fi>tatc CoUesc of aigriculturc 3t Cornell ?inibet;sitp Stbaca. il. S. 3lt6rarp Cornell University Library E 711.6.M12 The authentic life of William McKinley . 3 1924 014 447 456 VJ®, Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014447456 THE AUTHENTIC LIFE OF William McKinley Our Third Martyr President TOGETHER WITH A LIFE SKETCH OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT The 26th President of the United States INTRODUCTION AND BIOGRAPHY BY ALEXANDER K. McCLURE Author of the "Life and Times of Abraham Lincoln." THE LIFE AND PUBLIC CAREER BY CHARLES MORRIS, LLD. Author of the "Life of Queen Victoria," Also Memorial Tributes By STATESMEN, MINISTERS, ORATORS AND RULERS OF ALL COUNTRIES Profusely Illustrated with Reproductions from Original Photographs, Original Drawings and Special Pictures of the Family hy Express Permission from the Owners m m Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1901, by ffl* W. E. SCTrLL, w m in the office ot the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. C/B iti JS m AXiii xioBxa BaamsTSD. T ©penlriG Morbs. to XTbe Stot^ of a flllatti^t " A GREAT and good man lies dead, and the nation mourns." /-\ Such was the sentiment felt in millions of hearts of citi- zens of the United States of America when, on the morning of Saturday, the 14th of September, 1901, the sad tidings were flashed from end to end of the country that their revered and honored President was no more. During the days of that terrible week which succeeded the treacherous assault upon the life of the National Executive, when trusting himself most fully to the honor and good-will of his people, hope wrestled with dread in the hearts of Americans of every type of political faith, every sentimen.t of national policy. The opponents as well as the supporters of the President stood in spirit by that bedside where the life of one of their noblest was ebbing away, and if silent prayer could ever change the course of nature, it would have been changed in these fateful days. Hope for a time triumphed over despair, and the hearts of the people throbbed with gladness when it seemed as if the fell purpose of the assassin was about to be foiled, and our President restored to health and vigor to finish the work which he had been chosen by the voice of the nation to fulfil. Alas ! no one knew that dark disease was even then mining deep within, that death had set his lurid seal upon that noble brow, and that minutes, instead of months or years, marked the term of the President's future life. Hence, when the shock at length came, it was a terrible one. An universal spasm of grief passed from end to end of the land. From far eastern Maine to the western land of gold, from the vii viii OPENING WORDS great lakes of the north to the great gulf of the south, the senti- ment of deep regret, the feeling of intense sadness, filled every soul. Never was a man more deeply and widely mourned, not even the sainted Lincoln, nor the warmly esteemed Garfield, America's two former martyrs to integrity and high-mindedness in the Presidential chair. The shock fell with sudden and irresistible force, and for an interval the whole nation swung downward into the vale of grief, only slowly to rise again from under the force of that dread blow. Never was there a crime more without purpose, more without possible good effect. William McKinley was no oppressor of the people, no irresponsible and cruel autocrat. No act of his had ever, from evil intent, taken the bread from one man's hand, the hope from one man's heart. He was the representative of the people's will, not their master. Chosen by the votes of a majority cf the citizens to execute their laws and administer their affairs, he had devoted himself seriously and conscientiously to this purpose, and no one, not even those who most opposed his policy, ever in itheir hearts accused him of self-seeking, of a disregard for the obli- gations of his oath of office, of anything other than an earnest desire to do what in his judgment seemed the best thing for the good of the people as a whole. There was no benefit conceivable to be gained by his cruel taking off ; nothing but evil-^evil, deep-dyed evil — in the act. Even the opponents of his policy could not hope but that this policy would be pursued by the strong and able man who would succeed him in the Presidential chair. Only the counsels of insensate anarchy, the whisperings of a demon viler than Satan, could have snspired such a deed ; and for the man, if it is just to call him man, that struck the blow, only a single excuse exists, that his brain had been turned by the dark conspiracies in which he was involved, and that it was at the instigation of a fanaticism excited to the pitch of insanity that the deed was done. OPENING WORDS Ix Anarchy has nothing to gain, it has all to lose, by acts like this. It has been tolerated; it may be, and deserves to be, pro- scribed. If there is to be no security, for either good man or bad, trom its fatalistic hand, the time will surely come when the anarch- ist will be hunted with the implacable resentment that the man- eating tiger is now followed, the hunt being unremitting until the last assassin of them all is swept from the earth. The thought of deeds like these inspire us to quote Shak« speare's words : ' ' In these cases We still have judgment here ; and we but teach Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return To plague the inventor ; this even-handed justice Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice To our own lips." We may quote still further from Macbeth's famous soliloquy, smce the qualities ascribed by Shakspeare to the slaughtered Dun- can apply with equal or even greater force to a far later victim of the murderer's hand, the martyred McKinley. ' ' This Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been So clear in his great office, that his virtues Will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against The deep damnation of his taking off ; And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven'scherubim, horsed Upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, That tears shall drown the wind." "The deep damnation of his taking-off," applies with the clos- est significance to the assassination of William McKinley, for no President before him was more " clear in his great office." It is, X OPENING WORDS indeed, a singular circumstance that the three Presidents marked for death by the assassin were among the noblest and best of the whole Presidential family ; Lincoln, who was loved as no President before his time ; Garfield, who was warmly esteemed for his deep probity and earnest desire to administer his high office highly ; and McKinley, whose genial nature, warm heart, and rare devotion to his sense of duty had won him the respect and heartfelt affec- tion of the great mass of his countrymen. The death of Lincoln, however, came at a time when the passions of men had been intensely roused, and when the waters of strife still rose in billows of wrath. Garfield fell at a time when political passion was similarly aroused by the approaching deposi- tion of the policy "to the victor belongs the spoils" by the civil service or merit system. The murder of McKinley, on the other hand, came like a bolt from a clear sky, when the clouds of war had passed, prosperity reigned, and the country was settling down into security and calm. Its effects, therefore, were the more strongly felt, since it was a blow without a cause, a murder desti- tute of warrant. We feel tempted to quote again ; this time not from a master of expression of the past, but from one of the present, William McKinley himself. It is well first to allude to the interesting cir- cumstance that Rutherford B. Hayes, McKinley's old commander and warm friend in the days of war, entered the Presidential office in the same term that McKinley entered the House of Representa- tives ; their life careers thus seeming strangely united. McKinley, who knew well the virtues and abilities of his lifelong friend, neatly set off his estimate of his character in this telling phrase : " Good in his greatness, and great in his goodness." We quote it here with a purpose, that of its evident close appli- cability to the speaker himself. As he said of President Hayes, we may justly say of President McKinley, that he was " Good in his Greatness, and Great in his Goodness," and this motto from his own lips deserves to be carved as an epitaph upon his tomb. OPENING WORDS xi We ask no pardon from the American public for offering this biography of their late martyred ruler for their perusal ; feeling that now, while he is warm in their remembrance, the story of his life will be received with gratification and read with enthusiasm. His career has been a varied and deeply interesting one. Born in humble circumstances, in a true sense " One of the People," he engaged, while a mere boy, in the deadly struggle for the perma- nence of our institutions and the integrity of our territory, the Civil War. In this his story was striking, his services meritorious, his ability conspicuous, and he had the honor, shared by few besides, of rising from the position of a private soldier to the rank of Major in his regiment. The war ended, he engaged in the practice of the law, but before many years had passed entered the halls of Congress, where his skill as an orator and his earnest and able advocacy of the prin- ciples of his party quickly won the admiration of his fellow mem- bers. As a Congressman his name became associated with one of the most prominent legislative acts of the closing century, the McKinley Tariff, which first lifted him into high prominence before the eyes of the people. Serving subsequently as Governor of Ohio, he was in 1896 chosen as President of the United States. He succeeded to this high of^ce at a critical period, that in which the policy of Spain in Cuba was leading inevitably to war between that country and the United States. The results and far-reaching consequences of this war rendered the administration of President McKinley the one most crowded with intricate and momentous questions after that of Lincoln. No matter what course he had chosen to pursue, one of contraction or one of expansion, he would have met with animad- version and called forth hostility. That he chose the course which seemed to him the best adapted to promote the development of his country and the interests of mankind no man can fairly doubt. That he aroused enmity and opposition during his life must be admitted. But with his sudden death all enmity and recrimination jji OPENING WORDS fell to. the ground, the nation rose as a man to proclaim his noble character and wealth of good intent, and the world stood, in spirit, beside his bier, to lay upon it the wreath of high respect and heartfelt admiration. Peace be with him in death, as it was not always in life ! The following lines, breathed by the President in his dying moments, are fitting words with which to close this preface : Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee, E'en though it be a cross That raiseth me, Still all my song shall be. Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee ! Or if on joyful wing. Cleaving the sky. Sun, moon and stars forgot, Upward I fly. Still all my song shall be. Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee 1 PRESIDENT McKINLEY INSPECTING A GOVERNMENT TRANSPORT The Life of William McKinley A Man of the People TABLE OF CONTENTS OPENING WORDS 5 CHAPTER I WILLIAM Mckinley— AN introduction 17 CHAPTER II WILLIAM MCKINLEY'S ANCESTRY 33 CHAPTER III BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION . 50 CHAPTER IV THE SOLDIER BOY EARNS HIS SPURS • . 3j CHAPTER V IN THE SHENANDOAH VALI^BY 69 3dii xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER VI FROM CAPTAIN TO MAJOR 85 CHAPTER VII CHOOSING A PROFESSION 94 CHAPTER VIII MEMBER OF CONGRESS ti6 chapter ix Mckinley and the protective tariff 136 chapter x governor of ohio 158 chapter xi the st. louis convention and nomination 164 chapter xii estimate of president mckinley's first term .... 187 chapter xiii first year as president 207 chapter xiv REVOLUTION IN CUBA AND WAR WITH SPAIN 227 TABLE OF CONTENTS xv chapter xv Mckinley and the closing century 253 chapter xvi the campaign of 1900 270 chapter xvii nearing the end 290 chapter xviii president mckinley's last speech 302 chapter xix the assassin's fatal shot 321 chapter xx the last sad hours 326 chapter xxi obsequies of the martyred president 337 chapter xxii the impressive state funeral ceremonies 349 chapter xxiii THE I.AST SAD HOME-COMING 3^5 xvi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER XXIV THE COUNTRY IN MOURNING 375 CHAPTER XXV THE WORLD'S SYMPATHY WITH THE NATION'S GRIEF . . 391 CHAPTER XXVI MEMORIAL TRIBUTES 401 CHAPTER XXVII CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS 42a CHAPTER XXVIII THE ASSASSIN AND THE ANARCHISTS 438 CHAPTER XXIX CZOLGOSZ PAYS THE PENALTY 448 CHAPTER XXX ANARCHY'S AWFUL CRIMES FOR THE PAST CENTURY . . . 454 CHAPTER XXXI THEODORE ROOSEVELT— HIS CAREER 466 CHAPTER XXXII THEODORE ROOSEVELT, THE 26TH PRESIDENT 492 William McKinley, the Noble American An Introduction FOR the third time in a period of Httle more than a generation, the assassin's bullet has plunged the great republic of the world into the saddest bereavement. Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley ; the three Presidents of the United States who would be selected from all the many who have filled that highest civil trust of the world as the most kindly and generous in disposition, and most free from enmity, have fallen by the hand of the assassin. Here in the freest government in the world, with the largest measure of general prosperity enjoyed by any people ; under a government so gentle in its operations that it is unfelt in its exac- tions, and rises to its highest measure of grandeur only when the rights of the citizen or the honor of the nation are imperiled, it is most appalling to record the fall of rulers by unprovoked red- handed murder in a greater degree than has been experienced in any other nation of the world during the last forty years. It is not surprising that the grinding oppression of despotic governments under which many poverty-stricken subjects are driven to despair, should school the assassin for the terrible work of taking revenge upon rulers who live in boundless luxury ; but here, where the President is himself one of the people, lives as they live, mingles with them as one of them, and is accessible to the hum- blest sovereign of the nation, only some fiend in human form, in 2 I? li WILLIAM McKINLEV whose heart every instinct of manhood was strangled, could plot or execute the murder of the President of the United States. President McKinley was one of the gentlest and kindest of men. His life was a beautiful poem in many cantos, exhibiting every phase of the best and noblest attributes of human character. Even when racked with pain by the wound of the assassin, he spoke of his murderer only in terms of kindness, asking that he should be treated fairly, and he died as he lived, exhibiting the grandest qualities of Christian manhood. His last words were fitly uttered to the long-suffering, accomplished and devoted wife, at whose home altar there had never been a shadow of discord, and whose life was benignant with that beautiful affection that makes home the sanctuary of its worshippers. With his hand clasped in hers, and just when passing to final unconsciousness, he whispered the sentence that is now immortal : " God's will, not ours, be done." The life of William McKinley is only one of the many which so impressively illustrate the grandest feature of our great free government that gives opportunity alike to all — the highest and the lowest. He was born at Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, on the 29th of January, 1843. His early opportunities were limited, but he made the best use of them by attending the public schools until civil war spread its deadly pall over the nation. He was then only eighteen years of age, but he promptly enlisted as a private in the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers. Other heroes of the war have been honored with the Presidency, but McKinley is the only one who served in the ranks, bearing his musket in the flame of battle. He rose to the rank of captain because of special mention in dispatches for courage and efficiency as a soldier, and at the end of the war he returned to his home, having then just passed his majority, with the rank of brevet major. He promptly resumed his studies, and in due time was admitted to the bar, when he located at Canton, Stark County, Ohio, that has since been his home. McKinley took an active part in politics in early life, and in 1869 he made his first appearance as a candidate on the Republican WILLIAM McKlNLEY rg ticket for District Attorney, and though the county was strongly Democratic, he was elected by a small majority. He rose rapidly in his profession, but in 1876, at the age of thirty-two, he was elected to Congress, and after that he was continuously in public life. He was chosen to Congress at consecutive elections until 1897. He had become a great political power in his State and also in the councils of the nation, and his political opponents determined to retire him to private life. The Democrats controlled the Legisla- ture in 1890, and enacted a new Congressional apportionment, the chief purpose of which was to connect Stark County, the home of McKinley, with such an overwhelming Democratic majority as to render his re-election impossible. But even with this large adverse majority to overcome, the Democrats feared the popularity of McKinley, and they nominated against him one of the strongest men in the district. The contest became one of national interest, and McKinley made the most aggressive canvass of his. life, although to all but himself it seemed to be utterly hopeless. He was defeated by 846 majority where his opponent, by a strict party vote, should have been victor by nearly 4,000. The Republicans of Ohio felt keenly the arbitrary effort made to retire McKinley from public trust by a Congressional gerrymander, and the next year he was unanimously nominated for Governor of the State and elected by an unusually large majority. He filled the executive office with the same conscientious devotion to public duty that had always characterized him, and in 1893 he was unanimously nomi- nated for re-election, and was successful by the largest popular majority ever given in the State, with the single exception of Governor Brough's majority over Valandingham for Governor in 1863. In both of these State contests his political opponents made desperate efforts to defeat him, or at least to reduce his majority, and thus weaken him as a political factor in State and national affairs, but when he was re-elected Governor by the stupendous majority of 80,995 he was at once recognized by his friends, no! 20 WILLIAM McKINLEY only at home but throughout the country, as a promising candidate for the Presidency. Even one year before that election he was made a candidate for the Presidency before the national conven- tion at Minneapolis. He had not been generally discussed as an aspirant at that time, and when the convention met he had no expectation that his name would be presented. He was made President of the convention without a contest, and, to his surprise, a portion of the opposition to Harrison suddenly concentrated upon him, and the vote of his State was cast for himself with the single exception of his own vote, which was given to Harrison. The only ballot for President gave Harrison 535^, Blaine 182^, McKinley 182, Reed 4 and Robert Lincoln i. McKinley entered the contest of 1892 with great energy and zeal, and was accepted by all as the ablest and most effective of the champions of the Harri- son cause. He became recognized in that struggle as the " leader of leaders " in his own party, and it was only logical that after his re-election for Governor of Ohio by an almost unprecedented majority, he should be made the Republican candidate for President in 1896. The battle for the Presidential succession on the Republican side in 1896 was a very earnest one. That McKinley was the choice of the great mass of the Republican people, excepting when controlled by local preferences, was conceded by all, but he had one of the ablest and most aggressive of the Republican national leaders as his chief competitor in Thomas B. Reed, then Speaker of the House. Senator Hanna cherished a romantic attachment for McKinley, as was shown by his prompt intervention to rescue McKinley from the bankruptcy into which he was suddenly pre- cipitated, when Governor, by the mismanagement of a business enterprise with which he was connected as a partner, but for the direction of which he had neither time nor fitness. Hanna proved himself to be one of the great Warwicks of the Republic, ranking to-day with Thurlow Weed and the elder Francis P. Blair, of olden times. He devoted himself tirelessly for more than a year to WILLIAM Mckinley the young school teacher WILLIAM Mckinley The School Teacher— The Soldier— The Lawyer— The Governor WILLIAM McKINLEY 23 concentrating and organizing the McKinley sentiment throughout the country. With McKinley's great personal strength with the people and- Hanna's superb direction, McKinley rapidly took the lead in the race, and finally ended the contest some weeks before the meeting of the Convention, by going into New England and breaking the Reed forces in his own home by carrying Vermont and New Hampshire practically for himself. Reed was thus powerless to make a battle with his New England forces divided, and when the Convention met at St. Louis on the i6th of June, the nomination of McKinley was so generally conceded that the first and only ballot, gave him 661 }4 votes to 84^ for Reed, 61 }4 for Quay, 58 for Governor Morton, 35^ for Allison, and i for Senator Cameron. The national battle of 1896 gave 4 crucial test of the intel- lectual and personal qualities of the two opposing candidates for President. William Jennings Bryan had by a grand oratorical efifort swept away the Democratic Convention in a tempest of applause, and it was a battle royal from start to finish, Bryan's wonderful physical power, his fluency of speech, his great adapta. bility to all the duties and arts of the platform, and his tireless efforts aroused his supporters to the highest degree of enthusiasm. He spoke not only daily but often many times a day, and in the early part of the contest his election appeared to be more than possible. The vital issue of the conflict was the question of main- taining a sound financial policy, as against the seductive appeals in favor of cheap money at a time when labor was unrequited and industry and trade greatly paralyzed ; but McKinley gave repeated utterances during the struggle which steadily sobered the people, and long before election day the tide was obviously in favor of McKinley's election, notwithstanding the fearful depression which prevailed. In that contest, as uniformly in Congress, he stood resolutely and aggressively for the maintenance of the national credit inviolate, and the great business interests of the country were rallied to his support with such earnestness as to divert from 84 WILLIAM McKINLEY the Democratic party very many of its ablest and most influential leaders to the support of a third ticket or to the direct support of McKinley. The result was McKinley's election by a popular majority of nearly half a million over Bryan, and by a vote of 271 for McKinley in the electoral college to 176 for Bryan. The election of McKinley to, the Presidency in 1896 was a counter revolution of the Democratic revolution that had carried Cleveland into the Presidency in 1892 by large popular and electoral majorities, and it necessarily involved an entire change of the economic policy of the Government. The McKinley adminis- tration was supported by a party majority in both branches of Con- gress, and a new tariff bill, that is' yet in existence, was speedily enacted. The severe depression that had continued from 1893 until 1896 was gradually passing away when McKinley was elected, and his success gave new impetus to the great industrial interests of the country. Fortunate conditions gave increased prices for the products of our industry, especially of our farms, and he had every prospect of having a most successful and serene administration until the dark cloud of war that hung over Cuba extended its pall over our Republic. The destruction of the battleship Maine quickened the hostility of the American people against the Spanish rule in Cuba to an extent that made war inevitable. McKinley earnestly strove to avert the calamity of war. Like Lincoln, all his instincts were on the side of humanity, and but for the destruction of the Maine that called out a resistless popular sentiment in favor of war, there is little doubt that McKinley, with all his sympathies on the side of peace, would have averted the conflict with Spain. When the grave duty of accept- ing war was inevitable, he rose to every requirement of the excep- tionally grave emergency, and in the short conflict between the armies and navies of the two Governments, the heroism of our army and navy was made to stand out even in grander lustre than ever before. For the first time in the history of naval warfare, two naval battles were fought in which every vessel of the squadrons WILLIAM McKINLEY *% of the enemy was entirely destroyed, and the Spanish army finally surrendered to a United States army not superior to it in numbers and lacking Its advantages of position. When the first opportunity for securing peace was presented, President McKinley was prompt and tireless in pressing for its attainment. He was compelled to meet the gravest problems ever presented to our statesmanship, with the single exceptions of the problems thrust upon the Government by secession in 1861 ; but McKinley, always in the forefront to create and maintain the policy he had adopted, speedily accomplished a treaty with Spain that gave to this country all the Spanish possessions in the West Indies with the exception of Cuba, and the entire Philippine archipelago, in the East. He was slow to accept the policy of expansion to the extent to which it was carried, but, like Lincoln, he was ever ready to meet new necessities ; and it is well known that while at one time he would have accepted a mere coaling station in the Philippines, and later probably the single province of Luzon, he finally bowed to the resistless logic of events that so clearly demanded the acceptance of all the important Spanish provinces in both the West Indies and in the East. His policy of expansion was fiercely assailed by his political opponents and by some able members of his own party, but the best evidence of the mandatory sentiment of the sovereign people of the nation in requiring the policy of expansion, is given in the fact that when the Paris treaty was before the Senate for confirmation, and was opposed by some of the President's party supporters, Mr. Bryaii, his Presidential competitor, went to Washington and publicly and privately urged the confirmation of the treaty. No higher vindication of the policy of the President could have been furnished, and no more conclusive expression could have been given as to the general con- victions of the American people. Beyond the war with Spain and the enactment of a new tariff, the first administration of McKinley was not specially eventful. It was confronted by no great political convulsions, as his party 26 WILLIAM McKINLEY majority was maintained in both branches of Congress during the entire term ; and as the period approached for choosing the candi- dates for the national battle of 1900, he was in the field practically without a competitor. The Convention was held in Philadelphia on the 19th of June, with Senator Wolcott as temporary chairman and Senator Lodge, of Massachusetts, as permanent chairman. No name was presented or even discussed for the Presidency but that of McKinley. Some of the enthusiastic supporters of Roosevelt meditated an attempt to stampede the Convention to their favorite for President, but the delegates were so solidly devoted to McKinley that the movement was found to be impracti- cable. McKinley was nominated on the first roll call, receiving 924 votes, being the full membership of the Convention. Theodore Roosevelt was then nominated for Vice-President, receiving 923 votes, being one vote less than the full membership, and that vote his own, as he was at the head of the New York delegation. The Democratic National Convention presented an equally unanimous sentiment in favor of the renomination of William J. Bryan, and thus the two leaders who had locked horns four years before, again took the field in a desperate struggle for political supremacy ; but Bryan was at a great disadvantage because of the general prosperity of the country, the nearly universal employment of labor at fair wages, and the next to universal thrift in all business and industrial channels. Bryan, however, repeated his aggressive campaign of 1896, exhibiting variance only in his somewhat tempered attitude on the financial question. His speeches of this campaign exhibited more of the statesman and not so much of the politician, as did his great speeches in the first struggle, and he commanded very general respect wherever he went, even from those who were politically opposed to him. McKinley was heard only on a few occasions during the conflict, but his utterances were always of the most temperate, forceful and impressive character, and strengthened the already very great confidence that the country reposed in him. The result was his re-election by the largest popular majority ever WILLIAM McKINLEY 27 given to a national candidate. His popular majority over Bryan was 849,455, and his majority over all competitors was 446,719 out of a total vote of 13,969,770. In the electoral college McKinley received 292 votes to 155 for Bryan. McKinley's friends also carried largely increased majorities in both the Senate and House, and the new Congress chosen to meet on the first Monday in December 1901, that would have been the first under his second administration, was more heartily in accord with the President and- the general policy of his administration than any President of the past commanded, with the disappointments of four years to engender opposition. He was re-inaugurated with most imposing ceremonies, and he was thus newly commissioned by the people by a vote of confidence so great and comprehensive that he had every assurance of a most serene and successful admin- istration of his second term in his high ofifice. The only important event after his second inauguration was his journey to the Pacific, accompanied by his devoted but fragile wife. A tour covering the heart of the different sections of the whole country was planned, and a special train, with every possible comfort and care provided for his invalid wife, started on its journey to the South. The train was stopped at the leading centres of population along the entire' route, and the journey was one continued ovation to the honored President of the nation. The fatigue of the journey proved too great for Mrs. McKinley, and in San Fran- cisco it was abruptly ended by her very critical illness, during which her life was despaired of for some days. The authorities and people of San Francisco joined the President and members of the Cabinet in devoting themselves wholly to the care of the beloved woman who so long hovered on the shore of the dark river; but she finally recovered sufficiently to be brought home, and the journey from the Pacific to Washington was made with the utmost speed and popular demonstrations avoided as much as possible. During McKinley's journey to the Pacific he delivered a succes- sion of speeches largely or wholly extemporized, which proved his 28 WILLIAM McKINLEY wonderful versatility and forcefulness as a disputant and orator. No purer, nobler or better lessons could be given in our schools for the study of our youth than the speeches delivered by McKinley from the time he left Washington until he reached San Francisco. There was not a trace of offensive partisanship in any of them. They were dignified, patriotic, eloquent and chivalrous without exception, and were more carefully studied and approved by the American people than any popular deliverances ever made by a President. When Mrs. McKinley's health improved the President went with her to spend the Summer at their quiet home in Canton, Ohio, where they were universally beloved by their neighbors ; and only the sense of public duty to which President McKinley ever responded, induced him to leave his charming home and home circle to visit the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo. He was welcomed there as he had been in every part of the country, not only by overwhelming numbers, but by the heartiest applaudits of the people without distinction of party, and his address delivered at the Exposition will stand in literature among the choicest pro- ductions of American statemanship. The speech in its entirety exhibits the most careful and intelli- gent comprehension of the aims, duties and destiny of our free government, and it will certainly be accepted as a guide, not only by his immediate successor, but for rulers of all parties who may be charged with the destiny of the great republic of the world. His closing paragraph will stand side by side with the immortal deliverance of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg. It is as follows : " Who can tell the new thoughts that have been awakened, the ambitions fired and the high achievements that will be wrought through this Exposition ? Gentlemen, let us ever remember that our interest is in concord, not conflict, and that our real eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those of war. We hope that all who are represented here may be moved to higher and nobler effort for their own and the world's good, and that out of this city may come, not only greater comrnerce a,nd. trade for us all, but, more WILLIAM McKINLEY 29 essential than these, relations