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58th Congress, \ 
 2d Session. / 
 
 SENATE. 
 
 / Document 
 \ No. 268. 
 
 LAST SPEECH OF WILLIAM McKINLEY 
 
 Delivered at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo 
 September 5, 1901 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 1904 
 
J Document 
 2d Session. J \ No. 268. 
 
 LAST SPEECH OF WILLIAM McKINLEY 
 
 Delivered at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo 
 September 5, 1901 
 
 f 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 1904 
 
■ 
 
 April 13, 1904.— Presented by Mr. Fairbanks and ordered to be printed 
 
LAST SPEECH OF WILLIAM McKINLEY 
 
 AT THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION 
 BUFFALO, N. Y., SEPTEMBER 5, 1901 
 
 President Milburn, Director-General Buchanan, Com- 
 missioners, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 I am glad to be again in the city of Buffalo and 
 exchange greetings with her people, to whose gener- 
 ous hospitality I am not a stranger, and with whose 
 good will I have been repeatedly and signally hon- 
 ored. To-day I have additional satisfaction in meet- 
 ing and giving welcome to the foreign representatives 
 assembled here, whose presence and participation in 
 this exposition have contributed in so marked a de- 
 gree to its interest and success. To the commis- 
 sioners of the Dominion of Canada and the British 
 colonies, the French colonies, the Republics of Mex- 
 ico and of Central and South America, and the com- 
 missioners of Cuba and Porto Rico, who share with 
 us in this undertaking, we give the hand of fellow- 
 ship and felicitate with them upon the triumphs of 
 art, science, education, and manufacture which the 
 old has bequeathed to the new century. 
 
 Expositions are the timekeepers of progress. They 
 record the world's advancement. They stimulate the 
 energy, enterprise, and intellect of the people, and 
 quicken human genius. They go into the home. 
 
 3 
 
4 Last Speech of William McKinley, 
 
 They broaden and brighten the daily life of the people. 
 They open might)' storehouses of information to the 
 student. Every exposition, great or small, has helped 
 to some onward step. Comparison of ideas is always 
 educational, and as such instructs the brain and hand 
 of man. Friendly rivalry follows, which is the spur 
 to industrial improvement, the inspiration to useful 
 invention and to high endeavor in all departments of 
 human activity. It exacts a study of the wants, com- 
 forts, and even the whims of the people, and recog- 
 nizes the efficacy of high quality and low prices to win 
 their favor. The quest for trade is an incentive to men 
 of business to devise, invent, improve, and economize 
 in the cost of production. Business life, whether 
 among ourselves or with other peoples, is ever a 
 sharp struggle for success. It will be none the less 
 so in the future. Without competition we would be 
 clinging to the clumsy and antiquated processes of 
 farming and manufacture and the methods of busi- 
 ness of long ago, and the twentieth would be no fur- 
 ther advanced than the eighteenth century. But 
 though commercial competitors we are, commercial 
 enemies we must not be. 
 
 The Pan-American Exposition has done its work 
 thoroughly; presenting in its exhibits evidences of 
 the highest skill and illustrating the progress of the 
 human family in the Western Hemisphere. This 
 portion of the earth has no cause for humiliation for 
 the part it has performed in the march of civilization. 
 It has not accomplished everything ; far from it. It 
 has simply done its best, and without vanity or boast- 
 
Last Speech of William McKinley. 5 
 
 fulness, and recognizing the manifold achievements 
 of others, it invites the friendly rivalry of all the 
 powers in the peaceful pursuits of trade and com- 
 merce, and will cooperate with all in advancing the 
 highest and best interests of humanity. The wisdom 
 and energy of all the nations are none too great for 
 the world's work. The success of art, science, indus- 
 try, and invention is an international asset and a 
 common glory. 
 
 After all, how near one to the other is every part 
 of the world. Modern inventions have brought into 
 close relation widely separated peoples and made them 
 better acquainted. Geographic and political divisions 
 will continue to exist, but distances have been effaced. 
 Swift ships and fast trains are becoming cosmopolitan. 
 They invade fields which a few years ago were impene- 
 trable. The world's products are exchanged as never 
 before, and with increasing transportation facilities 
 come increasing knowledge and larger trade. Prices 
 are fixed with mathematical precision by supply and 
 demand. The world's selling prices are regulated by 
 market and crop reports. We travel greater distances 
 in a shorter space of time and with more ease than 
 was ever dreamed of by the fathers. 
 
