Committee of Arrangements

“ When our political system was being debauched by the spoils of office, he gave his time and his great ability to the cause of civil service reform. And now that the lust of power and conquest has for a time blinded the eyes of many to the dangers of expansion, and the changes that must occur in our political ideals, if this policy is adopted, no voice has been raised more strenuously in calling the attention of our people to those ideals which have heretofore prevailed, that ours is a nation founded upon the consent of the governed, upon justice and liberty, upon peace and prosperity. ”

“ I suppose there is no test of ability more trustworthy than the power to accomplish great results with small resources. This ability has been the characteristic of every great soldier, of every great statesman. I challenge the history of our country for a more striking illustration of it than the work which Carl Schurz has, in the Civil Service reform field, done for the sound foundation of our political life. The proposed reform is, in reality, deep and organic, dealing with profound conditions. ”

“ But, no doubt, the American Republic is rich and powerful and virtuous enough to endure administrative abuses without disintegration of its essential fabric, or of the political character of its people. The Republic,—that is to say, the Republic as we know and have inherited it,—could not, however, long survive if the corruption of the spoils system were to extend far beyond mere administration, and were at last to dominate the town meeting and poison every primary political activity. ”

“ Whoever has been much in contact with the masses of our population knows that a large majority of the American people throughout honestly and earnestly mean to do right; and also that, the wildest temporary excitements notwithstanding, they wish as earnestly to satisfy themselves as to what is right, and, therefore, welcome serious arguments and appeals to the highest order of motives. [Applause.] With such a people democratic government will be the more successful, the more the public opinion ruling it is enlightened and inspired by full and thorough discussion. ”

“ Schurz's role was far more important than that of overthrowing evil, great as that function is, for he was already a constructive statesman. He saw, as but very few others saw clearly, that there could be no war for the Union without a war against slavery. Humane he was and philanthropic, a lover of his kind even when their skins were black, and for this reason he sought the emancipation of the slaves: that they might enter into some enjoyment, however limited, of their hitherto despised manhood. ”

“ In that spirit he should endure this evening, and remember that its main object and outcome is not so much personal, as it is destined to prove a lesson to the people, and principally to the young generation, which has to learn, that a man who has no riches, no longer a political place, no trust to sustain him, no newspaper to do his bidding, no machine to grind out his orders, can still be, or rather is, for that very reason, uppermost in the admiration and reverence of the best men of the nation ”

“ When I speak of ideals, I do not mean the vague dreams of a fantastic visionary. I mean the conceptions and teachings of such an idealist as George Washington was, [applause,] whose lessons and admonitions, left to the American people as his greatest legacy, stand as the soberest, the most practical, the wisest, and at the same time, as, in the highest sense, the most idealistic utterance that ever came from an American statesman. ”

“ I for one would say to our friend to-night, as this goodly company meets to rejoice with him over his harvest of years, rich in unselfish service and in honors, that his simplicity of character, his fidelity to intellectual and moral convictions, his unfailing consideration and kindness, have won the warm and deep affection of those who, even like myself, have been associated with him but for a few years, and in a single branch of his public work—that which relates to the reform of the Civil Service. ”

“ But vastly more difficult is it for a statesman, leaving behind him all official and formal power as a useful but no longer needed preparation or training, and by sole virtue of the faith which great masses of his fellow countrymen have come to repose in his wise and uttermost loyalty to the best interests of their and his country, to acquire through his own character and personality a permanent, great and fruitful power over public opinion. ”

“ These righteous and moderate tributes to which we have listened must, indeed, all stand—that paid the memory of the young and fearless German patriot of whom we first heard,—that paid his competitor, the eloquent and unflinching enemy of human slavery,—that paid his other competitor, the disciplined and successful general,—that paid still another, the statesman who helped to organize peace and prosperity out of the ruins of war,—that paid still another, the sagacious and intrepid Senator,—and that paid still another, the trusted Cabinet Minister. ”

“ May we have for many, many years to come, the same service in this great cause of political reform, the same eloquence, the same wise and creative energy, the same belief that the world can, and the same resolution that the world shall, be made better,—that belief without which no great thing is ever done for a nation. ”

“ Few men are there to-day in the United States who, without official power or patronage, having no benefit to confer upon any man or class of their countrymen, which they do not offer all alike,—unselfishly lead and control a great body of enlightened public sentiment? When a statesman comes to this in a democratic land like ours, he reaches the first place in the true hierarchy of public power. ”

“ In adolescence the compass of his life was set in one direction; no magnet was ever powerful enough to cause a deviation. A clear brain, a warm heart, the knowledge of his duty, the appreciation of what was right, the unselfishness which sacrifices one's all to the commonwealth, the incorruptibility by what would be a temptation to any but the godlike amongst men, have made this celebration possible, and the offer of this homage by men known to all America, of all parties and of opposing opinions. ”

