400 Presidential Addresses 



And now it is eminently fitting that the men of 

 the great war and the men of the lesser war claiming 

 not only to have been good soldiers but to be good 

 citizens should come here to assist at laying the 

 foundation of the monument to him who typified 

 in his career the virtues of the soldier and exem 

 plified in his high office our ideals of good citizen 

 ship. I am glad that such a monument should have 

 been erected here in this wonderful State on the 

 shores of the Pacific; in this city with a great past 

 and with a future so great that the most sanguine 

 among us can not properly estimate it; this city of 

 the Occident which looks west to the Orient across 

 the Pacific, westward to the west that is the hoary 

 east; this city situated upon that giant ocean which 

 will in a not distant future be commercially the most 

 important body of water in the entire world. 



I thank you for coming here and for giving me the 

 privilege of joining with you to-day in these solemn 

 ceremonies of commemoration, the ceremonies of 

 laying the foundation of a monument which is to 

 keep green in mind the memory of McKinley as a 

 lesson in war and a lesson in peace, as a lesson to 

 all Americans of what can be done by the American 

 who in good faith strives to do his whole duty by the 

 mighty Republic. 



