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MEMORIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 ON OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF 
 
 HON. WILLIAM McKINLEY 
 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF 
 
 STARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION 
 
 Copy 2. 
 

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 Hon. Thomas T. McCarty, in calling the Bar Association 
 to order to hear the report of the Committee on Resolutions, 
 said : — 
 
 Gentlemen of the Bar : 
 
 "This meeting — adjourned meeting of the bar of Stark county 
 is held on account of the death of our most illustrious brother 
 member. Of all the bar associations in the universe it was the 
 privilege of our bar to furnish one of the brightest stars in all the 
 galaxy of brightness while living, and one of the brightest jewels 
 in all the diadems of those who have passed to the other shore. 
 Other bar associations, feeling deeply bereaved and keenly the 
 loss of the bar at large, have met and adopted appropriate resolu- 
 tions. Our bar suffers as a family when a beloved mother is 
 stricken down by death, and we are here, gentlemen, having been 
 honored as no other bar association on earth has been honored 
 in the life of William MeKinley, and now suffers deeper and more 
 poignant grief than any other bar association does or can suffer, 
 to try to adopt appropriate resolutions touching the life and 
 death of our own dearly beloved member. Our bar is better, our 
 city is better, our county is better, our state is better, our Nation 
 is better; aye, the world at large is better for the life of William 
 MeKinley; and while we suffer and grieve, let us bow in submission 
 to the will of Him, who rules on high, and remember that in the 
 "way of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is 
 no death." 
 
The members of the Stark County Bar deeply deplore the 
 untimely loss of the most illustrious of their number in the 
 death of President William McKinley. His entire profession- 
 al career having been passed in our midst, renders his death a 
 personal loss to each surviving member of the bar. 
 
 William McKinley began has active career as a soldier 
 in the Union Army. At the call to arms, he dropped his 
 books and devoted over four years of his youthful manhood to 
 the defense of his country in a war for the maintenance of the 
 integrity of the Union. Enlisting as a private soldier at the 
 age of eighteen years, in a regiment from which have come 
 Presidents, Statesmen, Jurists and Scholars, by soldierly con- 
 duct, valor and merit, he won his way in actual service from 
 the ranks to the position of Major. 
 
 Supplementing his literary training by the practical ed- 
 ucation of the soldier during four years of actual war, he was 
 fitted to assume and acceptably fill in after life many responsi- 
 ble positions, including the trying office of Commander-in- 
 Chief of the armies and navies of the country in time of actual 
 war. With his character strengthened by the years of disci- 
 pline and service seen in the army, his mind stimulated by as- 
 sociation with such lawyers as Stanley Matthews and Ruther- 
 ford B. Hayes, who were his companions in arms, he resolved 
 upon his return to civil life to study and practice the profes- 
 sion of the law. ire was fortunate in his choice of a preceptor 
 in the person of the late Judge Glidden, of Mahoning County, 
 well and favorably known to the members of this bar. After 
 
 5 
 
a course in the Albany Law School, he was admitted to the 
 bar in 1867, and opened an office for the practice of his call- 
 ing in the City of Cainton. In the succeeding ten years and 
 until Ins election to the House of Representatives of the Unit- 
 ed States, for the term beginning March 4th, 1877, he was 
 continuously and actively engaged in the practice in this 
 County; for one term he served with marked distinction as 
 Prosecuting Attorney. His career at the bar gave ample evi- 
 dence of that greatness of mind, purity of character, and kind- 
 ness of heart, now known of all men, and of which his future 
 career gave so many and striking illustrations. To every cause 
 he gave a full measure of preparation. He was particularly 
 distinguished as an advocate, presenting his causes to juries 
 in such fair and just manner as to command their confidence 
 and respect. To the Court, upon questions of law, he was lu- 
 cid, strong and convincing, never pressing an argument which 
 he did not believe in himself. To his adversaries, at the trial 
 table, he was ever courteous and considerate, realizing that 
 the objects of legal investigation are to arrive at the truth and 
 subserve the ends of justice. He always aimed to keep forensic 
 discussion upon the high plane of honest difference as to law 
 or fact, and never indulged in personalities with opposite coun- 
 sel or witnesses. To his colleagues he was ever kind and con- 
 siderate, doing his share of the labor in a case, never shirking 
 responsibility or with-holding from his associate the share of 
 honor and praise which was his due. 
 
 Early manifesting a strong interest in National and State 
 politics, he became a careful student of public questions, and 
 by his industry, natural force and eloquence, soon acquired a 
 widespread fame as a political orator and debater. 
 
 In 1876. at the same time his friend and military chief- 
 
tain, Rutherford B. Hayes, was chosen to the Presidency, 
 Major McKinley was elected a member of Congress from this 
 District. For fourteen years he rendered honorable and effi- 
 cient sendee as a representative of the people, advocating with 
 zeal and courage those measures which he believed were for 
 the best interests of the people; he retired from Congress as 
 Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, after fram- 
 ing the Tariff Bill, which has gone into history bearing his 
 name. Defeated for Congress by a small majority, in a new 
 district where conditions made such result inevitable, he fal- 
 tered not in his adherence to the principles he believed to be 
 best for the public good, but after defeat confidently appealed 
 to the people for a vindication of his political conduct, and 
 was twice elected Governor of Ohio. 
 
