fixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 21st day of October, A.D. 1899, and
of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
twenty-fourth.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

By the President:
JOHN HAY,
_Secretary of State._

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION.

A national custom dear to the hearts of the people calls for the setting
apart of one day in each year as an occasion of special thanksgiving to
Almighty God for the blessings of the preceding year. This honored
observance acquires with time a tenderer significance. It enriches
domestic life. It summons under the family roof the absent children to
glad reunion with those they love.

Seldom has this nation had greater cause for profound thanksgiving. No
great pestilence has invaded our Shores. Liberal employment waits upon
labor. Abundant crops have rewarded the efforts of the husbandmen.
Increased comforts have come to the home. The national finances have
been strengthened, and public credit has been sustained and made firmer.
In all branches of industry and trade there has been an unequaled degree
of prosperity, while there has been a steady gain in the moral and
educational growth of our national character. Churches and schools have
flourished. American patriotism has been exalted. Those engaged in
maintaining the honor of the flag with such signal success have been in
a large degree spared from disaster and disease. An honorable peace has
been ratified with a foreign nation with which we were at war, and we
are now on friendly relations with every power of earth.

The trust which we have assumed for the benefit of the people of Cuba
has been faithfully advanced. There is marked progress toward the
restoration of healthy industrial conditions, and under wise sanitary
regulations the island has enjoyed unusual exemption from the scourge of
fever. The hurricane which swept over our new possession of Puerto Rico,
destroying the homes and property of the inhabitants, called forth the
instant sympathy of the people of the United States, who were swift to
respond with generous aid to the sufferers. While the insurrection still
continues in the island of Luzon, business is resuming its activity, and
confidence in the good purposes of the United States is being rapidly
established throughout the archipelago.

For these reasons and countless others, I, William McKinley, President
of the United States, d