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Prefatory Note
Prefatory Note
As the exigencies which prompted, at a late date, the change of plans in the compilation of this work, left the messages and papers of the McKinley administration incomplete and defective, it has been felt that the time has now arrived for their collection. In this supplement are included the messages, proclamations and executive orders of President McKinley which do not appear in Volume X, and those of his successor, President Roosevelt, to date. They set forth the home affairs of the nation, a
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William McKinley
William McKinley
(For portrait and early biographical sketch see Vol. X, pp. 125, 126, 127) At the National Republican Convention which met at Philadelphia in June, 1901, William McKinley was again nominated the Republican candidate for the Presidency of the United States. At the November election he was re-elected, receiving 292 electoral votes, against 155 votes for William J. Bryan. In September, 1901, he accepted an invitation to be present at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo. On September 5 he deliver
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INAUGURAL ADDRESS
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
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 c
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MESSAGES.
MESSAGES.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 15, 1897 . To the Congress of the United States : Regretting the necessity which has required me to call you together, I feel that your assembling in extraordinary session is indispensable because of the condition in which we find the revenues of the Government. It is conceded that its current expenditures are greater than its receipts, and that such a condition has existed for now more than three years. With unlimited means at our command, we are presenting the remarkab
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FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.
FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 6, 1897 . To the Senate and House of Representatives : It gives me pleasure to extend greeting to the Fifty-fifth Congress, assembled in regular session at the seat of Government, with many of whose Senators and Representatives I have been associated in the legislative service. Their meeting occurs under felicitous conditions, justifying sincere congratulation and calling for our grateful acknowledgment to a beneficent Providence which has so signally blessed and pros
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PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
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 satisfact
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A PROCLAMATION.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas public interests require that the Congress of the United States should be convened in extra session at twelve o'clock on the 15th day of March, 1897, to receive such communication as may be made by the Executive: Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim and declare that an extraordinary occasion requires the Congress of the United States to convene in extra session at the Capitol in the city of Washington on the 15th day of March,
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THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION.
THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION.
In remembrance of God's goodness to us during the past year, which has been so abundant, "let us offer unto Him our thanksgiving and pay our vows unto the Most High." Under His watchful providence industry has prospered, the conditions of labor have been improved, the rewards of the husbandman have been increased, and the comforts of our homes multiplied. His mighty hand has preserved peace and protected the nation. Respect for law and order has been strengthened, love of free institutions cheri
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A PROCLAMATION.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas satisfactory proof has been given me that vessels of the United States in ballast which proceed to Mexico with the object of devoting themselves to pearl fishery and fishing on the Mexican coasts or for the purpose of receiving and carrying passengers and mail or of loading cattle, wood, or any other Mexican product and which shall go directly to ports open to general commerce so that thence they may be dispatched to their destination, and steam vessels of the United States are exempted
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A PROCLAMATION.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, it is provided by section twenty-four of the act of Congress, approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," "That the President of the United States may, from time to time, set apart and reserve, in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations, and t
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A PROCLAMATION.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas it is provided by section twenty-four of the act of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, entitled, "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," "That the President of the United States may, from time to time, set apart and reserve, in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations, and th
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A PROCLAMATION.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas pursuant to section 3 of the act of Congress approved July 24, 1897, entitled "An Act to provide revenue for the Government and to encourage the industries of the United States," the Governments of the United States and of the French Republic have in the spirit of amity, and with a desire to improve their commercial relations, entered into a Commercial Agreement in which reciprocal and equivalent concessions have been in the judgment of the President secured according to the provisions o
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A PROCLAMATION.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the public lands in the State of California, within the limits hereinafter described, are in part covered with timber, and it appears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart and reserving said lands as a public reservation; Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by the aforesaid acts of Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that the boundary lines of the Forest Reservation in the State of California,
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A PROCLAMATION.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas satisfactory proof has been given to me that no tonnage or light-house dues or any equivalent tax or taxes whatever are imposed upon vessels of the United States in the port of Copenhagen, in the Kingdom of Denmark; Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section eleven of the act of Congress, entitled "An Act to abolish certain fees for official services to American vessels, and to amend the laws relating
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A PROCLAMATION.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas in the opening of the Cherokee Outlet, pursuant to section ten of the act of Congress, approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, the lands known as the Eastern Middle, and Western Saline Reserves, were excepted from settlement in view of three leases made by the Cherokee Nation prior to March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, under authority of the act of Congress, approved August seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-two; And whereas it appears that said leases wer
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A PROCLAMATION.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas it is provided by section twenty-four of the act of Congress, approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," "That the President of the United States may, from time to time, set apart and reserve, in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations, and th
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A PROCLAMATION.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by joint resolution "to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States," approved July 7, 1898, the cession by the Government of the Republic of Hawaii to the United States of America, of all rights of sovereignty of whatsoever kind in and over the Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies, and the transfer to the United States of the absolute fee and ownership of all public, Government, or crown lands, public buildings, or edifices, ports, harbors, military equipment, and
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HAWAIIAN CABLE CONCESSION.