 Chosen to the high office of President of the United 
 States, he entered upon its duties on March 4th, 1897. He 
 found his country upon the verge of war, the sympathies of 
 the Xation aroused for a suffering people near our own shores, 
 who had long borne with foreign oppression and against whom 
 a war of subjugation was being waged by methods which 
 shocked humanity and aroused the just indignation of all civ- 
 ilized people. With a firm purpose to relieve their distress, 
 and to seen re for the oppressed better government and fairer 
 treatment, at the same time safe-guarding our own interests, 
 he bent every energy to accomplish this purpose by peaceful 
 means. By steady pressure upon the Spanish government he 
 obtained many concessions, looking to the better treatment of 
 the Cuban people, and seemed in a fair way of obtaining the 
 desired ends, when the treacherous destruction of a ship of the 
 American navy, with her officers and crew, determined the 
 American Congress to demand an end of Spanish sovereignty 
 
 7 
 
in Cuba. He had been a soldier, and realized the horrors of 
 war and the untold suffering it would visit upon innocent peo- 
 ple. He remained firm in his determination to prevail by 
 peaceful methods, if possible; yet resolved that existing con- 
 ditions should no longer prevail in Cuba. While preparing 
 for war with tireless energy, he did not relax his efforts for 
 an honorable peace until the Spanish government answered 
 our demand for its withdrawal from Cuba and adjacent waters 
 by sending passports to our minister at Madrid. 
 
 Knowing that nothing is so cruel as a long struggle at 
 arms, he bent every energy of the Government to a vigorous 
 prosecution of the war, by land and sea, with a degree of suc- 
 cess unrivaled in the history of warfare. At the close of the 
 struggle, he directed the conclusion of a peace, which, recog- 
 nizing the purposes of the war and the obligations arising 
 from its prosecution, forever banished Spanish rule from the 
 Western Hemisphere, and took upon the Nation the supreme 
 duty of raising to political manhood and capacity for self- 
 government many millions of oppressed people in distant is- 
 lands of the sea. Under his benign leadership, sectional strife 
 and bitterness were forever banished from the country. It 
 was his privilege to behold, at the close of the war, a country 
 united as never before, recognized as one of the foremost peo- 
 ples of the earth. Secure in the confidence and love of his 
 countrymen, at a great festival of peace, with words of con- 
 cord and goodwill upon his lips, by the cruel hand of an assas- 
 sin, he was suddenly stricken unto death. That such a man 
 could thus be cruelly slain demands at the hands of the Amer- 
 ican Congress and the Legislatures of the States the enact- 
 ment of such lavs as will, when efficiently enforced in the 
 courts, do all that law can do to make a repetition of such 
 
 8 
 
monstrous deeds impossible. If, from this time forth, our 
 people shall put down malicious attacks upon law and govern- 
 ment; shall prevent the dissemination of the doctrines of an- 
 archy, and punish as treason attacks upon the Government, 
 through the person of its Chief Magistrate, we may indeed be- 
 lieve that our beloved President has not died in vain. 
 
 Of those traits of character, which made him a most de- 
 voted and loving husband, and endeared him to us as the gen- 
 tlest and kindest of friends, we may not now trust ourselves 
 to speak. Loving his home, and looking forward with undis- 
 guised joy to the day when he could lay down the cares of 
 state to become again a citizen and neighbor, it is difficult to 
 realize that we are never more to feel the pressure of his 
 friendly hand, or look upon the manly beauty of his noble 
 face. Xoble and true in life, he met death with an heroic 
 fortitude that was sublime. "His will, not ours, be done," 
 was the simple expression of the faith of his Fathers, in which 
 he had lived, and in which he died. 
 
 "Wards are inadequate to express the deep sympathy 
 which we extend to the son-owing companion and family in 
 their affliction. Unconsciously, but none the less accurately, 
 he depicted his own character and career, when he said of Gar- 
 field, his lamented predecessor: 
 
 "In him we find the best representative of the possibilities 
 of American life. Boy and man he typifies American youth 
 and manhood, and illustrates the benefits and glory of our 
 free institutions. He did not flash forth as a meteor; he rose 
 with measured and stately step over rough paths and through 
 years of rugged work. He earned his passage to every prefer- 
 ment. He was tried and tested at every step in the pathway 
 of progress. He produced his passport to every gateway of 
 
 9 
 
opportunity and glory. His State sustained him, and at last 
 the Nation rewarded his courage and consistency with the 
 highest honors it could bestow." 
 
 WILLIAM R. DAY, 
 WILLIAM A. LYNCH, 
 JOSEPH FKEASE. 
 RALPH S. AMBLER, 
 JAMES J. CLARK, 
 FRANK L. BALDWIN, 
 DAYID FORDING, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 10 
 
flddms of . . ♦ 
 
 S)0«. iUilliatit R. Day. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Bar: 
 
 Our thoughts today turn from the image of a lamented Presi- 
 dent, mourned of all mankind, loved of all people, forever secure 
 in the history of his country's great leaders, to the young and 
 buoyant presence, which came into this community thirty-four 
 years ago to begin the struggle of life in his chosen profession. 
 The world is filled with the praises of all men for his achievements 
 at the head of one of the most eventful administrations in our 
 history. We know that when he took up the reins of government, 
 he found his country distracted with rumors of war, her industry 
 depressed, her people divided, her true place in the world's family 
 unrecognized and unappreciated. We know that under his leader- 
 ship, the fires of sectional hatred have forever gone out. Our 
 people are united as never before; a dominion of more than four 
 hundred years of colonial misrule and oppression has forever end- 
 ed; the bounds of freedom made wider by the acquisition of new 
 people; a nation potent in the great affairs of the world, with do- 
 mestic happiness and prosperity abounding at home. We know 
 that another great character has been added to the world's lead- 
 ers, taken in the zenith of his fame to a place among the immor- 
 tals. 
 
 Today we turn to thoughts of what our departed brother was 
 to us, and to pay the last sad tribute of affection to one, who 
 never lost his interest in the companions of his young manhood, 
 whose welfare was ever near to his heart. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln, in the year 1850, prepared notes for a lecture to 
 law students, in which he said: 
 
 "Discourage litigation — persiiade your neighbors to compro- 
 mise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal win- 
 ner is often the real loser — in fees, expenses and waste of time. 
 As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being 
 a good man. There will still be business enough. 
 
 Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found 
 than one who does this. Who can be more nearly a fiend than he 
 who habitually overhauls the register of deeds in search of de- 
 fects of titles whereon to stir up strife, and put money in his 
 
 11 
 
pocket? A moral tone ought to be infused into the profession 
 which should drive such men out of it." 
 
 To the class of lawyers who discourage litigation, who act the 
 peacemaker between neighbors, and do all they can to keep clients 
 out of court rather than to help them when in it, William McKin- 
 ley belonged. He alwaj-s recognized that disputes must arise, 
 which can only be settled by orderly controversy and decision, 
 and that man has not yet devised a better method of settlement 
 than by honorable and orderly forensic discussion, "When eye 
 looks into eye and voice responds to voice" in a forum governed 
 by law. 
 
 It was Major McKinley's ambition in his early years to be- 
 come a lawyer, and the widest horizon of his hopes took in as the 
 grand prize to be striven for, a place upon the Common Pleas 
 bench of his District. That he would have made a good judge, no 
 one doubts who is familiar with the strength and fairness of his 
 mind and his intuitive sense of justice and right so essential to 
 success upon the bench. 
 
 The war and its four years of service, destroying his hope of 
 further collegiate instruction, nevertheless broadened and 
 strengthened his character, taught him to submit to reverses, to 
 be moderate in success, to be cool, self-reliant, watchful and cour- 
 ageous; qualities as essential to the lawyer as to the soldier. 
 
 When the young lawyer came to Canton, he opened an office 
 in the same building with one of Canton's famous lawyers, Judge 
 George W. Belden. Judge Belden had been upon the bench and 
 was United States District Attorney for Northern Ohio under Mr. 
 Buchanan, and as such prosecuted the famous Slave Bescue 
 Case tried at Cleveland in 1859. The j r oung lawyer attracted the 
 attention of Judge Belden. In those days a Canton lawyer worked 
 in his office evenings as well as in the day time. One evening 
 Judge Belden brought a file of papers into Major McKinley's office 
 telling him the case would be argued next morning and he wished 
 him to argue it. This was sudden, but there were some hours be- 
 fore morning, and these the young advocate devoted to prepara- 
 tion. The next day the case was called and Major McKinley ar- 
 gued and won it. Judge Belden offered him a partnership. The 
 offer was accepted, and from that time his position at the bar was 
 secure. 
 
 As Prosecuting Attorne}', he never allowed private malice to 
 control public prosecution, and made it a rule never to recommend 
 an indictment unless the proof warranted the belief that the ac- 
 cused was guilty. He soon became engaged in important civil 
 causes. He tried a great variety of them. He was in many of the 
 leading cases in the county. 
 
 12 
 
In a famous case of alleged malpractice he was associated 
 with John McSweeney and William A. Lynch for the defense. In 
 this companionship of great lawyers, he did not suffer by compari- 
 son. 
 
 At one time there was a great strike in the Massillon coal re- 
 gion. Riot ensued. The militia was called out; men were arrested 
 and brought to Canton under strong guard for trial. They appeal- 
 ed to Major McKinley to aid in their defense. He investigated 
 the case and found some of the men had been wrongfully accused 
 of complicity in the acts of violence charged. He undertook their 
 defense, and was successful in securing an acquittal of the major- 
 ity of them. Realizing their hardships he refused all compensa- 
 tion for his services. 
 
 In the trial of a case Major McKinley gained the confidence of 
 the jury by the fairness and courtesy of his conduct, and into all 
 his arguments was thrown the silent but potent influence of a 
 character beyond reproach. 
 
 To the Court, he was thorough and logical, and always fair; 
 to a jury, he had the same power of epigrammatic expression 
 which has enabled him to state party policies and political views 
 in phrases which compass a great truth in a few plain words. He 
 had the faculty of putting things so that the jury could readily 
 comprehend and follow his arguments. He spoke to them as he 
 has since spoken to the people, appealed to their judgments and 
 understanding rather than to passion or prejudice. 
 
 When he went into Congress in "1S77, as 'he often said, he found 
 his legal experience of great benefit to him. In Congress he 
 served on the Judiciary Committee of the House with some of the 
 best lawyers in the country. In that service legal knowledge and 
 judgment are essential to success. He bore his full share in the 
 discussion and decision of the important matters which came be- 
 fore that body. 
 
 The election of Judge Taylor, as Gen. Garfield's successor in 
 the House, raised a novel and important question of law. Gen. 
 Garfield was elected to Congress from the Nineteenth Ohio Dis- 
 trict. His subsequent elevation to the Senate, followed by his 
 election to the Presidency, necessitated the resignation of his seat 
 in the House. In the meantime the Ohio Legislature had gerry- 
 mandered the district so as to change somewhat the territorial 
 construction of the Nineteenth District. Was Gen. Garfield's suc- 
 cessor to be chosen in the old or new district? This was purely 
 a question of law. Major McKinley's presentation of it to the House 
 is a model of compact and clear legal discussion. It is such an ar- 
 gument as might have been addressed to the Supreme Court had 
 the question been pending there. 
 
 13 
 
His speech on "Counting a Quorum" in the Fifty-first Con- 
 gress, is the most full and complete presentation of that question 
 made in the House. It is a demonstration of the absurdity of 
 members effecting a constructive absence by remaining silent in 
 their places when public matters are to be voted upon. 
 