of mutual respect, confidence and friendship which will deepen and endure. " Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously vouchsafe prosperity, happiness and peace to all our neighbors, and like bles- sings to all the peoples and powers of earth." On the day following this address, the President yielded to the general desire for a public reception, so that the great mass of people present should have an opportunity to take him by the hand, and while thus receiving the multitude on the afternoon of Friday, September 6th, Leon F. Czolgosz, a young anarchist, approached him with his right hand covered by a handkerchief as if protecting a wound or sore, and extending his left hand to the President, speedily twice fired the pistol concealed in his right hand and two bullets entered the body of the victim. Additional shots would have been fired by the murderer had he not been struck and captured by those immediately about him. The Presi- dent bore himself most courageously, but finally fell into the arms of his friends, while the murderer was hastened away to prison. The Emergency Hos'pital of the Exposition happened to be not only very complete in its equipment, but had connected with it surgeons and physicians of the ripest experience, and the Presi- dent had the promptest and best treatment known to the pro- fession. After the examinations had been made and an operation performed to aid in healing the breaches in the walls of the stomach, the physicians were hopeful that the distinguished patient might recover. The country was appalled by this third assassin who aimed at the life of the President of the Republic without having suffered any real or imaginary wrong from his victim, and intense anxiety was exhibited every hour of the day and night for the bulletins which came from the bedside of the people's ruler. Day after day the reports were hopeful because no specially unfavorable features were developed, and four days after the wounds had been inflicted, the whole country rejoiced at the ofificial reports from the surgeons in charge that the President was taking 30 WILLIAM McKINLEY food in the natural way and enjoying it and his strength rapidly increasing. Only one day later the shadows again gathered and the hearts of the millions of American people were bowed in woe by the " report that most dangerous symptoms had suddenly developed and that the life of the President was trembling in the balance. From that time no hopeful report came from those who watched the tread of death where it would strike a great nation in its dearest hopes and affections, and finally, on Saturday morning, September 14th, at 2.15 a.m., the unconscious effigy of life that dimly flickered in the socket, quietly vanished in the darkness of death, leaving the last sweet utterance of President McKinley imperishably crystallized in the memory of all — " It is God's way. His will be done, not ours." X PI 11 w B w z >0 M W O X > ffl a II > o < m a o H H ,-) D H X H O Z « CO H « Q O «i H Z Q OS 0. CHAPTER II The Ancestry of William McKinley NATIVE AMERICAN STOCK PRESIDENT McKINLEYcamefrom Crawford County, Ohio, stock, his grandfather and great-grandfather having been leading pioneer citizens. Strange to say, they Hved in the banner Democratic township of this rock-ribbed Democratic county, and, what was more, the old gentlemen voted the Democratic ticket. In a little German Lutheran cemetery, a few miles north of Bucyrus, on the State road, can be found a modest gravestone, on which is the following inscription : DAVID McKINLEY Revolutionary Soldier Born 1756. Died 1840 The mound is neatly kept, and from the near-by corners of the old rail fence nod wild roses in fragrant profusion. Just beyond runs the Columbus and Sandusky Short Line Railway, with its stream of commerce ; but few of the passengers know that in this little cemetery rests the original stock of Nation's late President. Beside thfe grave of McKinley is a companion mound with a similar headstone, on which is inscribed : HANNAH C. ROSE Born 1757. Died 1840 These are the graves of the predecessors of the President, and throughout this county there still resides a number of their descendants, while the older pioneers remember well McKinley, the 33 34 THE ANCESTRY OF WILLIAM McKINLEY revolutionary soldier. Among the closest relatives at the present time there are the Waller family, their homestead being a few miles from the lonely graveyard. Stephen Waller married a sister of the President's father and had many occasions to visit the old home in Canton. While Mr. Waller and the President differed in politics, the former was always high in his praise of the consistency and char- acter of his famous nephew, and spoke most touchingly of the Christian character of McKinley's mother. INCIDENTS IN EARLY LIFE After the death of Mrs. Waller the family visits and correspon- dence were naturally discontinued, but Mr. Waller related many incidents in the early life of the President which illustrate his early Christian training. On one occasion, during a visit of Mrs. Waller to the home of her brother, William McKinley, Sr., her nephew was a lad of sixteen or seventeen years of age. He was a student at the time, and was poring over his Latin when his brother David, who was superintendent of a coal mine, came rushing into the room and ordered young William to hitch up his horse and have it ready for him by a certain time, as he was in a hurry, and wanted to drive out to a dance several miles in the country. After his brother had left the room, young William turned to his aunt, Mrs. Waller, and said, "Aunt Martha, don't you think it rather humiliating for a Methodist and a Latin scholar to be compelled to hitch up a horse for a brother to go to a dance ?" Both the grandfather of the President and his great grand- father were carpenters by trade, and during the early days of the century they were engaged in this work. The village of Chat- field, which is located on the site of the McKinley farm, was largely built by the McKinleys, and many buildings throughout the county and in Bucyrus are their handiwork. Of the original buildings on the McKinley farm only one remains, the others having given place to more modern structures. Upon the site of the old McKinley home has been erected a commodious two-story The ancestry of William mckinley 35 brick school house, and here the young people of Chatfield are taught in common school branches and imbibe patriotism amidst favorable environments. The only relative bearing the family name who is a resident of this vicinity is William McKinley, of this pliace, who is in the employ of the Ohio Central. He is an exact counterpart of the President in build and facial mold. Other relatives in Bucyrus are Thomas McCreary and family. The surviving pioneer citizens who remember the McKinleys when they lived in Crawford County all speak of them in terms of highest praise. Those who knew David McKinley say that he was a highly educated and polished gentleman of the old school. He was a teacher for many years, and was familiar with several languages. In religion he was a strict Presbyterian, and in politics a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, as were also the other McKinleys of Crawford County in that early day, except James, the President's grandfather, who was a Whig. He also fought in the Revolutionary War, and during the closing years of his life drew a pension for wounds received in the service. In order to trace the history of the descendants in this county and show their relation to the late President William McKinley, whose career has been so illustrious, it is necessary to follow the history of the family briefly from its first appearance in America to the present time. The first McKinley to arrive in this country was James, who, with his brother William, emigrated from Ireland early in the eighteenth century. His brother William went South and established the Southern branch of the family, but James remained in York County, where he grew to manhood and was married. Among his children was David McKinley, who was born May i6, 1755, and died in this county in 1840. David's second son was James McKinley, who was in turn the father of William McKinley, Sr., father of the President. A brother of James McKinley, Ephraim by name, also located in Crawford County, settling in Bucyrus a year before James located at Chat- field. He married Hannah McCreary a sister of Thomas McCreary, 36 THE ANCESTRY OF WILLIAM McKINLEY well known in Ohio, and they lived in North Bucyrus. Ephraim and family moved from Bucyrus to South Bend, Ind., in 1847, and from there they went to Wisconsin and Dakota, and finally located in Ogden, Ills. When James McKinley located at Chatfield he was accompanied by his children, Hannah, Martha, Ellen and Benja- min, and his son John joined him about two years later, while the other children, including William, father of the President, remained in Columbiana County. In 1844, James sold his Chatfield farm and bought another, but ultimately, moved to South Bend, Ind. About the same time Ephraim moved there from Bucyrus. The country about South Bend was then very swampy, new and full of malaria. The old folks both were stricken with malaria shortly after arriving, and both died on the same day in 1847, on the fortieth anniversary of their marriage, and were buried in the same grave, which is marked by a handsome monument put up by their son, William McKinley, Sr, THE president's GRANDFATHER James McKinley, grandfather of the President, was a r^emark- able man in many respects, and, like his father, was engaged in fighting England, he having served in the War of 181 2. He served under General William Henry Harrison, and was in the battle of Tippecanoe. While in the service Harrison's division passed through this section of the State, and McKinley was so favorably impressed with the country at that time that it led to his locating there. Of their children, Hannah and her husband, Mr. Tilford, continued to live in the vicinity of Lykens for a number of years and also at Sulphur Springs, finally moving to Bloomville. Ellen and her husband, James Winters, lived in the vicinity of Lykens for a number of years after their marriage and then moved to Min- nesota, and finally returned to Ohio. Martha and her husband, Mr. Waller, continued to live at Lykens until her death, October 4, iSSo. There her husband and some of the children still live. THE ANCESTRY OF WILLIAM McKINLEY 37 Let us give, in a little more detail, the story of William McKinley's father and mother. The latter, in her widowhood, found a devoted and loyal supporter in her son, the twenty-fifth President. It was at New Lisbon that the young iron founder, William McKinley, Sr., wooed, won and married farmer Allison's daughter Nancy, in 1827. This combination of the tillers of the soil and the moulders of the iron was a good one, and no doubt added much to the strength of character in their offspring which manifested itself so decidedly in their daughter Anna, who was a teacher, and found its culminating climax in the Napoleonic face and character of William McKinley, Jr., the late President. The life of Nancy McKinley was a long one, and its record is a simple narrative of a good wife and devoted mother whose chil- dren looked upon her as the embodiment of all that those two sacred names, wife and mother, mean in a Christian American home. Her name will always be recalled with that of her noble son. The young couple, William and Nancy McKinley, settled, soon after their marriage, at Fairfield, Ohio. There the father estab- lished an iron foundry. They were plain and respectable people, without any of the disadvantages and embarrassments of a great name. The father devoted his time to earning a living by honest toil, and the mother to making a happy home for the husband and to the training of the children which came, teaching them the cardinal virtue's of truthfulness, honor, and self-dependence. WILLIAM MCKINLEY Jr's BIRTHPLACE From Fairfield the family removed to Niles, Ohio, a village in an adjoining county, and it was here, about sixteen years after the marriage of his parents, that William McKinley, Jr., was born, January 29, 1843, and named for his father. The little, long, ungainly, two-story, frame house in which the family lived, and in which the embryo President was born, is still standing, as has been said, in Niles. At one end is a portion used for a store. Adjoining this is the 3 38 TftE ANCESTRY OF WILL/ AM McKINLBY vine-covered doorway which constitutes the entrance for the part used as a dwelHng. The vine which covers the whole side of the house is very old. It was probably planted by the hand of Nancy Mc- Kinley, and it is undoubtedly associated with the earliest recollec- tions of the President. Humble as this house appears, it is a palace in comparison with the birthplaces and early homes of Andrew Jackson, Lincoln, and Garfield, and, with them, it goes to show that humble birth is no barrier to greatness, but rather a stimulus to the noble-souled and energetic American youth. The question of educating the children is always a serious one in a new country. Educational advantages were poor at Niles, and the parents removed to Poland, a small town of some 200 inhab- itants not far away, where there was an academy. William was now a young lad, and with his brothers and sisters he entered the school. His sister Anna became a teacher in the academy. William was possessed with a quiet dignity and serious habits, was studious and manly from a child, but he was as vigorous a player at games as he was diligent at his books. The family were held in high esteem at Poland, and the town is yet full of reminiscences concerning the members. Everybody liked William as a boy, and his thoroughness and brightness in his school work caused local prophecies of something great in store for him. He was his mother's chief dependence to run errands and do chores about the house, " because," she said, " he always seemed so pleased to help me." POLAND, THE HOME OF HIS YOUTH Poland was a small agricultural and mining town a few miles out from Youngstown, Ohio, and near the Pennsylvania line. It was noted for the integrity, education, and patriotism of its citi- zens. It is said no soldier was ever drafted there. Every time a call was made, there were more volunteers than the quota of the town required. It was while he was teaching school about two miles from Poland, and studying at the same time, that William THE ANCESTRY OF WILLIAM McKINLEY 39 McKinley, then about eighteen years of age, volunteered, and, after receiving his mother's consent and blessing, marched away as a pri- vate in the ranks to fight for his country's flag. Before this the boy had advanced so far in his studies that he had already taught one country school in which some of the scholars were older than himself. When fifteen years of age, under his mother's influence, he became an active member in the Methodist Church. He was also a great student of the Bible and a constant attendant of the Sunday Bible class. In fact, he sought every opportunity to increase his knowledge on all profitable subjects. The career of the boy-soldier is told elsewhere, and we know that at the close of the war he had been many times promoted and commended, and was on the staff of General Hayes. At the age of twenty-one the boy came home to his mother, and with him he brought a commission of Major. It was dated in 1864, and read : " For gallant and meritorious service at the battles of Opequan, Cedar Creek and Fisher's Hill. " Signed, A. Lincoln." Perhaps the old mother was not proud to have her boy safe- at home ? And perhaps she was not prouder still to read that docu- ment? The welcome home and the sweet communions of such reunions are too sacred for comment, even if we were possessed of the details. There are thousands of mothers throughout this land. North and South, who know the story, for similar experiences have graven them, in letters that fade not, upon the tablets of their own hearts, where "sacred memories keep them ever fresh" and each advancing year lends them the " sweet mellowing light of age." Upon the advice of his father, the young soldier decided to study law. The family assisted him by making personal sacrifices, in which Nancy McKinley and her daughter Anna were foremost. After a year and a half reading in the office of Judge Glidden, the unselfishness of mother and sister enabled him to go to the Albany Law School. In 1867, at the suggestion of his sister Anna, he 40 THE ANCESTRY OF WILLIAM McKINLEY went to Conton, whither she had preceded him as a teacher in the public schools. It was in this beautiful city — then of 6,000 inhabitants — under the influence and with the help of mother and sister, that the young lawyer of twenty-four opened his office and began the battle of life which afterward crowned him with the laurel wreath of national fame. HIS HEROIC SISTER ANNA It would be unjust to President McKinley and his mother, Nancy McKinley, and especially to his heroic sister Anna, should we not add at this point that it was this sister — in her mind and character so like her distinguished brother — who saved her hard earnings, and, aside from assistance given her brother, bought a home and induced her parents to accept it and remove to Canton, that the whole family might live together. It was in this home that the last happy years of these old people, with their children around them, were spent. It was here that their grandchildren came to visit them and the happy family reunions of nearly a quarter of a century were held ; and from here both parents were buried — the father in 1892, and the mother in 1897. A special photograph of this plain but comfortable cottage, now made famous by its associations, was taken for this sketch in the month of April, 1898, showing the trees around it, with the buds of Spring putting forth. It is the most unpretentious house in the neighborhood of elegant and palatial homes which surround it ; but we doubt if there was a happier home in all Canton than this while Nancy McKinley was its mistress. Not more than half a mile away, on another street, stands the house which was the home of President McKinley. It, too, is in an elegant community, and its simplicity is in striking contrast with the palaces of the rich by which it is environed. Every Sunday when he was in Canton the great son of this grand old mother walked over the quiet streets which lay between THE ANCESTRY OF WILLIAM McKINLEY 43 his home and hers and took her to church in the morning, and generally spent a part of the afternoon at her cottage home. Eight weeks before her death, on his vacation from Washing- ton, her son was with her at the church where they had both been members for many years, and they sat together in the family pew, little dreaming that it was the last time they should accompany each other to the house of worship, and that their next meeting before the altar should be the occasion of her funeral. The devotion of the President to his mother was always one of the most marked and admirable traits of his character. Even in the most important political events of his life, he seemed never to forget her. On the day of his nomination he was solicitous that she be present at his house when the news of the proceedings came over the wires from the Convention at St. Louis. It was the i8th day of June, 1896, an ideal summer day at Canton, and the air full of golden sunshine. Major McKinley rocked on his porch, enjoying the freshness of the breeze that was balmy, though touched with right by Judge Co. THE PRESIDENT AT THE CAR WINDOW Gazing at the busy factories with keen satisfaction FROM CAPTAIN TO MAJOR 89 distance of each other. Sheridan had taken the opportunity to reorganize his army, this division now consisting of the Sixth Army Corps under General Wright, the Nineteenth Army Corps under General Emory, and the Army of West Virginia, with General Crook in command. General Torbert commanded the cavalry escort, with Merritt and Averill as division commanders. Rutherford B. Hayes was at the head of the first brigade of the second division of Crook's army, this being McKinley's reg- iment. But the young captain was no longer attached to it. On August 9th, Crook had taken him from General Hayes' staff and attached him to his own. From that time until near the end of the year he held the position of acting assistant adjutant general, a capacity in which he served throughout Sheridan's valley cam- paign. In his new field of duty McKinley seemed to have a knack for getting into danger; in the successive skirmishes that occurred before the battle of Opequan he was frequently under fire. This was the case in a sharp little night engagement with Early's out- posts at Berryville on September 3d, when he had his, horse killed under him. The armies lay in front of each other for a month, when as a result of information furnished General Sheridan by Miss Rebecca Wright of Winchester, to the effect that a part of Early's army had been withdrawn by Lee to Richmond, he decided to force a battle. The blow was delivered at dawn on September 19th. Crook's command at this time was in reserve, but, time being lost in getting the troops into position for the main attack, the reserves were soon brought into action, being sent to the right to attack the Confederates in flank. Here an almost impenetrable growth of cedar and a swamp) stream hindered the advance ; but finally they emerged from the timber, and, supported by cavalry, advanced rapidly across two or three open fields, which brought them face to face with the enemy's infantry. A galling rifle fire was at once opened upon them, accompanied by artillery, but Crook's men advanced at 90 PROM CAPTAIN TO MAJOR double quick and swept the enemy before them, charging over his works, and contributing largely to his defeat and demoralization. Sheridan in his Memoirs says : Sheridan's own account of the battle " Crook's success began the moment he started to turn the enemy's left ; and, assured by the fact that Torbert had stampeded the Confederate cavalry and thrown Breckenridge's infantry into such disorder that it could do little to prevent the envelopment of Gordon's left, Crook pressed forward without even a halt. Both Emory and Wright took up the fight as ordered, and as they did so I sent word to Wilson, in the hope that he could partly perform the work originally laid out for Crook, to push along the Senseny and if possible gain the valley pike to the south of Winchester. I then returned toward my right flank, and as I reached the Nine- teenth Corps the enemy was contesting the ground in its front with great obstinacy ; but Emory's dogged persistence was at length rewarded with success, just as Crook's command emerged from the morass of Red Bud Run a*" a swept around Gordon toward the right of Breckenridge, who, with two of Horton's brigades, was holding a line at right angles with the valley pike for the protection of the Confederate rear. Early had ordered these two brigades back from Stevenson's Depot in the morning, pur- posing to protect with them his right flank and line of retreat, but ivhile they were en route to this end he was obliged to recall them to his left to meet Crook's attack." Captain McKinley had been exceedingly active during this fierce struggle, riding rapidly back and forth to the brigade and division commanders, with orders from the commanding general. He acquitted himself so well in this duty that when he received his brevet commission as major, the name of Opequan was mentioned as an occasion when he had distinguished himself by bravery and merit. There is one incident of the day in particular which illus- trates his firmness. We describe it as told by an eyewitness : FROM CAPTAIN TO MAJOR 91 Crook had sent McKinley with verbal orders to General Duval to move his division into action. Duval on receiving the order, not knowing the country, asked : " By what route shall I move my command?" Captain McKinley replied : "I would move up this creek." Duval's answer was : " I will not budge without definite orders." McKinley then decisively said: "This is a case of great emergency, general. I order you, by command of General Crook, to move your command up the ravine to a position on the right of the army." Duval went in as McKinley directed and came out in the right place. It was a great responsibility for so young an officer to take on his hands the fate of a division, but the result demon- strated his good judgment, and he was warmly commended for the service. On reporting to his chief he was told that it was all right, the movement having turned out successfully. If, on the contrary, it had turned out differently, it would certainly have been all wrong. After winning the battle of Opequan, Sheridan pursued Early up the valley to Fisher's Hill, where he found the Confederate army drawn up in a strong position. Early, in fact, was posted too strong for an assault in front, and Sheridan decided once more to use Crook's forces in a flank movement, and in this way force him to abandon his works. Crook was directed to lead his men into the desired position, under cover of the woods on the eastern slope of the Little North Mountain, the remainder of the army meanwhile engaging the attention of the enemy by a demonstration in front. This completely deceived the Confederate commander as to Sheridan's real intention. Before Early had any conception of what Sheridan was about Crook had completed his movement, and fell upon their rear and left flank, winning the battle almost in a moment. This engagement was conducted with more precision and much less slaughter on both sides than the previous battle. Early again retreated up the valley with Sheridan in hot pursuit. During this engagement McKinley was still on Crook's staff, and made himself so useful that Fisher's Hill was also mentioned 92 FROM CAPTAIN TO MAJOR in his commission as brevet major. Sheridan had hoped to capture and destroy Early's army after Fisher's Hill, but the failure of Torbert and Averill to- intercept him in his flight gave him an opportunity to escape. The succeeding month was largely taken up by cavalry skirmishes. Early was pursued as far as Harrison- burg, after which Sheridan fell back down the valley, destroying the forage as he went, and finally posting his forces on the north side of Cedar Creek. ALMOST A DISASTER TO SHERIDAN'S ARMY Meanwhile the movements of Sheridan's army had become a subject of interest and debate at Washington, and a discussion by telegraph about its future operations went on for some time. In the end he was summoned to Washington by General Halleck for a personal interview. This action well nigh resulted in a very serious disaster to the army, and led to the famous incident known as "Sheridan's Ride." Crook's command held at this time the left flank of the Union army. On the morning of October 19th, under cover of a dense fog, the Confederates swept down upon his camp with such sudden- ness and force that the whole Union army was thrown into con- fusion and driven back in dismay. The story of what followed is told by Sheridan in his Memoirs, in his simple and lucid language. We learn from him how he had reached Winchester on his return from Washington, how he set out from there with the sound of distant artillery ringing in his ears, and how he arrived on the field and turned the tide of battle, changing defeat into victory. The episode is one of the most dramatic in the nation's whole history. On arriving at Newton, where a portion of the demoralized army was still seeking to hold its own against Early's triumphant forces, Sheridan tells us that he met Major McKinley of Crook's staff, who quickly spread the news of his arrival among the disorganized soldiers, giving them new hope and confidence. McKinley had just been engaged in placing Dupont's battery in a f^ROM CAPTAIN TO MAJOR 93 favorable position, by command of General Crook. It was on his return from the performance of this duty that he met Sheridan. This brilliant cavalry leader rode hurriedly from side to side of the field, observing the situation, calling the men to face the enemy, and when, two hours later, at the suggestion of Colonel Forsyth, he decided to ride down the line so that all the troops might see him, McKinley was among the group of officers that accompanied him. MCKINLEY RECEIVES HIS BREVET OF MAJOR Sheridan threw ofT his overcoat and appeared in a new uniforin, which he had put on with the purpose of presenting him- self at the War Department in Washington. In the hurry of the movement he handed his new epaulets to McKinley, and mounting his black horse, Rienzi, still white with dust and foam from its recent headlong gallop, he rode, hat in hand, and followed by his staff, down the front of the re-formed army, the wildest enthusiasm greeting him as regiment after regiment and brigade after brigade rose with cheers of welcome and waving battle flags. At the sight of their commander the spirit of the army blazed forth again, and at the word of command they sprang to the charge and swept Early's army out of the valley, never to return. McKinley remained on Crook's staff until after the latter had the misfortune of being captured with General Kelly in West Virginia. Subsequently the young captain was detailed to the staff of General Hancock, then commanding the department. At a later date he was assigned to the staff of General S. S. Carroll at Washington. In this duty he remained until after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. On March 13, 1865, he received his brevet as major, and without seeing any more fighting was mustered out of the United States service on July 26th. Thus closed his military career. CHAPTER VII Choosing a Profession THE close of the Civil War left the young soldier without a profession. He had entered the ranks of the volunteer army as an enthusiastic boy, eager for the active stir of a military life and moved by a warm patriotic impulse. He had risen through sheer force of valor, intelligence, and military ability from the rank of a private soldier to that of a Major, and was still only twenty-two years of age when the close of the conflict left him with the world before him in which to choose a career. It was something for one of his age to be the proud owner of a commission, signed by Abraham Lincoln, appointing him to the rank of Brevet-Major of United States volunteers "for gallant and meritorious services at the battles of Opequan, Cedar Creek, and Fisher's Hill ; " but this valued docu- ment would not bring him bread, and how to obtain a place in the strife of life was next to be considered. He was not, indeed, obliged to seek a position in private life. An army career lay before him, if he chose to accept it, and General S. S. Carroll, his personal friend, earnestly advised him to enter the regular army, saying that a young officer with his reputation , for gallantry and efficiency could readily secure a commission. He offered, indeed, to use his influence in the young man's behalf, and laid before him the temptation of a life free from business cares and in which his future would be assured. There can be no doubt that the temptation was a strong one, and that the proffered place was not declined until after long and anxious deliberation. Yet it did not appeal to the young soldier. To remain in the army in times of peace, with none of the excitement 94 CHOOSING A PROFESSION 95 of battle, none of the thrill of danger, none of those stirring scenes which set the nerves tingling and the blood bounding through the veins, was by no means to his taste. He had been a soldier. He did not care to become a drill-master. Afield of con- flict of different character lay before him, that of professional or business life, and the warlike spirit which still inspired his soul counselled him to enter upon a private career, where alone his impulse to fight seemed likely to find a vent. WITHOUT A TRADE OR PROFESSION His father and mother, brothers and sisters, still resided in the quiet little village of Poland, whence he had set out as a lad of eighteen to follow his country's flag and give his young life, if need were, to her cause. He had spent in the army the years when most boys are getting their training for business, with the roar of cannon and rattle of rifles in his ears instead of the bustle of trade or the activity of professional life. He had entered the years of manhood without trade or profession, and to begin his 'prentice life at his age was not an attractive prospect. But it must be done ; he had chosen the alternative ; he must set his shoulder to the wheel. What career should he choose ? No doubt he called the com- bined experience and judgment of the family to the decision of this important question, and there may have been long and anxious con- sultations within the precincts of that humble home. However this be, the choice finally fell upon a profession in which many a Western boy has found the route to fame and fortune, that of law. He decided to enter upon a legal career. Little time was lost after the decision had been made. He obtained admission as a student to the office of Judge Charles E. Glidden, the leading lawyer of the county in which he resided, and then earnestly began his studies, assailing the outworks of the law as vigorously as he had attacked the intrenchments of the Con- federate troops in the field. 