approve the law wherever and whenever it has been thus administrated.

Congress should give prompt attention to the restoration of our
American merchant marine, once the pride of the seas in all the great
ocean highways of commerce. To my mind, few more important subjects so
imperatively demand its intelligent consideration. The United States
has progressed with marvelous rapidity in every field of enterprise and
endeavor until we have become foremost in nearly all the great lines of
inland trade, commerce, and industry. Yet, while this is true, our
American merchant marine has been steadily declining until it is now
lower, both in the percentage of tonnage and the number of vessels
employed, than it was prior to the Civil War. Commendable progress has
been made of late years in the upbuilding of the American Navy, but we
must supplement these efforts by providing as a proper consort for it a
merchant marine amply sufficient for our own carrying trade to foreign
countries. The question is one that appeals both to our business
necessities and the patriotic aspirations of a great people.

It has been the policy of the United States since the foundation of the
Government to cultivate relations of peace and amity with all the
nations of the world, and this accords with my conception of our duty
now. We have cherished the policy of non-interference with affairs of
foreign governments wisely inaugurated by Washington, keeping ourselves
free from entanglement, either as allies or foes, content to leave
undisturbed with them the settlement of their own domestic concerns. It
will be our aim to pursue a firm and dignified foreign policy, which
shall be just, impartial, ever watchful of our national honor, and
always insisting upon the enforcement of the lawful rights of American
citizens everywhere. Our diplomacy should seek nothing more and accept
nothing less than is due us. We want no wars of conquest; we must avoid
the temptation of territorial aggression. War should never be entered
upon until every agency of peace has failed; peace is preferable to war
in almost every contingency. Arbitration is the true method of
settlement of international as well as local or individual differences.
It was recognized as the best means of adjustment of differences
between employers and employees by the Forty-ninth Congress, in 1886,
and its application was extended to our diplomatic relations by the
unanimous concurrence of the Senate and House of the Fifty-first
Congress in 1890. The latter resolution was accepted as the basis of
negotiations with us by the British House of Commons in 1893, and upon
our invitation a treaty of arbitration between the United States and
Great Britain was signed at Washington and transmitted to the Senate
for its ratification in January last. Since this treaty is clearly the
result of our own initiative; since it has been recognized as the
leading feature of our foreign policy throughout our entire national
history - the adjustment of difficulties by judicial methods rather
than force of arms - and since it presents to the world the glorious
example of reason and peace, not passion and war, controlling the
relations between two of the greatest nations in the world, an example
certain to be followed by others, I respectfully urge the early action
of the Senate thereon, not merely as a matter of policy, but as a duty
to mankind. The importance and moral influence of the ratification of
such a treaty can hardly be overestimated in the cause of advancing
civilization. It may well engage the best thought of the statesmen and
people of every country, and I cannot but consider it fortunate that it
was reserved to the United States to have the leadership in so grand a
work.

It has been the uniform practice of each President to avoid, as far as
possible, the convening of Congress in extraordinary session. It is an
example which, under ordinary circumstances and in the absence of a
public necessity, is to be commended. But a failure to convene the
representatives of the people in Congress in extra session when it
involves neglect of a public duty places the responsibility of such
neglect upon the Executive himself. The condition of the public
Treasury, as has been indicated, demands the immediate consideration of
Congress. It alone has the power to provide revenues for the
Government. Not to convene it under such circumstances I can view in no
other sense than the neglect of a plain duty. I do not sympathize with
the sentiment that Congress in session is dangerous to our general
business interests. Its members are the agents of the people, and their
presence at the seat of Government in the execution of the sovereign
will should not operate as an injury, but a benefit. There could be no
better time to put the Government upon a sound financial and economic
basis than now. The people have only recently voted that this should be
done, and nothing is more binding upon the agents of their will than
the obligation of immediate action. It has always seemed to me that the
postponement of the meeting of Congress until more than a year after it
has been chosen deprived Congress too often of the inspiration of the
popular will and the country of the corresponding benefits. It is
evident, therefore, that to postpone action in the presence of so great
a necessity would be unwise on the part of the Executive because unjust
to the interests of the people. Our action now will be freer from mere
partisan consideration than if the question of tariff revision was
postponed until the regular session of Congress. We are nearly two
years from a Congressional election, and politics cannot so greatly
distract us as if such contest was immediately pending. We can approach
the problem calmly and patriotically, without fearing its effect upon
an early election.

