September, an event took place which deserves particular mention. It was the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the landing of the first Swedish settlers on the Delaware. The Revs. J. Enstam and C. J. Petri, together with myself, in the middle of the summer called a meeting of Swedish-American citizens to prepare for such celebration. Committees were appointed and elaborate preparations made, to which nearly all the Swedes lent a willing and helping hand. The great exposition building was given up to our use: bands of music were engaged, a choir of one hundred and fifty Swedish singers, mostly from the different churches, was trained, and eminent orators, statesmen and professors were invited. A souvenir badge was sold at the Swedish business places in the city; the net proceeds,--amounting to about eight hundred dollars,--were donated to the fund for the relief of the sufferers by the great fires in Sundsvall, Ume and Lilla Edet in Sweden.

The program of the day included a fine parade with bands of music and banners; but a heavy rain came early in the day, and the parade had to be abandoned, and the people instructed to a.s.semble at the exposition building at their own convenience, _which they also did_, in such great numbers that before the hour of opening the exercises every seat and standing place in the great auditorium were occupied. Many came from distant towns, cities and states; a special train brought nearly one thousand from St. Paul, with marshals, music and banners; the general council of the Lutheran Church, then a.s.sembled in Minneapolis, came in a body and occupied seats on the platform to the right of Cappa's Seventh New York Regiment Band, while the Swedish chorus of one hundred and fifty voices, under Prof. Norman, occupied the platform to the left.

The platforms were decorated with numerous society banners, and the colors of Sweden were seen everywhere. The lofty pillars reaching to the roof were wrapped in alternate stripes of blue and yellow, the national colors of Sweden, and side by side and uppermost were the stars and stripes. A large picture of the old Swedes Church in Wilmington, Delaware, built in 1698, was hung in front of the speakers' platform, and attracted general attention.

As chairman of the committee of arrangements I had the honor to act as presiding officer of the day. The government of Sweden was represented by Consul Sahlgaard, with other distinguished guests, and the historical society of Delaware by Maj. Geo. Q. White. As near as can be estimated there were fully fifteen thousand people present, and the interest manifested by that vast audience can best be understood from the fact that thousands stood upon their feet during the whole proceedings, which lasted three hours.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OLD SWEDES CHURCH AT WILMINGTON.]

The festivities commenced at two o'clock in the afternoon with a musical selection by Cappa's band, at the close of which the audience was welcomed by myself in the following words:

"The discovery of America was the greatest event which had taken place from the days of Christ till it was made, but the settlement of America by the right kind of people was, in its beneficial effects upon the human race, a matter of still greater importance. It seems like an order of Divine Providence that this new world was left in its natural or savage state during all the dark centuries of schooling and experiments in Asia, Africa and Europe, in order that it might remain a virgin soil for the higher civilization which was to follow.

"To establish this civilization, based upon true principles of government required not only wisdom and strength, but toleration, brotherhood, justice and exalted virtue. The people chosen for that great work came from different countries and different conditions of life,--the English Pilgrims to New England, the Dutch, the Swedes and the Quakers to the middle country, the English Cavaliers, the Scotch Highlanders and the French Huguenots to the South,--and in them all, combined and intermingled, were found the elements of body and of mind, which have given to the world its best government, its greatest nation, and its highest civilization.

"Since the English were the largest in number their language became the language of all, and for that reason, perhaps, history has been partial to those who first spoke it. Memorials and anniversaries have often been celebrated over the landing of the Pilgrims and the valor of the knights; their just praise has been written and sung a thousand times, so that their honored names have become precious household words among the generations of our day, while the others have often been forgotten or ignored.

"Fully recognizing the merits of all, we have a.s.sembled here to-day from many parts of the United States to commemorate a great historical event,--in celebrating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the landing of the Swedes on the Delaware, and to do honor to their memory in prayer, song and speech, and to this intellectual feast I bid you all a hearty welcome."

This celebration was unquestionably the largest and most important gathering that ever took place among the Swedes in America; great attention was paid to it all over the country, and it contributed greatly toward placing the Swedes rightly in the estimation of the people, throwing a clearer light on the achievements of the past, and emphasizing the importance of the Swedish-Americans of the present.

CHAPTER XXIX.

The Causes of Immigration--American Influence on Europe, and Especially on Sweden--The Condition of the Swedes in America--American Characteristics--Antipathy against Foreigners--The Swedish Press on America--American Heiresses.

Much has been said on the causes of immigration. These are numerous, but the chief cause I have found to be that the people of the old world are now being aroused to the fact that the social conditions of Europe, with its aristocracy and other inherited privileges, are not founded on just principles, but that the way to success ought to be equally open for all, and determined, not by privileges of birth, but by the inherent worth of man. And here in America is found a civilization which is, to a large extent, built on equality and the recognition of personal merit.

This and the great natural resources of the country, the prospects for good wages which a new continent affords, and in many cases greater religious liberty, draws the people of Europe, at any rate from Sweden, to this country.

Sweden is a very good country, but more especially so for those who are fortunate enough to be born to t.i.tle, honor or riches. To be sure, even there instances are known of men from the ordinary walks of life making their way to wealth and prominence; but those are exceptions, possible only in cases of unusually great personal merit. Here, on the other hand, the reverse is the rule; the self-made man accomplishes most, as instanced by the history of our presidents, governors, financiers and other distinguished men. And this is quite natural, for the prospects and possibilities which a man sees before him in this country stimulate his ambition, and arouse his energies to surmount the greatest difficulties.

The new ideas now permeating society in Europe, and which will gradually transform it, have, to a great extent, originated in America, more particularly the idea of brotherhood, the sympathy with equals, the conviction that it is our duty to better the condition of our fellow-men, and not despise them, even if they are unfortunate. In this respect, as well as in many others, America exerts a great influence over Europe. To me the better situated cla.s.ses of Sweden seem short-sighted in their hostility to emigration, for a man of broad views must admit that emigration has been beneficial even to Sweden herself.

It may not have benefited the higher cla.s.ses directly, as they cannot hire servants and laborers as cheaply as formerly; but the people have benefited by it as a whole, their condition being now better than formerly, when compet.i.tion between the laborers was greater.