The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-28
PRESIDENT PRAISES
HIS IMMEDIATE
PREDECESSOR
Banquet in Honor of the
Late William McKinley's
Birthday One of the Most
Notable Events of the Kind
Ohio Ever Knew.

CANTON, Ohio, Jan. 27-President
Roosevelt tonight participated in a. not
able tribute to the memory Of the late
President Mckinley. He was the prin-
cipal orator at a banquet given under
the auspices of the Canton Republican
league in commemoration of the birth
day of Mckinley. Surrounded by
friends, neighbors and business and DO
litical associates of the president, he
eXpounded a brilliant and eloquent eu-
logy upon the life and work of Nc
Kinley-an eulogy by many regarded as
the most beautiful and heartfelt tribute
ever paid to the memory of the dis
tinguished dead.
The banquet was held In the grand
opera house. the seats being removed
in the pit and the house entirely re-
floored for the occasion. The inte-
rior of the building was decorated with
flags and flowers. Festoons of flags
were arranged about the balcony and
gallery and the thirteen great banquet
boards were massed with roses and
carnations, interspersed with smilax
and ferns. A selected orchestra of
twenty-five pieces furnished music at
intervals during the banquet.
Brilliant OCCASION
The occasion was the most brilliant
of its kind ever witnessed in Canton
and few banquets held in Ohio have
equaled it.
Among the 457 assembled about the
boards were some of the most distin-
guished men in the civil, public and
political life of the country At the
speakers table besides President
Roosevelt, were Judge William r. Day,
who acted as toastmaster; Secretary
Root, Gen. S. B. M. Young, Gen. Leon
ard Wood, Gen. Luke E. Wright, vice
governor of the Philippines; Surgeon
General Rixey, Commander Cowles, the
presidents naval aid; Col Theodore A.
Bingham, his military aid; Assistant
Secretary of Agriculture Brigham,
Representative w. E. Taller, James E.
Grant, Col. Myron T. Herrick, of Cleve-
land; H. H. Kohlsaat, Of Chicago, and
Charles Emory Smith
Gov. Nash, of Ohio, who was expect
ed to be present to respond to the
toast Ohio" was unable to leave his
nome on account of illness. His place
on the programme was taken by James
q. Grant, of Canton. Soon after the
close of the reception at the Hotel Nc
k1nley, President Roosevelt and party
walked in driving rain from the ho-
tel to the banqueting hall, a half
square distant. Despite the inclem-
ency OF the weather, the streets were
crowded with people. Special precau-
uons were taken to insure the safety
of the president and party and the
pathways to the opera house were lin
ed with secret service officers, police
men and soldiers. AS the president
entered the banquet hall the assembly
rose as one man and cheered him
heartily
AS soon as the president and party
were seated, the doors of the balcony
ana gallery were opened and in a few
minutes both were crowded with hand
somely gowned women and men in
evening dress. -"
The material part of the banquet was
not concluded until 10 o'clock. Judge
iDay, as POSTMASTER, in introducing
PRESIDENT roosevelt, spoke in eulogy of
the dead president
The President Speaks.
AS the president rose to speak the
audience rose and cheered' him enthus-
lastlcally. When he addressed the
postmaster as Mr.. Justice Day" a
designation applied only to Justices Of
the United States supreme court bie
AUDITORS shook the building with ap-
pause. President Roosevelt said in
his address: Sou Ia
IT was given to President Mckinley
i 10 TAKE the foremost place in our political
brought face to face with problems more
momentouS than any whose solution yue
pave pave ever attempted. save only in the
revolution and In the Civil war: and II
was under his leadership that the nation
solved these mighty problems arieht
therefore he shall stand in the eyes of
h LIE eo eso NOT merely as the first man of
MS generation, but as among the greatest
ngures IN our national life, coming second
only 10 the men of the two great crises in
Wh3ch the Union was founded and preserv-
The president gave a sketch of Mr.. Me-
k1nley's boyhood, his service in congress-
ms Two terms in the presidency and his
course during and after the Spanish war
and continued: wal
No other president in our history has
seen nlgh and honorable effort crowned
NO other president entered upon his sec
ono term feeling such right to a profound
ana ana, peaceful satisfaction Then by a.
stroke OF horror. SO strange in It's fan
tastic iniQuity as to stand uninue IN The
black annals of crime. he-was str,1clT
down. The brave. strong, gentle heart
to f sei1aeI rOrever and word was brought
walk thenceforth alone in the shadow.
Deed of Hldeous Infamy.
The hideous infamy of the deed shock
e ca the nation to its depths, for the man
lnus struck at was in a peculiar sense the
representative and the exponent of those
ldeals which, If we live up to them. will
make, as Ihey have largely made, our
country blessed refuge for all who strive
to do right and to live their lives sinnIv
ana well as light is given them The ma
ZION was stunned, and the people uourned
with a bitter sense of bereavement be-
cause they had lost a man whose heart
peat for them as the heart of Lincoln
once had beaten.
I'VE did right to mourn. for tho lose
was ours, not his. He died in the golden
iullness or his triumph. He died victorious
IN tnat highest of all kinds of strife-the
Selne LOT an ampler, juster and more
generous national life. For him the lau-
I LeI' put woe 1or those whom he left be-
and woe to mankind that There should
exist creatures so foul that one among
them should strike at SO noble life
How Best Honor Him.
We car! honor him best by. the way
we we snow In actual deed that We have
taken to heart the lessons of his life We
must strive to achieve, each in the meas
ure Ihat we can. something of the quail
tleS Which made President Mckinley a
ieader or men, a mighty power for good
MS Strength, his courage his courtesy
ana olgnlty, MS sense of justice, his ever
present kindness and regard for the
rights of others. He won greatness by
meeting and solving the issues as they
arose-not by Sinking themF
Inc long public career which opened
When as a BOY he carried a musket in the
ranks and closed when as a man in the
prime OF his intellectual strength he stood
to what 1t was because he treated each
triumph as opening tha roo Il To fraSh eff