William McKinley
First Inaugural Address
Thursday, March 4, 1897

Fellow-Citizens:

IN obedience to the will of the people, and in their presence, by the 
authority vested in me by this oath, I assume the arduous and 
responsible duties of President of the United States, relying upon the 
support of my countrymen and invoking the guidance of Almighty God. Our 
faith teaches that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our 
fathers, who has so singularly favored the American people in every 
national trial, and who will not forsake us so long as we obey His 
commandments and walk humbly in His footsteps.

The responsibilities of the high trust to which I have been called - 
always of grave importance - are augmented by the prevailing business 
conditions entailing idleness upon willing labor and loss to useful 
enterprises. The country is suffering from industrial disturbances from 
which speedy relief must be had. Our financial system needs some 
revision; our money is all good now, but its value must not further be 
threatened. It should all be put upon an enduring basis, not subject to 
easy attack, nor its stability to doubt or dispute. Our currency should 
continue under the supervision of the Government. The several forms of 
our paper money offer, in my judgment, a constant embarrassment to the 
Government and a safe balance in the Treasury. Therefore I believe it 
necessary to devise a system which, without diminishing the circulating 
medium or offering a premium for its contraction, will present a remedy 
for those arrangements which, temporary in their nature, might well in 
the years of our prosperity have been displaced by wiser provisions. 
With adequate revenue secured, but not until then, we can enter upon 
such changes in our fiscal laws as will, while insuring safety and 
volume to our money, no longer impose upon the Government the necessity 
of maintaining so large a gold reserve, with its attendant and 
inevitable temptations to speculation. Most of our financial laws are 
the outgrowth of experience and trial, and should not be amended 
without investigation and demonstration of the wisdom of the proposed 
changes. We must be both "sure we are right" and "make haste slowly." 
If, therefore, Congress, in its wisdom, shall deem it expedient to 
create a commission to take under early consideration the revision of 
our coinage, banking and currency laws, and give them that exhaustive, 
careful and dispassionate examination that their importance demands, I 
shall cordially concur in such action. If such power is vested in the 
President, it is my purpose to appoint a commission of prominent, 
well-informed citizens of different parties, who will command public 
confidence, both on account of their ability and special fitness for 
the work. Business experience and public training may thus be combined, 
and the patriotic zeal of the friends of the country be so directed 
that such a report will be made as to receive the support of all 
parties, and our finances cease to be the subject of mere partisan 
contention. The experiment is, at all events, worth a trial, and, in my 
opinion, it can but prove beneficial to the entire country.

The question of international bimetallism will have early and earnest 
attention. It will be my constant endeavor to secure it by co-operation 
with the other great commercial powers of the world. Until that 
condition is realized when the parity between our gold and silver money 
springs from and is supported by the relative value of the two metals, 
the value of the silver already coined and of that which may hereafter 
be coined, must be kept constantly at par with gold by every resource 
at our command. The credit of the Government, the integrity of its 
currency, and the inviolability of its obligations must be preserved. 
This was the commanding verdict of the people, and it will not be 
unheeded.

Economy is demanded in every branch of the Government at all times, but 
especially in periods, like the present, of depression in business and 
distress among the people. The severest economy must be observed in all 
public expenditures, and extravagance stopped wherever it is found, and 
prevented wherever in the future it may be developed. If the revenues 
are to remain as now, the only relief that can come must be from 
decreased expenditures. But the present must not become the permanent 
condition of the Government. It has been our uniform practice to 
retire, not increase our outstanding obligations, and this policy must 
again be resumed and vigorously enforced. Our revenues should always be 
large enough to meet with ease and promptness not only our current 
needs and the principal and interest of the public debt, but to make 
proper and liberal provision for that most deserving body of public 
creditors, the soldiers and sailors and the widows and orphans who are 
the pensioners of the United States.