Our fellow-citizens who may disagree with us upon the character of this
legislation prefer to have the question settled now, even against their
preconceived views, and perhaps settled so reasonably, as I trust and
believe it will be, as to insure great permanence, than to have further
uncertainty menacing the vast and varied business interests of the
United States. Again, whatever action Congress may take will be given a
fair opportunity for trial before the people are called to pass
judgment upon it, and this I consider a great essential to the rightful
and lasting settlement of the question. In view of these
considerations, I shall deem it my duty as President to convene
Congress in extraordinary session on Monday, the 15th day of March,
1897.

In conclusion, I congratulate the country upon the fraternal spirit of
the people and the manifestations of good will everywhere so apparent.
The recent election not only most fortunately demonstrated the
obliteration of sectional or geographical lines, but to some extent
also the prejudices which for years have distracted our councils and
marred our true greatness as a nation. The triumph of the people, whose
verdict is carried into effect today, is not the triumph of one
section, nor wholly of one party, but of all sections and all the
people. The North and the South no longer divide on the old lines, but
upon principles and policies; and in this fact surely every lover of
the country can find cause for true felicitation. Let us rejoice in and
cultivate this spirit; it is ennobling and will be both a gain and a
blessing to our beloved country. It will be my constant aim to do
nothing, and permit nothing to be done, that will arrest or disturb
this growing sentiment of unity and cooperation, this revival of esteem
and affiliation which now animates so many thousands in both the old
antagonistic sections, but I shall cheerfully do everything possible to
promote and increase it.

Let me again repeat the words of the oath administered by the Chief
Justice which, in their respective spheres, so far as applicable, I
would have all my countrymen observe: "I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States." This is the obligation I have reverently taken before the Lord
Most High. To keep it will be my single purpose, my constant prayer;
and I shall confidently rely upon the forbearance and assistance of all
the people in the discharge of my solemn responsibilities.


***

William McKinley
Second Inaugural Address
Monday, March 4, 1901

My Fellow-Citizens:

WHEN we assembled here on the 4th of March, 1897, there was great
anxiety with regard to our currency and credit. None exists now. Then
our Treasury receipts were inadequate to meet the current obligations
of the Government. Now they are sufficient for all public needs, and we
have a surplus instead of a deficit. Then I felt constrained to convene
the Congress in extraordinary session to devise revenues to pay the
ordinary expenses of the Government. Now I have the satisfaction to
announce that the Congress just closed has reduced taxation in the sum
of $41,000,000. Then there was deep solicitude because of the long
depression in our manufacturing, mining, agricultural, and mercantile
industries and the consequent distress of our laboring population. Now
every avenue of production is crowded with activity, labor is well
employed, and American products find good markets at home and abroad.

Our diversified productions, however, are increasing in such
unprecedented volume as to admonish us of the necessity of still
further enlarging our foreign markets by broader commercial relations.
For this purpose reciprocal trade arrangements with other nations
should in liberal spirit be carefully cultivated and promoted.

The national verdict of 1896 has for the most part been executed.
Whatever remains unfulfilled is a continuing obligation resting with
undiminished force upon the Executive and the Congress. But fortunate
as our condition is, its permanence can only be assured by sound
business methods and strict economy in national administration and
legislation. We should not permit our great prosperity to lead us to
reckless ventures in business or profligacy in public expenditures.
While the Congress determines the objects and the sum of
appropriations, the officials of the executive departments are
responsible for honest and faithful disbursement, and it should be
their constant care to avoid waste and extravagance.

Honesty, capacity, and industry are nowhere more indispensable than in
public employment. These should be fundamental requisites to original
appointment and the surest guaranties against removal.

Four years ago we stood on the brink of war without the people knowing
it and without any preparation or effort at preparation for the
impending peril. I did all that in honor could be done to avert the
war, but without avail. It became inevitable; and the Congress at its
first regular session, without party division, provided money in
anticipation of the crisis and in preparation to meet it. It came. The
result was signally favorable to American arms and in the highest
degree honorable to the Government. It imposed upon us obligations from
which we cannot escape and from which it would be dishonorable to seek
escape. We are now at peace with the world, and it is my fervent prayer
that if differences arise between us and other powers they may be
settled by peaceful arbitration and that hereafter we may be spared the
horrors of war.

Intrusted by the people for a second time with the office of President,
I enter upon its administration appreciating the great responsibilities
which attach to this renewed honor and commission, promising unreserved
devotion on my part to their faithful discharge and reverently invoking
for my guidance the direction and favor of Almighty God. I should
shrink from the duties this day assumed if I did not feel that in their
performance I should have the co-operation of the wise and patriotic
men of all parties. It encourages me for the great task which I now
undertake to believe that those who voluntarily committed to me the
trust imposed upon the Chief Executive of the Republic will give to me
generous support in my duties to "preserve, protect, and defend, the
Constitution of the United States" and to "care that the laws be
faithfully executed." The national purpose is indicated through a
national election. It is the constitutional method of ascertaining the
public will. When once it is registered it is a law to us all, and
faithful observance should follow its decrees.

