Statue of President M’Kinley

Unveiled by Sister of the Martyred President, Miss Helen McKinley, at Niles, Ohio
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FORMER PRESIDENT TAFT PRINCIPAL SPEAKER
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In His Tribute to the Departed President, Mr. Taft Told How McKinley Would
Act Were He Alive Today—Told of Broad Vision—Declared That Our Present
Position in the World War Had Been Foreseen by McKinley and That He Had
Made Preparations to Meet the Situation.

     Niles, Ohio, Oct. 5.—“Were McKinley alive today, how his patriotic heart, his broad vision, his vibrant words would be united in supporting the government in its constructive measures to carry on the great world struggle to victory.”
     This was the pronouncement of Former President William Howard Taft, speaking here today before a throng of Ohians [sic] at the dedication of the McKinley birthplace memorial building.
     “With what firmness he would reject all propositions to compromise by proposal of a patched-up peace,” continued the former president. “The man who saw most clearly when others were blind to it, the real position of the United States in the world, would not fail to see that in the present issue no peace is possible until secured by victory, that no solution is worthy of our history but a defeat of militarism.
     “It is better to fight Germany in company with the allies than to fight her alone later,” Mr. Taft declared. He said the United States cannot keep out of world politics. “Had we been able to stay out of the war, we would have found ourselves in continued friction with Germany until she thought the opportunity had come for her to strike. It is better for us, united with England and France and Russia and Italy, playing our proper part in this league to force peace, now to defeat the military caste of Germany that rules her military and foreign policy and end forever the recurring danger to permanent peace, which power and control involve.”
     “We could not keep out of world politics if we would. That which affects the world affects us. The Monroe Doctrine is becoming a more serious limitation upon European action than ever before.”
     This was the declaration of Former President William H. Taft in the principal address here today at the dedication of the big marble memorial building and monument erected to the memory of the late President William McKinley, who was born in this little northeastern Ohio town.
     Ohio’s martyred president was given credit by Ohio’s living ex-president for being “the man who saw most clearly when others were blind to it, the real position of the United States in the world.”
     “Were McKinley alive today how his patriotic heart, his broad vision and his vibrant words would be united in supporting the government in its constructive measures to carry on the great world struggle to victory,” said the speaker.
     “With what firmness he would reject all propositions to compromise by proposal of a patched-up peace. He would not fail to see that in the present issue on peace is possible until secured by victory—that no solution is worthy of our history but a defeat of militarism.”
     “Our present situation is a mere development of the disclosure of our real situation in the world which McKinley recognized and made preparation to meet,” continued Mr. Taft.
     “McKinley began a new era in the life of the United States. His successors in office followed him in this. The contrast between the situation of the country in Washington’s time, when the policy of isolation was adopted, and our present position answers every objection to recognizing th epart [sic] we must play in the family of nations.
     “In Washington’s day we were but four million [sic] of people on the eastern seaboard, five times as far from Europe as we are today in speed of transportation. Now we have instant communication of intelligence. We are a continent wide, with a great Pacific coast. The day of isolation is past. This is what McKinley saw. This is what has brought us into the war. This is what has made it necessary for us to win the war as an ally of the democracies of the world, to make, in President Wilson’s words, ‘the world safe for democracy.’ We encountered the conquering militaristic spirit of Germany in the Philippines and we found there the English sympathy which prevented a breach of our relations at that time.
     “The itching of the military caste for expansion by force has now involved all Europe in a vortex of war and destruction. It has murdered American citizens on the high seas where they had a right to be, in order to secure Germany the unembarrassed use of the submarine as a means of conquering England and France.
     “The exigency of Germany and her disregard of decency and honor and international law have entangled and involved us, as might have been anticipated, in the war itself. It is well that it is so, for with Germany successful in this war, had the United States been able to stay out, we would have found ourselves in continued friction with Germany until she thought the opportunity had come for her to strike.”
     Miss Helen McKinley, sister of the martyred president, unveiled the 12-foot statue of President McKinley which is set in the court of the memorial building. The dedicatory exercises were in charge of the G. A. R.
     Other speakers included Myron T. Herrick, former ambassador to France; George B. Cortelyou, who was private secretary to President McKinley; Rev. C. A. Manchester, who was McKinley’s pastor; Joe Mitchell Chapple of Boston, and Joseph G. Butler, Jr., Youngstown, steel manufacturer, and president of the McKinley Birthplace Memorial Association.
     Senators Harding and Pomerene and Philander C. Knox, who had been invited to speak, could not attend because of work incidental to the closing hours of congress.