McKinley, William - Discorso sull'invasione delle Filippine, 1899

W. McKinley - Speech at Dinner of the Home Market Club, Boston, February 16, 1899

Mr. President, Members of the Home Market Club, Ladies and Gentlemen:

I have been deeply and profoundly moved by this manifestation of your good will and the cordial welcome extended by the governor of your great commonwealth, as well as by the chief executive officer of this, the principal city of your State. I thank the governor of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, I thank the mayor of the city of Boston, for their warm and generous words of greeting.

My fellow-citizens, the years go quickly. It seems not so long, but it is, in fact, six years, since it was my honor to be a guest of the Home Market Club. Much has happened in the intervening time. Issues which were then engaging us have been settled or put aside for larger and more absorbing ones. Domestic conditions have improved and are generally satisfactory.

We have made progress in industry and have realized the prosperity for which we have been striving. We had four long years of adversity, which taught us some lessons that will never be unlearned, and which will be valuable in guiding our future action. We have not only been successful in our financial and business affairs, but in a war with a foreign power which has added great glory to American arms and a new chapter to American history. [Great applause.]

Mighty problems faced by the republic

I do not know why, in the year 1899, this republic has unexpectedly had placed before it mighty problems which it must face and meet. They have come and are here, and they could not be kept away. Many who were impatient for the conflict a year ago, apparently heedless of its larger results, are the first to cry out against the far-reaching consequences of their own act. Those of us who dreaded war most, and whose every effort was directed to prevent it, had fears of new and grave problems which might follow its inauguration.

The evolution of events, which no man could control, has brought these problems upon us. Certain it is that they have not come through any fault on our own part, but as a high obligation, and we meet them with clear conscience and unselfish purpose, and with good heart resolve to undertake their solution. [Applause.]

War and its consequences

War was declared in April, 1898, with practical unanimity by Congress, and, once upon us, was sustained by like unanimity among the people. There had been many who tried to avert it, as, on the other hand, there were many who would have precipitated it at an early date. In its prosecution and conclusion, the great majority of our countrymen of every section believed they were fighting in a just cause, and at home or at sea or in the field, they had part in its glorious triumphs.

It was the war of an undivided nation. Every great act in its progress, from Manila to Santiago, from Guam to Porto Rico, met universal and hearty commendation. The protocol commanded the practically unanimous approval of the American people. It was welcomed by every lover of peace beneath the flag.

Trust in American hands

The Philippines, like Cuba and Porto Rico, were entrusted to our hands by the war, and to that great trust, under the providence of God and in the name of human progress and civilization, we are committed. [Great applause.] It is a trust we have not sought; it is a trust from which we will not flinch. The American people will hold up the hands of their servants at home whom they commit its execution, while Dewey and Otis and the brave men whom they command will have the support of the country in upholding our flag where it now floats, the symbol and assurance...