[Illustration: SKIBO CASTLE]
CHAPTER XXVIII
HAY AND McKINLEY
John Hay was our frequent guest in England and Scotland, and was on
the eve of coming to us at Skibo in 1898 when called home by President
McKinley to become Secretary of State. Few have made such a record in
that office. He inspired men with absolute confidence in his
sincerity, and his aspirations were always high. War he detested, and
meant what he said when he pronounced it "the most ferocious and yet
the most futile folly of man."
The Philippines annexation was a burning question when I met him and
Henry White (Secretary of Legation and later Ambassador to France) in
London, on my way to New York. It gratified me to find our views were
similar upon that proposed serious departure from our traditional
policy of avoiding distant and disconnected possessions and keeping
our empire within the continent, especially keeping it out of the
vortex of militarism. Hay, White, and I clasped hands together in
Hay's office in London, and agreed upon this. Before that he had
written me the following note:
_London, August 22, 1898_
MY DEAR CARNEGIE:
I thank you for the Skibo grouse and also for your kind
letter. It is a solemn and absorbing thing to hear so many
kind and unmerited words as I have heard and read this last
week.
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