 Isolation is no longer possible or desirable. The 
 same important news is read, though in different lan- 
 guages, the same day in all Christendom. The tele- 
 graph keeps us advised of what is occurring every- 
 where, and the press forshadows, with more or less 
 accuracy, the plans and purposes of the nations. 
 Market prices of products and of securities are hourly 
 
6 Last Speech of William McKinley. 
 
 known in every commercial mart, and the investments 
 of the people extend beyond their own national bound- 
 aries into the remotest parts of the earth. Vast trans- 
 actions are conducted and international exchanges are 
 made by the tick of the cable. Every event of interest 
 is immediately bulletined. The quick gathering and 
 transmission of news, like rapid transit, are of recent 
 origin, and are only made possible by the genius of 
 the inventor and the courage of the investor. It took 
 a special messenger of the Government, with every 
 facility known at the time for rapid travel, nineteen 
 days to go from the city of Washington to New Orleans 
 with a message to General Jackson that the war with 
 England had ceased and a treaty of peace had been 
 signed. How different now! We reached General 
 Miles in Porto Rico by cable, and he was able through 
 the military telegraph to stop his army on the firing 
 line with the message that the United States and Spain 
 had signed a protocol suspending hostilities. We knew 
 almost instantly of the first shots fired at Santiago, and 
 the subsequent surrender of the Spanish forces was 
 known at Washington within less than an hour of its 
 consummation. The first ship of Cervera's fleet had 
 hardly emerged from that historic harbor when the 
 fact was flashed to our capital and the swift destruc- 
 tion that followed was announced immediately through 
 the wonderful medium of telegraphy. So accustomed 
 are we to safe and easy communication with distant 
 lands, that its temporary interruption, even in ordi- 
 nary times, results in loss and inconvenience. We 
 shall never forget the days of anxious waiting and 
 
Last Speech of William McKinlcy, 7 
 
 awful suspense when no information was permitted to 
 be sent from Peking, and the diplomatic representa- 
 tives of the nations in China, cut off from all com- 
 munication, inside and outside of the walled capital, 
 were surrounded by an angry and misguided mob 
 that threatened their lives; nor the joy that thrilled 
 the world when a single message from the Govern- 
 ment of the United States brought through our min- 
 ister the first news of the safety of the besieged 
 diplomats. 
 
 At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was 
 not a mile of steam railroad on the globe. Now there 
 are enough miles to make its circuit many times. 
 Then there was not a line of electric telegraph; now 
 we have a vast mileage traversing all lands and all 
 seas. God and man have linked the nations together. 
 No nation can longer be indifferent to any other. 
 And as we are brought more and more in touch with 
 each other, the less occasion is there for misunder- 
 standings, and the stronger the disposition, when we 
 have differences, to adjust them in the court of arbi- 
 tration, which is the noblest forum for the settlement 
 of international disputes. 
 
 My fellow citizens, trade statistics indicate that this 
 country is in a state of unexampled prosperity. The 
 figures are almost appalling. The}- show that we are 
 utilizing our fields and forests and mines, and that we 
 are furnishing profitable employment to the millions 
 of workingmen throughout the United States, bring- 
 ing comfort and happiness to their homes, and making 
 it possible to lay by savings for old age and disability. 
 
8 Last Speech of William McKinlcy. 
 
 That all the people are participating in this great 
 prosperity is seen in every American community and 
 shown by the enormous and unprecedented deposits in 
 our savings banks. Our duty in the care and security 
 of these deposits and their safe investment demands 
 the highest integrity and the best business capacity 
 of those in charge of these depositories of the people's 
 earnings. 
 
 We have a vast and intricate business built up 
 through years of toil and struggle, in which every 
 part of the country has its stake, which will not 
 permit of either neglect or undue selfishness. No 
 narrow, sordid policy will subserve it. The greatest 
 skill and wisdom on the part of manufacturers and 
 producers will be required to hold and increase it. 
 Our industrial enterprises which have grown to such 
 great proportions affect the homes and occupations of 
 the people and the welfare of the country. Our 
 capacity to produce has developed so enormously and 
 our products have so multiplied that the problem of 
 more markets requires our urgent and immediate 
 attention. Only a broad and enlightened policy will 
 keep what we have. No other policy will get more. 
 In these times of marvelous business energy and 
 gain we ought to be looking to the future, strength- 
 ening the weak places in our indiistrial and commer- 
 cial systems, that we may be ready for any storm or 
 strain. 
 