96 CHOOSING A PROFESSION The young man had days and years to make up. Others of his age were practicing in the courts before he had opened his first legal tome. There was no time to be lost. Only hard and incessant work could regain the vanished time. Night and day found him at his studies, devouring books with an ever unsatisfied appetite. He worked like a Trojan, for he had more than the difificulties of legal lore to overcome. His family were far from wealthy and his father could give him little aid. Wants and demands pressed upon him, and more than once, during his long months of study, he was sorely tempted to abandon his books and enter upon a business career. We are told that his elder sister was his chief mental support in his persistent study. She assured him that no sacrifice was too great to enable him to accomplish the end which he had deliber- ately set out to win, and her courageous spirit was, no doubt, of the utmost aid to the struggling and penniless young man. For nearly two years he continued in Judge Glidden's office, and then entered a law school at Albany, New York, where he finished his studies and graduated with success. It was in 1867 that this strug- gle for a profession ended, and the newly-fledged lawyer gained admission to the bar. The next question to be decided was that all-important one for a new "limb of the law," of the best place to locate; where, in the growing State of which he was a citizen, a young lawyer might look for a reasonable share of business. Poland, with its 400 people, was no place in which to hope for success. The town finally chosen was Canton, the county-seat of Stark County, and not far away from his boyhood's home. In selecting Canton he was largely influenced by the fact that his elder sister Anna, she whose counsel had done so much towards inducing him to persist in his legal studies, was a teacher in that town, where she had won the good-will and respect of the people by her merit as an instructor and her estimable character as a woman. Her brother had the warmest affection for her, and her residence in Canton was WILLIAM Mckinley A late photograph MRS. WILLIAM McKINLEY A late photogiaph CHOOSING A PROFESSION 99 naturally a strong inducement for him to settle in that town. Thither, then, he made his way, there he hung out his shingle, and there he waited for clients to drift his way. And Canton remained his legal place of residence until the day of his death, his periods of residence in Washington being but passing incidents in his career. CANTON BECOMES HIS HOME Canton was not large. It had at that time about 5,000 inhabit- ants. But to the young man, reared in a village, accustomed for four years to the wild life of a camp, and with little knowledge of large cities, no doubt it seemed a thriving and bustling place, one likely to yield abundant opportunities for legal business. Men will quarrel and do wrong in small places as in large, and in all localities where disputes are settled by the law, instead of by the stick or the sword, a lawyer's services are likely to be called into request. Stark County, indeed, was well settled, it being a fertile and productive section of land. It lies in the Tuscarawas Valley, covering 500 square miles of productive soil. Originally it was largely settled by Dunkers, a German religious sect, immigrants from Pennsylvania. These sturdy farmers took possession of the fields, leaving to the later-coming Americans the making of the towns. The Germans were Democrats in political faith ; the new- comers, English and Scotch-Irish, from the Eastern and Middle States, were stalwart Whigs. Between these two parties the county was divided, with a preponderance in favor of the Demo- crats. Stark County, and its county seat, have grown since that day. Its population has more than doubled, while Canton is six times as large as it was when the young lawyer sought it as the seat of his fortunes. Its growth has been due to the founding of numerous manufacturing industries, giving rise to a business activity very likely to make work for the courts. These industries consisted of iron works of various kinds, woolen factories, paper mills, agricuL tur■^l implement manufactories, etc. lOO CHOOSING A PROFESSION Major McKinley, with his quick intelligence and energetic spirit, took an active interest and soon became a leading man in the affairs of his new place of residence. No one was more alive to the importance of the development of the material welfare of the people, and the older inhabitants of the town soon began to look with attention and respect upon the enterprising young man who had established himself in their midst. His influence was greatly increased by his engaging manners and his readiness and fluency in legal oratory, none the less for the decided opinions and strong common sense which, from the beginning, he displayed. McKinley's first speech had been made just after the close of the war, when he responded for himself and his comrades at a public reception given them on their return from the field. The oratorical power shown at that early date improved steadily as time went on. HIS PROGRESS IN LAW PRACTICE But, leaving this phase of our subject for the present, we must return to the story of McKinley's progress in the service of the law. Naturally, as a young and unknown man, litigants were disinclined to trust their interests in his hands. A fortnight passed without a client, and the youthful lawyer was beginning to find the time hang very heavy on his hands. Then, one day, his old preceptor, Judge Glidden, stepped into his little office. " McKinley," said he, "here are the papers in a case of mine. It comes up to-morrow. I have got to go out of town, and I want you to take charge of it for me." McKinley was nonplussed. He declared that he could not do justice to the case at so short a notice. " I never have tried a single case yet. Judge," said he. "Well, begin on this one, then," was the Judge's reply. And it was finally settled that McKinley should do so. He sat up all night working on the case, tried it the next day, and won it. A few days later Judge Glidden entered his office and handed him $25. McKinley demurred at taking it. CHOOSING A PROFESSION loi ■' It is too much for one day's work," he said. " Don't let that worry you," replied Glidden, good-naturedly. "I charged them$ioo for the case, and I can well afford a quarter of it to you." A year or two later McKinley found himself pitted against John McSweeney, then considered one of the most brilliant lawyers of the Ohio bar. The case was a siiit for damages for malprac- tice, the plaintiff charging that a surgeon had set his broken leg in such a way as to make him bow-legged on that side. McKinley defended the surgeon. McSweeney brought his client into court and had the injured Hmb exposed to the view of the jury. It certainly was very crooked, and the case looked bad for the sur- geon. McKinley had both eyes wide open, however, and fixed them to good purpose upon the ma'-i's other leg. As soon as the witness was turned over to him, he asked that the other leg should also be bared. The plaintiff and McSweeney vigorously objected, but the Judge ordered it done. Then it appeared that this second leg was still more crooked than that which the surgeon had set.- " My client seems to have done better by this man than nature itself did," said McKinley, "and I move that the suit be dismissed, with a recommendation to the plaintiff that he have the other leg broken and then set by the surgeon who set the first one." INTEREST IN LOCAL AND STATE POLITICS Major McKinley no sooner felt himself firmly on his feet as a lawyer than he began to take interest in local and State politics. In political principles he was an ardent Republican. To him Republicanism meant union, freedom and progress — the cause for which he had fought for four years. If political ambition had been uppermost in his mind at that time he would not have selected Stark County for his home, since the Democratic cause was there in the ascendency. Nevertheless, he was drawn into politics almost as soon as he had his first brief. In the Autumn of 1867 there was a hotly contested Gubernatorial campaign in Ohio, and a constitu- io=J CHOOSING A PROFESSION tional amendment giving suffrage to colored men was submitted to the popular vote. The Republicans carried the election, but the amendment was lost. In this canvass McKinley made his first political speech, and it was in favor of the suffrage amendment. This was in New Berlin. The orator, twenty-four years old, spoke from a dry goods box, placed near the steps of the village tavern, to an audience strongly against him. The story of this, his pioneer political oration, the advance guard of so many more important ones in his later life, is of much interest, and a racy description of it exists, which is well worth repeating. Mckinley's first speech On a dry-goods box 4 feet long, 3 feet wide and 3 feet high. President McKinley made his first political speech in the little town of New Berlin. The box stood in front of a house which has since burned down, and just inside the gate of a wooden fence within 100 feet of the four corners of the business centre. The man who intro- duced him to his first audience afterward lived in a new brick house, built within ten feet of the location of the dry-goods box which supported the President on that memorable night. The benches in front of the post office, next door, furnished a resting-place for the old politicians who here gathered to get their mail daily, and talk over the most notable event in New Berlin's history, made notable by the achievements of the boy orator, McKinley, in succeed- ing years. " Can you make a speech ? " said Michael Bitzer to William McKinley when the speaker arrived from Canton, ready to follow Judge Underbill upon the improvised stage. Michael Bitzer was the chairman of the meeting. Even at eighty-three years of age, he remembered the night he introduced McKinley as though it were a happening of a yesterday. The somewhat unexpected remark of the chairman of the meeting to the young man who was to make his debut before a large audience rather took his breath away for a moment, but, on the assurance of Judge Underbill that Mr. Bitzer CHOOSING A PROFESSION 103 meant no offense, he regained his pleasant face, showing the kind disposition which was so characteristic of him in later days. "Could he speak?" said Michael, "Well, I should say he could. Everybody was simply dumfounded. For nearly an hour he talked as never a young man in Stark County had talked before. I told Judge Underbill, who accompanied him, after the meeting, that McKinley did a blamed sight better than he did, and the Judge, too, pronounced him a coming politician." " I really was surprised when Judge Underbill introduced that young strip of a boy to me, saying that he had come to make a speech in place of another Judge, who was unable to be present. Of course, I only asked McKinley in a joke if he could make a speech. I spoke to him as much as I would to a boy, but I really did have my doubts about such a young man doing justice to the occasion." Mr. Bitzer introduced him as William McKinley, of Canton. He little thought he was introducing the coming Presi- dent of the United States. McKinley arose and looked over his audience. There was not a sign of the emotion on his part which usually attends the first speech of a speaker. In stature he was not portly and strong like he was in later days. " But," said Mr, Bitzer, " as I remember him, the same strong characteristics which were so notable in his public life within the last years stood out forcibly on that night." He spoke under the glimmer of the street lighted by oil lamps, for that was before the days of electric lights. His strong person- ality and his kindly manner were noticed by the people of New Berlin. His hearty handshake, his pleasant smile were all there, only waiting for opportunity and strength of purpose to develop them. As McKinley and Judge Underbill drove into town in the early evening and up to the hotel, many of the admiring audience of an hour and a half later undoubtedly mistook the young man beside the stately Judge for the driver of the carriage. I04 CHOOSING A PROFESSION Mr. McKinley spoke in the open air, but not to the winds. There was a silence which would admit of the audible dropping of a pin. The night was clear. His voice was easily heard by those who sat a hundred feet away on the steps of the store near the corner. He confined himself strictly to the issues of the campaign of 1867, which, however, was not a Presidential one. He did not once refer to notes. His vocabulary and active brain were his only promoters. " I just wondered," said Mr. Bitzer, " where he got all those words and ideas." A short time before his death Mr. and Mrs. McKinley took a drive from their home in Canton. Almost before they realized it, they came upon the town of New Berlin. As they passed the place where Mr. McKinley had started his political career upon a dry-goods box, the occupants of the carriage I. oth turned their heads, and a smile spread over the countenance of the President of the United States. They drove past and turned east at the four corners by the post office. After a short drive up that road they returned and again passed the spot where stood the dry-goods box of thirty-five years ago. It was not long after President McKinley had crossed the boundary line of the town from Canton that the people realized that they were very unexpectedly entertaining a notable guest, and one, too, who had more than a passing interest in the little town. They turned out in large numbers. The President bowed to all he met. WINS HIS FIRST ELECTION Mr. Bitzer was justly proud of " introducing the President into politics," as he called it. He is an old soldier and a life-long Repub- lican. Once, during McKinley's term as Governor, he called at his office in Columbus. There were not less than a dozen people in the room : "This," said McKinley, "is the man who first introduced me into politics," and Mr. Bitzer's hand was grasped not less than a dozen times. " Yes," said Bitzer, " McKinley and I are fast friends." CHOOSING A PROFESSION 105 The able and ardent young orator was at once welcomed into the Republican party by the leaders, and during the remainder of that campaign, and the campaign for President in 1868, he was frequently called upon to speak in public for the party's princi- ples and candidates. By 1 869 he was well known throughout the county as a rising young lawyer, and a speaker of thoughtful force. He was gaining in wisdom and experience. As a somewhat questionable form of reward for his services, the party put him forward in that year as its candidate for District Attorney. The nomination was looked upon as .an empty honor, in view of the fact that Stark was reckoned one of [^the banner Democratic counties of the State. An old party leader would have had a very hard battle to win, and for a young and inexperienced man the case seemed hopeless. The nomination appeared a very cheap way of rewarding the rising young orator. But however the Convention and the people regarded the nomination, McKinley took it in all seriousness, and went into the race determined to win, if youthful energy and hard work could bring success. He made a vigorous canvass of the county, throwing his whole soul into the work, and displaying an enthusiasm which was something new in that district. He assailed the voters as if he was again charging upon the works, of the enemy. Day after day he made ardent speeches, inspiring confidence, gaining friends among the people, and making raids upon the ranks of the foe. When the election was over the Democrats were amazed to find that this young man, scarcely known in the county, had defeated their candi- date and won the fight by a safe majority. Thus, at the age of twenty-six. Major McKinley won his first political success. The office did not pay a large salary, but it was a stepping-stone alike to legal business and to further political honors. McKinley gained popular favor in his first office by his honest and able performance of his duties. On the expiration of his two years' term he was again nominated, the party looking upon him as their safest candidate. The Democrats were now thoroughly io6 CHOOSING A PROFESSION awakened. This new aspirant for public honors was winning the good-will of his fellow-citizens far too rapidly to please them. They put into the field against him the best man they could find in their ranks, and employed all the devices of political tactics in the cam- paign. They succeeded, but their majority was so small — only forty- five instead of the usual hundreds — that McKinley rather gained than lost standing by his defeat. His vigorous canvass and grow- ing ability as a speaker brought him into the front rank of his party, and thenceforth he was to be reckoned with as the most powerful political factor in the county. His next step in political life was to be towards a much higher goal, but five years passed before it was taken — years of hard study and diligent practice at the bar. WINNING A BRIDE We must now leave politics for the more attractive story of love and matrimony. Six years passed after McKinley left the army, and four years after he engaged in the practice of his profes- sion, before his rising fortunes gave him warrant to seek a wife. It must not be imagined, however, that he had lived in Canton all these years and was not familiar with its attractions In the way of womanly beauty and grace. He was doubtless a favorite In many houses, his genial manners and courtly address being well calcu- lated to win him a host of social friends, and among his fair asso- ciates not the least to be considered was she who then reigned as the belle of Canton, the lovely Ida Saxton. The Saxtons had long been leading people in Canton. John Saxton, the founder of the family In Ohio, was one of the pioneers In that State at the beginning of the last century. There, in 1815, he established the Ohio Repository, long the chief journal of the town, and of wide-spread Influence in the county ; conducting it with success until his death, at an advanced age. For sixty years he was Its editor, and had the distinction of printing in It the news of the battle of Waterloo — some five months after it occurred — and the defeat of the Third Napoleon at Sedan, fifty-five years CHOOSING A PROFESSION 109 afterward. He was a warm personal friend of Horace Greeley, who was one of the first to put on record the above interesting fact. The paper is still published at Canton, and retains much of its old influence. One of the veteran editor's sons, James A. Saxton, became a banker in Canton, and a man of much wealth and prominence. Ida Saxton, whom we have above designated as the belle of Canton, was his daughter. She was a girl of many personal charms, a tall blonde, with expressive bright blue eyes, a winning manner, and a lively intelligence. MRS. Mckinley's girlhood As a girl she was busy, whether at work or at play. Her education was begun at the boarding school of Miss Sandford, in Cleveland, and at Miss Eastman's Seminary, Brooke Hall, in Media, Pa. In both of these schools she left the stamp of her personality. She led the other girls in their enterprises, sometimes mischievous ones, and her quickness kept her at the head of her classes, while she spent less time in study than any of the others. One thing is recorded of her by all those who knew her ; she never said unkind things of any one. She seems to have been too large in heart to indulge in any petty acts. Miss Eastman, the principal of the school, lived for long years after that time — long ertough to tell many a story of her favorite pupil. She said that Ida Saxton was the one girl In her school who ever caused her to break her rule against favoritism. She believed that this was unfair on a teacher's part, and she fought persistently dgainst it, but Ida Saxton was too much for her. She couldn't help loving her better than she loved any of the others, and in her fear of showing this she was more severe with her than any other. Ida responded most heartily to her teacher's affection, and afterward, when she became Mrs. McKInley, and with her distin- guished husband visited now and then in Philadelphia, she always no • CHOOSING A PROFESSION sent a letter out to Brooke Hall, as the school was called, inviting Miss Eastman to dine with them. Mr. Saxton was a devoted father, and he lavished upon his daughter every pleasure and accomplishment that was to be had. After her excellent education in this country she went abroad and. made a long and extended tour over Europe with her sister. She did not return until 1869. HER EXPERIENCE AS A CASHIER OF A BANK Then, after all these years of fashionable education, she did a most unexpected and unconventional thing. She turned bank cashier. Canton found cause for gossip in that fact, but Miss Saxton's serene bearing and her popularity were of a nature to wither gossip. Were the family funds giving out ? gossip at first inquired. That was soon found to be not the case. Mr. Saxton himself explained the matter. " I have seen enough girls left stranded by sudden losses of means," he said, "and I don't intend that this shall ever happen to my daughter. She can be taken care of at home now, but I may be poor some day. Nobody ever knows what is going to happen. 1 want her to be able to support herself if trouble ever comes her way. Above all, I don't want her to have to marry solely to be supported, as I have seen plenty of girls do. I want her to marry because and whom she wants to." Through all the flutter that her presence caused in the place of business Miss Saxton preserved a businesslike calm. She was a diligent worker, and became accurate, quick and reliable in her new duties, gaining such a knowledge of the banking business as would have qualified her to hold a position in much larger estab- lishments than that of her father. It is not to be supposed, however, that a young lady of such attractions would long be left to the dry details of local finance. She was certainly not likely to want devoted friends and suitors, and. among these Major McKinley was not the least favored. CHOOSING A PROFESSION iii He made the acquaintance of his future wife on a visit to his sister Anna, then a teacher at Canton, shortly after his return from the war. In those days the favorite pleasure resort for the young folks of Canton was Meyers' Lake, two miles out of town, and that was where the Major met Miss Ida Saxton. The acquaintance, there begun, was not suffered to lapse after he became a citizen of Canton, and was renewed with ardor after Miss Saxton's school life and her return from Europe. It was con- tinued with increased warmth during her business life as cashier, friendship now rapidly ripening into love, and social amenities verging into courtship. The young lady saw in Major McKinley not only the most devoted, but the most agreeable of the aspirants to her hand. She returned his affection with a warmth equal to his own. The matter was brought to the usual climax in affairs of this character, and when Mr. Saxton was asked by the young attorney for the hand of his daughter, the latter received the flat- tering assurance that he was the only man Mr. Saxton knew to whom he would trust the future of his child. THE WEDDING DAY The young couple were married on January 25, 1871. The wedding ceremonies took place in the Presbyterian Church of Canton, to the building fund of which the bride's grandfather and father had been the principal contributors. Miss Saxton had been a teacher in the Sunday -school, and her marriage was the first in the new church. Major McKinley was a Methodist, Miss Saxton a Presbyterian. She joined her husband's church soon after the marriage. The wedding service was performed by the Rev. E. Buckingham, the bride's pastor, assisted by the Rev. Dr. Endsley, a Methodist clergyman. Abner McKinley was best man and Miss Mary I. Saxton was bridesmaid. The wedding was a great social event in the town, owing alike to the prominence of the bride's family and the popularity of the groom. ti2 CHOOSING A PROFESSION They visited several of the Eastern cities on their wedding trip and then went back to Canton to Hve. Their silver wedding anniversary was celebrated on January 25, 1896, in the same house in which they had begun their home-making. In the meantime Abner McKinley, the Major's brother, had married the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Endsley, and Mr. Barber, one of the ushers at the wedding in 1871, had married the bridesmaid. Miss Mary Saxton. They, and many others who had attended the wedding of Major McKinley and Miss Saxton, were at the celebration of the twenty- fifth anniversary. The young couple set up their own establishment and began housekeeping in the old-fashioned way. On Christmas Day, 1871, a child was born — a daughter destined to be taken from them when only a little more than three years old. In the meantime, a few months before the birth of a second child, Mrs. McKinley lost her mother, and then her baby died. The death of her two little girls, together with that of her mother just before Ida was born, was more than Mrs. McKinley's health could stand. She broke down physically because of her grief, and remained an invalid during the rest of her life. After the death of Mrs. McKinley's mother, she and her hus- band took up their residence in the Saxton homestead, and there,- during his fourteen years' service in Congress, and while he was Governor of Ohio and President of the United States, they passed their time whenever they were at home. MARRIED LIFE OF THE MCKINLEYS Of the married life of President and Mrs. McKinley the public' needs to be told little, for the devotion of this man and woman was a theme for comment for many years. Their affection appears to have been ideal, almost idealized. On the part of Mrs. McKinley there was a constant, tender, adoring love for the man who won such great success, and at the same time was never too engrossed to pay her delicate attentions. On his part, there CHOOSING A PROFESSION 113 was a lifetime of unselfish devotion to a gentle, feeble invalid. The devoted husband saw before him the tragic vision of a childless life and the companionship of an incurable invalid. But he accepted the situation with a cheerfulness which never failed, and which constantly showed the depth of his regard for the woman he loved. Public affairs never interfered with this, and no biography of William McKinley, as Congressman, Governor or President, is adequate without reference to his unfailing care of his invalid wife. On the other hand, Mrs. McKinley's illness never interfered with her lively interest in public affairs and in the part that her husband took in them. MRS. MCKINLEY A DEVOTED WIFE Although she never became very robust in health, she so far recovered as to accompany her husband to Washington, and was his almost constant companion in the long trips he took during his late campaigns. When he went to Washington during the Hayes regime his wife, although they lived somewhat quietly at a hotel, became prominent at the White House as the close personal friend of Mrs. Hayes, receiving with her upon public occasions and taking her place in her absence. She was a conspicuous figure at the brilliant wedding at the Executive Mansion when Gen. Russell Hastings, who had been on General Hayes' staff in the army, and Miss Piatt, Mrs. Hayes' niece, were married. After the loss of her own children, whose baby clothes and playthings she always kept near her, Mrs. McKinley's love and care for the children of others became one of her most delightful char- acteristics. She was " Aunt McKinley" to a host of little folks, and one of her pleasures was in giving entertainments for children at her home. Because of her illness Mrs. McKinley clung to the pleasures and occupations of the women and wives of a generation past. She could not take an active part in the public charities of the present day, but gave much and did much for the relief and comfort 114 CHOOSING A PROFESSION of the unfortunate. Needlework was an occupation at which she became an adept. Another of her little domestic pleasures was afforded by her collection of laces, a rare and valuable one, the nucleus of which was some handkerchiefs which she collected when she was abroad. Besides her laces was a choice assortment of gems, which were given to her by her father and grandfather. In person Mrs. McKinley was singularly attractive. She had large deep blue eyes, a transparent complexion, and an oval face surmounted by a cluster of brown wavy curls. Although she had none of the reputed characteristics of the so-called "strong- minded woman," she kept her hair cut short, a circumstance which no doubt contributed much to her youthful and girl-like appear- ance. In spite of the piquancy of the curly head, her bearing was always that of benignant and serene beauty, which captivated all who approached her, causing her to be viewed at once with respect and affectionate Interest. Of the many " Ladies of the White House," few equalled Mrs. McKinley in personal attractiveness, though her feeble health prevented her taking the prominent part in public entertainments which fell to the lot of many of her predecessors. To the President's last day he was not alone a care- ful husband, but a tender and devoted lover, and his deep sym- pathy and heartfelt grief during her severe Illness In California, in the closing year- of his life, endeared him more to the people than almost any other act of his life. The calmness with which the President asked, " Am I shot?" the lack of excitement or of any other expression, the evident absence of any kind of fear of what might be before him In the next hour, was the kind of bravery that sent a feeling of pride in their chief officer through the veins of all Americans. Whatever else Mr. McKinley was, he was a brave man — a man who exhibited In the last critical moment the dignity of a Christian and a soldier. Very few, if any of us, can begin to appreciate the devotion and affection of Mrs. McKinley for her husband. More than once the President actually saved her life by his influence over her. She CHOOSING A PROFESSION 115 believed in him so thoroughly that whatever he told her she knew to be true. Her ill-health, the strain of constantly recurring ner- vous attacks, would long ago have forced her to give up the strug- gle, but relying on her husband, filled with absolute confidence and affection for him, she held on to life. And when he lay near death the sick woman bore the news of his danger, and ministered to him with as calm attention as any one of those about him. There is something here that is as old as the hills, but that never fails to seem new and fine, because it shows a little of the beautiful and the true side of humanity. MRS. Mckinley's favorite poem God gives us love. Something to love He gives us ; but when love is grown To ripeness, that on which it throve Falls off, and love is left alone. Sleep sweetly, tender heart, in peace ! Sleep, holy spirit ; blessed soul, While the stars burn, the moons increase. And the great ages onward roll. Sleep till the end, true soul and sweet ! Nothing comes to thee new or strange. Sleep full of rest from head to feet ; Lie still, dry dust, ^secure of change. — TBNNYbON. CHAPTER VIII Member of Congress IT was in 1876, nine years after Major McKinley engaged in the practice of law, that he entered upon his Congressional career. He had already engaged in politics in his active canvass for the office of prosecuting attorney, of which we have already spoken. Though defeated in his contest for a second term in the latter, his active canvass brought him into very great popularity, and he became an important element in the political conditions of his dis- trict. The Congressional District which it was his desire to repre- sent was composed of the counties of Carroll, Columbiana, Mahon- ing and Stark. It was at that time represented by the Hon. L. D. Woodworth, who was again a candidate for the office. There were a number of other prominent citizens who desired the office, all of them older men than the young Canton lawyer, whose candidacy they looked upon as something of an impertinence. The result was a hot fig^ht for the nomination, which proved a surprise for McKinley's opponents. He very actively canvassed the district, and with such success that he received the nomination on the first ballot. The district was a very close one, and was rendered the more so in the year 1876 from the fact that the country was suffering from the prostration which succeeded the war ; the nation was; struggling under an enormous debt, and the Greenback party was vigorously advocating repudiation and fiat money. McKinley ran against a gentleman named Sanborn, one of the strongest the Democrats could have selected. Yet despite these discouraging circumstances, the result of the election was that McKinley received ii6 MEMBER OF CONGRESS 117. 