HAWAIIAN CABLE CONCESSION.
To all to whom these presents shall come; greeting : Know ye, that: Whereas, by an Indenture made the 2d day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight between Sanford B. Dole, President of the Republic of Hawaii for and in behalf of the Hawaiian Government of the one part and the Pacific Cable Company, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York of the United States of America, of the other part, there was granted, conceded, and
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PROCLAMATION.
PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the act of Congress entitled "An act to ratify and confirm an agreement with the Muscogee or Creek tribe of Indians and for other purposes," approved on the 1st day of March, 1901, contains a provision as follows: That the agreement negotiated between the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes and the Muscogee or Creek tribe of Indians, at the city of Washington on the 8th day of March, nineteen hundred, as herein amended, is hereby accepted, ratified, and confirmed, and the same shall
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[CESSATION OF TARIFF—PORTO RICO.]
[CESSATION OF TARIFF—PORTO RICO.]
Whereas, by an act of Congress, approved April 12, 1900, entitled "an Act Temporarily to Provide Revenues and a Civil Government for Porto Rico and for other Purposes," it was provided that, "whenever the legislative assembly of Porto Rico shall have enacted and put into operation a system of local taxation to meet the necessities of the government of Porto Rico, by this act established, and shall by resolution duly passed so notify the President, he shall make proclamation thereof, and thereupo
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EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 28, 1898. It is hereby ordered that the following described tract of land situate on Kadiak Island, District of Alaska, be temporarily reserved and set apart as an experiment station for the use of the Department of Agriculture: Beginning at a point in the easterly boundary line of the property now occupied by the Russian Greek Church in the village of Kadiak on Kadiak Island, Alaska; thence southeasterly to the water front on the Bay of Chiniak; thence following said wa
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PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S LAST PUBLIC UTTERANCE TO THE PEOPLE, BUFFALO, N.Y., SEPTEMBER 5TH, 1901.
PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S LAST PUBLIC UTTERANCE TO THE PEOPLE, BUFFALO, N.Y., SEPTEMBER 5TH, 1901.
President Milburn, Director General Buchanan, Commissioners, Ladies and Gentlemen : I am glad to be again in the city of Buffalo and exchange greetings with her people, to whose generous hospitality I am not a stranger and with whose good will I have been repeatedly and signally honored. To-day I have additional satisfaction in meeting and giving welcome to the foreign representatives assembled here, whose presence and participation in this exposition have contributed in so marked a degree to it
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ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ASSASSINATION.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ASSASSINATION.
Buffalo, N.Y., Sept. 6-7 P.M. The President was shot about 4 o'clock. One bullet struck him on the upper portion of the breastbone, glancing and not penetrating; the second bullet penetrated the abdomen five inches below the left nipple and one and a half inches to the left of the median line. The abdomen was opened through the line of the bullet wound. It was found that the bullet had penetrated the stomach. The opening in the front wall of the stomach was carefully closed with silk stitches, a
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