River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-03-06
SECRETARY HAYS ElOGY
Pays Eloquent Tribute to Memory
of the Late William
Mckinney.
SAYS He WAS A TYPICAL AMERICAN.
Commemorative Summary of Memo
rial Address Delivered by Invita-
ton of Congress-Martyred Presi-
dent VIII Rank with the Greatest
of American Statesmen.

For the third time the congress of the
United States is assembled 10 commem-
crate the life and the death OF president
slain by the hand of an assassin. me at
tention Of the future historian will be at
tracted to the features which reappear with
startling sameness in all three OF these
awful crimes: the uselessness, the utter
lack of consequence OF the t act; the og
the lamelessneSs-So far as IN our spnerS
of existence the best of men may be heIo
blaueIess-Of the victim. Not one Oh our
murdered presidents had an enemy IN the
world; they were all OF such preemlnenl
purity Of life that no pretext could De gwen
Tor the attack of passionaI crime; tnsy
were all men of democratic instincts VINO
could never have offended the most Jeal-
Gus advocates of equality; they were OF
kindly and generous nature, TO Wnom
wrong or injustice was Impossible; OF moo
crate fortune, whose slender means no
body could envy. They were men OF aus
tere virtue, of tender heart, of eminent
abilities, which they had devoted with
single minds to the good Of the republic. II
ever men walked before God and man
without blame, it was these three rulers of
our people The only temptation to attack
their lives offered was their gentle rad
ance-to eyes hating the light that was OIL
tense enough.
Going on to speak of the uselessr ess and
absolute folly of the crime even from an
anarchiStic standpoint, he said: Ine
stupid uselessness Of such an infamy af-
fronts the common sense Of the world one
can conceive how the death OF a dictator
may CHduSG the political COIO1lAOl4o VI ca
empire; how the extinction of a narrowing
line of kings may bring in an AMEN oynasis s
ty. But in well ordered repupllc f me
ours, the ruler may fall, but the state 1eels
no tremor Our beloved and reVered leaoer
is gone-but the natural process OF our ia VS.
provides US a successor, ldentlcal III pul
pose and ideals nourished by the same
teachings, inspired by the same principles,
pledged by tender affection as well as by
high loyalty to caFry 20 PM ' and to
smite with iron severity every manltesta-
ton of that hideouS crime which MS mild
predecessor, with his dying breath, for
gave The sayings of celestial wisdom have
no date; the words that reach US, over 2,gCO
years, out Of the darkest hour Of gloom the
world has ever known, are true to the lie
to-day: "They know not what they do
The blow struck at our dear friend and
ruler was as deadly as blind hate could
make it; but the blow struck at anarchy
was deadlier still. How many coun-
tries can join with us In the community of
a kindred sorrow! L will not speak of those
distant regions where assasSina ton enters
into the daily life of government. But
among the nations bound to us by the ties
that wise and mild autocrat who had
earned the proud title of the Liberator?
that enlightened and magnanimous citi-
zen whom France still mourns? that brave
and chivalrous king of Italy who only lived
for his people? and, saddest Of all, that
lovely and sorrowing empress, whose
harmless life could hardly have excited
the luminosity of demon. Against that
develish spirit nothing avails-neither vlr-
tue, nor PATRIOTISM, nor age nor youth, nor
conscience nor pity.
A Typical American.
The life of William Mckinley was, from
his birth to his death, typically American.
There is no environment, should say, any,
where else in the world which could pro-
that way of life which elsewhere is called
the middle class, but which in this country
is so nearly universal as to make Of other
classes an almost negligible quantity. He
was neither rich nor poor, neither proud
nor humble; he knew no hunger he was not
sure of satisfying, no luxury which could
enervate mind or body. His parents were
sober, God-fearing people; intelligent and
upright; without pretension and without
humility. He grew up in the company Of
boys like himself; wholesome, honest, self
respecting. They looked down on nobody;
they never felt it possible they could be
looked down upon. Their houses were the
homes of probity, piety patriotism. They
learned in the admirable school readers of
so years ago the lessons of heroic and SPLEEN
past. They read in their weekly newspa-
pers the story of the world S progress, in
the. sins and wrongs of civilization with
which they burned to do battle. 1t was
serious and thoughtful time.
Early Influences.
1t is not easy to give to those of later
generation any clear idea of that extraor-
binary spiritual awakening which passed
over the country at the first red signal fires
of the war between the states. In 1860 the
Decision. The question which had been
debated on thousands of platforms, which
had been discussed in countless publica-
tions, which, Numbered from innumerable
pulpitS, had caused in their congregations
the bitter strife and dissension to which
only cases of conscience can give RISE was
everywhere pressing for solution.
In the south as we'll, below all the eff
fervescence and excitement of a people
perhaps more given to eloquent speech
than we were, there was the profound
agony of question and answer the sum-
mons to decide whether honor and free
dom did not call them to revolution and
war 1t is easy for partisanShip to say that
the one SIDE was right and that the other
was wrong. 1t is still easier for an indolent
magnanimity to say that both were right
Perhaps in the wide view of ethics one is al
ways right to follow his conscience, though
1t lead him to disaster and death. But his
tory is memorable. She takes no account
of sentiment and intention and in her cold
and luminous eyes that side is right which
fights in harmony with the stars in their
efforts and struggles the world is helped
onward, and humanity moves to a higher
level and a brighter day
The men who are living to-day and who
were young in 1860 will never forget the
glory and glamour that filled the earth
and the sky when the long twilight of doubt
of action had come. Patriotism, which had
been rhetorical expression, became a pas
sionate emotion, in which instinct, logic
worth saving; it could be saved only by
fire; no sacrifice was too great; the young
men of the country were ready for the
sacrifice; come veal come woe, they were
ready.
Mckinley Soldier.
At II years of age William Mckinley
heard this summons of his country He
was the sort of youth to whom military
life in ordinary times would possess no at
fractions. His nature was far different
from that of the ordinary soldier He had
other dreams of life, its prizes and pleas
ures. than that of marches and battles
But to his mind there was no choice or
question.
He enlisted as a private; he learned to
obey His serious, sensible ways. his
prompt, alert efficiency soon attracted the
attention Of his superiors. He was so
faithful in little things they gave him more
and more to do. He was untiring in camp
and on the march, swift, cool and fearless
in fight. He left the army with field rank
when the war ended, brevetted by Presi-
dent Lincoln for gallantry in battle.
Speaking of the close of the war, Mr. Hay
said: A conclusion had been reached
and it is to the verlasting honor of both
sides that they each knew when the war
was over, and the hour of a lasting peace
had struck. We may admire the desperate
daring of others who prefer humiliation to
compromise, but the palm of common
sense, and, / will say, of enlightened pa
triotsm, belongs to the men like Grant and
Lee, who knew WREN they had fought