16,489 votes against 13,185 for Sanborn, thus receiving the large majority for the district of 3,304. The 45th Congress was called in special session in October, 1877, by President Hayes. Ohio had sent a very strong delega- tion to the House, among the members being James A. Garfield, General Thomas Ewing, and others of prominence, while in the 'Senate were John Sherman and Allen G. Thurman. Among members from other states who entered Congress at that time was Thomas B. Reed, who was destined to occupy so prominent a posi- tion in succeeding Congresses. Among the more important laws enacted by this Congress was one providing for the coinage of the silver dollar, which had been discontinued in 1873. McKinley was strongly in favor of this measure, which was passed by a large majority, vetoed by the President, and promptly passed again over the veto. The first time that Major McKinley addressed the House was on December 10, 1877, to present a petition from certain iron manufacturers of his district asking Congress to take no action relative to tariff revi- sion until it had thoroughly inquired into the commercial necessi- ties of the country. McKinley, whose name has become so closely associated with tariff legislation, made his first speech on the tariff on April 15, 1878. In this he sustained the doctrine of protection as opposed to tariff for revenue, and was listened to with the greatest attention, from his apparent thorough mastery of the question. In the course of his remarks he said : " Home competition will always bring prices to a fair and rea- sonable level and prevent extortion and robbery. Success, or even apparent success, in any business or enterprise, will incite others to engage in like enterprises, and then follows healthful strife, the life of business, which inevitably results in cheapening the article produced.' He ended with an appeal to the tariff reformers and free traders to let the country have a rest from this agitation until there was time to recover from the effects of the war and the panic of 1873. I" this connection he said : ii8 MEMBER OF CONGRESS " There never was a time in the history of this country more inauspicious than the present time- for the dreamer and the theorist to put into practical operation his impracticable theories of political economy. The country does not want them ; the business men of the country do not want them. They want quiet to recuperate their wasted forces ; and I am sure I utter no sentiment new or original when I say that if this House will promptly pass the appro- priation bills, and other pressing legislation, following this with an immediate adjournment, the people will applaud such a course as the work of statesmen and the wisdom of men of affairs." HIS DISTRICT GERRYMANDERED The reputation which McKinley had made in Congress as a protectionist was by no means satisfactory to the Democrats of his district, and when they secured control of the Ohio Legislature, in 1878, they decided to re-district him into private life. To attain this purpose they succeeded in putting Stark County into a group that would certainly return a Democrat to Congress. By this gerry- mander Stark County was thrown into the i6th District, along with Ashland, Portage and Wayne counties, it being expected to neu- tralize the heavy Republican majority in Portage County with the Democratic majorities usually given by the remaining counties. The Democrats nominated Aquila Wiley, of Wooster, a gallant soldier in the Union army, with a splendid military record. The Republicans nominated McKinley, and the two soldiers marshalled their forces for the campaign. Despite this action of the Demo- cratic party, McKinley's popularity and the activity of his canvass were such that he received 15,489 votes to 14,255 for Wiley, and was thus again returned to Congress, where he was given a place on the important Committee of the Judiciary. This Congress, the 46th, was made notable by the return of the Confederate " briga- diers," and was. chiefly memorable for its bitter partisan contests. In the heated discussion that followed Major McKinley took a prominent part, occupying an advanced position upon the necessity MEMBER OF CONGRESS 119 of fair elections and the protection of the ballot at any cost. The 46th was the first Congress in which Democrats had control of both branches since the Presidency of James Buchanan. The results of this — the ascendency of the Democrats with a Republican President — were constant wrangling and efforts to coerce the President by a practice which led to the now well-established rule in the House of, Representatives, forbidding a " rider " on an appropriation bill. As a result of this practice President Hayes was obliged to call two extra sessions of Congress. The Hayes regime will go on record as one of the most uncomfortable administrations, in time of peace, in American history. In the debate on the proposed law to do away with supervisors of national elections, McKinley spoke long and ably. A quotation from his speech will be of interest : MCKINLEY PUTS A PRACTICAL QUESTION " If I do not misjudge, the people who* fought for free gov- ernment and maintained it at so great a cost will now be found firm and invincible for a free ballot and fair elections. Let me remind the other side of this chamber that supervisors and mar- shals will not be needed, and therefore no cost will be incurred, whenever the party which employs tissue ballots and drives colored citizens from the polls shall do so no more forever, and whenever Democratic repeaters shall cease to corrupt the ballot — the great fountain of power in this country ; in a single sentence, whenever, throughout this whole country, in every State thereof, citizenship is respected and the rights under it are fully and arnply secured ; when every citizen who is entitled to vote shall be secure in the free exercise of that right, and the ballot-box shall be protected from illegal voters, from fraud and violence. Federal supervisors of Federal elections will be neither expensive nor oppressive. " Has any legal voter in the United States been prevented from exercising his right of suffrage by this law or by the officers' actincr under it ? This is the practical question. None that I have I20 MEMBER OF CONGRESS ever heard of ; while thousands, yes, tens of thousands, of illegal voters have been deterred from voting by virtue of it. The honest voter has no fear of this law ; it touches him as lightly as the law of larceny touches the honest man, or the law of murder touches him whose hands are stainless of human blood. The thief hates the law of larceny, the murderer the law of homicide. They, too, can truthfully urge the cost of the execution of these laws ; both are expensive and onerous to the taxpayer. But I have never known such arguments seriously entertained as a reason for their repeal. The law is without terror save to wrongdoers. The presence of officers of the law deters only criminals from the com- mission of crime. They are no restraint upon the honest man. You can form no system of laws which will not be open to some criticism and abuse. These prove nothing against the importance and necessity of their maintenance. If any better method can be offered for preserving the ballot-box in its purity, I will cordially accept it and labor for- its passage, but until such better method is proposed we should stand by existing statutes. Mckinley's position in 1880 " We cannot afford to break down a single safeguard which has been thrown around the ballot-box. Every guarantee must be kept and maintained. Fair-minded people everywhere are inter- ested in honest elections. It is not a partisan measure ; it falls alike upon all political parties. The law recognizes no political creed, and those who execute it should carefully obey its letter and spirit. It protects Democrats and Republicans and men of all parties alike." The situation of the Republican party in 1880, when McKin- ley's name was again presented for nomination, was not in all respects satisfactory. There was dissension among the party leaders ^n the country at large, and in his own district there was an unwrit- ten law to the effect that two terms in Congress were enough for any one candidate, and that the honor which he had held for the MEMBER OF CONGRESS 12 r prescribed time should now be transferred to some other candidate. Aspirants for the place presented themselves in every county of the district, all of them anxious for the nomination, largely from the fact that Republican success was now considered assured. The Republicans having gained control of the Ohio Legisla- ture, had promptly reversed the gerrymandering work of their predecessors, and restored Stark County to its old affiliation with Carroll, Columbiana and Mahoning, thus reconstituting the old Seventeenth District. The district was thus strongly Republican, and a walkover seemed assured for whoever should secure the nomination. As regards this, McKinley's popularity, and the prestige he had won in his Congressional career, proved sufficient to give him precedence over his untried competitors, and he won the nomina- tion without difficulty. With it came, as a sure result, the election, he receiving 20,221 votes, against 16,660 for Judge Thoman, the Democratic candidate. As we have said in another chapter, the succeeding election, that of 1882, marked a change in his fortunes. The dissensions between the party managers had gone on to a critical stage, leading to the famous deadlock between President Garfield and the Senate in regard to the appointment of a custom's collector for New York City, and the resignation of Senators Conkling and Piatt in conse- quence, these disputes being followed by the lamentable assas- sination of the President by a disappointed and evil-minded office- seeker. The results of these events, and the doubt of President Arthur's fitness for his responsible position, were not favorable to the success of the Republicans in the next campaign, and their opponents did not fail to take the fullest advantage of the situation, In fact, the party was in such a demoralized state that its Democratic opponents were enabled to make a successful assault upon its lines. The support by the Administration of the nomi- nation of Secretary Folger for Governor of New York proved 122 MEMBER OF CONGRESS seriously adverse to his success, and he was beaten by a tre- mendous majority by Grover Cleveland, the Mayor of Buffalo. The gallant General Beaver was defeated in the Keystone State, and Pennsylvania, for the first time since the war, had a Democratic Governor. A raid was made in all parts of the country upon the members of Congress who had voted for a river and harbor improvement bill vetoed by the President, despite the fact that its proportions were insignificant compared with several which have passed since without comment. MCKINLEY UNSEATED IN CONGRESS As one result of this rise of the Democrats to power, McKin- ley, for the first time in his Congressional career, came perilously near defeat. The election resulted in giving him 16,906 votes to 16,898 for Wallace, the Democratic candidate. This slight majority of eight gave him the election, the State Canvassing Board pre- senting him the necessary certificate. There were but seven Repub- licans besides himself who were sent to represent Ohio in that Congress. As it happened, he was returned to a Congress with a strong Democratic majority in the House, and his bare eight votes exposed him to a contest for his seat. In this his opponents pre- vailed, McKinley was unseated, and his competitor took his place. In 1884 the Ohio Legislature was again Democratic, and the old policy of redistricting was again brought into play. A special effort was made to defeat McKinley, whose growing prominence as a high-tariff advocate was by no means agreeable to his political opponents. With this in view. Stark County was once more made a political football, being now driven to a new goal in the Twen- tieth District and united with Medina, Summit and Wayne Coun- ties. This time they felt secure, since political arithmetic gave the new district a Democratic majority of from 1,200 to 1,500 votes. But there are influences stronger than figures, and here personal popularity and known ability as a statesman prevailed over the " tricks that are vain " of State politics. McKinley had for adversary MEMBER OF CONGRESS 123 David R. Paige, then a member of the House. He received 22,672 votes, against 20,643 fo^ Paige, being elected with a majority of 2,029. Before the next election the Republicans returned to power in Ohio, Stark County was again footballed back into its old family of counties, and Major McKinley was once more elected, this time with 2,557 majority. The election of 1888 yielded a similar result, though with a larger majority, McKinley now winning by 4,090 votes. Mckinley's Waterloo In 1890, in his eighth Congressional campaign, came McKinley's Waterloo. He had now succeeded Kelley as the leading advocate of high protection, and was becoming so sharp a thorn in the side of Democracy that his political foes resorted to desperate measures to shelve him. Once more they controlled the Ohio Legislature, and, knowing that a campaign against McKinley in his old district was hopeless, they determined upon a still more indefensible act of gerrymandering than in previous instances. A more outrageous partitioning of a State for partisan ends was never before performed, McKinley being railroaded into a district which had the year before given a Democratic plurality of 2,900. He accepted the challenge, made a gallant fight, and was defeated by only 302 votes. It is interesting to recall, in view of this one defeat, that McKinley had been some years before twitted in Congress, by Mr. Springer, on having been returned at the previous election by a somewhat diminished majority. Mr. Springer said : " Your con- stituents do not seem to support you." McKinley's reply is worthy of all remembrance : " My fidelity to my constituents," he said, " is not measured by the support they give me. I have convictions which I would not surrender if 10,000 majority had been entered against me." The opinion of the people of his State upon this operation was definitely shown in the succeeding year, by his election a? 124 MEMBER OF CONGRESS Governor by a large majority. This matter, which we mention here in passing, will be dealt with in a later chapter. HIS RELATION TO CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES As regards Representative McKinley's relation to Congres- sional committees, a few words must suffice. On his first entry to the House, Speaker Randall placed him, as a new and untried member, in a position of minor importance, that of the Committee for the Revision of the Laws of the United States. In his second term he was given a much more important place, being appointed to the Committee on the Judiciary. In December, 1880, he suc- ceeded James A. Garfield in one of the leading posts of Congress, as a member of the Committee on Ways and Means, on which he continued until the close of his Congressional career. In the pre- ceding Congress he had also been appointed on the Committee of Visitors to the United States Military Academy, and in 1881 was made chairman of the committee to conduct the Garfield memorial exercises in the House. In 1889, on the- organization of the Fifty-first Congress, he became a candidate for Speaker, but was defeated on the third ballot by Thomas B. Reed, who, as already stated, had entered Congress in the same year with him. In April, 1890, as Judge Kelley's successor in the chairman- ship of the Ways and Means Committee, he had the honor of intro- ducing the famous tariff measure afterwards known by his name. During the period of his Congressional career, in addition to his speeches on the silver question, dealt with in this chapter, and those on the tariff, his great subject, to be hereafter treated, McKinley had taken an active part in the discussion of other questions. Among these we may name one on the subject of arbitration as a remedy for labor troubles ; his speech of December ■ 17, 1889, introducing the Customs Administration Bill to simplify the laws relating to the collection of revenue ; and his forceful address of April 24, 1890, sustaining the Civil Service Law. MEMBER OF CONGRESS 125 Coming now to the consideration of Major McKinley's attitude on the silver question, which has given rise to some controversy, and was made use of by his political opponents during the canvass preliminary to the St. Louis nomination to discredit him, It can readily be shown that he was consistent throughout. His position on this question was always strictly that of his party, and when the Republicans found it expedient to modify their views in regard to silver coinage, McKinley kept strictly In line with them, finding their reasons for this change of policy expedient and judicious. His views on finance during his career were always in unison with those of John Sherman, whom no one would think of charging with unwise radicalism or lack of sound views on finance. ATTITUDE ON THE SILVER QUESTION The change of views was not due simply to conditions exist- ing In this country, but to the changing attitude of the world In regard to silver coinage and its effect on the market value of silver bullion. A brief review of the situation will demonstrate this. In the period with which we are now concerned there had been constant changes In the condition of the currency, this being due largely to two causes, the action of Germahy, and the great increase In the production of silver In the United States. Before the establishment of the German Empire in 1871, all the states of Germany were on the silver basis except Bremen, where the gold standard prevailed. After the war with France and the establish- ment of the Empire ,it became necessary to adopt a system for the whole country. The subject was widely discussed, and as a result the German Empire adopted the gold standard, in July, 1873. Germany at that time had $30o,ooo,ocx) worth of silver. This it was decided to melt up and sell abroad in exchange for gold. The government entered cautiously upon this process, selling the silver gradually. At the same time the act of the United States Congress, made in 1873, establishing the gold standard in this country, and similar 126 MEMBER OF CONGRESS legislation in the Netherlands and Scandinavia, all tended to decrease the market value of silver. Silver coinage was also dis- continued by the Latin Union, and the demand for silver from India decreased every year, thus cutting off Germany's chief market for her bullion. AGITATION FOR B[-METALLISM In the meantime, a vigorous agitation for bi-metallism arose in Europe, and active efforts were made to reinstate silver. The Hon. William G. Kelley, of Pennsylvania, at that time traveling in Germany, took part in this agitation in favor of bi-metallism, and he was aided in his efforts by several prominent German and French statesmen. The movement was encouraged by the fact that Germany had ceased melting and selling her silver, about $100,000,000 of the old silver coin remaining in 1879 in circulation. An active agitation had arisen in the United States in favor of the free coinage of silver, which was largely supported by emi- nent leaders of the Republican party. Major McKinley among them. It was believed that, by an international arrangement, silver might regain its old status and a bi-metallic standard be established. As is well known, these efforts proved futile, and the market value of silver continued to decrease. In order that a silver dollar shall equal a gold dollar in value, silver bullion must be worth $1.2939 per ounce of fine metal. Before 1873 the value of silver was considerably above this figure, the bullion in the silver dollar at that time being worth from two to five cents more than the standard gold dollar. It was, therefore, more valuable in trade than gold, and could not be kept in circulation. As an inevitable result there was little demand for it, and between 1834 and 1873 the total coinage of silver dollars was only about 8,000,000. In fact, the so-called dollar of our " daddies " was rarely to be seen, and was still more rarely used. Only after silver bul- lion decreased in price was there any special demand noticed for silver as money. In 1876 the value of silver had fallen to $1.15 per MEMBER OF CONGRESS 127 ounce, and the belief arose that if at least $2,000,000 per month were coined the price of the white metal would be increased. HE SUPPORTED THE BLAND-ALLISON LAW For this purpose the Bland-Allison law was passed, among its supporters being Major McKinley. The result, however, did not accord with the theory. The value of silver continued to decline. In 1879 the silver dollar was worth about eighty-seven cents, in 1885 it had fallen to eighty-four cents, in 1887 to seventy-five cents, and in. 1889 it fell to seventy-two cents. These facts rendered it apparent that, in view of the practical mono-metallism of other nations, the United States could not bear the silver burden alone. In consequence the Republican leaders took a stand against the free and unlimited coinage of the standard silver dollar. Major McKinley taking the same ground and voting to that effect on every occasion on which the question was brought up in Congress during the remainder of his Congressional career. He never hesitated to give his reasons for what some were pleased to call his change of front, and his utterances on the subject certainly had the ring of solid metal. Before quoting from his speeches we may give Senator John Sherman's opinion concerning McKinley's position on the question- of coinage. It occurs in a letter written to the Young Men's Republican Club, of Brooklyn, N. Y. The veteran financier says : JOHN SHERMAN ON MCKINLEy's POSITION " There can be no doubt as to the opinions of Major McKin- ley on the money question. He" is committed in every form, by speech and otherwise, to the Republican policy of maintaining the present gold coin of the United States as the standard of value. He, in common with myself and others, believes that silver should be employed as money, always, however, to be maintained at par with eold. The convenience of silver coin for the minor transac- tions of life is so manifest that no sound-money man would desire 128 MEMBER OF CONGRESS its discontinuance, but upon the primary condition that its coinage should be limited and its purchasing power maintained by the fiat of the Government at par with gold." A second testimony to the same effect from Hon. Charles Emory Smith, then editor of the Philadelphia Press, afterward Postmaster- General of the United States, may be fitly given. Referring to McKinley's position on the money question, he says: " He has been the earnest, intelligent, and unvarying advocate of honest money measured by the world's best standard. Some of his antagonists have misrepresented him by garbling and distorting his utterances. No fair and honest citation of his expressions can be made which will not satisfy the most exacting friend of a sound currency. As to Governor McKinley's critics, we challenge any of them to copy these declarations and impeach them if they can. " One cardinal and central thought runs through all of these utterances — that the standard of value must be preserved sacred and inviolate, and that it must be the one recognized, established standard of the commercial world. If there is to be paper or rep- resentative money, it must be redeemable in real money of that standard, so that for purposes of currency.it will be as good. If there is to be silver, it must be so limited and so constantly exchangeable for gold that the parity of the metals will be main- tained. In the later years there is a recognition that the limit has been reached. Governor McKinley gives constant warning against any debasement of the standard." Mckinley's own explanation We shall now let Major McKinley speak for himself. In a speech delivered at Niles, Ohio, in 1891, during the contest for the governorship of that State, he spoke as follows : " The Democratic platform declares for the free and unlimited coinage of the silver of the world, to be coined, as freely as gold is now, upon the same terms and under the existing ratio. The plat- form of the Republican party stands in opposition to anything short MEMBER OF CONGRESS 129 of a full and complete dollar. The legislation of the last Congress is the strongest evidence which can be furnished of the purpose of the Republican party to maintain silver as money, and of its resolu- tion to keep it in use as part of our circulating medium equal with gold. The law which the Republican party put upon the statute- books declared the settled policy of the Government to be ' to maintain the two metals upon a parity with each other upon the present legal ratio or such ratio as may be provided by law.' " The free and unlimited coinage of silver demanded by the Democratic Convention recently held in Cleveland amount to this : That all the silver of the world, and from every quarter of the world, can be brought to the mints of the United States and coined at the expense of the Government ; that is, that the mints of the United States must receive 412^ grains of silver, which is now worth but 80 cents the world over, and coin therefor a silver dollar, which by the fiit of the Government is to be received by the people of the United States and to circulate among them as worth a full dollar of 100 cents. "The silver producer, whose 412^ grains of silver are worth only 80 cents or less in the markets of this country and the world, is thus enabled to demand that the Government shall take it at 100 cents. Will the Government be as kind to the producer of wheat and pay him 20 cents more per bushel than the market price ? The silver dollar now issued under a limited coinage has 80 cents of intrinsic value in it, so accredited the world over, and the other 20 cents is legislative will — the mere breath of Congress. That is, what the coin lacks of value to make it a perfect dollar Congress supplies by public declaration, and holds the extra 20 cents in the Treasury for its protection. The Government, buying the silver at its market value, takes to itself the profit between the market value of 412^ grains of silver and the face value of the silver dollar. Now it is proposed to remove the limit and to make the Government coin, not for account of the Treasury, but for the benefit of the silver-mine owner. 130 MEMBER OF CONGRESS " It does not take a wise man to see that if a dollar worth only 80 cents intrinsically, coined without limit, is made a legal tender to the amount of its face value for the payment of all debts, public and private, a legal tender in all business transactions among the people, it will become in time the exclusive circulating medium of the country. Gold, which is 20 per cent, more valuable on every dollar, will not be paid out in any transactions in this country when an 80-cent silver dollar will answer the purpose. Nor will the greenback be long in returning to the Treasury for redemption in gold. We shall do our business, therefore, with short dollars, rather than with full dollars as we are now doing. The gold dollar will be taken from the circulating medium of the country and hoarded, and the effect will be that the circulating medium will not be increased, but reduced to the extent of the gold circulating, and we will be compelled to do the business of the country with a silver dollar exclusively, which under present conditions is confessedly the poorest, instead of doing our business with gold and silver and paper money, all equal and all alike good." MCKINLEY ANSWERS OBJECTIONS After quoting from President Cleveland and the Hon. M. D. Harter, a Democratic Representative in Congress, he proceeded : " My competitor [Governor Campbell] has said in his reported interviews that in sentiment upon this subject the Democrats of Ohio are very much divided ; that the vote in the convention was a very close one. This close vote not only emphasizes the danger of the free-coinage declaration in the minds of a large number of the Democrats in the State, but enjoins the importance and necessity of the friends of honest money standing together, and in all the contests of the past they have been forced to stand together for an honest currency. Governor Campbell declared in one of his inter- views that while he had his doubts about it, he was willino- ' to chance free and unlimited coinage of silver.' I am not willing to 'chance' it. Under present conditions the country cannot afford MEMBER OF CONGRESS 131 to chance it. We cannot gamble with anything so sacred as money, which is the standard and measure of all values. I can imagine nothing which would be more disturbing to our credit and more deranging in our commercial and financial affairs than to make this the dumping-ground of the world's silver. The silver producer might be benefited, but the silver user never. If there is to be any profit in the coinage of silver, it should go to the Government. It has gone to the Government ever since the Bland-Allison law went into effect. The new declaration would take it from the Govern- ment and give it to the silver producer," FURTHER DEFENCE OF HIS VIEWS In a later speech during the same campaign, alluding to his own record upon the money question in Congress, he said : " In 1877 I voted to reinstate the ancient silver dollar as a part of the coinage of the United States. Silver had been stricken from our coinage in 1873 — stricken by both political parties, the one just as responsible as the other^and in 1878, being in favor of both gold and -silver as money, to be kept at parity, one with the other, I voted for the restoration of the silver dollar. When I did it we had but 8,000,000 silver dollars in circulation. When I did it silver was more valuable than it is to-day. We have 405,000,000 silver dollars to-day, and that is as much as we can maintain at par with gold with the price of silver that prevails throughout the world. I took every occasion to re-instate silver to its ancient place in our monetary system, because I wanted both metals. I am opposed to free and unlimited coinage, because it means that we will be put upon a silver basis and do business with silver alone instead of with gold, silver, and paper money, with which we do the business of the country to-day — every one of them as good as gold. " I want to tell the workingmen here, and the farmers, that it takes just as many blows of the hammer, it takes just as many strokes of the pick, it takes just as much digging, just as much 132 MEMBER OF CONGRESS sowing, and just as much reaping to get a short dollar as it does to get a full dollar." Upon another occasion he declared himself concerning a debased dollar and its effect upon the business interests of the people as follows : "A one hundred-cent dollar will go out of circulation along- side an eighty-cent dollar, which Is a legal tender by the fiat of the Government. And no class of people will suffer so much as the wage-earner and the agriculturist. If It Is the farmer you would benefit, there is one way to do it. Make the bushel measure with which he measures his wheat for the buyer three pecks instead of four, and require the buyer to pay as much for three pecks as he now pays for four. No man knows what the future may be, but in our present condition and with our present light every consid- eration of safety requires us to hold our present status until the other great nations shall agree to an International ratio." He had remarked in Congress on May 25, 1890: " I do not propose by arty vote of mine to force the people of the United States, the farmers and laborers, to the cheapest money of the world or to any policy which might tend in that direction. Whatever dollars we have in this country must be good dollars, as good in the hands of the poor as the rich ; equal dollars, equal in inherent merit, equal In purchasing power, whedier they be paper dollars, gold dollars, or silver dollars, or treasury notes — each con- vertible into the other and each exchangeable for the other, because each is based upon an equal value and has behind it equal security; good not by the fiat of law alone, but good because the whole commercial world recognizes its inherent and Inextinguishable value. There should be no speculative features in our money, no opportunity for speculation in the exchanges of the people. They must be safe and stable." In the course of his address at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on September 23, 1892, he used these words: WILLIAM Mckinley A late photograph MEMBER OF CONGRESS 135 " My fellow-citizens, there is one thing which this country can- not afford to trifle with, and that is its currency, its measure of value, the money which passes among the people in return for their labor and the products of their toil or of their land. There is no contrivance so successful in cheating labor and the poor people of the country as unstable, worthless, and easily counterfeited cur- rency. . . . The money of this country should be as national as its flag, as sacred as the national honor, and as sound as the Government itself. That -is the character of the money we have to-day. That is the kind of money which it is the paramount interest of every citizen of this country, no matter to what political party he may belong, to want to maintain and continue." Copyright by Judge Co. Drawn by Hamilton WILLIAM Mckinley, jr. Just before making his Great Tariff Speech, 1890 CHAPTER IX McKinley and the Protective Tariff To tell the story of McKinley's seven terms would be to tell the history of Congress and the nation for fourteen years. From the beginning he was an active and conspicuous member of the House. He lost his seat, indeed, in the election of 1 882, in which he received a majority of eight votes over Wallace, his Democratic competitor. As the House of Representatives was then strongly Democratic it was not difficult to count out this small majority, and McKinley was unseated. Speaking to Secretary Folger of his small majority, the shrewd old man replied : " Young man, eight votes is a very large majority this fall." In the succeeding election of 1884, McKinley was returned with a majority of over 2000. William McKinley was an American, and he reckoned nothing that concerned Americans to be unworthy of his notice. He recog- nized, however, that in view of the vast development, extension and multiplication of human interests, there was little hope for suc- cess as a universal genius. A man must be a specialist if he would attain the greatest eminence and the greatest usefulness. Already, indeed, he had devoted his attention especially to the subject of the tariff and its bearings upon American industry. The story is told that soon after he opened his law office at Canton, while he was as yet an untrained youth, he was drawn into a debate upon that subject. Pitted against him was a trained, shrewd and experienced lawyer, who had at his tongue's end all the specious sophistries of free trade. , The older and more expert de- bater won a seeming victory, but McKinley, though silenced for a 136 THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF 137 time, was not convinced. " No one will ever overcome me again in that way," he said to a companion. " I know I am right, and I know I can prove it." Thenceforth the study of books and men and conditions of industry to attain that end was the chief labor of his life. Mr. Blaine, in his " Twenty Years in Congress," made fitting mention of this feature of his younger colleague's work. " The interests of his constituency," he wrote, '* and his own bent of mind led him to the study of industrial questions, and he was soon recog- nized in the House as one of the most thorough statisticians and one of the ablest defenders of the doctrine of protection." For "one of the ablest" it was soon necessary to substitute "the fore- most." It was reserved, indeed, for Major McKinley to bring the American protective system to its highest degree of perfection, to proclaim it a permanent and abiding principle, and to vindicate It as such before the world. AN INCIDENT IN CONGRESS Almost his first speech In Congress, as we have already said, was on the subject of the tariff, and It was one that made a marked impression upon the House. Thenceforth its author was looked to in every tariff debate to be one of the chief upholders of protec- tion. An incident related by Judge Kelley, In his eulogy upon Dudley C. Haskell, shows how effectively McKinley answered this expectation. It was when the famous Mills bill was before the House. Kelley was to open the debate on the Republican side and McKinley was to close It. Haskell, who was a member of the Ways and Means Committee, and a particularly strong debater, desired the honor of closing the debate, and asked Judge Kelley to persuade McKinley to give way to him. The Judge went to Mc- Kinley and repeated Haskell's request. McKinley readily con- sented, saying that he did not care in what order he spoke. So It happened that McKinley was the fourth or fifth speaker, and Has- kell was to talk last. At the conclusion of McKinley's speech a 138 THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF number of the members crowded around to congratulate him. Fore- most among them was Haskell, who seized McKinley's hand enthusi- astically, exclaiming : ' Major, I shall speak last ; but you, sir, have closed the debate.' " With such years of preparation Major McKinley was univer- sally recognized as the one man of all best qualified to frame a new tariff law, which it seemed desirable to enact when the Republicans resumed full control of the Government in 1889. He was appointed Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and pres- ently gave to the nation the great measure which bears his name. Of his work in connection with it he spoke modestly. " I was Chairman of the Committee," he said, "and I performed my duties as best I could. That is all. Some of the strongest men in Con- gress were on the Committee, and the eight of us heard everybody, considered everything, and made up the best tariff law we knew how to frame." It was, indeed, as a high tariff advocate that McKinley made his reputation, alike as a Congressional debater and an earnest and indefatigable worker for what appeared to him the best interests of the country. It was his record in this field of public labor that carried him to the governorship of Ohio and to the Presidency. The tariff question, in brief, was the main-spring of his career, and as such some more detailed account of his work in this direction, with illustrative extracts from his speeches on the subject, is an essential feature of any record of his life. PROMINENT IN TARIFF DISCUSSION He began his work in the tariff, as we have said, almost upon his first entrance to the halls of Congress. In 1880, while speak- ing at Cooper Institute, New York, he definitely stated his posi- tion upon the subject ; saying that, while the Democratic party professed to favor a tariff for revenue with incidental protection, he preferred a tariff for protection with incidental revenue. This happy way of putting the subject was caught up by Republican THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF 139 speakers and newspapers throughout the country and set the people to thinking seriously upon it. No bolder proposition in favor of the doctrine of protection had been made for many years. McKinley took a prominent part in the discussion of the tariff bill of 1882, speaking very effectively upon the subject. