The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-01-28

when he selected the governing on
Gals
In Cuba. where we were pledged to
give the island independence, the pledge
was kept not merely in letter but Il;
s9arit- It would have been a betrayal
OF our duty to have given Cuba inds-
pendence out of hand President Nc
Kinley with his usual singular sagacity
IN the choice of agents, selected in Gen.
Leonard Wood the man Of all others
best ht to bring the island through its
uncertain period of preparation for in
dependence. and the result of his wis
dom was shown when last May the is
land became IN name and in fact a free
re2ublsc. for it started with a better
equipment and under more favorable
conditions than had ever previously
been the case with any S2anish-Amer-
lean commonwealth.
+ lnaHy, IN the Philippines. the prob
lem was one of great compIexity. There
was an insurrectionary party claiming
10 represent the people of the Islands
and putting forth their claim with
certain speciOuSness which deceived no
small number of excellent men here at
home, and which afforded to yet others
a chance to arouse a factiOuS party spir-
It against the president Of course,
looking back it is now easy to see that
1t would have been both absurd and
wicked to abandon the Philippine archi-
pelago and let the scores of different
u1bes-Christian MOhammedan, and
pagan III every stage of semi-Asia tic
''eA4 Iei- ISM TURN lle lSldnQS INTO wei
Ter OF bloody savagery, with the abso-
lutte certainty that some strong power
would have to step in and take posses
sion But though now it is easy enough
20 see that our duty was to stay in the
lslands, to put down the instruction
by force of arms, and then to establish
IreedOm-glVlng civil government it
needed genuine craftsmanship to see
TINS and to act accordingly a the time
OF the first revolt. A weaker and less
far-sighted man than President Nc
hinley would have shrunk from a task
very difficult in itself, and certain to
furnish occasion for attack and nisrep-
resentation no less than for honest mis-
understanding But President McKin-
ley never fiinched He refused to con
slider the thought of abandoning our
duty IN our new possessions. While Sc
dulously endeavoring to act with the ut
most humanity toward the insurrection-
lists, he never faltered in the determine
ton to put them down by force of arms
alike for the sake of our own interest
ana honor, and for the sake of the in
terest of the islanders. and particularly
OF the great numbers of friendly ma
tlVes, including those most highly civil
Zed, FOR whom abandonment by US
would have meant ruin and death.
AGAIN his policy was most amply vindi-
Gated. Peace has come to the islands
together with a greater measure of in
dlVlGual liberty and self-government
than they have ever before known. All
the tasks set us as a result of the war
With SDain have so far been well and
hOnOrably accomplished. and as a result
TINS nation stands higher than ever be
| fore among the nations of mankind
PRESIDENT McFNinley's second campaign
was fought mainly on the issue of ap-
/ proving what he had done in the first ad-
nnlstration and specifically what he had
done as regards these problems springing
out of the war with Spain. The result was
that the popular verdict in his favor was
more oVerWheln : than it had been be-
No other presia mt in our history has
seen nigh and honorable effort crowned
Win more conspicuous personal success
- otner president entered upon his sec
ono term feeling such right to a profound
and peaceful satisfaction. Then by a
stICke OF horror, so strange in its fantastic
lnlqu1ty as to stand unique IN the black
anhais OF crime, he was struck down. The
pIaNe, strong, gentle heart was stiled for
ever, and word was brought to the wona n
who went that she was to walk thence =
Iorth alone in the shadow The hideous
lnIafny OF the deed shocked the nation
to its depth. for the man thus struck at
was in a peculiar sense the cilanoDian of
inc plan people. in a peculiar sense the
! representative and the exponent of those
ideals which, If We live no to them, will
make, as they have largely made or
country a blessed refuge for ali who strive
to do right and to live their lives simply
ano We'll as light is given them. The ma
Ion was summed ana The people mouTned
with sense of bitter bereavement be
S1et t Iilsy nau iQst a man whose heaft
! peat Ior them rs the heart of Lincoln once
I had beaten. We did right to mourn for
1 the loss was ours, not his. He died in the
! golaen tulness Of his triumph. He died
4 victorious in that highest of all kinds Of
strife-the strife for an ampler juster and
I more generous national life. For him the
/ laurel, but woe for those whom he left be
/ hind; woe to the nation that lost him and
woe to mankind that there should exist
1 creatures so foul that one among them
should strike at 50 noble a life.
We are gathered together tonight to re-
spect to the great chief and leader who
/ fell IN the harness, who was stricken down
1 while his eyes were bright with the light
/ that tells OF triumph tasted. We can
/ honor him best by the way We show in
actual deed that we have taken to heart
/ the lessons of his lie. We must strive to
/ achieve. each in the measure that he can.
something Of the qualities which made
/ President Mckinley leader of men. a
mighty power for good-his strength, his
courage, his courtesy and dignity, his
sense of justice, his ever-present kindH-
! He won greatness by meeting and soIv-
ing the issues as they rOSe-nOt by shirl-
/ dom. with the exercise Of the most skill
full and cautious Judgment, but with fear
less resolution when the time of crisis
came. tie met each crisis on its own
merits: he never sought excuse for shirk-
ing task in the fact that it was differ
ent from the one he had expected to face.
/ The long public career which opened when
as a boy he carried a muSket in the ranks
and closed when as man in the prime
of his intellectual strength he stood among
the worlds chief statesmen. came to what
it was because he treated each triumph as
opening the road to fresh effort not as an
| excuse for ceasing from effort He under
took mighty tasks. Some of them he fin
ished cOmpletelY others we must finish:
4 and there remain yet others which he did
not have to face. but which if we are
worthy to be the inheritors of his princi-
pies we Will in our turn face with the
same resolution the same sanity the same
unfaltering belief in the greatness of this
country, and unfaltering Championship of
the rights of each and all of our people.
/ which marked his high and splendid ca
rcer.