[282]



President


Mc Kin-


ley'


s Last


Speech



Delivered at the Pax-American Exposi-
tion, Buffaijo, N. Y^ September 5,
1901.
President Milium, Directar-GcKtral Bu-
chanan^ Cammissioners. Ladies and Gentle-
men :

I AM glad to again be in the city of Buf-
falo 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 satisfac-
tion in meeting and giving welcome to
the foreign representatives assembled here,
whose presence and participation in this Ex-
position have contributed in so marked a
degree to its interest and success. To the
Commissioners of the Dominion of Canada
and the British Colonies, the French Col-
onies, the republics of Mexico and of Central

[283]



THE AMERICAN IDEA

and South America, and the Commissioners
of Cuba and Porto Rico, who share with us
in this undertaking, we give the hand of
fellowship, and felicitate with them upon the
triumphs of art, science, education and man-
ufacture, which the old has bequeathed to
the new century.
Expositions are the time-keepers of prog-
ress. They record the world's advancement.
They stimulate the energy, enterprise and
intellect of the people, and quicken human
genius. They go into the home. They
broaden and brighten the daily life of the
people. They open mighty storehouses of
information to the student. Every exposi-
tion, great or small, has helped to some
onward step.
Comparison of ideas is always educational,
and as such instructs the brain and hand of
men. Friendly rivalry follows, which is the
spur to industrial improvement, the inspira-
tion to useful invention and to high en-
deavor in all departments of human activity.