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee he was actively con- cerned in the preparation of the bill. This bill, however, was greatly modified by the action of the Senate, and as finally offered proved far from satisfactory to the Republicans. It was especially unsatisfactory to the wool interest. As a result, on its final pas- sage McKinley voted against it, with most of the Ohio delegation. During the debate he expressed himself very decisively on the subject of protection, and claimed that it was steadily grow- ing in popular favor and appreciation. He said : " The sentiment is surely growing. It has friends to-day that it never had in the past. Its adherents are no longer confined to the Nort'i and the East, but are found in the South and in the West. The idea travels with industry and is the associate of enter- prise and thrift. It encourages the development of skill, labor, and inventive genius as part of the great productive forces. Its advocacy is no longer limited to the manufacturer, but it has friends the most devoted among the farmers, the wool-growers, the laborers, and the producers of the land. It is as strong in the country as in the manufacturing towns or the cities ; and while it is not taught generally in our colleges, and our young men fresh from universities join with the free-trade thought of the country, practical business and every-day experience later teach them that there are other sources of knowledge besides books, that demon- stration is better than theory, and that actual results outweigh an idle philosophy. But while it is not favored in the colleges, it is taught in the schools of experience, in the workshop, where honest men perform an honest day's labor, and where capital seeks the development of national wealth. It is, in my judgment, fixed in our national policy, and no party is strong enough to overthrow it. 140 THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF " When the South depended upon the labor of the slaves and employed little or no free labor it was as earnest an advocate of free trade as is England to-day. Now that it must resort to free labor, It is placed upon the same footing as Northern producers ; it is compelled to pay a like rate of wages for a day's work, and therefore demands protection against the foreign producer, whose product is made or grown by a cheaper labor. And we find, all through the South, a demand for protection to American industry against a foreign competition, bent upon their destruction and determined to possess the American market. "Free trade maybe suitable to Great Britain and Its peculiar social and political structure, but It has no place In this Republic, where classes are unknown and where caste has long since been banished ; where equality is the rule ; where labor is dignified and honorable ; where education and improvement are the individual striving of every citizen, no matter what may be the accident of his birth or the poverty of his early surroundings. Here the mechanic of to-day is the manufacturer of a few years hence. Under such con- ditions, free trade can have no abiding-place here. We are doing very well ; no other nation has done better or makes a better show- ing In the world's balance-sheet. We ought to be satisfied with the outlook for the future. We know what we have done and what we can do under the policy of protection. We have had some experience with a revenue tariff, which Inspires neither hope, nor courage, nor confidence. Our own history condemns the policy we oppose and is the best vindication of the policy which we advocate. It needs no other." Mckinley's address at Petersburg In 1885, while on a visit to Petersburg, Va., he made an address to the people on the tariff, delivered in a familiar but effective way which must have set the people to thinking. It attracted widespread attention alike in the South and the North. He put his view of the business aspect of a protective tariff in a THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF 141 homely and practical way calculated to make it clear to school-boy, farmer, and business man alike. We append the following extract : " Now, my fellow-citizens, what is this tariff ? It is very largely misunderstood, and if I can to-night make this audience, the humblest and the youngest in it, understand what the tariff means, I will feel that I have been well paid for my trip to Virginia. What, then, is the tariff ? The tariff, my fellow-citizens, is a tax put upon goods made outside of the United States and brought into the United States for sale and consumption. That is, we say to England, we say to Germany, we say to France : ' If you want to sell your goods to the people of the United States, you must pay so much for the privilege of doing it ; you must pay so much .per ton, so much per yard, so much per foot, as the case may be, for the privilege of selling to the American people, and what you pay in that form goes into the public treasury to help discharge the public burdens.' It is just like the little city of Petersburg, for example. I do not know what your customs may be, but in many cities of the North, if a man comes to our cities and wants to sell goods to our people on the streets, not to occupy any of our busi- ness houses, not being a permanent resident or trader, not living there, but traveling and selling from town to town — if he comes to one of our little cities in Ohio we say to him : ' Sir, you must pay so much into the city treasury for the privilege of selling goods to our people here.' Now, why do we do that ? We do It to protect our own merchants. " Just so our Government says to the countries of the Old World — it says to England and the rest : ' If you want to come in and sell to our people you must pay something for the privilege of doing It, and pay it at the Treasury at the custom-houses,' and that goes into the Treasury of the United States to help discharge the public debt and pay the current expenses of the Government. Now, that is the tariff, and if any man at this point wants to ask me any questions about It I want him to do it now, for I don't want, when I am gone, to have some Democrat say : ' If I could only 143 THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF have had an opportunity to ask him a question I would like to have done it, because I could have exposed the fallacy of his argument.' So I want him to do it now. " Do you think there would be an idle man in America if we manufactured everything that Ainericans use ? Do you think if we didn't buy anything from abroad at all, but made everything we needed, that every man would not be employed in the United States, and employed at a profitable remuneration? Why, every- body is benefited by protection, even the people who do not believe in It — for they get great. benefit out of it, but will not con- fess It ; and that Is what is the matter with Virginia. Heretofore she has not believed in it. You have not had a public man that I know of In Washington for twenty-five years, save one, except the Republicans, who did not vote against the great doctrine of American protection, American industries, and American labor ; and do you imagine that anybody Is coming to Virginia with his money to build a mill, or a factory, or a furnace, and develop your coal and your ore — bring his money down here when you vote every time against his Interests and don't let those who favor them vote at all? No! If you think so you might just as well be undeceived now, for they will not come. "Why, old John Randolph, I don't know how many years ago, said on the floor of the American Congress, In opposing a pro- tective tariff, he did not believe In manufactories. ' Why,' said he, ' if you have manufactories in Philadelphia you will have cholera six months In the year.' That was what the ' Sage of Roanoke' said, and Virginia seems to be still followinof the sentiments he uttered years and years ago. " I tell you, manufactories do not bring cholera — they bring coin, coin ; coin for the poor man, coin for the rich, coin for every- body who will work ; comfort and contentment for all deserving people. And if you vote for Increasing manufactories, my fellow- citizens, you will vote for the best interests of your own State, and you will be making Iron, and steel, and pottery, and all the great THE UNITED STATES PEACE COMMISSIONERS OF THE SPANISH WAR AiH-^imed September 9 1898 Met Spanish Commissioners at Paris. October ist. Treaty o( Peace sientd bv tlu Coo misKoners «. Pans, becembei loth RatiBed by the United States Senate at Washington F.hr„.°*« 7a" THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF 14S leading products just as Ohio and Pennsylvania are making them to-day. " Be assured that the Republicans of the North harbor no resentments — only ask for the results of the war. They wish you the highest prosperity and greatest development. They bid you, in the language of Whittier : " 'A school-house plant on every hill, Stretching in radiate nerve-lines thence The quick wires of intelligence ; Till North and South, together brought, Shall own the same electric thought ; In peace a common flag salute; And, side by side, in labor's free And unresentful rivalry. Harvest the fields wherein they fought.'" MCKINLEY AND THE MILLS BILL In the Congress of 1887, which had a Democratic majority, Roger Q. Mills, of Texas, was chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means. This committee prepared a tariff bill, popularly known as the Mills' Bill, the debate upon which was one of the longest and most spirited that had occurred in Congress during many years. McKinley took a very active part in the opposition, his private office in the hotel being a meeting place for manu- facturers from all parts of the country. Major McKinley heard them all with great patience. In addition, he was surrounded by a small library of printed volumes and a mass of reports and statistics bearing upon the conditions of industry alike in the United States and foreign countries. Great as was the labor involved, he never seemed to weary of it, and was constantly accessible to visitors on business pertaining to the proposed bill. All who came in contact with him greatly admired his mastery of the subject in its highly varied details. The report which gave the views of the Republican minority was drawn by him, and in it he cited the various objections to the measure. 146 THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF and made manifest the fallacy of the theory upon which it was based. In the discussion of the bill which followed occurred the incident related by Judge Kelley which we have quoted above. The debate on the Mills' Bill was very spirited, and the part taken in it by McKinley was active and effective. An amusing recontre took place between him and Leopold Morse, a Democratic member from Massachusetts. Much has been said about how free wool would cheapen the workingman's clothing. Morse was a member of a firm of dealers in clothing, and McKinley, with the purpose of giving an effective object lesson on this point, had pro- cured a suit of cheap clothes from this firm. We quote from his speech as given in the Congressional Record : AN AMUSING ENCOUNTER "The expectation of cheaper clothes is not sufficient to justify the action of the majority. This is too narrow for a national issue. Nobody, so far as I have learned, has expressed dissatisfaction with the present price of clothing. It is a political objection ; it is a party slogan. Certainly nobody is unhappy over the cost of clothing except those who are amply able to pay even a higher price than is now exacted. And besides, if this bill should pass, and the effect would be (as it inevitably must be) to destroy our domestic manufactures, the era of low prices would vanish, and the foreign manufacturer would compel the American consumer to pay higher prices than he had been accustomed to pay under the ' robber tariff,' so called. " Mr. Chairman, I represent a district comprising some 200,000 people, a large majority of the voters in the district being workingmen. I have represented them for a good many years, and I have never had a complaint from one of them that their clothes were too high. Have you ? [Applause on the Republican side.] Has any gentleman on this floor met with such complaint in his district ? " Mr. Morse : They did not buy them of me. THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF 147 " Mr. McKinley : No ! Let us see. If they had bought of the gentleman from Massachusetts it would have made no differ- ence, and there could have been no complaint. Let us examine the matter. " [Mr. McKinley here producec^ a bundle containing a suit of clothes, which he opened and displayed, amid great laughter and applause.] MR. MCKINLEY AND THE TEN-DOLLAR SUIT " Come, now, will the gentleman from Massachusetts know his own goods ? [Renewed laughter.] We recall, Mr. Chairman, that the Committee on Ways and Means talked about the laboring man who worked ten days at a dollar a day, and then went with his $10 wages to buy a suit of clothes. It is the old story. It is found in the works of Adam Smith. [Laughter and applause on the Republican side.] I have heard it in this House for ten years past. It has served many a free trader. It is the old story, I repeat, of the man who gets a dollar a day for his wages, and having worked for the ten days goes to buy his suit of clothes. He believes he can buy it for just %\o, but the 'robber manufac- turers' have been to Congress and have got 100 per cent, put upon the goods in the shape of a tariff, and the suit of clothes he finds cannot be bought for $10, but he is asked $20 for it, and so he has to go back to ten days more of sweat, ten days more of toil, ten days more of wear and tear of muscle and brain to earn the $10 to purchase the suit of clothes. Then the chairman gravely asks, is not ten days entirely annihilated ? " Now, a gentleman who read that speech, or heard it, was so touched by the pathetic story that he looked into it and sent me a suit of clothes identical with that described by the gentleman from Texas, and he sent me also a bill for it, and here is the entire suit ; ' robber tariffs and taxes and all ' have been added, and the retail cost is what? Just %\o. [Laughter and applause on the Repub- lican side.] So the poor fellow does not have to go back to work 148 THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF ten days more to get that suit of clothes. He takes the suit with him and pays for it just |io. [Applause.] But in order that there might be no mistake about it, knowing the honor and honesty of the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Morse], he went to his store and bought '^he suit. [Laughter and cheers on the Republican side.] I hold in my hand the bill. " Mr. Struble : Read it. " Mr. McKinley (reading) : 'Boston, May 4, 1888. J. D. Williams, bought of Leopold Morse & Co., men's, youths' and boys' clothing, 131 to 137 Washington Street, corner of Brattle' — I believe it is. " Mr. Morse : Yes, Brattle. " Mr. McKinley (reading) : ' To one suit of woolen clothes, $10. Paid.' [Renewed laughter and applause.] And now, Mr. Chairman, I never knew of a gentleman engaged in this business who sold his clothes without profit. [Laughter.] And there is the same %\o suit described by the gentleman frotn Texas that can • be bought in the city of Boston, can be bought in Philadelphia, in New York, in Chicago, in Pittsburg, anywhere throughout the country, at $10 retail the whole suit — coat, trousers, and vest — and 40 per cent, less than It could have been bought for in i36o under your low tariff and low wages of that period. [Great applause.] It is a pity to destroythe sad picture of the gentleman from Texas which was to be used In the campaign, but the truth must be told. But do you know that If it were not for protection you would pay a great deal more for these clothes ? I do not intend to go into that branch of the question, but I want to give one brief illustra- tion of how the absence of American competition immediately sends up the foreign prices, and it is an illustration that every man will remember. My friend from Missouri [Mr. Clardy], who sits in front of me, will remember it. The Missouri Glass Company, was organized several years ago for the manufacture of coarse fluted glass and cathedral glass. Last November the factory was 149 ISO THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF destroyed by fire. Cathedral glass was their specialty. Within ten days from the time that splendid property was reduced to ashes the foreign price of cathedral glass advanced 28 per cent, to the American consumer. [Applause on the Republican side.] Showing that whether you destroy the American pro- duction by free trade or by fire, it is the same thing ; the prices go up to the American consumer, and all you can do is to pay the price the foreigner chooses to ask." [Renewed applause.] When the bill came to a vote, only one Republican member of the House voted in the affirmative. With this exception, the Republicans of the House were a unit against the Mills' Bill, which, as is well known, failed to become a law. MCKINLEY AND HIS TARIFF BILL, 189O The Congress of 1889-90 was largely concerned in the prepa- ration and passage of the bill which became famous as the McKinley Tariff Bill. As has been stated, he was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of that Congress. Among the other members of the Congress were J. C. Burrows and John H. Gear, subsequently members of the United States Senate, John G. Car- lisle, who later became Secretary of the Treasury, Roswell P. Flower, who had been Governor of the State of New York, and Nelson Dingley, whose name became associated with a later Repub- lican tariff bill. Chairman McKinley at once set out to prepare a bill fitted to voice the verdict of the people, who had declared for the American doctrine of protection and the preservation of our home markets for our own workmen. No man could have been better qualified for this labor. The committee did not sit in secret sessions, but the doors stood wide open to the manufacturers and business men of the country. It mattered not what were the political views of the visitor, if he had anything of a practical nature to propose he was sure of a respectful audience. The end desired by the chairman 151 152 THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF was the greatest good of the people of the United States, not the advancement of party Interests. No measure was ever so perfectly prepared for the consider- ation of the House as the McKInley Bill on the day on which it was reported. The committee had been engaged upon it from the meet- ing of the House In December, i88g, until April i6, 1890, on which day the bill was reported. It was not called up for consideration until May 7th, the general debate upon it lasting until the loth. after which it was passed by a strict party vote, 164 Republicans voting for It and 141 Democrats and one Populist, voting against It. It was reported to the Senate on June i8th, the amended bill was sent to the Conference Committee September 15th, and the measure was finally passed on September 30th. Of the changes made in the tariff by the Act of 1890 more than two-thirds were In the original bill as proposed by McKInley, and 492 out of 641 were placed in the bill before It left his commit- tee. Great credit Is due to all the able statesmen in both Houses of Congress who aided in passing the measure, but it deserves to be put upon record that William McKInley did the greater part of the work. The bill was vigorously attacked by such able oppo- nents as Carlisle, Breckenridge, Mills, and others, the best debaters that the ranks of the Southern Congressmen could furnish. McKIn- ley led his party safely through these assaults, and was master of the field throughout the whole battle. Mckinley's speeches in congress on the tariff His opening address called attention to the fact that the coun- try, in the election of 1888 had declared itself in favor of the policy of protection, and that the long discussion of the Mills' Bill, and subsequent debates during the Presidential campaign, had familiar- ized the people with the principles underlying the tariff ; he there- fore deemed It unnecessary to expound these abstract doctrines. With reference to the tariff itself, he stated that the entire sys- tem was to be remodeled. Among the several chang^es, the United 153 154 THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF States Government was to be deprived of the privilege it had long enjoyed of importing foreign articles for its own use free of duty. Under this provision of the old law great abuses had grown up, for not only did the Government pass its goods free through the cus- tom houses, but its officers, agents and contractors did the same thing, much to the disadvantage of our manufacturers. It placed a limit upon the merchandise that tourists could bring into the country under the guise of personal effects ; thus escaping their share of taxation while, through their purchases abroad, the country was drained of its money for the benefit of foreign tradesmen. It further required that all imported merchan- dise should be plainly stamped with the name of the country where it was produced. This was to stop the fraudulent use of American brands and trade-marks by foreign manufacturers. The Democratic minority had argued in its report that the proposed bill would not diminish the revenues because it increased various duties. Major McKinley, replying to this, stated that all experience taught that whenever the duty was raised to the protec- tive point, or above the highest revenue point, on goods or articles produced at home, the amount of importations always decreased and the resulting revenue diminished. When the duty v/as raised to a point where the foreign manufacturer could not compete in our market with our own products the revenue was abolished alto- gether. The bill would therefore not increase revenue because it increased duties. As regards the relation of agriculture to the tariff, Major McKinley showed that the depression of farming, which had become during late years serious in this country, was much greater in England, so that free trade was no remedy for this evil. He showed that we imported eggs by the million, cattle, horses and sheep, barley, hay, and other agricultural products that we ought to produce, to the extent of nearly $300,000,000 a year. Canada agri- culturists alone took $25,000,000 a year out of the pockets of our farmers. The bill proposed to correct all this and give the American THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF J35 farmer his full share of the advantages of a protective tariff. It showed how this vast amount of money spent every year for for- eign farm products, if kept at home, would relieve the distress of our own landholders and stimulate all branches of trade and manu- factures dependent upon the farming classes. Many articles were taken off the dutiable list and put on the free list, far the most important of these being sugar and kindred products. Steps were taken to encourage the cultivation of the sugar beet, it being proposed to pay a bounty upon all sugar made in this country. The speaker called attention to the fact that eighteen articles had been taken from the free list and put upon the dutiable list, ten of these being farm products. Among these were eggs, broom corn, plants, trees and shrubs, straw, apples, teazels, flax and hemp. HE REVIEWED THE GAIN OF PROTECTION Major McKinley briefly reviewed the service which this country had gained from protection. We had lived, he stated, under a pro- tective tariff for twenty-nine years, the longest consecutive period since the Government was founded. As a result, we found our- selves in a condition of prosperity and independence which had never before been witnessed in our country, and had no parallel in the recorded history of the world. We had made remarkable progress in all that goes to make a nation great and strong. In the arts, in science, literature, manufactures, and inventions, in the application of science to manufacturing and agriculture, in wealth and credit, and in national honor, we were abreast of the best of foreign nations and behind none. In i860 at the close of fourteen years in which the country had been under a revenue tariff, — just the kind the Democratic party wished to put in force again, — the business of the country was prostrated, agriculture was depressed, manufactures were in a decline, and the nation was destitute of credit in the financial centres of the world. 156 THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF Under protection we had gained a surplus revenue and a spot- less credit. The Morrill protective tariff of 1861, had enabled us to equip vast armies and carry the war to a successful termination. At the same time flourishing industries sprang up under it in all parts of the country. Thus, after the war closed, with our burden of over $2,000,000,000 of debt, this tariff had enabled us to pay it off at the rate of $174,000 every twenty-four hours for twenty years. Under this tariff we had led all nations in the savings-bank deposits of our laboring classes. We led them all in mining, in agriculture and in manufacturing. Such were the results of twenty- nine years of protection. Major McKinley next depicted the disastrous results which would follow a departure from the safe paths by which we had been led into the green pastures of national prosperity through the action of the American protective system. One of the most popu- lar features of the bill presented by him was the clause providing for reciprocity in trade. The credit of securing the enactment of this part of the law has generally been given to James G. Blaine, who at that time was Secretary of State. There is no doubt, it may be admitted, that Mr. Blaine did play an important part in securing the adoption of this clause, but it is not true, as has been reported, that Major McKinley was opposed to the idea. In almost his final words, those spoken in his remarks at Buffalo the day before he received his fatal wound, the extension of the reciprocity policy was earnestly advocated by him. In this same speech he eulogized Blaine as the one to whom the chief credit should be given for this important policy. Mr. William E. Cartes, formerly chief of the Bureau of Ameri- can Republics, clearly states the relations of Mr. Blaine and Mr. McKinley to this measure. He says : " When Mr. Blaine found that it was proposed to remove the duty on sugar, he sent me to Mr. McKinley with a proposition which he wanted added to the bill as an amendment. It afterward became known as the Hale Amendment. It provided that the THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF '57 President should be authorized to take off the duty on sugar when- ever the sugar-producing nations removed their duties on our farm products and certain other articles. Mr. McKinley presented this amendment to the Committee on Ways and Means. It was not adopted. Mr. McKinley voted for it the first time it was presented. Then a second proposition containing some modifications was pre- sented, and Mr. McKinley voted for that, as he voted for the Blaine reciprocity amendment every time it was submitted. "It has been currently reported that Mr. Blaine denounced the McKinley Bill with such vigor that he smashed his hat. Mr. Blaine's opposition to the bill was because of the free-sugar clause. He criticized the refusal of Congress to take advantage of condi- tions which he thought were favorable to our trade. They pro- posed to throw away the duty on sugar when he wanted them to trade with it. "When what was known as the Aldrich Amendment was adopted, Mr. Blaine was perfectly satisfied, and there was nothing in the current tales that he was unfriendly to Major McKinley. On the contrary, he was one of his warmest friends. Had it not been for Mr. McKinley and Senator Aldrich, of Rhode Island, the recipro- city clause in the tariff act would never have been adopted." In conclusion of our consideration of this famous commercial and fiscal measure, it must be said that no opportunity arose to test its effect upon the national revenues. The vast quantity of goods, of the classes upon which the rates of duty were increased, that were rushed into our ports before the law became operative, and a concurrent holding back of those that were to be placed upon the free list, prevented the new tariff from pursuing its normal course. It was little more than a month in existence before the Fall elec- tions gave it its death-blow. The advent of a Democratic Con- gress alarmed those whose business the tariff would have benefited, and the deadlock in trade which was soon to show itself early began to manifest itself in the commerce of the country. The McKinley tariff fell before it could be fairly tried CHAPTER X Governor of Ohio AT the election of 1890, as we have said, the Democrats so manipulated the districts as to defeat Mr. McKinley by 300 votes in a district normally Democratic by 2,900, and thus prevent his return to Congress. Great was their rejoicing at this. They thought they had crushed their arch-enemy at last. But they reckoned without the chief factor in the problem. The answer to their exultation came unhesitatingly. Mr. McKinley in the follow- ing year was nominated by the Republicans by acclamation for Governor of the State. The platform of the Convention re-affirmed the devotion of the party to the patriotic doctrine of protection, and recognized the McKinley bill as the ablest expression of a principle enacted in fulfillment of Republican promises. It made declarations in favor of such legislation by Congress as would in every practical mode encourage, protect, and promote agriculture. It demanded protec- tion of the wool industry. It declared that gold and silver should form the basis of all circulating mediums, and expressed the desire to add the entire production of the silver mines of the United States to the currency of the people. A MEMORABLE CAMPAIGN Then followed one of the most memorable campaigns ever waged in the Buckeye State. Mr. McKinley began his campaign on August I, and for three months he traveled night and day, making from two to a dozen speeches a day, until he had visited eighty-four out of the eighty-eight counties of the State, and made in all 130 speeches. His campaign was on national issues, on the - 158 GOVERNOR OF OHIO i59 tariff, on protection ; and so eloquently and passionately did he defend his principles that great crowds turned out to hear him. The attention of the whole country was drawn to the State of Ohio and the campaign. Newspaper correspondents followed the cham- pion of protection in his tour of the State, and filled the press of the country with descriptions of scenes novel in political campaigns. The Democrats contested every inch of the ground