The Government should not be permitted to run behind or increase its 
debt in times like the present. Suitably to provide against this is the 
mandate of duty - the certain and easy remedy for most of our financial 
difficulties. A deficiency is inevitable so long as the expenditures of 
the Government exceed its receipts. It can only be met by loans or an 
increased revenue. While a large annual surplus of revenue may invite 
waste and extravagance, inadequate revenue creates distrust and 
undermines public and private credit. Neither should be encouraged. 
Between more loans and more revenue there ought to be but one opinion. 
We should have more revenue, and that without delay, hindrance, or 
postponement. A surplus in the Treasury created by loans is not a 
permanent or safe reliance. It will suffice while it lasts, but it can 
not last long while the outlays of the Government are greater than its 
receipts, as has been the case during the past two years. Nor must it 
be forgotten that however much such loans may temporarily relieve the 
situation, the Government is still indebted for the amount of the 
surplus thus accrued, which it must ultimately pay, while its ability 
to pay is not strengthened, but weakened by a continued deficit. Loans 
are imperative in great emergencies to preserve the Government or its 
credit, but a failure to supply needed revenue in time of peace for the 
maintenance of either has no justification.

The best way for the Government to maintain its credit is to pay as it 
goes - not by resorting to loans, but by keeping out of debt - through 
an adequate income secured by a system of taxation, external or 
internal, or both. It is the settled policy of the Government, pursued 
from the beginning and practiced by all parties and Administrations, to 
raise the bulk of our revenue from taxes upon foreign productions 
entering the United States for sale and consumption, and avoiding, for 
the most part, every form of direct taxation, except in time of war. 
The country is clearly opposed to any needless additions to the subject 
of internal taxation, and is committed by its latest popular utterance 
to the system of tariff taxation. There can be no misunderstanding, 
either, about the principle upon which this tariff taxation shall be 
levied. Nothing has ever been made plainer at a general election than 
that the controlling principle in the raising of revenue from duties on 
imports is zealous care for American interests and American labor. The 
people have declared that such legislation should be had as will give 
ample protection and encouragement to the industries and the 
development of our country. It is, therefore, earnestly hoped and 
expected that Congress will, at the earliest practicable moment, enact 
revenue legislation that shall be fair, reasonable, conservative, and 
just, and which, while supplying sufficient revenue for public 
purposes, will still be signally beneficial and helpful to every 
section and every enterprise of the people. To this policy we are all, 
of whatever party, firmly bound by the voice of the people - a power 
vastly more potential than the expression of any political platform. 
The paramount duty of Congress is to stop deficiencies by the 
restoration of that protective legislation which has always been the 
firmest prop of the Treasury. The passage of such a law or laws would 
strengthen the credit of the Government both at home and abroad, and go 
far toward stopping the drain upon the gold reserve held for the 
redemption of our currency, which has been heavy and well-nigh constant 
for several years.

In the revision of the tariff especial attention should be given to the 
re-enactment and extension of the reciprocity principle of the law of 
1890, under which so great a stimulus was given to our foreign trade in 
new and advantageous markets for our surplus agricultural and 
manufactured products. The brief trial given this legislation amply 
justifies a further experiment and additional discretionary power in 
the making of commercial treaties, the end in view always to be the 
opening up of new markets for the products of our country, by granting 
concessions to the products of other lands that we need and cannot 
produce ourselves, and which do not involve any loss of labor to our 
own people, but tend to increase their employment.

The depression of the past four years has fallen with especial severity 
upon the great body of toilers of the country, and upon none more than 
the holders of small farms. Agriculture has languished and labor 
suffered. The revival of manufacturing will be a relief to both. No 
portion of our population is more devoted to the institution of free 
government nor more loyal in their support, while none bears more 
cheerfully or fully its proper share in the maintenance of the 
Government or is better entitled to its wise and liberal care and 
protection. Legislation helpful to producers is beneficial to all. The 
depressed condition of industry on the farm and in the mine and factory 
has lessened the ability of the people to meet the demands upon them, 
and they rightfully expect that not only a system of revenue shall be 
established that will secure the largest income with the least burden, 
but that every means will be taken to decrease, rather than increase, 
our public expenditures. Business conditions are not the most 
promising. It will take time to restore the prosperity of former years. 
If we cannot promptly attain it, we can resolutely turn our faces in 
that direction and aid its return by friendly legislation. However 
troublesome the situation may appear, Congress will not, I am sure, be 
found lacking in disposition or ability to relieve it as far as 
legislation can do so. The restoration of confidence and the revival of 
business, which men of all parties so much desire, depend more largely 
upon the prompt, energetic, and intelligent action of Congress than 
upon any other single agency affecting the situation.