 Here is a specimen paragraph which well illustrates his style 
 of legal argument: "Now, Mr. Speaker, what is the question? 
 What are we contending about? We are contending as to how it 
 shall be ascertained that we have a constitutional majority in the 
 House. We insist, and the Speaker's ruling so declares, that mem- 
 bers in their seats shall be counted, for the purpose of making a 
 quorum, and that their refusal to respond to their names upon a 
 call of the roll, though present, shall not deprive this house of 
 moving in the discharge of great public duties and stop all legis- 
 lation. Gentlemen upon the other side insist upon what? That 
 they shall perpetuate a fiction— that is what it is — that they shall 
 perpetuate a fiction because they say it is hoary with age; a fic- 
 tion that declares that although members are present in their 
 seats they shall be held to be constructively absent. That is what 
 they are contending for. We are contending that this shall be a 
 fact and a truth, not a fiction and a falsehood, and that members, 
 who sit in their seats in this hall shall be counted as present, be- 
 cause they are present. They want the Journal to declare a lie; 
 we want the Journal to declare the truth. 
 
 "Let us be honest with each other and with the country. Let us 
 defeat bills in a constitutional way, or not at all; give freedom of 
 debate, opportunity of amendment, the aye and nay vote, by which 
 the judgment and will of every representative can be expressed and 
 responsibility fixed where it belongs, and we will preserve our own 
 self-respect, give force to the constitution of the country we have 
 sworn to obey, and serve the people whose trust we hold." 
 
 Major McKinley's speech in advocating the passage of a Bill, 
 providing for arbitration to settle controversies between inter- 
 state carriers and their employes, is a fine specimen of legal ar- 
 gument. His views are thus summarized; 
 
 The features of a successful arbitration law are: 
 
 1. Arbitration should be authorized and favored — not com- 
 pelled, and should be free of expense to the parties. 
 
 2. The parties themselves should retain the right of selecting 
 their own arbitrators, if they so desire. 
 
 3. Awards of arbitration should rest for their sanction 
 upon their own manifest justice and merits. This, of course, 
 would not apply where the parties covenant in advance for other 
 means of enforcement. 
 
 14 
 
4. Investigation into causes of strikes, etc., when made, 
 should be thorough and impartial; and when disagreements con- 
 tinue after awards of investigation, the facts should be laid be- 
 fore the public. 
 
 Legal training is apparent in a mind that could thus forecast 
 the difficulties and embody the essentials of a successful arbitra- 
 tion law. While he was Governor of Ohio, a law was passed based 
 on these principles. It worked admirably. An efficient Board of 
 Arbitration was appointed. Many difficulties which threatened 
 the peace of the State have been amicably and satisfactorily set- 
 tled. 
 
 He ever believed legal training and discipline one of the best 
 of preparations for success in public life. It was a common ex- 
 pression of his when looking for someone to execute an important 
 task, "Find me the best lawyer you can who will undertake the 
 work." 
 
 His confidence in the profession was shown, among other 
 things, in the fact that when he died, the heads of the two great 
 departments of War and Navy were filled with distinguished abil- 
 ity by members of our profession. 
 
 From the time he opened his office in Canton until he closed 
 his career in his tragic death, his was a continuous growth and 
 development. With steady poise he arose equal to every occasion, 
 and proved himself competent to the great opportunities of his 
 career. 
 
 He never tired of repeating the incidents of his professional 
 life, and while he would probably never have resumed the practice 
 of his profession, his countrymen would have insisted upon the 
 benefit of his counsel and advice in the great affairs which are 
 sure to crowd upon our attention in the future. 
 
 No man had greater right to hold life dear than had William 
 McKinley on that fatal day when he was stricken. 
 
 He had earned a place in history seldom accorded to man. He 
 was loved of the people, as has been truthfully said, as no other 
 President was ever loved while in office. He had been tried sorely, 
 and his patience, wisdom and courage had raised him to the high- 
 est place in the confidence of his countrymen. The great prob- 
 lems of his administration were in the way of successful solution. 
 The home he loved was to be his resting place, and the friends of 
 his youth the companions of his retirement. The life of his dear 
 companion had been graciously spared, and together they might 
 hope for many years of comfort when the responsibility of office 
 was laid aside. These things, and more, must have been before his 
 
 15 
 
fading vision when he beheld the conqueror of all men at his bed- 
 side, and he did not falter. 
 
 Nobly as he had lived, so passed the grand heroic soul away. 
 
 To the surviving members of this bar, where he lived and 
 wrought, he has left the light of his example and the precious 
 memory of his friendship, more dear to us now than all the trib- 
 utes with which the world will crown his memory. 
 
 16 
 
Address of . . . 
 
 Bon. militant A. Eyncb. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : 
 
 The sixth of September will ever be a black-letter day in the 
 American calendar. What a universal thrill of horror smote the 
 American heart! How the Nation stood aghast, incredulous, ap- 
 palled. 
 
 Then as death tarried on the threshold, first came a faint 
 shred of hope, like the first sign of morning, long before the break 
 of day; and as days passed slowly, how it grew, growing brighter 
 and stronger until hope seemed certainty, and the general feeling 
 became almost an outburst of joy at the prospect of speedy re- 
 covery. But alas, we rejoiced too soon. The bitter end came at 
 last, and todaj r , in common with all our countrymen, we stand 
 overwhelmed in the profoundest sorrow. 
 
 It is certainly fitting that the bar of Stark County should 
 meet, as is the established custom, to notice the death of our de- 
 parted brother, and to place upon the records of the court its tes- 
 timony of his worth, and an expression of its sense of the Na- 
 tion's loss. 
 
 For myself, I am grateful that after fifteen years of almost 
 unbroken absence, I am permitted to come back and participate 
 in these mournful proceedings. 
 
 I knew William McKinley well. When he came here upon a 
 visit, before coming to settle, I made his acquaintance, and when 
 he was admitted to the bar and came here to begin his life's work, 
 I gave him the hand of fellowship and welcome, for but few young 
 men were then at this bar — and Ave became friends — a friendship, 
 I am proud to say, continued unbroken by the contests of profes- 
 sional life, undisturbed by differences of political faith, from that 
 day to the day of his untimely death. 
 