stubbornly, but the people turned to McKinley as the apostle of the true dis- pensation, and women and children said he had made protection and tariff plain to them. In that campaign, the first general campaign Mr. McKinley had ever made, he was pronounced the best vote- getter ever seen on the stump in Ohio. He won the admiration of Democrats, as he won the devotion of Republicans, and his election by a majority of over 21,000 votes was gratifying to one party, without being a source of bitterness to the rank and file of the other party. MCKINLEY RENOMINATED FOR GOVERNOR The opening of the second Cleveland Administration in 1893, was followed by a business distrust that in a brief time developed into a widespread panic. Even the greatest financial combination in the land, the Associated Banks of New York, practically sus- pended payment, issuing clearing-house certificates in place of money. Dismay took the place of hope ; ruin succeeded pros- perity. In the height of the panic Governor McKinley was renomi- nated by the Republicans of Ohio by acclamation. A spirited con- test followed. His opponent was the Hon. L. T. Teal. Nothing was to be said of the personal fitness of the candidates, and the campaign was conducted on the basis of party issues. The revul- sion against the protective policy was reaching its end, the people were repenting of their temporary change of sentiment, and the issue brought before them was that of protection or free trade. The discussion extended throughout the Fall; when at length the people came to indicate their opinion at the ballot-box, their i6o GOVERNOR OF OHI® verdict showed the change in public opinion. McKinley was re-elected Governor with a plurality of 80,955 ; up to that time the largest but one in the history of the State. Mr. McKinley's record as Governor was an admirable one. He never forgot that he was not alone the representative of the party which had elected him, but the Chief Magistrate of the whole State, and he was untiring in his efforts to secure for the State a wise, economical, and honorable administration. He took great interest in the management of the public institutions, making a special study of means for their betterment, and securing many important and much-needed reforms. He urged the preserving and improving of the canal system, and was an earnest promoter of the movement for good roads. To the question of tax reform he paid much attention and repeatedly urged its Importance upon the Legislature. Many questions relating to the welfare of work- ingmen became acute during his administration, and were dealt with by him in a spirit of intelligent sympathy. MCKINLEY A WISE AND FIRM GOVERNOR He had already long been known as an advocate of an eight- hour system, and of arbitration as a means of settling disputes between employers and employees. It was due to his initiative that the State Board of Arbitration was established in Ohio, and to its successful operation he gave for nearly four years his close per- sonal attention. He made various wise recommendations for legis- lation for the better protection of life and limb in industrial pur- suits, and as a result several salutary laws to such effect were, put upon the statute books. When destitution and distress prevailed among the miners of the Hocking Valley, he acted with character- istic promptness and decision. News that many families were in danger of starving reached him at midnight. Before sunrise he iiad a carload of provisions on the way to their relief. Many times during his administration the peace of the State was disturbed by unseemly outbreaks requiring the application of GOVERNOR OF OHIO i6i the restraining power of the Government. This power McKinley exercised with great firmness and discretion. Fifteen times it was necessary to call out the State troops for the maintenance or restoration of order, but on no occasion was the use of them in any respect oppressive. During the summer of 1894 strikes and other disturbances prevailed, especially on the chief railroad lines, and for three weeks the regiments were on duty, acquitting themselves most creditably for the protection of property and enforcement of the law, without any unnecessary harshness towards either party to the disputes. On two noteworthy occasions desperate efforts were made by ill-advised mobs to commit the crime of lynching. Gov- ernor McKinley promptly used the military forces of the State to prevent such violence of law and dishonor of the Commonwealth, and showed himself a thorough master of the trying situation. A distinctive feature of the McKinley administration was the absence of red tape and needless formality. In his method of transacting business the Governor was concise and direct, and in his intercourse with the people, though dignified, he was always approachable and genial. Access was read'ly had to him at all rea- sonable times, and no matter of actual interest ever failed to receive his courteous, prompt, and painstaking attention. HIS FINANCIAL MISFORTUNE During the period of Mr. McKinley's governorship occurred a most serious misfortune, due to his misplaced confidence in an old friend, and unhesitating readiness in coming to the rescue of one in financial straits. The result of his overconfidence and unques- tioning kindness of heart was the sweeping away of the small for- tune which he had spent his life in accumulating. Some attempt was made to attach discredit to his name on account of his failure, there being a few who suggested that there was some wrong-doing connected with it. But when the facts became known, they were found to redound to his generosity and goodness of heart, and served to add to his already great popularity. 1 62 GOVERNOR OF OHIO The misfortune was due to the business failure of his friend, Robert L. Walker, of Youngstown, Ohio, which swept away not only all his own wealth, but that of Governor McKinley as well. The facts of the case are briefly as follows : The two men had known each other from boyhood, and had always been close friends. As a young law student, a struggling lawyer, and a Congressman, Major McKinley had several times been aided with loans of money by Mr. Walker. These loans were chiefly needed to enable Major McKinley to meet his cam- paign assessment. As his reputation grew, the assessments ceased, he paid back the loans, and in the last ten years of his Congres- sional career, he succeeded in accumulating about $20,000, which he invested in real estate and securities. His wife had inherited a fortune of about $75,000 from her father. Early in 1893, Mr. Walker went to the Governor and asked him for assistance. The banker said that he was hard pressed for ready money, and he wished the Governor to indorse his notes, which he then intended to have discounted. Without hesitation, the Governor cheerfully consented to give this aid to the old friend who had helped him in his early years, and indorsed about $15,000 worth of paper, paya- ble in thirty, sixty and ninety days. This paper, he was assured, would be discounted in three well-known banks. Later on he indorsed a number of notes which, he understood, were made for the purpose of taking up the notes which he had first indorsed, and which had become due. Mr. Walker was at this time the president of a national bank, a savings bank, a stamping mill com- pany and a stove and range company, and was interested in several coal mines in Ohio and Pennsylvania. He was credited with pos- sessing a fortune of more than $250,000, and his personal and business standing was so high that a prominent Ohio business man said that he would have indorsed Mr. Walker's paper for half a million dollars the day before his failure. When, in addition to these facts, it is remembered that he had been a boyhood companion and generous friend of Governor GOVERNOR OF OHIO ^^3 McKinley, it is not to be wondered at that the latter trusted him implicitly. On the day that the Walker failure was announced, Governor McKinley was about to start for New York to attend the annual dinner of the Ohio Society in that city. He at once can- celled the engagement, and went to Youngstown. There he found that banks all over the State held Walker paper indorsed by him, and that, instead of being liable for $15,000 worth, he was liable for nearly $100,000 worth. Five days afterward he and his wife made an assignment of all their property to three trustees, to be used, without preference, for the equal benefit of the Walker creditors. Mrs. McKinley was urged to keep her interest in her property, but she declined to do so. The news of the misfortune and of the position taken by Mr. McKinley and his wife aroused a wide-spread feeling of sympathy and a desire to help them in their trouble. A popular fund was started, but the Governor returned the contributions that were forwarded to him, thanking those who sent them for the goodwill shown, but positively refusing to accept the profferred aid. Then a number of personal friends decided to raise a private fund. Again the Governor, as soon as he heard of it, interposed, and declined absolutely to receive any assistance ; but his friends persisted in the plan, pointing out to him that many of the subscriptions were anonymous, and, therefore, could not be returned. To his last day, with the possible exception of four or five subscribers, he did not know who contributed to the fund. As fast as the Walker notes were presented the treasurer of the fund took them up, and when the last one had been paid Mrs. McKinley's property was restored to her, and the Governor's original modest fortune of $20,000, with a little more added, was returned to him. At the close of his second term as Governor there was no question of his renomination. He had grown above the level of serving as the chief magistrate of a State and was about to be called to a much more exalted position, that of the executive head of the nation. CHAPTER XI The St. Louis Convention and Nomination As an essential preliminary to the story of McKinley's nomina- tion for the Presidency in 1896, his standing and honorable attitude before the two preceding Conventions must be given. In 1884 Mr. McKinley was a Delegate-at-La'rge from Ohio to the Republican Nominating Convention, and helped to place James G. Blaine on the ticket. At the National Convention of 1888 he represented Ohio in the same capacity and was an earnest and loyal supporter of John Sherman. At that Convention, after the first day's balloting, the indications were that Mr. McKinley himself might be made the candidate. Then his strength of pur- pose and his high ideas of loyalty and honor showed themselves, for in an earnest and stirring speech he demanded that no vote be cast for him. From the first, two delegates had been voting per- sistently for him, although he had not, of course, been formally placed in nomination. Now the number of his supporters rose to fourteen. All the Republican Congressmen at Washington tele- graphed to the Convention urging his nomination. The air became electrified with premonitions of a stampede. Mr. McKinley had listened to the announcement of the two votes for him on each ballot with mingled annoyance and amuse- ment. But now the case was growing serious. The next ballot might give him a majority of the whole Convention. He had only to sit still and the ripe fruit would drop into his hands. He had only to utter an equivocal protest and the result would be the same. But there was nothing equivocal about William McKinley. On one side was his personal honor-; on the other side the Presidency of the United States. In choosing between the two, hesitation was 164 THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 165 impossible. He sprang to his feet with an expression upon his face and an accent in his voice that thrilled the vast assembly, but hushed it mute and silent as the grave while he spoke : — " 1 am here as one of the chosen representatives of my State. I am here by resolution of the Republican State Convention, passed without a single dissenting vote, commanding me to cast my vote for John Sherman for President and to use every worthy endeavor for his nomination. I accepted the trust because my heart and my judgment were in accord with the letter and spirit and purpose of that resolution. It has pleased certain delegates to cast their votes for me for President. I am not insensible to the honor they would do me, but in the presence of the duty resting upon me, I cannot remain silent with honor. " I cannot, consistently with the wish of the State whose credentials I bear and which has trusted me ; I cannot with honor- able fidelity to John Sherman ; I cannot, consistently with my own views of personal integrity, consent, or seem to consent, to permit my name to be used as a candidate before this Convention. I would not respect myself if I should find it in my heart to do so, or permit to be done that which would ever be ground for any one to suspect that I wavered in my loyalty to Ohio or my devotion to the chief of her choice and the chief of mine. I do not request, I demand, that no delegate who would not cast reflection upon me shall cast a ballot for me." That ended it, and the threatened stampede was averted. But, although the nomination was not forced upon Mr. McKinley, neither could he secure it for Mr. Sherman, although he loyally strove to do so till the end. Mr. McKinley again occupied a seat as a Delegate-at- Large from Ohio in the National Convention of 1892, and was made the Permanent Chairman of the Convention. On this occasion an In- cident similar to that of 1888 occurred. Mr. McKinley was pledged in honor to the support of President Harrison for renomination, and he, as earnestly and as loyally as he had supported Mr. Sherman 10 1 66 THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION four years before, labored for Mr. Harrison's success. The Repub- lican leaders who were opposed to Harrison's renomination sought to accomplish their purpose by stampeding the Convention for McKinley himself. When the roll was being called and Ohio was reached, Gov- ernor Foraker, one of the delegates from that State, rose and said that Ohio wanted time to consult. After a pause Mr. Nash, a dis- trict delegate, announced the vote as 2 for Harrison and 44 for McKinley. Chairman McKinley sprang from his seat and shouted back that he challenged the vote. Mr. Foraker responded that the chairman was not a member of the delegation. " I am a member of the delegation," retorted Chairman McKinley. "The gentleman's alternate has taken his place in the delega- tion, and the gentleman is not recognized as a member of the dele- gation now, and we make that point of order," came back from Foraker. " The Chair overrules the point of order and asks the secretary to call the roll of Ohio," said Mr. McKinley. The reading clerk called the roll, and the result was McKinley 44, Harrison 2. A delegate changed his vote, and then it stood McKinley 45, Harrison i. The contest between the chairman and the Ohio delegation and the calling of the roll had consumed some time, and the stam- pede was checked. The roll-call proceeded, Harrison receiving 535 votes, McKin- ley 182, Thomas B. Reed 4, Robert T. Lincoln i. So General Harrison was renominated, and he owed the honor largely to McKinley. The latter was chairman of the committee that went to Washington to notify President Harrison officially of his renomination. In the address made by him on that occasion there was no tone of disappointment, but the speech rang with words of hope and cheer for the party. 777^ ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 167 At the opening of the national election campaign of 1894 it was evident to all that McKinley was the leader whom people in all parts of the country most desired to see and hear. From every State in the Union calls poured in for him, and he finally consented to enter the campaign outside of Ohio, agreeing to make forty-six speeches. The result was a tour which has never been equaled in the political history of the country. The people refused to be so easily satisfied as the orator hoped. State after State called for him with a persistence that would not be denied, and, instead of forty-six speeches, he actually made 371. His route extended through the States of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ala- bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, West Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, through which he journeyed in all over 10,000 miles. MCKINLEY A POPULAR FAVORITE During eight weeks' time he averaged seven speeches a day, extending from ten minutes to an hour in length. In all he addressed over two million people. Wherever he went he was received with an ovation, people gathering in thousands and clam- oring to hear him at all the railroad stations on his line of travel. Everywhere his fame spread in advance, and the people flocked in numbers, coming hundreds of miles to see him at the larger cities where he was engaged to speak. On September 26th, he faced at Indianapolis the largest audi- ence ever gathered in the Hoosier State. At Chicago over 9,000 gathered to hear him, and over 7,000 in St. Louis. In the State of Kansas he addressed at Hutchison a meeting of over 40,000 people, the largest ever held in that State, many of them coming from adjoining States and Territories. At Topeka it was esti- mated that 24,000 people were present. Altogether he spoke to over 150,000 people at various points in Kansas. At Omaha, Nebraska, an audience of 12,000 listened to his explanation ®f the 1 68 THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION protection policy. In Iowa the multitudes in all aggregated 50,000. The same popular enthusiasm wa§ manifested in Minne- sota, he speaking to 10,000 in St. Paul and 15,000 in Duluth. At Springfield, Illinois, more than 20,000 people came to hear him. MCKINLEY SPEAKS TO THE SOUTH Subsequently, turning south towards New Orleans, he met with the same gratifying experience ; 3,000 people gathered to hear him as he passed through Lexington, Kentucky. There was a tremendous gathering at Chattanooga, and at New Orleans he was received with an ovation, addressing over 8,000 people. He subsequently journeyed north through Alabama and other States, reaching the North at Pittsburg, where he addressed a large audi- ence. At Philadelphia he spoke three times in one evening to enormous gatherings of people. In New York his campaign began at Buffalo, where it was necessary to call three meetings to accom- modate the number who wished to see him. Passing eastward through the State, he was greeted by 10,000 people at Albany, whence he made his way down the Hudson valley, speaking at various points, and finally addressing a great multitude at Wee- hawken. New Jersey. On his way home to Ohio he stopped at Erie, Pennsylvania, speaking there to a gathering of 10,000 people. Daily hundreds of columns of the newspapers were* devoted to his remarks during this extended tour. His first formal nomina- tion for President of the United States was made at the Ohio State Convention at Zanesville, May 29, 1895. This convention had met to nominate his successor as Governor. During the gub- ernatorial campaign McKInley entered the field as a speaker in favor of his successor, who was elected by a very large majority. With the opening of the year 1896 the question of the Presi- dential election became prominent in all men's minds, and the Republican conventions in the several States began to select their delegates and declare their choice. The first State convention to endorse the Ohio candidate was Oregon, and other States followed Copyright by Judge Co. PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S LOVE FOR CHILDREN Giving his buttonhole r»niatlon to a little gir! at one of hli recejtlon! THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 171 in rapid succession. Important opposition was made in only a few States, those in New England being Massachusetts and Rhode Island, whose favorite was Thomas B. Reed. New Hampshire, while declaring for Reed, named McKinley as second choice. Vermont selected him as first choice, and Connecticut evaded the issue. Maine, as was to be expected, spoke for its favorite son. NUMEROUS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES The candidate of New York was Governor Levi P. Morton, whose political record had won for him the affection of the people. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania named Matthew Stanley Quay, then the most prominent name in the ranks of the Repub- lican party of that State. Iowa chose for its candidate the veteran Senator Allison. The remaining States of the Union unanimously declared for McKinley. Such were the encouraging preliminaries to the opening of the St. Louis Convention. The result of the coming nomination seemed so evident in advance that the opposition press made a vigorous assault upon McKinley, attacking his financial record, and endeavoring to divert attention from the industrial issue to that of the currency. Such was the state of affairs in the country at large when the time for the assembling of the convention arrived. The remarkable popularity of William McKinley, in view of the fact that he was but one of numerous prominent Congressmen, deserving for their services and available as candidates, seems to demand some explanation. He was not in the position of several of his predecessors, whose fame as military leaders had carried them to a position for which they were poorly fitted by nature or experi- ence. He was not a " new man," borne suddenly upward on a billow of public favor like his coming competitor. He was in no sense a "dark horse," to be sprung suddenly upon a convention weary of a long and hopeless contest. He had made his way slowly and surely into public favor by the force of his character and the merit of his services, by his long and able record as a Congressman, and especially by his persistent labors in advocacy 172 THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION of the doctrine of protection. Of this, the sheet-anchor of the Republican party, McKinleyhad grown to be the leading exponent, and his recent service as the chief author of the i8go tariff had ■lifted him into the highest rank among the leaders of his party. OPPORTUNITIES FOR rCXINLEY As we have already seen, the nomination of. 1892 might have been his for the asking. It was fortunate for him that he positively declined it. The year 1892 was an off-year for the Republicans. Various causes of public dissatisfaction existed, and in the Autumn elections of that year Democracy swept the field. A different story had 1894 to tell. A Democratic administration had been two years in power, the McKinley " tariff for protection " had been replaced by a Democratic "tariff for revenue," business had utterly gone to pieces, and ruin loomed over the whole land. The workmen of the country became convinced that their dis- tress was due to the radical change in policy, and to this must largely be ascribed the extraordinary ovation which he received in his speech-making tour of that year. It was as if the people with one voice had exclaimed : " Give us back the McKinley tariff !" Election day came, and with it a political revolution greater than that of 1892. In the latter the Democrats had been widely victorious. In the former an equal victory rested upon the Repub- lican banners, the Democrats in much the larger number of States meeting with an overwhelming defeat. The House elected in 1892 contained 219 Democrats and 127 Republicans; that elected in 1894 contained 245 Republicans and 100 Democrats. When 1896 rolled around the same state of affairs prevailed. The depression in business had not ended and was still widely attributed to the substitution of the Wilson for the McKinley tariff. The election of a Republican Presidexit seemed assured, and the people had given their verdict with no uncertain voice for William McKinley as the standard-bearer of his party. THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION i73 It must not be supposed, however, that the tariff problem was the only one to be considered. That was the question on which the party had always rested, and on which there was likely to be only one opinion. A second great question had grown strongly prominent, that of gold and silver coinage, and on this, if on any- thing, dissension would arise. The Democrats, largely setting aside the tariff issue, were prepared to make the fight with " free silver " engraved on their banners. Gold as the single standard of money was the Republican slogan, but on this question the party was far from unanimous, its members in the silver-mining States of the West being strongly in favor of unlimited silver coinage. This was the rock on which the counsels of the party threatened to split. McKinley's views on the question were well known. He had stated them often on the floors of Congress and the public rostrum. Now he kept silent. He was in the hands of his friends and his record lay open before the country. His had become a case in which "silence is golden." FIRST DAY OF THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION It was about half an hour past noon, on Tuesday, June i6, 1896, that the eleventh national convention of the Republican party was called to order by the Hon. Thomas Henry Carter, chairman of the Republican National Committee. The large structure, known as the Auditorium or Convention Hall, was capable of accommodating an immense assemblage, and it is esti- mated that more than 40,000 visitors had flocked to St. Louis. Forty years had passed since the origin of the Republican party, and once more its representatives had come together to chose a national leader. For the first time in the history of national conventions, the opening prayer was made by an Israelite, in the person of Rabbi Samuel Sale, pastor of the Shaare Emeth congregation. His invocation was devout, and at its close the secretary read the call issued by the National Committee for the convention. He was 174 THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION not heard fifty feet away, not so much because of his weakness of voice, as on account of the wretched acoustic quahties of the build- ing. Chairman Carter then presented the name of Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks, of Indiana, as temporary chairman. No voice was raised in opposition, and the tall, slender man, with close-cropped beard and mustache, came forward and delivered an address that was frequently interrupted by applause. At its conclusion, the necessary officials of the convention were appointed, the members of the various committees announced, and, after a session of less than two hours, an adjournment was had until ten o'clock Wednesday. Wednesday's proceedings — adoption of the gold plank Between the adjournment and the coming together on the morrow, much effective work was done. While the sentiment of the delegates was overwhelmingly in favor of " sound currency," or the single gold standard, there was a diversity of opinion in many quarters as to whether the word "gold" should be used in the platform. A considerable number thought the latter was suf- ficiently explicit without the word, but the insistence of others compelled a yielding of the point ; it was decided that the all- potent word should appear. The convention reassembled at a quarter to eleven on Wednes- day, and was opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. W. G. Williams, after which the report of the Committee on Permanent Organization presented the name of Senator J. N. Thurston, of Nebraska, as chairman, made the secretaries, sergeant-at-arms and other tem- porary officers permanent officers of the convention, and gave a list of vice-presidents, consisting of one from each State. It was accepted, and Senator Thurston was loudly applauded as he took his seat. The address of Mr. Thurston pleased all by its terseness and brevity. Great as is his ability, the sultry atmosphere and the general impatience to get to work led the majority to look with THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION ^75 some dread upon a long and labored speech. Great, therefore, was the gratification of the delegates when the honorable gentleman said : " Gentlemen of the convention : The happy memory of your kindness and confidence will abide in my grateful heart forever. My sole ambition is to meet your expectations, and I pledge my- self to exercise the important powers of this high office with abso- lute justice and impartiality. I bespeak your cordial co-operation and support, to the end that our proceedings- may be orderly and dignified, as befits the deliberations of the supreme council of the Republican party. " Eight years ago I had the distinguished honor to preside over the convention which nominated the last Republican President of the United States. To-day I have the further distinguished honor to preside over the convention which is to nominate the next President of the United States. This generation has had its object- lesson, and the doom of the Democratic party is already pro- nounced. The American people will return the Republican party to power because they know that its administration will mean : " The supremacy of the Constitution of the United States. " The maintenance of law and order. " The protection of every American citizen in his right to live, to labor and to vote. " A vigorous foreign policy. "The enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine. " The restoration of our merchant marine. "Safety under the Stars and Stripes on every sea, in every port. "A revenue adequate for all governmental expenditures and the gradual extinguishment of the national debt. "A currency 'as sound as the government and as untarnished as its honor,' whose dollars, whether of gold, silver or paper, shall have equal purchasing and debt paying power with the best dollars of the civilized world. 176 THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION " A protective tariff which protects, coupled with a reciprocity which reciprocates, securing American markets for American products and opening American factories to the free coinage of American muscle. "A pension poHcy just and generous to our living heroes and to the widows and orphans of their dead comrades. "The governmental supervision and control of transportation lines and rates. " The protection of the people from all unlawful combinations and unjust exactions of aggregated capital and corporate power. " An American welcome to every God-fearing, liberty-loving. Constitution-respecting, law-abiding, labor-seeking, decent man. " The exclusion of all whose birth, whose blood, whose condi- tions, whose teachings, whose practices, would menace the perma- nency of free institutions, endanger the safety of American society, or lessen the opportunities of American labor. " The abolition of sectionalism — ^every star in the flag shining for the honor and welfare and happiness of every Commonwealth and of all the people. " A deathless loyalty to all that is truly American and a patri- otism eternal as the stars." It was quietly growing evident, however, that the convention was far from a unit, the financial plank of the platform being that in which it was destined to split. Thursday's proceedings The first order of business on the assembling of the convention on Thursday, was the reading, by Senator Foraker, of Ohio, of the report of the Committee on Resolutions, the proposed platform of the party. The reading of this was greeted with great applause, in par- ticular the currency plank, which stated : " We are opposed to the free coinage of silver, except by international agreement." He was followed by Senator Teller, of Colorado, who read a minority report which demanded a declaration in favor of the free THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION i77 and unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of i6 to i, and made a strong and telling appeal in its favor. His motion was not without considerable support, there being 105 votes cast for it. It was over- thrown, however, by the decisive vote of 818 for the majority report. We may briefly conclude this part of our subject by stat- ing that, in consequence of this divergence of opinion, Teller and twenty other delegates withdrew from the convention. The remain- ing free-silver men did not feel called upon to take this extreme step. The platform being adopted, the business next before the convention was the call of the States for nominations of candidates for the Presidency. The first response came from Iowa, R. M. Baldwin, of Council Bluffs, nominating Senator W. B. Allison, and offering a glowing tribute in his favor. The voice of Massachusetts was next heard, Senator Lodge, of that State, eloquently presenting the claims of the Hon. Thomas B. Reed. The. great popularity of the "man from Maine" was indicated by the uproar of enthusiasm with which his name was received. New York came next in order, Chauncey M. Depew placing in nomination" the name of Governor Levi P. Morton, of whose services to the country he spoke in his usual felicitous style. When Ohio was called, Joseph B. Foraker, of that State, arose, and, after giving his opinion of the record of the recent Democratic Administration and its results, and depicting the kind of man that he thought the country needed, said : " I stand here to present to this convention such a man. His name is William McKinley." At this point pandemonium was let loose, and the convention gave up to unrestrained yelling, cheering, horn-blowing, whistling, cat-calling and all the other devices common to such occasions. A number of red, white and blue plumes, which (carefully wrapped up) had been brought into the convention earlier in the proceed- ings, were uncovered and waved, while almost every delegate 178 THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION seemed to be wildly gesticulating with either a fan or a flag in the air. The band tried in vain to compete with the ear-splitting clamor, but at last the strains of " Marching Through Georgia " caught the ears of the crowd, and they joined in the chorus and gradually quieted down. Then a portrait of McKInley was hoisted on a line with the United States flag on the gallery facing the platform, and the cheering began over again, to which the band responded by play- ing " Rally Round the Flag," the convention joining in the chorus. Nearly a half hour passed before order was fully restored, and Senator Foraker able to proceed with his speech. After eulogizing the great leaders of the party, with special reference to Mr. Blaine, he continued : GOVERNOR FORAKEr's EULOGY OF MCKINLEY " But, greatest of all, measured by present requirements, is the leader of the House of Representatives, the author of the McKin- ley Bill, which gave to labor its richest awards. No other name so completely meets the requirements of the occasion, and no other name so absolutely commands all hearts. The shafts of envy and malice and slander and libel and detraction that have been aimed at him lie broken and harmless at his feet. The quiver is empty, and he is untouched. That is because the people know him, trust him, believe in him, love him, and will not permit any human power to disparage him unjustly in their estimation. " They know that he is an American of Americans. They know that he is just and able and brave, and they want him for President of the United States. [Applause.] They have already shown it — not in this or that State, nor in this or that section, but in the States and in all the sections from ocean to ocean, and from the Gulf to the Lakes. They expect of you to give them a chance to vote for him. It is our duty to do it. If we discharge that duty we will give joy to their hearts, enthusiasm to their souls and triumphant victory to our cause. [Applause.] And he, in turn. •0 m 5 M z H 2 n S r M •< o o z o a: M O G Z H > H O o o z o M J" TFJP'IE TBKWl'''^ < fa "1 " E CO 01 i-i T3 >* a J « Z « 3 ^ si w ? 