New-York tribune., 1903-01-28
THE PRESIDENTS SPEECH.

| When the President arose to speak the audi
ence broke into applause, which he had difficulty
| in quietirg. He spoke as follows:
| Mir. Toastmaster and Gentlemen: Throughout
| our history and, indeed throughout history
generally, it has been given only a very few
| thrice favored men take so marked a lead
| in the crises faced by their several generations
| that thereafter each stands as the embodiment
| of the triumphant effort of his genera ton
President Mckinley OF these men.
If during the. lifetime of a generation no
| crisis occurs sufficient to call out in marked
manner the energies of the strongest leader, then
of course the world does not and can not know
of the existence of such a leader; and in conse
quence there are long periods the history of
every nation during which man appears who
| leaves an indelible mark in history If, the
other hand the crisis is one so many sided as to
call for the development and exercise of many
distinct attributes. it may be that more than
one man will appear in order that the REQUIRE
ments shall be fully met. In the Revolution
and in the period of constructive statesman
ship Immediately following it. for bur good fort
une it befell that the highest military and
the highest civic attributes were embodied in
Washington. and in him have of the
undying men of history-a great soldier: if
possible. an even greater statesman, and. above
all, a public servant whose lofty and disinter-
ested patriotism rendered his power and ability
alike on fought fields and in council chambers
of the most far reaching service to the repub-
lie In the Civil War the two functions were
divided, and Lincoln and Grant will stand for
evermore with their names inscribed the
honor roll of those who have deserved well of
mankind by saving to humanity precious heri-
tdge. In similar faShlOn IhOmaS Jefferson and
Andrew Jackson each stands as the foremost
representative of the great movement OF his
generation, and their names symbolic to US
their times and the hopes and aspirations of
their times.
FIRST MAN OF HIS GENERATION
1t was given to President Mckinley to take
the foremost place in political life at q
time when our country was brought face to face
with problems more mOmentouS than any whose
solution have ever attempted only in
the Revolution and in the Civil War; and it
was under his leadership that the nation solved
these mighty problems Alright. Therefore he
shall stand in the eyes of history not merely as
the first man of his generation. but among
the greatest figures in our national life. COM
ing second only to the of the two great
crises in which the Union founded and pre-
served
No man could carry through successfully such
a task President Mckinley undertook.
less trained by long years of effort for it's per-
Torrance. Knowledge of his fellow citizens
ability to understand them. keen sympathy
with even their innermost feelings, and yet
power to lead them. together with far-sg1ted
sagacity and resolute belief both in the people
and in their future-all these needed in the
man who headed the march of people dur
ing the eventful years from 1896 to 1901 These
the qualities possessed hv Mckinley and
developed by him throughout his whole history
previous TO assuming the Presidency AS a lad
he had the nestimable privilege of serving. first
in the ranks and then commissioned OFF,
GER in the great war for national union right
eousness and grandeur he of those
whom a kindly Providence permitted to take
part in a struggle which ennobled every man
who fought therein. He who when little more
than a boy had seen the grim steadfastness