Tuesday, September 28, 1920 (WEST VIRGINIA)

As the Harding special heads to Wheeling, West Virginia, the Republican candidate is "greeted at a dozen wayside stations and made half a dozen speeches," according to his hometown newspaper. Elsewhere, it is reported that the "heat has made his trip unusually trying, and his voice showed the strain of last night's speech in Baltimore..."

The location of these photographs is not identified in the record, but this gives you a sense of what occurs at each stop:

The speeches are made on the rear platform during short stops at:

• Grafton, West Virginia
• Fairmont, West Virginia
• Mannington, West Virginia
• Cameron, West Virginia
• Moundsville, West Virginia

Grafton, West Virginia

At his first speech in West Virginia, Harding is greeted by more than 500 railway workers and residents of Grafton; he again describes his support of the Cummins-Esch railroad act:

Railroad workers are coming to understand that they can get their troubles adjusted by a recognized authority under this law. If the administration were now carrying out the provisions of the act requiring pro-rata distribution of coal cars to mines the situation would be infinitely better.

Fairmount, West Virginia

Hundreds of the Fairmount residents who planned to see Harding show up to the station too late to see the candidate; the Harding special arrives at 9:27 a.m., 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Harding does greet a crowd of 1,500 and speaks briefly during the 10 minute stop. "America First was the keynote of the brief address...and the return of government to a sane and safe policy and for cooperation in meeting conditions thrust upon the nation as an outgrowth of the great world war." As the train pulls out, Harding is heard exclaiming "Why did they call 'all aboard'? I could have talked longer."

Mannington, West Virginia

The Harding special arrives in Mannington at 10:10, with fewer disappointed citizens: word is sent from Fairmount that the train is ahead of schedule. Harding gives a 10-minute speech to a crowd of 2,000, including a delegation of school children.

Cameron, West Virginia

Harding's speech here - and at Fairmount - is "devoted to the advocacy of representative government and to a plea that the United States maintain its integrity and never surrender to a league of nations the right to summon its sons to war."

Moundsville, West Virginia

"Mountaineers were conspicuous" when Harding "voiced his hope for better education and declared his faith in 'an educated America.' He also pleaded for loyalty by all foreign-board Americans, saying that those who availed themselves of American opportunities owed the debt of 'absolute loyalty' in return."

Glover Gap, West Virginia

Harding requests a special stop at Glover Gap, "a mere water tank," after he learns that a group of school girls will wave as the train rolls through. There, "he talked happily with a crowd of girls at the station, telling them how to make apple butter pie," telling the group "The most beautiful thing in all the world is a young girl, with her sleeves rolled up, baking a pie and helping mother."

McMechen/Benwood Junction/South Wheeling, West Virginia

"Senator Harding's train stopped at Benwood Junction for 12 minutes. There was not a large crowd gathered, and Senator Harding, minus his hat, stepped from the train and walked along the platform the length of his train, greeting and chatting with men, women, and youngsters."

Wheeling, West Virginia

The train arrives in Wheeling around 1 p.m. As reported in tomorrow's Wheeling Intelligencer, "It was the greatest day for Ohio county Republicanism since the famous Roosevelt demonstration in 1900, and there are many who witnessed the Roosevelt demonstration who think that Harding Day surpassed the Roosevelt reception in enthusiasm and attendance. Wheeling simply went Harding wild yesterday."

A crowd greets the Hardings at the station; they are taken to the McLure hotel for a reception and some rest. After the reception, Harding speaks from a balcony to eight or nine thousand people who could not get into the auditorium for tonight's speech. His "brief talk brought hearty bursts of applause."

Harding's main speech is about business:

Government is a political and not a business agency, but it does a good deal of business, nevertheless. The business of our government is enormous in extent and is constantly growing greater and more complex. It is carried on, however, by methods so crude, so wanting in plan and system, that if it were a private business of equal magnitude with fixed resources, instead of public business with well-nigh unlimited resources, we should have gone into liquidation and closed our doors long ago. No private business can possibly survive without keeping its expenditures within the limits of its income, but the government goes on, year after year, with no real effort to maintain the balance between income and outgo. No business can be carried on successfully without a strict application of business methods, and government business presents no exception to the rule. Hence it is that this government of ours, in its financial and business operations, would long ago have proved a colossal failure were it not for the power which it possesses to take from the pockets of the people unlimited monies to renew the lavish stream which flows from its treasury. 

Sources:

• "Harding Gets Big Reception." Bucyrus Evening Telegraph. 29 September 1920.
• "Harding's Speech in West Virginia." Indianapolis News. 28 September 1920.
• "Harding Wins West Virginia." Wheeling Intelligencer.. 29 September 1920.
• "Senator Harding Praises Fairmount's Industrial Process." Fairmount West Virginian. 28 September 1920.
• "Senator Is In West Virginia." Marion Star. 28 September 1920.
• "To Join Parade." Marion Star. 28 September 1920.
• "Wheeling Is Enthusiastic." Marion Star. 29 September 1920.