dress,
I beg you will excuse me from entering particularly upon it. I deem
it due to myself and the whole country, in the present
extraordinary condition of the country and of public opinion, that
I should wait and see the last development of public opinion before
I give my views or express myself at the time of the inauguration.
I hope at that time to be false to nothing you have been taught to
expect of me. [_Cheers_.]

I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, and with the address of your
constituents, in the declaration that workingmen are the basis of
all governments. That remark is due to them more than to any other
class, for the reason that there are more of them than of any other
class. And as your address is presented to me not only on behalf of
workingmen, but especially of Germans, I may say a word as to
classes. I hold that the value of life is to improve one's
condition. Whatever is calculated to advance the condition of the
honest, struggling laboring man, so far as my judgment will enable
me to judge of a correct thing, I am for that thing.

An allusion has been made to the Homestead Law. I think it worthy
of consideration, and that the wild lands of the country should be
distributed so that every man should have the means and opportunity
of benefiting his condition. [_Cheers_.] I have said that I do not
desire to enter into details, nor will I.

In regard to Germans and foreigners, I esteem foreigners no better
than other people--nor any worse. [_Laughter and cheers_.] They are
all of the great family of men, and if there is one shackle upon
any of them it would be far better to lift the load from them than
to pile additional loads upon them. [_Cheers_.] And inasmuch as the
continent of America is comparatively a new country, and the other
countries of the world are old countries, there is more room here,
comparatively speaking, than there is elsewhere; and if they can
better their condition by leaving their old homes, there is nothing
in my heart to forbid them coming, and I bid them all God speed.
[_Cheers_.] Again, gentlemen, thanking you for your address, I bid
you good night.

"If anyone," says Mr. Smith, "had expected to trap Mr. Lincoln into
imprudent utterances, or the indulgence of the rhetoric of a demagogue,
this admirable reply sh