Judges, Senators, and Congressmen had taken their places on
the stand provided for them, Chief Justice Fuller came forward to the
little enclosure which had been railed off and fitted with two great
leathern arm-chairs for Major McKinley and Mr. Cleveland.

He told Mr. McKinley that it was time to take his oath of office: and
standing bareheaded, his hand resting on the Bible, William McKinley swore
to be true and faithful to the great trust he was receiving from the
people.

His oath being taken, he kissed the Bible, and the ceremony was complete.
He is the twenty-fifth President of the United States of America.

The moment had now come for the new President to deliver the inaugural
address. Great anxiety has been felt about this speech, because it was
expected that it would give the people some idea of the way Major
McKinley meant to treat the several questions that are vexing us at the
present time.

He opened his speech with these beautiful words:

"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 on 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."

He then took up the subject of _Money_, and said that he thought the
Government wanted to look closely into the Treasury matters, and devise a
means whereby we might be able to have as much money as we needed in
circulation, without having to keep the enormous reserve of gold, which
costs us such ruinous interest every year.

He would like to have all the laws relating to the coining of money and
banking of money carefully revised, and to put our money system on such a
sound basis that it will not be threatened with change at each change of
party.

He said that he hoped to make the other Powers of the world agree with him
about the wisdom of bimetalism--which means the equal use of silver and
gold. Many of our present troubles have been supposed to come from the
fact that we cannot pay our debts to foreign countries in silver, but only
in gold, and that we have not enough gold to pay all the