 By sensible trade arrangements, which will not 
 interrupt our home production, we shall extend the 
 outlets for our increasing surplus. A system which 
 
Last Speech of William McKinley, 9 
 
 provides a mutual exchange of commodities is mani- 
 festly- essential to the continued and healthful growth 
 of our export trade. We must not repose in fancied 
 security that we can forever sell everything and buy 
 little or nothing. If such a thing were possible it 
 would not be best for us or for those with whom we 
 deal. We should take from our customers such of 
 their products as we can use without harm to our 
 industries and labor. Reciprocity is the natural out- 
 growth of our wonderful industrial development under 
 the domestic policy now firmly established. 
 
 What we produce beyond our domestic consump- 
 tion must have a vent abroad. The excess must be 
 relieved through a foreign outlet, and we should sell 
 everywhere we can and buy wherever the buying will 
 enlarge our sales and productions, and thereby make 
 a greater demand for home labor. 
 
 The period of exclusiveness is past. The expan- 
 sion of our trade and commerce is the pressing prob- 
 lem. Commercial wars are unprofitable. A policy 
 of good will and friendly trade relations will prevent 
 reprisals. Reciprocity treaties are in harmony with 
 the spirit of the times; measures of retaliation are not. 
 
 If perchance some of our tariffs are no longer needed 
 for revenue or to encourage and protect our industries 
 at home, why should they not be employed to extend 
 and promote our markets abroad? Then, too, we have 
 inadequate steamship service. New lines of steamers 
 have already been put in commission between the 
 Pacific coast ports of the United States and those on 
 the western coasts of Mexico and Central and South 
 
io Last Speech of William McKinley. 
 
 America. These should be followed up with direct 
 steamship lines between the eastern coast of the United 
 States and South American ports. One of the needs of 
 the times is direct commercial lines from our vast fields 
 of production to the fields of consumption that we have 
 but barely touched. Next in advantage to having the 
 thing to sell is to have the conveyance to carry it to the 
 buyer. We must increase our merchant marine. We 
 must have more ships. They must be under the Amer- 
 ican flag, built and manned and owned by Americans. 
 These will not only be profitable in a commercial sense; 
 they will be messengers of peace and amity wherever 
 they go. We must build the Isthmian Canal, which 
 will unite the two oceans and give a straight line of 
 water communication with the western coasts of Cen- 
 tral and South America and Mexico. The construction 
 of a Pacific cable cannot be longer postponed. 
 
 In the furtherance of these objects of national in- 
 terest and concern you are performing an important 
 part. This exposition would have touched the heart 
 of that American statesman whose mind was ever 
 alert and thought ever constant for a larger com- 
 merce and a truer fraternity of the republics of the 
 New World. His broad American spirit is felt and 
 manifested here. He needs no identification to an 
 assemblage of Americans anywhere, for the name of 
 Blaine is inseparably associated with the Pan-Ameri- 
 can movement which finds here practical and sub- 
 stantial expression, and which we all hope will be 
 firmly advanced by the Pan-American Congress that 
 assembles this autumn in the capital of Mexico. 
 
Last Speech of William McKinley. n 
 
 The good work will go on. It cannot be stopped. 
 These buildings will disappear; this creation of art 
 and beauty and industry will perish from sight, but 
 their influence will remain to 
 
 "Make it live beyond its too short living 
 With praises and thanksgiving." 
 
 Who can tell the new thoughts that have been awak- 
 ened, the ambitions fired, and the high achievements 
 that will be wrought through this exposition? Gen- 
 tlemen, let us ever remember that our interest is in 
 concord, not conflict; and that our real eminence rests 
 in the victories of peace, not those of war. May all 
 who are represented here be moved to higher and 
 nobler effort for their own and the world's good, and 
 out of this city may there come not only greater 
 commerce and trade for us all, but, more essential 
 than these, relations of mutual respect, confidence, 
 and friendship which will deepen and endure. 
 
 Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously 
 vouchsafe prosperity, happiness, and peace to all our 
 neighbors, and like blessings to all the peoples and 
 powers of earth. 
 
 O 
 
54 W 
 

 


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