Strong hearts and helpful hands are needed, and, fortunately, we have
them in every part of our beloved country. We are reunited.
Sectionalism has disappeared. Division on public questions can no
longer be traced by the war maps of 1861. These old differences less
and less disturb the judgment. Existing problems demand the thought and
quicken the conscience of the country, and the responsibility for their
presence, as well as for their righteous settlement, rests upon us all
- no more upon me than upon you. There are some national questions in
the solution of which patriotism should exclude partisanship.
Magnifying their difficulties will not take them off our hands nor
facilitate their adjustment. Distrust of the capacity, integrity, and
high purposes of the American people will not be an inspiring theme for
future political contests. Dark pictures and gloomy forebodings are
worse than useless. These only becloud, they do not help to point the
way of safety and honor. "Hope maketh not ashamed." The prophets of
evil were not the builders of the Republic, nor in its crises since
have they saved or served it. The faith of the fathers was a mighty
force in its creation, and the faith of their descendants has wrought
its progress and furnished its defenders. They are obstructionists who
despair, and who would destroy confidence in the ability of our people
to solve wisely and for civilization the mighty problems resting upon
them. The American people, intrenched in freedom at home, take their
love for it with them wherever they go, and they reject as mistaken and
unworthy the doctrine that we lose our own liberties by securing the
enduring foundations of liberty to others. Our institutions will not
deteriorate by extension, and our sense of justice will not abate under
tropic suns in distant seas. As heretofore, so hereafter will the
nation demonstrate its fitness to administer any new estate which
events devolve upon it, and in the fear of God will "take occasion by
the hand and make the bounds of freedom wider yet." If there are those
among us who would make our way more difficult, we must not be
disheartened, but the more earnestly dedicate ourselves to the task
upon which we have rightly entered. The path of progress is seldom
smooth. New things are often found hard to do. Our fathers found them
so. We find them so. They are inconvenient. They cost us something. But
are we not made better for the effort and sacrifice, and are not those
we serve lifted up and blessed?

We will be consoled, too, with the fact that opposition has confronted
every onward movement of the Republic from its opening hour until now,
but without success. The Republic has marched on and on, and its step
has exalted freedom and humanity. We are undergoing the same ordeal as
did our predecessors nearly a century ago. We are following the course
they blazed. They triumphed. Will their successors falter and plead
organic impotency in the nation? Surely after 125 years of achievement
for mankind we will not now surrender our equality with other powers on
matters fundamental and essential to nationality. With no such purpose
was the nation created. In no such spirit has it developed its full and
independent sovereignty. We adhere to the principle of equality among
ourselves, and by no act of ours will we assign to ourselves a
subordinate rank in the family of nations.

My fellow-citizens, the public events of the past four years have gone
into history. They are too near to justify recital. Some of them were
unforeseen; many of them momentous and far-reaching in their
consequences to ourselves and our relations with the rest of the world.
The part which the United States bore so honorably in the thrilling
scenes in China, while new to American life, has been in harmony with
its true spirit and best traditions, and in dealing with the results
its policy will be that of moderation and fairness.

We face at this moment a most important question that of the future
relations of the United States and Cuba. With our near neighbors we
must remain close friends. The declaration of the purposes of this
Government in the resolution of April 20, 1898, must be made good. Ever
since the evacuation of the island by the army of Spain, the Executive,
with all practicable speed, has been assisting its people in the
successive steps necessary to the establishment of a free and
independent government prepared to assume and perform the obligations
of international law which now rest upon the United States under the
treaty of Paris. The convention elected by the people to frame a
constitution is approaching the completion of its labors. The transfer
of American control to the new government is of such great importance,
involving an obligation resulting from our intervention and the treaty
of peace, that I am glad to be advised by the recent act of Congress of
the policy which the legislative branch of the Government deems
essential to the best interests of Cuba and the United States. The
principles which led to our intervention require that the fundamental
law upon which the new government rests should be adapted to secure a
government capable of performing the duties and discharging the
functions of a separate nation, of observing its international
obligations of protecting life and property, insuring order, safety,
and liberty, and conforming to the established and historical policy of
the United States in its relation to Cuba.