 And now, as I stand here on this site of our early struggles, 
 looking back over that more than a third of a hundred years, 
 what memories throng upon me! 
 
 How well I remember our first long walk and talk, and the 
 many walks and talks that followed, and the discussions of our 
 early cases, then so important and of such absorbing interest! 
 And well I recall the long ride we once took in going to deliver 
 
 17 
 
addresses at a celebration of the Fourth of July; and how full he 
 was of the prospects of happiness upon his engagement to her 
 who is now his disconsolate and broken-hearted widow. 
 
 I remember as though it was yesterday, his first case in court. 
 It was not a weighty cause, but it gave him that chance so im- 
 portant to the young lawyer, to appear in court, and how well he 
 improved the opportunity. I can see him now as he stood before 
 the court for the first time, young, eager, ambitious, well-pre- 
 pared, self-posted, but not over-confident; how he impressed me 
 as he arose and told the court "What we contend for in this law 
 suit." I recall the very words of his opening. 
 
 As a result of that maiden effort he was at once offered a 
 partnership by ex-Judge Belden, one of Stark County's ablest law- 
 yers, but then retiring from active practice. This connection 
 brought business and opportunities to appear before the courts, 
 and for ten years he devoted himself to active work in the profes- 
 sion. The trend of his abilities and ambition led him toward ad- 
 vocacy rather than counseling or office work, and he took advan- 
 tage of every occasion to appear at the bar and take part in the 
 trial of causes. He became a good trial lawyer, diligent in prepar- 
 ation, conscientious in his work, absolutely true to his client, 
 and during- his first ten years at the bar, he took part in many of 
 the most important causes that were tried here. 
 
 When but two years at the bar he was elected Prosecuting 
 Attorney, and discharged the duties with marked ability and suc- 
 cess. During those ten j-ears I was in many cases with and 
 against him, and you will all agree with me that if there is any re- 
 lation in life that will give one a better knowledge of a man than 
 trying a case with him, it is trying one against him. 
 
 Looking back now to those years of almost constant struggle 
 on the same or opposite sides of the bar table, I desire to say that 
 Mr. McKinley was a good lawyer, an able advocate, and had he 
 continued the pursuit of the law throughout his active life, he 
 would have been rated as one of the strongest lawyers and most 
 persuasive advocates. 
 
 When I learned from the papers that two of the ablest law- 
 j r ers of the Buffalo bar, upon assignment of the court, had under- 
 taken the defense of the miserable wretch that brought this 
 gloom upon us, I felt how thoroughly he would, if he could, have 
 approved of their course, and their high conception of a lawyer's 
 duty. For my mind went back to the time when he himself con- 
 ducted the defense of one who was charged with the attempted 
 assassination of two of our leading citizens, one a prominent 
 member of this bar, and made a strong defense, based on the sup- 
 
 18 
 
posed insufficiency of evidence, which was wholly circumstantial. 
 
 It is not my purpose to speak of Mr. McKinley's political 
 career, but there is one fact in connection with his early life that 
 is not without interest. In those days members of the Eepublican 
 party took different views upon some important public questions, 
 notably that of Negro Suffrage. Some were radical, others were 
 conservative. In the year he came here, 1867, he took an active 
 part in the speaking- campaign for his party. The result for the 
 County and State was in doubt, and before it was settled Mr. Mc- 
 Kinley declared that there was one candidate on the ticket for 
 whose success he was especially anxiotis. It was supposed he re- 
 ferred to his friend, General R. B. Hayes, who was then candidate 
 for Governor. "No," he said, "my especial candidate is Negro 
 Suffrage." That was the j-ear in which that question was sub- 
 mitted to the popular vote of the people of this State; but, al- 
 though the Eepublican party carried the State by heavy majorities 
 both before and after that election, the proposition for Negro 
 Suffrage received but 216,000 votes out of a total of over five hun- 
 dred and forty thousand. Mr. McKinley was counted a Eadical. 
 
 Of our deceased brother's political life and services I shall not 
 speak, for they are household knowledge from Maine to Cali- 
 fornia, but I cannot refrain from speaking briefly of the elements 
 of character which made his great career possible. Looking back 
 to his early efforts in court, and from that to the end, the under- 
 ljing- element of success has always appeared to me conspicuous 
 — his self reliance. In all his public efforts that came to my know- 
 ledge, from the first court argument to his last public address at 
 Buffalo, which I cannot but regard as one of the most fortunate 
 for his enduring fame as a statesman, he showed that fundamen- 
 tal element of self-reliance. 
 
 With equal clearness appears another great line of character 
 — steadfastness of purpose. He was careful, deliberate, prone to 
 consult and to weigh well before adopting a course. But I, who 
 did not often agree with him politically, venture the statement 
 that few public men have shown so consistent a course in a long 
 public life. 
 
 But of more importance still was that homely virtue which we 
 call "common honesty." In his long career in public office, what 
 opportunities offered to prefer and enrich himself! To what 
 mighty temptations must a weak man have been subjected occupy- 
 ing the place and wielding the power he did when chairman of the 
 Committee on Ways and Means. But what partisanship or 
 jealousy dared to say, or to think of saying, that one dishonest 
 dollar ever crossed the palm of William McKinley? Do not imag- 
 
 19 
 
ine that I am giving him special credit for this. It is the right of 
 the country that its public men should be honest; but the young 
 men of the land who look to his career for inspiration must learn 
 well the lesson that such a career was impossible unless founded 
 on the most unyielding personal integrity. 
 
