In the summer of 1880 James A. Garfield received from the republican national convention at Chicago the nomination as candidate for President of the United States. At that time the states of Indiana and Ohio continued to hold their state elections early in the month of October, and the result of the elections in those two states in October had a most important and almost controlling influence upon the result of the presidential contest at the ensuing November election. Early in September of that year I received from the state central committee of the state of Indiana an invitation to accompany ex-Governor Kirkwood of Iowa in a canvassing tour of two weeks, which invitation I accepted. We had a very agreeable and enjoyable trip. Governor Kirkwood was a very companionable man and was received with much honor and enthusiasm, and our meetings were largely attended and were quite successful. Part of the time we did not speak together at the same meetings, but had separate appointments assigned us. At one point where there existed a considerable manufacturing industry, the local committee waited upon us at our hotel before the speaking, and suggested that they desired us to especially discuss the tariff question and its effect upon our American manufacturers. After the committee had retired Governor Kirkwood walked the floor of the room for a few minutes, and turning suddenly upon me he said, "Charlie, do you understand this tariff question?" I told him no, I knew very little about it. "Well," he said, "I was raised a democrat and am not much of a tariff man anyhow, and I want you to take up this tariff question if either of us must." I told him that I could talk about the general effect of protecting American labor and the duty of the American congress to so arrange the tariff upon imports as to relieve our people from competition with the low wages paid in Europe; that the American laborer must receive higher wages than the European laborer for he must educate his children and must enjoy better conditions in life, and as our free institutions were based upon the intelligence of the voter, we could not afford to allow the laboring man to occupy the position socially or politically of the European laborer; that I could talk along that line all they wanted, but when it came to discussing schedules or specific duties I should not venture upon any such discourse; in fact, I was satisfied that few people understood the subject sufficiently to discuss the detail of tariff duties with intelligence. I filled the bill accordingly, as Governor Kirkwood placed that part of the program in my charge, but he himself did not say "tariff" once.