The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-30
THE PRESIDENTS ADDRESS.
Mr.. RooseveIt's Tribute to the Char
acter OF Mckinley.

acter of Mckinley.
Canton. Sept 20--President Roosevelt
delivered the principal address at the
dedication of the Mckinley memorial.
He spoke as follows:
We have gathered together today to
pay our need of respect and affection
to the memory of William Mckinley,
who as president won a place in the
hearts of the American. people such as
but three or four of all the presidents
of this country have ever won He
was of singular uprightness and purity
of character, alike in public and in
private life; q citizen who loved peace,
he did his duty faithfully and we'll for
four years of war when the honor of
the nation called him to arms As
congressman. as governor Of his state,
and finally as president he rose to the
foremost place among our statesmen,
reaching a position which would sat
isfy the Keenest ambition: but he
never lost that simple and thoughtful
kindness toward every human being,
great or small lofty or humble. with
whom he was brought in contact,
which so endearedf1n him to our people
He had to grappfe with more serious
and complex pro blens than any presi-
dent since Lincoln and yet, while
meeting every demand of statesman
ship, he continued to live beautiful
and touching family life. a life very
healthy for this nation to see in its
foremost citizen; and now the woman
who walked in the shadow ever after
his death. the wife to whom his loss
was calamity more crushing than it
could be to any other human being,
lies beside him here in the same
sepulcher-
Appropriate Inscription.
There is a singular appropriateness
in the inscription on his monument
Mr. Cortelyou, whose relations with
him were of such close intimacy, gives
me the following information about it:
On the presidents trip to the Pacific
slope in the spring of 1901 President
Wheeler of the University of Cali
fOrnia. conferred the degree of LII D.
upon him in words so well chosen that
they struck the fastidious taste of
John Hay. then secretary of state. who
wrote and asked for a copy of them
from President Wheeler. On the re-
ceipt of this copy he sent the following
letter to President Mckinley. a letter
which now seems filled with a strange
and unconscious prescience:
Dear Mr.. President:
president Wheeler sent me the in
closed at my request. You will have
the words in more permanent shape
They seem to me remarkably well
chosen and stately and dignified
enough to serve-long hence. please
God-as your epitaph-
Yours faithfully,
JOHN HAY"
University of California.
"Ofice of the President.
"Bv authority vested in me by the
regents of the University of California.
I confer the degree of doctor of laws
upon William Mckinley. president of
the United States. statesman sim
guIarIy gifted to unite the discordanC
forces of the government and mold the
diverse purposes of men toward pro-
gressive and salutary action a magis-
trate whose pOise of judgment has
been tested and vin6iicated in a sue
cession of national emergencies; good
citizen brave soldier. wise executive
helper and leader of men, exemp pIar
to his people of the virtues that build
and conserve the state, society, and
the home.
Berkeley, May Is, 1901"
1t would be hard to imagine an
epitaph which a good citizen would be
more anxious to deserve or one which
would more happily describe the quail
ties of that great and good citizen
whose life We here commemorate. He
possessed to a very extraordinary de-
gree the gift of uniting discordant
forces and securing from them a har-
monious action which told for good
government From purposes not
merely diverse. but bitterly conflicting.
he was able to secure healthfuI action
for the good of the state In both
poise and judgment he rose level
to the several emergencies he had TO
meet as leader of the nation. and like
all men with the root of true erea ess
in them he grew to steadily larger
stature under the stress of heavy re-
spOnsibtlities- He was a good citizen
and a brave soldier. a chief executive
whose wisdom entitled him to the trust
which he received throughout the ma
ton He was not only a leader of men
but pre-eminently helper of men;
for one of his most marked traits was
the intensely human quality Of his wide
and deep sympathy Finally. he nov
merely preached he was. that most
valuable of all citizens in a democracy
like ours. man who in the highest
place served as an unconscious ex-
ample to his people Of the virtues that
build and conserve alike our public
CConttnued on Page Eight.1