 But now, Mr. Chairman, I cannot be so selfish as to take more 
 of the time of this session, when there are so many who must wish 
 to speak. I have come here to add a few simple words to the 
 great chorus of eulogy that has sounded throughout the land, yes, 
 throughout the world. I must admit, Mr. Chairman, that when I 
 stood here thirty years ago, struggling over the question whether 
 the line fence between two farms should stand where it was, or 
 be moved a rod one way or the other, I did not realize that the 
 lawyer on the other side of that petty issue would one day fix the 
 boundaries of our National Domain. I did not anticipate his great 
 career. But I knew then, as the country has since come to know, 
 that William McKinley was a man of constant growth; studious 
 and industrious, he enlarged by experience. His career in Con- 
 gress was a great training in public affairs. Yet his personal 
 labors were so largely confined to one great measure that some 
 called him a man of one idea. But when he became Governor of 
 our State, new questions were brought to him and he showed his 
 broadening power. Few men have so grown under the pressure 
 of new questions. In his last great office he displayed great re- 
 serve of intellectual strength and power of will; he showed the 
 accumulative effect of years of training. He displayed a match- 
 less power in the control of men that comes from years of experi- 
 ence. Tact, strength and wisdom blended happily in his conduct 
 of public affairs. His fame is secure. He is enrolled forever as 
 one of our martyred Presidents. Whatever history may say of 
 his policies, of his character there will be no doubt. He lived a 
 great life. He was able; he was honest; he was patriotic; he died 
 the beloved of all people. 
 
 20 
 
Address of . . . 
 
 Bon. Jacob & Jtmbler. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : 
 
 If Your Honor please, not being a resident of this county, I 
 came here today in answer to the very kindly invitation of the 
 members of this bar, who, on account of my long association with 
 them have kindly treated me as a quasi member, and so invited 
 me to this meeting. I came, not intending to say a word, but by 
 my silent presence to bear witness to the high esteem in which I 
 have always held the distinguished member of this bar who has 
 gone to his account, and to thus testify my affection for him 
 whom I have known so well. 
 
 It is now thought that I should say a word, and so, called on, 
 I cannot hesitate to give some expression to my feelings, and per- 
 haps it is right that I should say something on this occasion, as I 
 suspect that of those who are present today, I had the earliest 
 acquaintance with William McKinley. 
 
 I first knew him as a boy in the neighboring county where he 
 then resided. I knew him as a student of the law with my then 
 associate on the bench, the late Judge G lid den, of this district. 
 I knew him afterwards when he came to Canton to commence the 
 practice of his profession, and knew something — but not as much 
 as his brethren residing here — of his experiences as a member of 
 this bar, before he entered into political life. 
 
 I had the honor to represent this district at the time of his 
 first visit to the Capital of the Country. As my guest he first en- 
 tered the hall of the House of Representatives at Washington— 
 which he afterwards honored so highly. My seat, as the then 
 member from this district, in the Forty-first Congress, was the 
 first seat in that hall that he ever sat in, and I have since been 
 proud that the seat was so graced. 
 
 I knew Mr. McKinley professionally, politically and socially, 
 for more than a third of a century, and, I think, had abundant 
 means for forming a proper estimate of his character, mentally, 
 socially and morally, and I can very heartily endorse what has 
 been so well said today by the distinguished gentlemen who have 
 preceded me on this occasion. 
 
 It would be idle for me to attempt to go into any detail. Any 
 
 21 
 
words that I might use would but feebly express my high appreci- 
 ation of him as a man, a lawyer, a member of Congress, and Chief 
 Magistrate of this country. 
 
 He was a great man. Great in his earnestness of purpose, in 
 his integrity, his foresight and his confidence in the common peo- 
 ple, on whose judgment he "was wont to rely. While he sometimes 
 was slow in forming opinions, and had the habit of hesitating un- 
 til the subject for consideration had been w T ell weighed, and his 
 judgment well matured; but, when he had made up his mind, he 
 had the courage of his convictions, and did not hesitate in action. 
 And the people at large, whom he believed in as the j>roper rulers 
 of the country, had confidence in him in a very marked degree, 
 and supported his policjr to the end. What a magnificent Presi- 
 dent he made! How he graced the office and the office him! 
 
 What a magnificent presence he had! It was my fortune, 
 ■when I was younger and he a young man, and when I had some lit- 
 tle connection with the politics of the State, to frequently be with 
 him in public places among-st those who then saw him for the 
 first time, and I could name dozens of people of prominence, who, 
 struck by his appearance, eagerly inquired who he was. He had a 
 singularly noble presence, and his presence was expressive of his 
 nobility of character. 
 
 When I think of the manner of his death, it is too much — I 
 cannot speak. We are all deeply impressed by the horror of his 
 assassination, and I think we all feel that the dreadful act, so 
 without cause or excuse, gives color to the claim of Mr. Lewis — 
 his counsel by appointment of the court— that the assassin was in 
 some sense insane — not legally insane, for it is evident that the 
 miserable scoundrel knew and intended the consequence, on ac- 
 count of which we mourn today. 
 
 I will not detain you longer; it is not right that I should. 
 Many of you, his brethren and fellow townsmen — his neighbors — 
 whose association was by reason of being his neighbors more 
 continuously close and intimate, are better prepared to speak of 
 him, and I have no right to take your time, for they can more 
 w T orthily speak on this occasion. 
 
 22 
 
flddrw of . . . 
 
 Ron. Ularren IU. Bole. 
 
 Mr. Chau-man and Gentlemen of the Bar : 
 
 I had not expected to be called upon for any remarks, and I 
 do not intend to say more than a word or two. Perhaps all that 
 I should do at this time is to suggest one important lesson which 
 the world, and this country, especially, must learn from the death 
 of our beloved ruler. 
 