The peace which we are pledged to leave to the Cuban people must carry
with it the guaranties of permanence. We became sponsors for the
pacification of the island, and we remain accountable to the Cubans, no
less than to our own country and people, for the reconstruction of Cuba
as a free commonwealth on abiding foundations of right, justice,
liberty, and assured order. Our enfranchisement of the people will not
be completed until free Cuba shall "be a reality, not a name; a perfect
entity, not a hasty experiment bearing within itself the elements of
failure."

While the treaty of peace with Spain was ratified on the 6th of
February, 1899, and ratifications were exchanged nearly two years ago,
the Congress has indicated no form of government for the Philippine
Islands. It has, however, provided an army to enable the Executive to
suppress insurrection, restore peace, give security to the inhabitants,
and establish the authority of the United States throughout the
archipelago. It has authorized the organization of native troops as
auxiliary to the regular force. It has been advised from time to time
of the acts of the military and naval officers in the islands, of my
action in appointing civil commissions, of the instructions with which
they were charged, of their duties and powers, of their
recommendations, and of their several acts under executive commission,
together with the very complete general information they have
submitted. These reports fully set forth the conditions, past and
present, in the islands, and the instructions clearly show the
principles which will guide the Executive until the Congress shall, as
it is required to do by the treaty, determine "the civil rights and
political status of the native inhabitants." The Congress having added
the sanction of its authority to the powers already possessed and
exercised by the Executive under the Constitution, thereby leaving with
the Executive the responsibility for the government of the Philippines,
I shall continue the efforts already begun until order shall be
restored throughout the islands, and as fast as conditions permit will
establish local governments, in the formation of which the full
co-operation of the people has been already invited, and when
established will encourage the people to administer them. The settled
purpose, long ago proclaimed, to afford the inhabitants of the islands
self-government as fast as they were ready for it will be pursued with
earnestness and fidelity. Already something has been accomplished in
this direction. The Government's representatives, civil and military,
are doing faithful and noble work in their mission of emancipation and
merit the approval and support of their countrymen. The most liberal
terms of amnesty have already been communicated to the insurgents, and
the way is still open for those who have raised their arms against the
Government for honorable submission to its authority. Our countrymen
should not be deceived. We are not waging war against the inhabitants
of the Philippine Islands. A portion of them are making war against the
United States. By far the greater part of the inhabitants recognize
American sovereignty and welcome it as a guaranty of order and of
security for life, property, liberty, freedom of conscience, and the
pursuit of happiness. To them full protection will be given. They shall
not be abandoned. We will not leave the destiny of the loyal millions
the islands to the disloyal thousands who are in rebellion against the
United States. Order under civil institutions will come as soon as
those who now break the peace shall keep it. Force will not be needed
or used when those who make war against us shall make it no more. May
it end without further bloodshed, and there be ushered in the reign of
peace to be made permanent by a government of liberty under law!


***

Theodore Roosevelt
Inaugural Address
Saturday, March 4, 1905

MY fellow-citizens, no people on earth have more cause to be thankful
than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness in
our own strength, but with gratitude to the Giver of Good who has
blessed us with the conditions which have enabled us to achieve so
large a measure of well-being and of happiness. To us as a people it
has been granted to lay the foundations of our national life in a new
continent. We are the heirs of the ages, and yet we have had to pay few
of the penalties which in old countries are exacted by the dead hand of
a bygone civilization. We have not been obliged to fight for our
existence against any alien race; and yet our life has called for the
vigor and effort without which the manlier and hardier virtues wither
away. Under such conditions it would be our own fault if we failed; and
the success which we have had in the past, the success which we
confidently believe the future will bring, should cause in us no
feeling of vainglory, but rather a deep and abiding realization of all
which life has offered us; a full acknowledgment of the responsibility
which is ours; and a fixed determination to show that under a free
government a mighty people can thrive best, alike as regards the things
of the body and the things of the soul.

Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us.
We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk
neither. We have become a great nation, forced by the fact of its
greatness into relations with the other nations of the earth, and we
must behave as beseems a people with such responsibilities. Toward all
other nations, large and small, our attitude must be one of cordial and
sincere friendship. We must show not only in our words, but in our
deeds, that we are earnestly desirous of securing their good will by
acting toward them in a spirit of just and generous recognition of all
their rights. But justice and generosity in a nation, as in an
individual, count most when shown not by the weak but by the strong.
While ever careful to refrain from wrongdoing others, we must be no
less insistent that we are not wronged ourselves. We wish peace, but we
wish the peace of justice, the peace of righteousness. We wish it
because we think it is right and not because we are afraid. No weak
nation that acts manfully and justly should ever have cause to fear us,
and no strong power should ever be able to single us out as a subject
for insolent aggression.

Our relations with the other powers of the world are important; but
still more important are our relations among ourselves. Such growth in