2 cfl THE Sr. LOUIS CONVENTION i8i will give us an administration under which the country will enter on a new era of prosperity at home and of glory and honor abroad, by all these tokens of the present and all these promises of the future. In the name of the forty-six delegates of Ohio, I submit his claim to your consideration." [More applause.] Senator Thurston seconded the nomination, in an address of considerable length and great eloquence, in which he stated suc- cintly what McKinley stood for, eulogizing his position on finance and protection, and concluding : " On behalf of those stalwart workmen, and all the vast army of American toilers ; that their employment may be certain, their wages just, their dollars the best in the civilized world ; on behalf of that dismantled chimney, and the deserted factory at its base ; that the furnaces may once more flame, the mighty wheels revolve, the whistles scream, the anvils ring, the spindles hum ; on behalf of the thousand cottages round about, and all the humble homes of this broad land ; that comfort and contentment may again abide, the firesides glow, the women sing, the children laugh ; yes, and on behalf of that American flag, and all it stands for and represents ; for the honor of every stripe, for the glory of every star ; that its power may fill the earth and its splendor span- the sky, I ask the nomination of that loyal American, that Christian gentleman, soldier, statesman, patriot, William McKinley," THE BALLOTING In the midst of cries of "vote," Governor Hastings, of Penn- sylvania, placed in nomination Matthew Stanley Quay, at the conclusion of which, amid a profound hush, the convention began balloting for a nominee for President of the United States. Alabama led off with i for Morton and 19 for McKinley, Arkansas and California following with a solid vote for McKinley. Connecticut gave 5 for Reed and 7 for McKinley; Delaware, its full vote for McKinley ; Florida, 8 for McKinley ; Georgia, 2 for Quay, and 22 for McKinley. 1 82 THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION At this point one of the colored delegates from Florida chal- lenged the vote of his State, and, on a recount, 2 of the votes went to Morton and 6 to McKinley. The vote of Georgia was also challeneed, but the vote as announced was confirmed. Then a colored delegate from Alabama demanded a recount of his State, with the result that Morton received i -vote, Reed 2, and McKinley 19. Illinois gave 46 for McKinley, and 2 to Reed; Indiana all of its 30 votes for McKinley, while Iowa cast her 26 for Allison ; Kansas, 20 for McKinley ; Kentucky, 26 for McKinley. The vote of Louisiana was curious — 1 1 for McKinley, 4 for Reed, half a vote for Allison and half a vote for Quay. So the vote progressed, with the McKinley column steadily growing, Massachusetts casting i of her votes for him. New York cast 54 for Morton and 17 for McKinley. It was a curious fact that when Ohio was reached, her vote gave her candidate the requi- site number to secure his nomination, recognizing which, the con- vention broke into cheers. MCKINLEY NOMINATED When all of the States had been called, the chairman stated, before the announcement of the result, that application had been made to him for recognition by delegates of the defeated candidates to make a certain motion. He thought it the fairest way to recog- nize them in the order in which the nominations had been made. He then announced that William McKinley had received 661 J^ votes. Before the chairman could get any further, the enthusiasm of the convention broke all bounds. Every man was on his feet, shouting, hurrahing, cheering, swinging hats and canes in the air, waving flags and banners and the pampas plumes of California, while through the Niagara-like rush and roar were caught the notes of " My Country, 'tis of Thee," as the band played with might and main in its attempt to gain the mastery of the cyclone. The women THE ST LOUIS CONVENTION 183 were, if possible, more frantic than the men. Parasols, fans, opera- glasses, gloves — anything, everything — were compelled to help in the magnificent burst of enthusiasm which swept over and sub- merged all alike, until it looked as if order could never again be evolved from the swirling pandemonium. One fancy caught on with wonderful effect. A young man on the platform waved on the point of the national banner a laced cocked hat, such as appears in most of popular representations of the mighty Napoleon. This symbol of enthusiasm was greeted with rapturous applause, to which the booming of artillery on the outside contributed. Finally, after a long, long time, the Chairman gained a chance to complete the announcement of the vote. It was : Thomas B. Reed, 84^^; Senator Quay, 61 J^; Levi P. Morton, 58; Senator Allison, 353^, and Don Cameron i. Senator Lodge, rising in his delegation, in a forceful speech moved to make the nomination of Mr. McKinley unanimous. Mr. Hastings of Pennsylvania who had nominated Quay, seconded the motion, as did Thomas C. Piatt on behalf of New York, Mr. Hen- derson, of Iowa, and J. Modison Vance, of Louisiana. In answer to loud calls Mr. Depew mounted his chair in the back of the room, where the rays of the sun beamed on his countenance, which itself was beaming with good humor and said : MR. DEPEW SPEAKS OF MCKINLEY " I am in the happy position now of making a speech for the man who is going to be elected. [Laughter and applause.] It is a great thing for an amateur, when his first nomination has failed, to come in and second the man who succeeded. New York is here, without bitter feeling and no disappointment. We recognize that the waves have submerged us, but we have bobbed up serenely. [Loud laughter.] It was a cannon from New York that sounded first the news of McKinley's nomination. They said of Governor Morton's father that he was a New England clergyman who brought i84 THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION up a family of ten children on $300 a year, and was, notwithstand- ing, gifted in prayer. [Laughter.] It does not make any differ- ence how poor he may be, how out of work, how ragged, how next door to a tramp anybody may be in the United States to-night, he will be ' gifted in prayer ' at the result of this convention. [Cheers and laughter.] There is a principle dear to the American heart. It is the principle which moves American spindles, starts its indus- tries, and makes the wage-earners sought for Instead of seeking employment. That principle is embodied in McKinley. His per- sonality explains the nomination to-day. And his personality will carry into the Presidential Chair the aspirations of the voters of America, of the families of America, of the homes of America, protection to American industry, and America for Americans." [Cheers.] The Chair then put the question : " Shall the nomination be made unanimous ? " and by a rising vote it was so ordered, and the Chair announced that Mr. William McKinley, of Ohio, was the candidate of the Republican party for President of the United States. The convention ended its work with the nomination of a can- didate for Vice-President. A considerable number of names having been voted for. Garret A. Hobart, of New Jersey, received the nomination by a large majority of the whole. During the sessions of the convention McKinley remained quietly at home in the pleasant little city of Canton, 600 miles away. Yet such had been the advance of science within the closing years of the century, that he was enabled to hear what was going on in the con- vention almost as well as if he had occupied one of its seats. The telephone faithfully reported to him all the essential facts that took place, and the whirlwind of shouts and cheers with which his name was greeted came to his ears over that interval of more than half-a-thousand miles. On that eventful Thursday, in which the work was completed, Mrs. McKinley was in the parlor, surrounded by relatives and near THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 185 friends, including the Major's mother, when the husband in his office caught the words as they were uttered in the Auditorium at St. Louis, " Ohio, McKinley." Without speaking he arose from his chair, hurried across the hall to his wife and bending over, kissed her with the words: " Ida, Ohio's vote has just nominated me." THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION The Democratic Party held its Seventeenth Convention in Chicago, commencing July 17th. The delegates were from the start, like the Republicans, divided into two factions ; but with them the free coinage element predominated. The Committee on Platform reported in favor of independent bi-metallism. Senator Hill, of New York, backed by sixteen other members of the com- mittee, presented a minority report practicallv recommending the Republican position on the coinage question, and suggesting the endorsement of President Cleveland's administration. The most stormy and exciting debate, perhaps, ever witnessed in a national party convention ensued. Governor Russell, of Massachusetts, Senator Vilas and others supported Mr. Hill. Senator Tillman introduced a denunciatory resolution condemning the administra- tion, and made a fiery speech, causing intense commotion. Senator Jones, of Arkansas, attempted to palliate Mr. Tillman's radical utterances, but the temper of the convention was at the boiling point, and excited men moved about among the delegations. At this juncture the man for the hour appeared. William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, a young man of thirty-six years, who had won distinction as an orator, ascended the platform. The con- ditions which Webster declared necessary for a great oration — " the man, the audience, the occasion" — were present. The speech he delivered has been regarded as a rhasterpiece. The burning eloquence, earnestness, zeal and magnetic presence of the man were irresistible. When he closed he was borne from the stage amid the wildest enthusiasm. The report of the minority was laid on the table. Senator Tillman's resolution was also defeated. 1 86 THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION The platform as reported by the majority was adopted. The financial clause read : " We demand the free and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold at the present legal ratio of i6 to i, with- out waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation." They also declared against injunction proceedings on the part of the Government in settling labor troubles, as interfering with State sovereignty. This clause was no doubt instigated bj'^ a disapproval of President Cleveland's course in quelling the Chicago riot in 1894. Other radical departures from previous Democratic plat- forms were also introduced. Prior to this speech Mr. Bryan had not been considered as a presidential possibility; but from that moment he became the most popular candidate. Five ballots were cast duly complimenting such "silver" leaders as Hon. Richard P. Bland, of Missouri, Horace Boies, of Iowa, and others, but resulting in the nomination of Mr. Bryan by a vote of 528 out of 930. Arthur Sewall, of Maine, was nominated for Vice-President. Such were the results of the national conventions of the two leading parties. But the 1896 campaign was remarkable in the fact of the large number of parties in the field, seven in all. In the lively contest that followed Mr. Bryan threw all his energy into the canvass and displayed wonderful industry and vigor. He made whirlwind tours through the country, speaking several times a day and in the evening, and won many converts. Mr. McKinley made no speech-rraking tours, being quite willino- to let his record speak for him. But he was obliged to speak many times to the crowds who called upon him at his home in Canton, Ohio. The official vote in November was as follows : McKinley and Hobart, Republican, 7,101,401 popular votes; 271 electoral votes. Bryan and Sewall, Democrat and Populist, 6,470,656 popu- lar votes ; 1 76 electoral votes. Thus William McKinley was elected President of the United States by the decisive majority of ninety-five electoral votes. CHAPTER XII Estimate of McKinley's First Term ON the 4th of March, 1897, William McKinley assumed the duties of the exalted office of President of the United States. It was a time of marked industrial depression. Business and commerce were lagging, and large numbers of people throughout the country were seeking employment. The platform upon which he had been elected declared for a change in our tarif? laws which would recognize more fully the protective principle, and for the enactment of a law which would firmly establish gold as the monetary standard of the nation. The new president, without hesitation, assembled Congress in extraordinary session, and addressed to it a message urging a revision of the existing tariff laws, under which business was suffering, while a deficiency in revenue was endangering the nation's credit and the stability of its currency. This prompt action in convening Congress, and the resultant passage of the Dingley law, unquestionably hastened the return of national prosperity. Under that law revenues revived, and with stable tariff condi- tions assured, the industries of the country slowly recovered from their depression. The intimate relations existing under the old financial laws between adequate revenues and the credit of o-Qvern- mental currency soon led to a restoration of public confidence ; and even before the passage of the gold-standard law, gold was freely offered at the Treasury in exchange for greenbacks. CURRENCY REFORM The deficiency in revenues under the Wilson law, and the commercial panic of 1893, with the ensuing business depression, 187 i88 ESTIMATE OF McKINLETS FIRST TERM had exposed the inherent weakness of our currency system. This weakness resulted from a disproportion between the demand cur- rency liabilities of the Government and the gold In the Treasury to redeem them ; while the awkward fact existed that after these currency liabilities had been redeemed in gold they could again be paid out for expenses, thus enabling the public to present them again for redemption, causing what was commonly known as the "endless chain." After the success of the Republican party upon its platform of sound money, in a campaign in which this weakness formed one of the chief subjects of discussion, several plans of currency and banking reform were presented to the public and discussed gener- ally in the press. It is highly creditable to the President's discern- ment and breadth of view that he avoided complicated recommenda- tions, confining himself to urging the enactment of a provision which would remedy the weakness of our financial system without involving the business of the country in the dangers incident to radical legislative experiments with currency laws. His recommendation, made in his first annual message and repeated in his second, went to the very gist of the trouble ; and it is the corner-stone of the financial law which Congress passed at its session in March, 1900. In his first annual message to Congress, the President said : " I earnestly recommend, as soon as the receipts of the Gov- ernment are quite sufficient to pay all the expenses of the Govern- ment, that when any of the United States notes are presented for redemption in gold and are redeemed in gold, such notes shall be kept and set apart and only paid out in exchange for gold." In his second annual message to Congress, after renewing his recommendation of the year before, he said : " In my judgment the condition of the Treasury amply justi- fies the immediate enactment of the legislation recommended one year ago, under which a portion of the gold holdings shall be placed in a trust fund from which greenbacks should be redeemed HOME OF PRESIDENT McKINLEY AT CANTON REPORTER'S AT THE LINE V/AITING NEV/p ESTIMATE OF McKINLEYS FIRST TERM 191 upon presentation, but when once redeemed should not thereafter be paid out except for gold." To the President's plain and simple presentation of a funda- mental remedy, and his avoidance of the recommendation of exten- sive and experimental plans, the people of the country largely owe the present stable and safe condition of our entire financial system. THE ANNEXATION OF HAWAII Almost as if foreseeing by intuition the necessity for the annexation of Hawaii, as later revealed by the tremendous events of the following years, the President early in his administration recommended to Congress the annexation of those islands, the movement towards which had been decisively checked by the pre- ceding President. The importance of this step, both from the standpoint of the best interests of the islanders and of our own people, now seen so clearly by all, was not then so apparent ; and. but for the earnest and aggressive attitude of the President, annexation would have failed. During the pendency of the Hawaiian question, speaking of the islands, he said to a visitor : " We need Hawaii just as much as, and a good deal more than, we did California." The annexation of these beautiful islands was the first step in the new and broader life upon which this republic has entered, and from which neither duty nor self-interest will allow it to turn back. THE MERIT SYSTEM The delicate problem of such a revision of the merit system of civil service as would remove therefrom the dangers to its per- manence, arising from too rigid application of theory, was for many months a subject of the most serious consideration by the Presi- dent and the members of his cabinet, and the operation of the amendments finally adopted is daily proving their wisdom. The country sees the rise and disposition of questions of great moment to its welfare, but, from want of knowledge of details, 192 ESTIMATE OF McKINLEVS FIRST TERM gives little heed to the daily round of a President's labors, includ- ing the constant direction of affairs of state, the consideration of appointments, the handling of such matters as the Pacific Rail- road's Indebtedness, domestic difficulties requiring federal interven- tion, the approval of the countless minor acts of Congress, and a multitude of other duties. As evidence of President McKinley's tact may be cited his policy in regard to the vetoing of bills which came before him for action. The statement has frequently been made that he never vetoed bills, implying either that he gave them but slight examination or left it for others to do for him. Probably no incumbent of the executive office gave more thorough examina- tion and careful thought to every document to which he appended his signature. But the object of the veto was compassed in many instances by sending for the authors of the objectionable bills and pointing out to them their evident inaccuracies or inconsistencies. The result was usually a request from Congress for the return of the bill. Where the case was meritorious, a new bill, without the objections of the old one, was passed and approved by the Presi- dent. This in no way abridged the prerogative of the executive ; but it expedited legislation, and tended to maintain cordial relations. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SECTIONALISM For the complete obliteration of sectional lines, of the spirit of exultation and intolerance on the one side, defiance and intoler- ance on the other, the United States is deeply indebted to President McKInley. The influence of his example, the power of his position, and all the force of his ability were constantly given to this end ; and his gratification at the fulfillment of so noble an inspiration found voice at Atlauta In words deserving of perpetua- tion — "Reunited — one country again and one country forever! Proclaim it from the press and pulpit ; teach it in the schools ; write it across the skies ! The world sees and feels it ; it cheers every heart North and South, and brightens the life of every American home ! Let nothing ever strain it again ! At peace with all the ESTIMATE OF McKINLETS FIRST TERM 193 world and with each other, what can stand in the pathway of our progress and prosperity ? " Upon the field of Antietam the President later spoke upon this subject, and said : " Standing here to-day, one reflection only has crowded my mind — the difference between this scene and that of thirty-eight years ago. Then the men who wore the blue and the men who wore the gray greeted each other with shot and shell, and visited death upon their respective ranks. We meet, after all these intervening years, with but one sentiment — that of loyalty to the Government of the United States, love of our flag and our free institutions, and determined, men of the North and men of the South, to make any sacrifice for the honor and perpetuity of the American nation." THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR Mr. Cleveland had realized, during his second administration, the gravity of the Cuban problem, but had been obliged to hand it over unsolved to his successor; and on March 4, 1897, William McKinley assumed it, with results now known to the world. The successive steps in the war that followed have been told in many forms, and from various points of view. But there is one story of this war that has not yet been written, and can even now be but imperfectly outlined — -that of the sagacious, far-seeing man who, though kindly and sympathetic in all the relations of life, was ever inflexible of purpose for the recognition of the righteous prin- ciples which should control our conduct throughout the struggle, and masterful in the vigor and celerity with which he organized and directed the land and naval forces of the United States. And when the defeated and humiliated kingdom, recognizing the hope- lessness of the strife, sought peace, he was magnanimous and merciful. In the dark days preceding the opening of hostilities, amid increasing excitement, the importunities of well-wishing friends and advisers, and the abuse of the sensational press, the President 194 ESTIMATE OF McK INLETS FIRST TERM of the United States never swerved from the line of duty he had marked out for himself and the Republic he had sworn faithfully to serve. His long legislative experience, his knowledge of men and events, had taught him that often many of the people form hasty opinions, at variance with the greater knowledge and wider sources of information available to those in high executive authority. But the provocation was great. The feelings of our people were out- raged by scenes enacted in the island near our shores, and by the continuance of the unhappy conditions which from time to time appeared there, culminating in merciless proclamations and degrad- ing requirements that shocked the moral sense of this nation. From all sections came the imperious demand that a stop must be put to these things, and that no longer should there be tolerated upon the American Continent a condition so menacing to our tranquility and security. THE PRESIDENT AS ?IARMONIZER The President knew that to interfere meant war. He had faith in the people, and believed that with a fuller knowledge of the facts on their part, and with still greater endeavor upon the part of the United States, the authorities in Madrid would yet find away to meet the requirements of civilization and evade the horrible alternative of hositilities. The war with Spain he sought by every honorable means to avert, steadfastly adhering to his conception of the American ideal — peace with honor, war rather than dishonor; justice to other nations, loyalty to his own. Foreseeing the conflict, he foresaw its certain and many of its possible evils. The one class could not be escaped ; to the avoidance of the other he gave his full energy and intelligence. That we entered upon the war so well prepared, so little hampered by mortgages on the future, and so generally united in purpose, was the result of long weeks of self- sacrificing, patriotic, devoted labor on the part of the dominant men among those entrusted at the time with our national fortunes — a labor in which the President led, and gave the best that was in him. ESTIMATE OF McKINLEY'S FIRST TERM 195 During those trying days, when the war fever was constantly and rapidly increasing, there were frequent illustrations of the truth of a statement made by one of his associates in public life that " McKinley was one of the greatest harmonlzers America had ever known." Daily and nightly consultations were had at the White- House between the President and little groups of Senators and Representatives whom he invited to be present ; these meet- ings were utterly non-partisan in character, composed of Republican rivals and Republican followers, and of "Silver" as well as "Gold" Democrats. The requests to attend the conferences were invari- ably acceded to with respect and cordiality ; and the results which followed so broad-minded a course were of incalculable value in the preparation for and conduct of the war. Does anyone believe that with a less conciliatory policy, with less of the courteous considerateness that characterized the intercourse of the President with the Congress and prominent ofificials throughout the country, the marvelous results would have been achieved as quickly and as completely as they were ? RESPONSIBILITY OF THE EXECUTIVE In this time of great national excitement, a responsibility was suddenly imposed upon the President of an intensity unknown since the days of Lincoln. That he then realized that war was inevitable cannot be doubted, and under his direction the War and Navy Departments were straining every resource in preparation for the coming conflict. The general feeling of indignation ran high, and the halls of Congress rang with the demands and denunciations of the impatient ones who ascribed to the man upon whose shoulders the terrible burden of decision rested unworthy and unpatriotic motives for his refusal to take thoughtless, hasty, and half-considered steps. It was at this time that the President, from a sense of duty, took his position against the recognition on the part of this Government of {he so-called Cuban republic. He had superior sources of knowledge 196 ESTIMATE OF McKINLEY'S FIRST TERM of the actual conditions existing in the island, and fully com- prehending the fact that this recognition would have placed the officers of our army who might enter Cuba under the command of Cuban generals, and that there existed no form of government among the insurgents such as could be properly recognized under international law, knew that such recognition would be fraught with the gravest consequences. Under the conditions which existed in the island, a recognition of the so-called republic meant helpless confusion and conflict, and humiliation in event of war. A false step then would have been irremediable. During the time the President was preparing his message to Congress he was called upon personally by the great majority of members of both houses, and the executive mansion was thronged each day with excited men protesting against anything short of complete recognition of the Cuban republic. He stated his reasons calmly and firmly to the people who called by hundreds to demand that his position be altered, decisively declining to recognize the so-called republic, and by so doing involve the United States in all the political and diplomatic difficulties to which such a recogni- tion would have led. A PATRiOT IN THE WHITE HOUSE His political leadership hung in the balance, and every argu- ment of expediency which political ingenuity could devise was urged upon him. But he was adamant ; and to the aid of that position which he knew to be right he called every legitimate resource of his great power as chief executive, and every proper resource of his power as an individual. Our present calm retrospect makes the course of William McKinley at this juncture seem one of courageous patriotism. We recall the violent denunciation, the scathing contumely, heaped upon him for his refusal to take the precipitate action which was widely demanded ; the deliberate manner in which he directed an investigation of the Maine explosion, awaited the repQ^'l; and, ESTIMATE OF McKINLEY'S FIRST TERM igj communicated its substance to the Spanish Government. With wisdom gained by the lapse of time, we review the turbulent scenes in Congress, and remember the outcry then so much in accord with our own feelings. We see the President stubbornly battling against the hasty indignation of the moment, because he felt that the time was not ripe for war, yet quietly and skillfully preparing to meet the crisis when it should come ; and we see him not long after the recipient of a verdict of popular approval nearly as enthusiastic and quite as general as the denunciation of a few months before. When in his message to Congress of April ii, 1898, he uttered the words, "In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American interest, which gives us the right and the duty to speak and to act, the war in Cuba must stop," he realized the expectations of those who had followed his career through all its activities, and those who had prophesied for him a weak and un-American administration saw how erroneous had been their estimate of the man. Every effort put forth by the President and his Cabinet having failed, and the gage of battle having been accepted in obedience to the dictates of humanity and civilization, and in accordance with the authority given the Executive by Congress, the people learned that they had placed in the White House one who was Commander-in- Chief in fact as well as in name — a man of iron will in the prosecu- tion of his country's battles and in the exaction of honor and respect for its flag. THE TRYING POSITION OF THE PRESIDENT The burdens of the executive office during those weeks, and at the time when by message the Congress was made to share them, were more severe than have been placed upon any President since the Civil War. Out of the rancor and excitement the nation emerged prepared for conflict ; partisan feeling was hushed in the presence of a great emergency, a vast sum was appropriated for 198 ESTIMATE OF McKIN LEY'S FIRST TERM national defense, and, with a unanimity not paralleled in our his- tory, its expenditure was entrusted to the President of the United States. The discordant notes of sensationalism died away ; the tread of volunteers responding to the call to arms drowned the ill- natured comments of fault-finders, and carried messages of cheer and encouragement to the White House. President McKinle)^ rarely left his office until i or 2 o'clock at night ; frequently he was there until a much later hour. He per- sonally supervised the details of preparation. He gathered from his Cabinet advisers the latest information upon vital points of equipment. His orders for instant and thorough preparation and ceaseless vigilance reached the utmost limits of our national authority. The suggestions and criticisms that came to him from all parts of the country would fill volumes. The incessant stream of callers, always great, became larger, and every hour was filled with vast responsibilities. IN THE WAR ROOM The war came on ; the President led in its prosecution. He was constantly in direct telegraphic communication with the front, and the "war room " adjoining his office in the executive mansion, was his first resort in the morning and his last at night. Maps, elaborate in detail, covered the walls of the room ; and by means of tiny flags, with pins for sticks, the positions and changes of position of the ships and land forces of both sides were always before his eyes. Frequent Cabinet meetings and less formal conferences with his immediate advisers, the formulation and consideration of plans the organization and movement of the army, the extension of tht.: navy and its manipulation — these and many kindred duties engaged his time. And when the struggle was over, how prompt was his recog- nition of the loyalty, bravery, and self-sacrifice of our soldiers, our sailors, and our marines ! And how ready he was to accord all y&'' 0) m ^™k d z ''^^i^l^^^HM gjgg)^ ' 3 J^B^^^^Ka ^^«^ ? < '■;^HEMn^nKBl^BII^^B HH^w^m ^^ ■Lk is S CD 5 o aJMIiMi r ^ f m "• '-^i^l^^K^^ j^^' o r- •iffl^H^^^IH^^^^^^^. * I /Ji^^^^^^^^^^^H^bib J, ^ * j^^^^^pp '*}va>'^ tfl w ESTIMATE OF McKINLEY'S FIRST TERM 201 praise to the defenders of the national honor in the Philippines, whose duty was nobly done, and who came to feel that their Com- mander-in-Chief at Washington was never so busy as to overlook merit or so exacting as to ignore their