The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-03-04
MK|NIEYS GREAT SPEECH
HONOLULU BOY WRITES OF HIS
IMPRESSIONS.
Great Gathering of the Boston Homo
Market Club in Honor of the Presi-
dent and Cabinet.

Among the guests at the Home Mar
ket club dinner in Boston, at which
President Mckinley made his great
speech, was a young Honolulu man,
who has sent back his impressions of
that event. The organization is 10
protect the rights of the American pro-
ducer and the dinner was one of lie
biggest ever served on the mainland.
There was a reception before the
dinner and the Honolulu lad had the
honor of shaking hands with the Pres
ident, Secretary Alger, Long of the Ma
Wy, Bliss, and others. OF the president
the lad writes:
II was disappointed with his appear
ance. 1t seemed incredible that sucn
small body should shelter such
great man. When 1 went up to the
President 1 gave his hand hearty
shake seeing he was directly respon-
sible for annexation, and therefore, In
directly for my being here. AS 1
passed on to the next. I heard him re-
mark, My, but that young man has a
good hand
After the reception we went into
the main dining hall, where covers
were laid for some sixteen hundred
men. We sat at the middle table and 1
felt myself foolish among so many
great men. W. r. Castle sat on the
speakers platform at the same table
with the President, Alger. Gage, Bliss,
Smith and others. The system of wait
ing was done by double set of walt
ers. At the raising of a white flag one
set came in, at the raising of red flag
another set came in, while the first set
went to fetch fresh supplies; there
was one waiter to eight persons.
OF course the speeches were what all
came to hear and I was near enough
TO catch every word.
First, William b. Plunkett, presi-
dent of the Home Market club well
coined the president as the guest Of
honor. Then Governor Wolcott of
Massachusetts arose and was received
with great cheering, so that he could
not speak for some time. He has a
wonderful delivery, and told of the
great things Mckinley had accom-
plished, and welcoming him as the
legal representative of the state. May
or Quincy, a Democrat, followed. He
gave all credit to the President but he
set forth that it was the strength and
good sense of the American people that
had won the day, and that no one
should have the entire credit of it,
Then came the speech of the even
ing When Mckinley stood up 1
thought the crowd would go crazy,
they cheered so Justify. When silence
came he spoke with wonderful effect,
though his voice is not powerful.
He outlined the progress of his ad-
ministration very clearly, telling how
unwilling he was about going to war,
but how, when it was forced upon him,
he pushed it to the finish, even to the
ratification of the treaty, and how
those who shouted first and loudest for
war, were the earliest to fall away
when it came to the solution of the
knotty problems that followed and
hDt t1,n .Nynt tiNya a1 N fol 70
it up and unravel it themselves. He
also spoke of the great trust that was
put into the hands of the United States
| by the terms of the treaty in the dis
position of the Philippines, but SAID we
were competent to cope with II or any
| other question.
THE whole speech was clothed in the
| guise of humanity, and l feel the man
| is sincere in that respect. The Presi-
dent closed after justifying the nation
in its own conscience with an allusior
| to the great Magistrate, Jesus Christ
| The speech was made so as to SounC
| public opinion on the Philippine ques-
! tion, and those present justified the
| President in every move, putting conf
dence in him for the future, thus seal.
| ing the fate of the Philippines, which
| will remain ours.
After the President, came Charles
Emory Smith, the orator of the cabi
net. He took up the state of the coun
| try before the present administration
telling of it's financial distress and de
| preston, and how Bryan had been de
feated by his own bad money basis
With every difficulty in the way the
| Mckinley administration had built VI
industry to the highest pitch in the
history of the country, as the exports
of the last year plainly showed. Aftel
the triumph of our arms and industry
our aim should now be commercial su
| premacy.
John d. Long was hailed as Dew
| ey's Friend. He made humorous
speech and was applauded again anC
| again. The whole affair wound VI
with all singing America.
1T certainly was an event worth ta
| king in, as probably no such time will
occur again. You see the adminstra
tion has not had an opportunity to ali
its policy since its success. 1t was th
| chance of a life time to see and hea
all these brilliant speakers together a
| such a favorable moment, and to know
that all that was said would be flash
!