 It was my privilege to be present at the trial which took 
 place last Monday and Tuesday, and I was impressed with the 
 thought which was enforced in the speech for the defense, made 
 by Judge Lewis, when he referred to the importance of vindicat- 
 ing- the majesty of the law in this land. The manner in which 
 that trial was conducted leaves no excuse for the advocate of 
 lynch law; and yet the trial, though speedy, was not conducted 
 with any undue haste, but the defendant was given every oppor- 
 tunity which an enlightened and humane law has extended to 
 those accused of crime. I have heard a good many criminal trials 
 — I have presided at some — but I never expect again to witness a 
 trial where the counsel for the defendant, doing as well as he 
 could a disagreeable duty which had been thrust upon him, did 
 it so ably and so well, and yet, at the close of his remarks, gave 
 way to tears, not for the defendant for whom he was speaking, 
 but for the victim of that defendant's crime. The last words of 
 the able advocate were: "The death of the President is the sad- 
 est blow I have ever received," and he took his seat with the 
 tears streaming down his face. Notwithstanding that this crime 
 was so shocking to all our citizens, and so inexcusable as to bring 
 such tears to the eyes of the defendant's advocate, yet there was 
 no clamor of a mob calling for lynch law. At this time, when 
 some men— one even as high as a United States Senator— have 
 allowed themselves to give utterance to words justifying lynch 
 law, it is certainly encouraging that there was no attempt at 
 mob violence, and a trial held with all the elements of fairness 
 and justice which surrounded the case at Buffalo this week. 
 
 Though the death of our President has saddened the hearts 
 of his countrymen, let us hope that his own words of protection 
 for the assassin, when he was stricken down, and the history of 
 
 23 
 
this trial, may go a long way toward ending the prevalence of 
 lynch law in this land. 
 
 Our beloved President has gone to his reward, but his name 
 will remain for generations to come as an incentive to every true 
 American lad. William McKinley was not a spasmodic reformer. 
 He was not a man to plant a flagstaff, and attach a banner of 
 reform to be torn down by the next gale, but any reform which 
 he advocated was planted like a tree. It was watered and cared 
 for, and today many of the laws which he was instrumental in 
 framing, some of which have been referred to today, are stand- 
 ing like thrifty trees, and will give shade and refreshment to his 
 fellow citizens in all the ages which are to come. 
 
 24 
 
Address of . . . 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Bar : 
 
 Neither did I come here to speak on this sad occasion. I 
 came here to listen to men more eloquent and more able to do 
 honor to this illustrious dead— and we are here today to do honor 
 to a great, a grand and a good man. Great as a soldier and pa- 
 triot; great as a member of Congress; great as the Governor of 
 this great commonwealth; great as the President of this great 
 Nation, but greater and grandest of all in his domestic and Chris- 
 tian life. What he has done as a statesman— his record as a 
 statesman— after a while will be remembered as history. The 
 example he has left us oi a pure life and of a Christian character 
 will be remembered by our households while there are house- 
 holds; it will be remembered in our families while there are fam- 
 ilies. And that noble expression of his: "It is God's way, His 
 will, not ours, be done," will live side by side with the teachings, 
 and with that expression of the great Apostle to the Gentiles: "I 
 have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept 
 the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteous- 
 ness which the Lord will give." The faith expressed in that sen- 
 timent, and the resignation expressed in that sentiment, will live 
 side by side with the expression of the patient man of old: "The 
 Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, and blessed be the name of 
 the Lord forever." 
 
 His act at the time of his most foul murder, when he lifted his 
 hand and pleaded that his friends might not tear his foul assassin 
 to pieces— that is not his language, but that is his sentiment- 
 will live side by side with the expression of the Divine Teacher 
 as long as the Christian religion is taught on earth, and until its 
 final triumph, when He said: "Lord, forgive them, they know not 
 what they do." These are the things which will be remembered 
 when his record as a statesman may be remembered as history 
 only. J 
 
 I knew Mr. McKinley first when he came to Carroll County to 
 make his canvass, when he was first a candidate for Congress. I 
 had seen him before, but I got to know him during that campaign. 
 I remember that those who wanted the office said, and that those 
 
 25 
 
who were friends of the other candidates said, "It is all on the 
 surface, when you see Mr. McKinley you see all there is of him; 
 he will g - o to Congress, he will remain there for a term or two, 
 and that will be the end of it." How he must have surprised and 
 disappointed them, for his growth was uniform and regular until 
 he achieved the highest station in life. There were no haltings 
 in his progress; there were no backward steps in his character 
 and his career. I had the honor to be in the Forty-ninth Congress; 
 he was in that Congress, and the Republicans were in the minor- 
 ity. Mr. Eeed "was the Republican leader on the floor, by reason 
 of his caucus nomination for speaker, yet Mr. McKinley was the. 
 real, substantial leader of the House, and particularly on tariff 
 matters and tariff legislation. While he took an active part in all 
 that was going on, he spoke but seldom, but when he did speak, 
 or it was known he was about to speak, every eye was turned 
 toward him. The House was all attention. The country was all 
 attention. 
 
 When have we had such another example — when has any coun- 
 try had an example of so complete, and so perfect, and so well 
 rounded out a character of a great man, of a grand man, of a 
 good man, as in the history and life of President McKinley? 
 
 26 
 
RA&ms of . . . 
 
 Ron. James H. Rice. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Bar : 
 
 I regret that I am compelled to leave this gathering before all 
 who will and ought to speak have done so, and I offer this as my 
 excuse for saying a word at this time, and at what appears to me 
 out of turn. 
 
 It is interesting to me, as a younger member of the bar, to 
 listen to the beautiful truths told of William McKinley by the 
 members" who knew him during his younger days, and, in fact, 
 throughout his life. It occurs to me that in their knowledge of 
 and acquaintance with him, they have been highly favored and 
 greatly rewarded. We younger men learned to know him slightly, 
 but well enough to cause us to love and admire his personality. 
 In his untimely death it seems to me we sustain the greater loss. 
 
 I have thought many times, especially during this past sum- 
 mer, as I so often passed his home and received his pleasant sal- 
 utation, what a privilege, what a comfort, and what a great pleas- 
 ure it would Toe to us all to have him again among us after his re- 
 tirement from public office. 
 
