The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-12-12
DR.. W. L. DAVIDSON
OF Mountain Chautauqua Fame, Writes
Beautifully of tho Late Presi-
dent Mckinley.

that gentleman writes quite interest
ingly of the late President Mckinley.
We copy the article in its entirety
and must commend it to the atten-
tion of our readers:
Within the memory of men, several
years less than fifty, three presidents
of the United States have been foully
assassinated. This record outdoes
Russia, the hot-bed of Nihilism.
| There are some weaknesses in our
republic. We have prated so much
| about freedom of speech" that every
demagogue feels that here he can
| give expression to his mad views with
impunity. The last sad drama of
death has awakened the nation, and
congress will certainly enact string
ent laws to prevent another such
dastardly crime. Anarchists, dis
covered to be such should not be al
| lowed to land on our shores. Public
gatherings of anarchists should in no
case be permitted. No law could or
| should reach and control the private
views of men, but any public incen-
| diary utterance, calculated to arouse
! passions or stir up violence towards a
public official operating under the
constitution should either be counted
as treason and punished as such, or
the offender should at once be made
to leave the country, Let all of the
foremost nations of the earth enter
into an alliance to treat anarchists
in this same fashion. Those who
could not be suppressed would be
thus quickly driven to the outskirts
of civilization, where they could,
among themselves, test their theories.
Those with any sense or decency left
would soon tire of this isolation and
would quickly promise silence, for a
return to civilization.
Then, too, we have been too care
less of the persons of our chief magis-
trates. They have not been guarded
when in public with sufficient care.
1t is distasteful under our form of
government for a president to take
his exercise inside square of glis-
tening bayonets, still these precious
lives must be cared for, and no risk
should be taken. Let alert detectives
closely surround him when in public
He is in constant danger, not only
from the depraved, but from the in
sane, too many of whom are allowed
to run at large.
Some drastic measures should also
be taken to throttle the sensational
press, which is in no small degree re-
sponsible for this foul assassination.
The murder of Mckinley was one of
the blacklist crimes in the history of
the republic. He seemed man
without enemies. He was the soul
of kindness and brotherliness. He
came from among the people and
loved them and was constantly inter
ested in their uplifting.
The assassin could hardly have
heard the last utterance of the presi-
dent, so full of the broadcast charity,
spoken so little time before the IA
tai bullet was fired, or else his rash
hand had been stayed.
President McKinley's administra-
ton was one of the cleanest and most
successful in the nations history. He
held the ship of state with steady
hand. He gave righteous solution of
problems of worldwide reach, giving
evidence of craftsmanship of the
highest type. He did much to allay
sectional differences, bringing the
north and the south more closely to-
gether. He ushered an era of phe-
nominal prosperity. He stood for
peace when war was threatened, I'M
til some thought him cowardly, but
when forced to the issue of command
er-in-chief of the army and navy, in
a campaign of one hundred days,
glorified by the most brilliant naval
victories in the history of the world,
he secured the signing of the proto-
col. He taught the world by beau
tiful example how husband should
loye wife, and how man in public
life could be an earnest and constant
christian, without losing caste. He
had reached that eminence where the
world saw him, and seeing him, loved
him.
He died just when we seemed to
need him most. His name is imper-
ishably linked with those of Wash
ington and Lincoln. His administra-
ton will be historic, and his name
will forever be on the lips of men.
Without stain upon his name he
joined the immortals. Why he went
is a providence difficult to under
stand, but no more satisfactory solu-
ton can be given than fell from the
dying president himself, as with fall
tering lips he whispered: ut is Gods
way"
Rev. Dr. Newell Dwight Hills in
|