“ Carl Schurz, though not a child of our soil by birth, is more than one by adoption. He is a citizen who, through good report and evil report, in moments of popular sunshine and of popular shadow, has carried without faltering into private and public life the highest American ideals. ”

“ Schurz in the fitting celebration of his seventieth birthday.
Apart from my personal affection for him, it is no exaggeration to say that, no other public man of the day has, through all his career, furnished to the youth of this country a higher exhibition of lofty patriotism, political courage, honest adherence to his convictions under criticism and abuse, sterling character, and commanding statesmanship. His closing years of life are sweetened by the admiration and regard of all men who know him, and who wish well to the American commonwealth. ”

“ That I am to miss the seventieth birthday dinner given in honor of my friend, Carl Schurz, is to me a source of unusual regret, for there is no man I wish more deeply to see thus appreciated, nor one more deserving of the genuine regard of his fellows and the admiration of all his friends, who know the man and love him. ”

“ When all Carl Schurz has been, or done, will no longer be remembered in all its particulars, the millions of Germany will rehearse the legend of the young hero who stepped into the hyena's den and snatched his friend out of the clutches of cruel dungeon keepers. [Applause and cheers.] The myth is alive, as it was fifty years ago. ”

“ Our country, the great Republic of the United States of America. May it ever prosper and flourish as the government of, for and by the people; as the home of free and happy generations, and as an example and guiding star to all mankind! ”

“ Schurz sat in the Senate the measures and methods which he opposed brought the Republican party from unexampled power in 1869 to overwhelming defeat five years later, and it triumphed in 1876, if at all, only because it returned to the standards and the principles which he had supported.
It is difficult in his presence to say all that I would of Mr. Schurz's remarkable career in the Senate, but it was there that he established his title to lead the men, wherever they may be, who put the interests of their country above the thoughts of self, and who wage unending war with the evils of the day. ”

“ What would have been the very best course for a wise and high-minded statesmanship to pursue in dealing with the terrible situation at the South, consequent upon the war and emancipation, will, perhaps, always remain a mooted question—certainly we will not attempt to settle it on this occasion. Suffice it now to say that Mr. Schurz did not shrink from the logical results of the war. He fully endorsed them to the extent of establishing and protecting a new system of free labor in lieu of the old system of slave labor. ”

“ Carl Schurz on the second of next month, by a banquet to be given by some of his admirers and friends, has just reached me here in San Francisco, and I hasten to express to you my sincere regret that I cannot be present in compliance with your kind invitation.
No American in our day or generation has more thoroughly comprehended the duties of citizenship in this republic. In every relation of life, Mr. Schurz has, by example, as well as precept, taught that duties as well as privileges rest upon every citizen. ”

“ It is a fine inspiration, and it comes none too frequently, to observe courage, high-mindedness, energy and skill in political activity, united in earlier years with the belief that human struggle and force of will can make the world better. Our land has none too much of such inspiration; but it is rare indeed to find these faculties, with their creative and executing optimism undiminished in those years of life in which, though they be riper, energy is apt to decline. ”

“ The principles which guided the course of Carl Schurz as a Cabinet officer are precisely such as are needed in the educated and influential young men of the coming generation, to whom we must look for leadership in the American Democracy—simple, unswerving honesty—no compromise on questions of principle, a broad enlighted intelligence, a willingness to stand alone when truth requires it. ”

“ Carl Schurz, but it will be impossible for me, to be in New-York at that time.
Outside of the personal satisfaction of meeting Mr. Schurz, and the many distinguished people who will be present on that occasion, we owe it as a duty to our country to recognize the principles for which he has so long stood. In a democracy the most potent influence in directing the course of public affairs will always be the political ideals which obtain among the majority of its citizens, and it is particularly opportune to honor those of which Mr. Schurz is the representative. ”

“ If they do, they degenerate into that dreary pessimism which, whenever something goes wrong, cries out that everything is lost. If the pessimist who employs his criticism to prove democratic government a failure, would apply the same spirit and method of criticism to monarchical or aristocratic governments, he would easily prove them failures too—and, in some respects, failures of a worse kind. In fact, he would prove any and every form of government a failure, ending in the demonstration of the failure of the whole universe. ”

“ It will be a sad day for our country when, in the light of such an example, our people refuse to see the best statesmanship in steadfast adherence to conscience and honesty in storm as well as sunshine. ”

“ Schurz. I know of no man in this community who has labored harder for the elevation of political standards than has the gentleman you honor, and I believe that the example he has set the younger men in politics will live for many years.
I have great pleasure in testifying to the wise counsels of Mr. Schurz, from whom I have drawn many good inspirations, and whom I hold in the highest possible esteem as one of the ablest of our prominent men in public life. ”

“ There is no finer quality of intellect than that which enables a man to brush aside all irrelevant matters and go straight to wise conclusions. There is no better element of character than that which, amidst the play and counter-play of the passions, makes it possible for a man to seize upon truth and to hold on to it, even when to do so may alienate old friends and create new enemies. ”