 His patience with and cordiality toward young men promised 
 much to us younger members of this bar. 
 
 It is a source of pleasure to me now that in all that I have 
 said and done in a political way, I have never said or done any- 
 thing in reference to President McKinley that causes me any re- 
 gret. His opponents could not but love and respect him, because 
 of his love and admiration for them, if they were but honest and 
 fair. 
 
 One of the noblest of his qualities is evidenced by the fact 
 that he never quarreled with an enemy. 
 
 I knew the brightness of his nature and the warmth of his 
 heart. I know, therefore, that those of us who had been his sin- 
 cere and honorable opponents were to receive from him, when he 
 returned to live among us, the same cordial greeting that would 
 be extended to those of you who had always been his political 
 friends and supporters. 
 
 I feel deeply the loss of the man and citizen, and I grieve with 
 the Nation. 
 
 27 
 
He was too good a man; he was too great a man to be taken 
 away as he was. Of all men he should have been permitted to live 
 out his full time. Good, true and noble as was his life, it is too 
 bad that the world had to lose a single moment of its natural 
 period. 
 
 28 
 
n Poem by . . . 
 
 eiwrles Hricbbaunt. 
 
 Corne back to rest at home, 
 
 Your labors done, come home. 
 
 You drank the martyr's cup 
 
 To lift divinely up 
 
 The Nation's sacred life 
 
 Beyond the reach of knife 
 
 Or shot of miscreant. 
 
 Our better natures chant 
 
 You requiems of love. 
 
 Your death's won deathless love. 
 
 The Nation now is bound 
 
 By bonds not to be found 
 
 Except in such as come 
 
 Through holy martyrdom. 
 
 All party spirit's dumb 
 
 By deathless love o'ercome. 
 
 Not fearful of the fate 
 
 That hangs above the great, 
 
 A ruler plain you stood, 
 
 Seeking the common good. 
 
 You the foremost citizen, 
 
 Communing with your countrymen — 
 
 What more fitting place to be, 
 
 For apostle of democracy. 
 
 Your grasp of friendly hand 
 
 Like the touch magic wand 
 
 Thrilled through the people's blood 
 
 Sweet human brotherhood. 
 
 Poor poison-minded man! 
 
 Confusion curst the plan 
 
 By which you sought to kill, 
 
 By vicious cunning skill, 
 
 The people's government. 
 
 God quick His mercy lent, 
 
 Made good, what ill was meant, 
 
 Scarce could you, poor ingrate, 
 
 Your foul deed consummate, 
 
 Till buttressed was the government 
 
 By high and lofty sentiment, 
 
 29 
 
That stood like bastions wide 
 
 Four square on every side 
 
 The fabric reared through blood and 
 
 tears 
 By Washington and his compeers. 
 The Nation's righteous ire 
 Leaps up with ardent fire. 
 Our pulses now beat strong 
 In diviner niood 'gainst wrong. 
 We've found a new and better wealth 
 In manhood pure. A sturdier health 
 Springs conquering in the Nation's 
 
 breast. 
 Its aims are high, it craves the best; 
 Rejects the poisoned fruits 
 Of self-enforced idleness, 
 The crude, unkempt recruits 
 Of anarchy's bad prophetess; 
 The spawn of dive philosophy, 
 Malevolence, and black atrocity; 
 Dregs, of the struggling human race, 
 Who aspire downwards, and who ef- 
 face 
 The stars of hope, whose faith is 
 
 dead; 
 W T hose bread is murder, and whose 
 
 light is red. 
 God save us from such hideous night! 
 God flood our path with holy light! 
 Toil, service and obedience, 
 Through love and truth and rever- 
 ence, 
 Make up the sacred plan 
 By which God builds a man. 
 'Long this highway our martyr came 
 To wholesome fruitful fame. 
 God took him in the golden prime 
 Of his fair life. Remorseless time 
 Will never dim his lustrous name. 
 For years beyond our ken, his fame 
 Our glorious heritage remains. 
 Ours are imperishable gains! 
 The choicest civic fruit 
 Grown from the sturdy shoot 
 Of Scotland's hardy race. 
 
 SO 
 
Classic, grand, ideal face, 
 
 Benignant, human, kind, 
 
 Long-suffering, deep, refined. 
 
 A prince of lovers too, 
 
 Chivalrous through and through. 
 
 Here statesman, soldier, friend, 
 
 In perfect man did blend; 
 
 Sure faith in God and man, 
 
 Ideal American. 
 
 As long as love of home 
 
 And country shall endure, 
 
 Will trooping thousands come 
 
 To pay you homage pure. 
 
 The flag we all revere, 
 
 Shall daily, year by year, 
 
 In Heaven's shining stars, 
 
 And blue of sky, and bars 
 
 Of sunset, white and red, 
 
 Fall peaceful on your bed. 
 
 Your life's a river pure, 
 
 The streams whereof are sure 
 
 To gladden all the hearts, 
 
 And water all the parts 
 
 Of our dear Native Land. 
 
 Long may it glorious stand — 
 
 The land of every land the best, 
 
 The asylum for the world's op- 
 pressed; 
 
 Where high and low have equal 
 chance, 
 
 In man's blood-bought inheritance; 
 
 Where man's the finest fruit 
 
 That earth holds up to God; 
 
 Where progress finds her strong re- 
 cruit 
 
 His feet with justice shod. 
 
 We are God's people yet; 
 
 Nor shall we soon forget, 
 
 That love can rule, and die 
 
 For that it ruled, and by 
 
 A Christian death mount high 
 
 To goodly fame, where lie, 
 
 In their immortal beauty, 
 
 Above the "toppling crags of duty," 
 
 Climbed with his own feet and hands, 
 
 °.1 
 
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