The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-15
SPEECH AT REDFIELD.
President Explains How He HapDen-
ed to Take the Philippines.

REoFIELD, s. D., Oct. 14-President
Mckinley and party reached this city at
l2:5o this afternoon. A speakers stand
had been erected near the depot and on
three sides of 1t the streets were damned
with people anxious TO hear the chief
executive The president spoke at some
length and the telling points of his adj
dress were greeted with applause Sew
eral hundred school children were In the
audience. Mr.. Mckinley said:
1 brine, my heartfelt salutation to SIS
one OF the younger sisters of our Fed
eral Union. You have made wonderful
progress. You have been enjoying in the
last tWenty-four months an uneXampled
prosperity Good crops and fair prices
nave raised the mortgage and lowered
the interest, and while the interest has
been lowered to the borrower the stand
ard Of the money loaned has not been
[ come here to make an acknowledge
ment to the people of this state for its
patriotism. When YOU were territory
you furnished battaliOns of gallant SOL
dfers to fight in the great war for the
preservation of the Union, and my com
rades of the Grand Army of the Repuo-
lie are all about me here TODAY When
the Spanish war came the sons of these
veterans, and the sons of these settlers
sprang to arms at once upon the call Of
their country, and one. regiment of your
troops served most CALAMITY and uncom-
plainingly In the island of Luzon.
| have had the extreme pleasure of
joining in South Dakota's welcome to
letes "a voice, I'VE sent them out as
such'), and they came back showing the
generous care of the government of the
United States.
1t is given to the strong to bear the
burdens of the weak: and your PRAYER
should be not that the burdens should
be rolled away, but that God should give
us strength to bear them. The so-called
burdens which this war placed upon the
American people came unsought and I'm
expected. for nobody in the United Sta@a.
Philippine archipelago would become
part of the United States. 1t came not
to us of our seeking. but as one of the
inevitable and unacceptable results Of
that war.
When Dewey went into Manila bav
under orders and destroyed the Spanish
fleet, from that hour We We're responsible
for the peace of the Philippine islands.
And from that hour we could not escape
with honor to ourselves or from oblisa-
lions to the nations of the world.
We did not go there to conquer the
PHILIPPINES. We went there to destroy
the Spanish fleet that we might end the
war: but in the Providence of God. Who
works in mysterious ways, this great
archipelago was put into our lap, and the
American people never shirk duty (Cries
of Never And the flag now there is
not the flag of tyranny. 1t IL the flag OF
liberty, and wherever the flag goes char
acter, education. American intelligence
American civilization and American lber-
ty go.
And your boys stayed although there
were some people wanting them to come
home. am proud of them. and so are
you. General cry of I'VE are..O There
Is not q mS1, woman or child IN this
glorious state; there IS not family In
your commonwealth who is not delight
ed that the boys of the First South Da-
kota regiment refused to accept the ad-
vice of the unpatriotic and upheld the
flag. They did not come home until they
had placed the flag stainless and spotless
in the hands of the new army we sent
and-we will send enough of them to carry
that flag to ultimate victory.
Patriotism Is an all-conquering senti-
ment in the American heart Patriotism
triumphs over-mere politics. and the poll
tics that has no patriotism in 1t Is al
ways defeated before the tribunal of the
American people. If the patriot for any
good reason does not go to war himself
he always supports the soldier who does,
and shelters and cares for his family
while the head of 1t is at the front If
for any reason good citizen gets into
the ranks of the enemy by any accident
he lives only to regret it, and his chill
dren live only to erase the blot from
no family name