It is inspiring, too, to remember that no great emergency in the one 
hundred and eight years of our eventful national life has ever arisen 
that has not been met with wisdom and courage by the American people, 
with fidelity to their best interests and highest destiny, and to the 
honor of the American name. These years of glorious history have 
exalted mankind and advanced the cause of freedom throughout the world, 
and immeasurably strengthened the precious free institutions which we 
enjoy. The people love and will sustain these institutions. The great 
essential to our happiness and prosperity is that we adhere to the 
principles upon which the Government was established and insist upon 
their faithful observance. Equality of rights must prevail, and our 
laws be always and everywhere respected and obeyed. We may have failed 
in the discharge of our full duty as citizens of the great Republic, 
but it is consoling and encouraging to realize that free speech, a free 
press, free thought, free schools, the free and unmolested right of 
religious liberty and worship, and free and fair elections are dearer 
and more universally enjoyed to-day than ever before. These guaranties 
must be sacredly preserved and wisely strengthened. The constituted 
authorities must be cheerfully and vigorously upheld. Lynchings must 
not be tolerated in a great and civilized country like the United 
States; courts, not mobs, must execute the penalties of the law. The 
preservation of public order, the right of discussion, the integrity of 
courts, and the orderly administration of justice must continue forever 
the rock of safety upon which our Government securely rests.

One of the lessons taught by the late election, which all can rejoice 
in, is that the citizens of the United States are both law-respecting 
and law-abiding people, not easily swerved from the path of patriotism 
and honor. This is in entire accord with the genius of our 
institutions, and but emphasizes the advantages of inculcating even a 
greater love for law and order in the future. Immunity should be 
granted to none who violate the laws, whether individuals, 
corporations, or communities; and as the Constitution imposes upon the 
President the duty of both its own execution, and of the statutes 
enacted in pursuance of its provisions, I shall endeavor carefully to 
carry them into effect. The declaration of the party now restored to 
power has been in the past that of "opposition to all combinations of 
capital organized in trusts, or otherwise, to control arbitrarily the 
condition of trade among our citizens," and it has supported "such 
legislation as will prevent the execution of all schemes to oppress the 
people by undue charges on their supplies, or by unjust rates for the 
transportation of their products to the market." This purpose will be 
steadily pursued, both by the enforcement of the laws now in existence 
and the recommendation and support of such new statutes as may be 
necessary to carry it into effect.

Our naturalization and immigration laws should be further improved to 
the constant promotion of a safer, a better, and a higher citizenship. 
A grave peril to the Republic would be a citizenship too ignorant to 
understand or too vicious to appreciate the great value and beneficence 
of our institutions and laws, and against all who come here to make war 
upon them our gates must be promptly and tightly closed. Nor must we be 
unmindful of the need of improvement among our own citizens, but with 
the zeal of our forefathers encourage the spread of knowledge and free 
education. Illiteracy must be banished from the land if we shall attain 
that high destiny as the foremost of the enlightened nations of the 
world which, under Providence, we ought to achieve.

Reforms in the civil service must go on; but the changes should be real 
and genuine, not perfunctory, or prompted by a zeal in behalf of any 
party simply because it happens to be in power. As a member of Congress 
I voted and spoke in favor of the present law, and I shall attempt its 
enforcement in the spirit in which it was enacted. The purpose in view 
was to secure the most efficient service of the best men who would 
accept appointment under the Government, retaining faithful and devoted 
public servants in office, but shielding none, under the authority of 
any rule or custom, who are inefficient, incompetent, or unworthy. The 
best interests of the country demand this, and the people heartily 
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!