personality. With the cessation of hostilities came the problems of peace. The Peace Conference at Paris felt the guiding hand and far-seeing Americanism of the President at every stage of its proceedings. With no uncharitableness, he yet insisted upon those things which were the nation's right, and which the verdict of the future will establish as incalculable blessings, not only to our own people, but to the distant peoples who have come under our authority and within the beneficent influence of our free institutions. MCKINLEY AND THE PHILIPPINES Among the opponents of the President's course in the Philip- pines, none has yet expressed a wish that the battle of Manila Bay had not been fought. In the President's view, the acquisition 6f the Philippines was the only result of that battle consistent with the American ideal of duty, and with characteristic strength he did his share in its accomplishment. Some of those who thought the battle could be fought without consequences, while applauding the victory, decried the outcome ; but he steadfastly pursued the purpose he believed to be right. No Administration of recent years has dealt with such grave questions as confronted that of McKinley. The problems which were crowded into any one of its years would have made or unmade the fortunes of any Administration. But during these busy years the country took note of things done, of promises fulfilled, of good faith and fair-dealing. In the excitement of debate, in the fancied necessities of political strategy, it is easy to state fallacies and natural to exaggerate evils. To the opponents of the President and his Administration, the conduct of the War with Spain appeared open to severe criticism ; to the impartial student of history, it was a record of marvelous preparation and execution. To those opposed 202 ESTIMATE OF McKINLEY'S FIRST TERM to the results secured by the Administration in the fields of finance, they presaged an unstable currency and disaster to both capital and labor. To the practical, hard-headed, far-sighted business man, who knows confidence to be the bulwark of the financial world, the strengthening of the gold standard, and the enactment into law of the platform promises of the Republican party meant the permanence of public credit, the assurance of increased employ- ment for labor, and the advancement of the country in its material interests. To many of the opponents of the Administration, new possessions meant a weakening of tradition and a departure from right principle. To its adherents, who believed they read aright the nation's destiny in the light of what had come from former expansion, they meant the quickening of national spirit, the exten- sion of free institutions among peoples who have hitherto striven in darkness and doubt, the steady advancement of the Republic in its mission of liberty and enlightenment. MCKINLEY A TYPICAL AMERICAN A great political leader is almost necessarily a type of the nation he leads — the embodiment of the characteristics of his time — the manifest product of the circumstances and conditions of the people he governs and directs. This is more especially true in the critical period of a nation's history. When a people are pro- foundly absorbed in events — when it is necessary for them to come to conclusions upon vital matters — the man who most nearly repre- sents them in character, rearing, and environment, as well as in thought, is most likely to reach a position of commanding power. Washington embodied, as did n > other of the Revolutionary heroes, the virtues and the limitations of the colonial community to whom fell the task of maintaining for Americans their rights and of constructing a new nation. Lincoln was the type of the fron- tiersman—the American engaged in conquering the wilderness — of the democracy which spread over the continent from east to west, carrying the idea of God and an eternal Justice, and which ESTIMATE OF McKINLEY'S FIRST TERM 203 Struggled too hard for its own life and happiness to be willing that any others should be denied them. William McKinley was just as much the inevitable product of his time as these two great predecessors in the Presidency. His origin, his profession, his career, his manners, his methods, his own personality, and all his achievements, evidenced this. The end of the Civil War marked a sharp change in American life. New national activities, new currents of public thought, new conditions, tended to create a new type of political leader. Presi- dent McKinley's unquestioned leadership in economic and financial policies was followed by as complete and successful leadership in international and diplomatic questions. Many of those who differed from him most widely did not question that he dealt with the gravest international matters — those involving the very future of the nation — masterfully, courageously, and consistently. Through the confused conflicts of our political life, the jealousies of eager competition in Congress, the hurly-burly of conventions, along a rough path full of pitfalls, over the obstacles of temporary failure, of inevitable misunderstandings of his purposes and underratings of his abilities, in spite of the alternations of party success, a fit man survived, and was the President of this nation at a time fraught with grave consequences for the future. Mckinley's personal characteristics The impression of William McKinley which a casual caller at the White House received was that of a sincere, patient, and kindly man of great natural dignity and tact. In his personal contact with others, he was generous of his time in the extreme, and -listened to the stories of the unfortunate and complaining with a patience which surprised his associates, when he himself was bearing well- nigh crushing burdens of administrative responsibility. He was naturally sympathetic, obliging, and self-sacrificing. Yet all this reflects but one side of his character, although it was the side which most impressed those who met him but casually. 204 ESTIMATE OF McKINLEY'S FIRST TERM His most predominant characteristics, which bound great bodies of men to him with rivets of steel, which lifted him from the posi- tion of a private soldier to that of Chief Magistrate of the nation, which sustained him and carried him through the many great crises confronting him, and gave him the trust and confidence of the American people — were his moral strength and his unflinching courage to do the right as he saw it, irrespective of temporary con- sequences. His natural gentleness and his tendency tQ ignore small and non-essential differences, his willingness to oblige even his enemies, and his utter lack of vindictiveness, — all these, when the times of crisis came and the eyes of the people were turned to him alone, gave him added strength to achieve great results in public affairs. At such times he found that behind him was a multitude of men who believed in the sincerity of his purpose and his unselfishness, and were willing to trust his judgment. These characteristics of moral strength and courage were constantly apparent to those whose connection with the administration of national affairs gives them intimate knowledge of the true relation of the President to public questions. They were manifest to the people of the United States whenever great issues placed respon- sibility upon him. THE FAME OF PRESIDENTS In a country whose social and political systems offer a wide range of opportunity to the individual, some of the greatest possi- bilities for development and for fame are open to him who has seemingly reached the end of American ambition by attaining to the Chief Magistracy of the nation. The fame of Presidents has been perpetuated or lost according as they have grasped or failed to grasp the American ideal of nationality. It seems hardly neces- sary now after the many evidences of this embodied in our history, to assert that this ideal is not always contained in the popular agitation of the day — so often a delusion that by the morrow has vanished from the public mind. ESTIMATE OF McKINLEY'S FIRST TERM 205 The clear vision to see through an effervescence of feeling to the enduring principle bfeneath it, and the strength and integrity to act in accordance with such a perception of the real aspirations of the people, make public men great. The absence of these traits accounts for the oblivion into which our prominent statesmen so often^ pass. Whether the fame of William McKinley shall remain a part of our national glory depends not altogether on the present popular estimate of his deeds, which even his contemporaries accord high rank. Another epoch, another generation, will pro- nounce the final verdict. A few years ago he was one of a number of popular leaders — an untried President. To-day his place is fixed by that severest of all tests, the faithful performance of high public duties in a series of great crises. TWO EXTREME TYPES In personal traits and disposition, Mr. McKinley and his predecessor represented absolute extremes. Mr. Cleveland grew more and more conservative, unapproachable, sensitive and self- conscious as time went on. In his every message, document and public utterance, there was always revealed that somewhat painful sense of his own personal responsibility. The Executive became constantly more hedged in and mysterious. The old public path across the White House grounds was barred up. Extra policemen, unwonted sentries, and undreamed-of contingents of secret service men and detectives were requisitioned to keep the person of the President the better guarded against the intrusion of his fellow- citizens. . Mr. Thurber, as private secretary, seemed for four years to be chiefly occupied in mystifying reporters and correspondents as to Mr. Cleveland's comings, and goings, and in excluding callers from his presence — Senators and Representatives being excluded along with the unofficial herd. The process was successful ; for at length the public ceased to intrude, and the callers — including the Senators and Congressmen — kept scrupulously away from the White House. IS 2o6 ESTIMATE OF McA'INLEY'S FIRST TERM Every President must work out his own method for himself ; and all reasonable people are ready to believe that Mr. Cleveland's method, was, in his judgment, the one which enabled him best to do his duty and serve the country. But Mr. McKinley 's method was radically different, though fully as natural to the man. An assumed affability for the sake of popularity will not in the end strengthen the hand or hold of any President. But Mr. McKinley's affability seemed a part of his nature ; and its indulgence did not apparently exhaust his vitality. Instead of interposing all sorts of obstacles between tlie public and himself as Mr. Cleveland did, he adopted precisely the opposite plan. Perhaps he reasoned that the great human tide flowing toward the White House must have some eventual metes and bounds, and that the most logical plan would be to remove every barrier in order that the flow might the sooner spend itself. Furthermore, the President gave himself the pleasure and benefit of a long walk through the public streets every afternoon. His face thus became familiar, and the public the sooner learned to understand that in those hours when he was not visible he had a right to deal uninterruptedly with the affairs of state. He had shown that he could systematize his work, keep certain hours for certain duties, assign tasks to his advisers, and make good use of the services of other men. The general statements given in this chapter regarding Presi- dent McKinley's personal relations to the Spanish- American War are preliminary to a description of that war itself. This, as the great event of his administration, cannot be omitted from a story of his career, and we shall devote a subsequent chapter to a concise account of this momentous conflict, so far reaching in its results. CHAPTER XIII First Year as President THE inauguration of William McKinley as President of the United States, on March 3, 1897, was the opening of a new and vital era in the political and military history of this country. Important events loomed up which no man even then could foresee, and the seeming calm which lay upon the surface of social and political affairs concealed the germs of a series of storms which were destined, before the close of the term, to change the whole policy and international position of the great republic of the West. While these ereat events were hidden in the mists of the future, there were questions of high importance that called for immediate solution. There had been not alone a change of administration, but also a change of party control. A Republican had succeeded a Democratic President, a fact which in itself called for radical changes in the rnanagement of affairs. But, added to this, the outgoing administration had left to the incoming one an industrial and financial problem strongly calling for solution. The effects of the panic of 1892 had not yet fully passed away. For more than four years the shadow of ruin had lain upon the land, poverty and misery had visited a myriad households, and when McKinley was elected to the Presidency a widespread commercial and industrial depression still prevailed. For years the wheels of a thousand factories practically ceased to revolve, artisans in great numbers found employment impossible to obtain, commerce was in a state of collapse, the public and national finances were seriously depressed, and in many hearts hope had given place to despair. ao7 2o8 FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT This gloomy state of affairs, which had existed in its intensity during the opening years of President Cleveland's second adminis- tration, had not fully passed away when the election of McKinley look place, and an unsatisfactory condition of business depression continued when the new President took his seat. The lack of business activity was reflected in the state of the national finances, the receipts of the Treasury having fallen oH so greatly that there was not money enough to meet the current expenses of the Gov- ernment, and the expenditures were growing alarmingly in excess of the receipts. Naturally various explanations were given of this unfortunate state of affairs. The party in power, in accordance with its basic fiscal policy, attributed the depression to the change in the tariff made by the late administration, and President McKinley was in full sympathy with this view. His name had been long associated with the policy of high tariff, and his natural view of the remedy- for the public evil was the restoration, in some degree, of the tariff measures which the Democratic Congress had changed. CALLS CONGRESS IN SPECIAL SESSION The necessity of some immediate action to relieve the prevail- ing distress seemed to the President so great, that he felt it incum- bent upon him to call Congress together in extra session at once, that it might deliberate upon this pressing problem and take such action as seemed in its wisdom most advisable and best adapted to relieve the financial stringency. He accordingly called the Houses of Congress into extra session on March 15, 1897, and, on their convening, had read before them the following message : " To the Congress of the United States : " Regretting the necessity which has required me to call you together, I feel that your assembling in extraordinary session is indispensable because of the condition in which we find the revenues of the Government. FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT aog " It is conceded that its current expenditures are greater than its receipts and that such a condition has existed for now more than three years. With unlimited means at our command, we are pre- senting the remarkable spectacle of increasing our public debt by borrowing money to meet the ordinary outlays incident upon even an economical and prudent administration of the Government. An examination of the subject discloses this fact in every detail, and leads inevitably to the conclusion that the condition of the revenue which allows it is unjustifiable and should be corrected. " We find by the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury that the revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, from all sources were $425,868,260.22, and the expenditures for all purposes were $415,953,806.56, leaving an excess of receipts over expendi- tures of $9,914,453.66. During that fiscal year $40,570,467.98 were paid upon the public debt, which had been reduced since March i, 1889, $259,076,890, and the annual interest charge decreased $11,684,576.60. The receipts of the Government from all sources during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, amounted to $461,716,661.94, and its expenditures to $459,374,887.65, showing, an excess of receipts over expenditures of $2,341,674.29. " Since that time the receipts of no fiscal year, and with but few exceptioTis, of no month of any fiscal year have exceeded the expenditures. The receipts of the Government from all sources during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, were $372,802,498.89, and its expendituses $442,605,758.87, leaving a deficit, the first since the resumption of specie payments, of $69,803,260.58. Not- withstanding there was a decrease of $16,769,128.78 in the ordinary expenses of the Government, as compared with the previous year, its income was still not sufficient to provide for its daily necessities, and the gold reserve in the Treasury for the redemption of green- backs was drawn upon to meet them. But this did not suffice, and the Government then resorted to loans to replenish the reserve. "In February, 1894, $50,000,000 in bonds were issued, and in November following -a second issue of $50,000,000 was deemed 2IO FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT necessary. The sum of $i 17, 171,795 was realized by the sale of these bonds, but the reserve was steadily decreased until, on Feb- ruary 8, 1895, a third sale of $62,315,400 in bonds for $65,116,244 was announced to Congress. "The receipts of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895, were $390,373,203.30, and the expenditures $433,178,426.45, showing a deficit of $42,805,223.19. A further loan of 100,000,000 was negotiated by the Government in Febru- ary, 1896, the sale netting $111,166,246, and swelling the aggre- gate of bonds issued within three years to $262,315,400. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1896, the revenues of the Government from all sources amounted to $409,475,408.78, while its expendi- tures were $434,678,654.48, or an excess of expenditures over receipts of $25,203,245.70. In other words, the total receipts for the three fiscal years ending June 30, 1896, were insufficient by $137,811,729.46 to meet the total expenditures. " Nor has this condition since improved. For the first half of the present fiscal year the receipts of the Government, exclusive of postal revenue, were $157,507,603.76, and its expenditures, exclu- sive of postal service, $195,410,000.22, or an excess of expenditures over receipts of $37,902,396.46. In January of this year the receipts, exclusive of 'postal revenues, were $24,316,994.05, and the expenditures, exclusive of postal service, $30,269,389.29, a deficit of $5,952,395.24 for the month. In February of this year the receipts, exclusive of postal revenues, were $24,400,997.38, and expenditures, exclusive of postal service, $28,796,056.68, a deficit of $4,395,059.28, or a total deficiency of $186,061,580.44 for the three years and eight months ending March i, 1897. Not only are we without a surplus in the Treasury, but with an increase in public debt there has been a corresponding increase in the annual interest charge from $22,893,883.20 in 1892, the lowest of any year since 1862, to $34,387,297.60 in 1896, or an increase of $11,493,414.40. FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT 2ii " It may be urged that, even if the revenues of the Govern- ment had been sufficient to meet all its ordinary expenses during the past three years, the gold reserve would still have been insuffi- cient to meet the demands upon it, and that bonds would neces- .sarily have been issued for its repletion. Be this as it may, it is clearly manifest, without denying or affirming the correctness of such a conclusion, that the debt would have been decreased in at least the amount of the deficiency, and business confidence immeasurably strengthened throughout the country. " Congress should promptly correct the existing condition. Ample revenues must be supplied, not only for the ordinary expenses of the Government, but for the prompt payment of liberal pensions and the liquidation of the principal and interest of the public debt. In raising revenue, duties should be so levied upon foreign products as to preserve the home market, so far as possible, to our own producers ; to revive and increase manufac- tures ; to relieve and encourage agriculture ; to increase our domes- tic and foreign commerce ; to aid and develop mining and building, and to render to labor in every field of useful occupation the liberal wages and adequate rewards to which skill and industry are justly entitled. The necessity of the passage of a tariff law which shall provide ample revenue need not be further urged. The imperative demand of the hour is the prompt enactment of such a measure, and to this object I earnestly recommend that Congress shall make every endeavor. Before other business is transacted let us first provide sufficient revenue to faithfully administer the Government without the contracting of further debt or the continued disturbance of our finances. " William McKinley. " Executive Mansion, March 15, 1897." In anticipation of the extra session of the Fifty-fifth Congress, thus called for, the Committee of Ways and Means, or at least Nelson Dingley, its chairman, and his Republican colleagues in that committee, had been steadily working upon a new tariff measure. 12 FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT 'hey had allowed various interests to appear before the committee t public hearings, and had worked industriously in private sessions, 'he new bill was ready for presentation to the House as soon as it ras convened. This method, evidently, had saved a great deal of time. Four lonths had elapsed since Mr. McKinley's election, and there had een abundant opportunity for consultation with him upon the main matures of the new tariff bill. It was obviously desirable that the ew measure should provide fifty or sixty million dollars a year lore than the Wilson-Gorman tariff then in force. It was also eemed desirable that the reciprocity features of the McKinley ariff of 1890 — which had begun to operate so advantageously, and ih.\ch. were so ruthlessly abandoned by the Wilson Bill,^ — should, so ir as possible, be revived. DISPLAY OF PARTY ANTAGONISM The abrogation of those features was not merely a matter of domestic policy. It seemed, indeed, a rather ill-mannered and /holly unnecessary breach of essential good faith toward the coun- ries which had entered into treaty relations with us in pursuance if the reciprocity plan. Those nations had to a greater or less ixtent re-adjusted their domestic revenue laws and arrangements to neet the results of the reciprocity treaties ; and the manner in irhlch the policy was abandoned by this country seemed a cheap lisplay of mere party antagonism. The revenue measure here adverted to, which subsequently )ecame known as the Dingley Tariff, in many respects reversed the o-called "reform tariff" of the Cleveland Administration, and' estored the McKinley Tariff, in spirit, if not in fact. Of course, he lapse of years, and the growing expansion of American commer- . ;ial interests, rendered necessary provisions adapted to the new :onditions, among them being a considerable extension of the free ist. But the features of this tariff bill, which became law on July 24, 1897, were in close accordance with Mr. McKinley's views on FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT 213 the subject, as calculated to advance the purpose he had in view in calling Congress in extra session, "to provide revenue for the Gov- ernment and encourage the industries of the United States. The Reciprocity measure, a feature of the tariff of 1890, which had been abrogated in the Wilson Tariff, was restored. In view of the fact that President McKinley, in his last speech, advocated the "encour- agement and extension of this feature of our commercial policy," we append the legislation concerning it in the Dingley tariff: RECIPROCITY SECTION OF THE TARIFF ACT OF 1 897 " That whenever the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, with a view to secure reciprocal trade with foreign countries, shall, within the period of two years from and after the passage of this act, enter into commer- cial treaty or treaties with any other country or countries concern- ing the admission into any such country or countries of the goods, wares and merchandise of the United States and their use and disposition therein, deemed to be for the interests of the United States, and in such treaty or treaties, in consideration of the advan- tages accruing to the United States therefrom, shall provide for the reduction during a specified period, not exceeding five years, of the duties imposed by this act, to the extent of not moi^e than twenty per centum thereof, upon such goods, wares, or merchandise as may be designated therein of the country or countries with which such treaty or treaties shall be made, as in this section provided for ; or shall provide for the transfer during such period from the dutiable list of this act to the free list thereof of such goods, wares, and merchandise, being the natural products of such foreign country or countries, and not of the United States ; or shall provide for the retention upon the free list of this act during a specified period, not exceeding five years, of such goods, wares, and merchandise now included in said free list, as may be designated therein ; and when any such treaty shall have been ratified by the Senate and approved by Congress, and public proclamation made 214 FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT accordingly, then and thereafter the duties which shall be collected by the United States upon any of the designated goods, wares, and merchandise from the foreign country with which such treaty has been made, shall, during the period provided for, be the duties specified and provided for in such treaty, and none other. " That whenever any country, dependency, or colony shall pay or bestow, directly or indirectly, any bounty or grant upon the expor- tation of any article or merchandise from such country, dependency, or colony, and such article or merchandise is dutiable under the provisions of this act, then upon the importation of any such article or merchandise into the United States, whether the same shall be imported directly from the country of production or otherwise, and whether such article or merchandise is imported in the same condi- tion as when exported from the country of production or has been changed in coftdition by manufacture or otherwise, there shall be levied and paid, in all such cases, in addition to the duties otherwise imposed by this act, an additional duty equal to the net amount of such bounty or grant, however the same be paid or bestowed. The net amount of all such bounties or grants shall be from time to time, ascertained, determined, and declared by the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall make all needful regulations for the identifica- tion of such articles and merchandise and for the assessment and collection of such additional duties. " That there shall be levied, collected, and paid on the importa- tion of all raw or unmanufactured articles, not enumerated or provided for in this act, a duty of ten per cent, ad valorem, and on all articles manufactured, in whole or in part, not provided for in this act, a duty of twenty per cent, ad valorem." It is here in place to take a brief glance into the future of the fiscal measure whose legislative history we have just briefly given. President McKinley had two objects in view in sucreestincr it and convening Congress in extra session for its consideration. One of these was the endeavor to place the national finances in a more •healthy condition than they had been in during the past four years, FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT 215 and especially to bring the receipts info excess of the expendi- tures. The other was to overcome the business depression which had so long prevailed, to restore commercial and industrial confi- dence, to furnish orders for the manufacturers of the land and work at living wages for the widely idle mechanics. BUSINESS DEPRESSION OVERCOME It need scarcely be said that both these ends were fully, indeed, magnificently gained. This is a matter of history with which all our people are familiar and which very many of them have provi- dently felt. The wearisome, truly hopeless depression which had so long prevailed, showed evident signs of quick amelioration as soon as the tidings of McKinley's triumphant election were received. By the day he took his seat the hopeful signs in the air had grown stronger and brighter. The new tariff proved the Rubicon of the advancing good times. That passed, the indications of a coming industrial "boom" were everywhere to be seen. They grew and expanded, they rose and swelled, until such a wave of prosperity swept over the land as this western world had rarely seen. Never in the history of the world had there been a more marked contrast of bad and good times than between the second Cleveland and the first McKinley administrations. And let what may be said, the fact stands largely self-evident that this wondrous change in condi- tions was due to the opposed fiscal measures of the two adminis- trations, the Wilson tariff for revenue and the Dingley tariff for protection. The improvement in conditions was as remarkably manifested in still another way, that of the extraordinary increase in the com- merce of the United States, a ratio of growth In commercial pros- perity never equalled or approached, in so brief a time, in the com- mercial history of any other country in the world. As our export trade augmented with extraordinary rapidity, our import trade correspondingly fell off, the balance of trade in our favor becoming much greater, by the opening year of the new 2i6 FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT century, than any other nation had ever known during the thou- sands of years of the world's history. And this striking phenom- enon belonged almost solely to the McKinley administration and was mainly, perhaps wholly, due to its commercial and fiscal policy. The exports of merchandise of the United States for the year ending June 30, 1897, amounted in value to $1,032,007,603. The imports for the' same fiscal year to $764,730,412. This left a bal- ance of trade in our favor of $257,877,189. This was a far better showing than in preceding years, and not many years before the balance tended to the other side. If now we consider the returns for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, we find the figures to sum up as follows: Exports, $1,487,656,544; imports, $822,756,533 ; making the balance of trade in our favor, $664,900,011; being more than $400,000,000 over that of 1896-97, and immensely greater than in the history of earlier administrations. Here is an object lesson for the people that needs no words of arguments. It speaks for itself for the results of the policy of the McKinley administration. HOW PRESIDENT MCKINLEY SELECTED HIS CABINET An essential duty in the beginning of every new administra- tion is the selection of a Cabinet, the official family of Presidential . advisers. President McKinley's long Congressional service and familiar acquaintance with the leading Statesmen and business men of the day fitted him admirably for the duty of selection, and he was ready to announce, in the first days of his administration, an exceptionally strong list of Departmental Secretaries. Names were offered by hundreds, by politicians and party newspapers, for his consideration. Not fewer than two hundred of these were presented to him by men of influence, and probably as many as fifty were carefully weighed in his mind before his final selection was made. Among the prominent leaders who preferred to retain their seats in Congress to accepting Cabinet positions, were Senator FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT 217 Allison, Speaker Reed, and Representative Dingley. The last named, then Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, was offered the position of Secretary of the Treasury, but declined It on the plea that his feeble health would not enable him to stand the strain. Marcus A. Hanna, the President's close friend and political adviser, was also seriously considered. But he did not desire a Cabinet position, preferring a seat in the Senate to the labor of Departmental duties. HIS SECRETARY OF STATE For the responsible position of Secretary of State, one name presented itself above all others, that of the veteran and able statesman, Hon. John Sherman, then one of the leading figures in Congress and the country. Mr. Sherman seemed, above all others, to possess the requisite prestige, and he was at length persuaded to accept the Secretaryship of State, it being tacitly understood that Governor Bushnell of Ohio, would appoint Mr. Hanna to Mr. Sherman's vacant place in the Senate. While more familiar with public finance than with diplomacy and international law, John Sherman had for more than forty years been in the centre of our political life, and in constant touch with our national policy in its every aspect, domestic and foreign alike. The principal doubt raised In the public mind as regarded the wisdom of his appointment to the post, had reference to his great age. It was objected that the duties of the " foreign ofifice " Impose an exceptionally heavy burden upon the Secretary person- ally, and require, therefore, exceptional vigor and physical strength. But, despite this, It was felt that Mr. Sherman would know how to husband his strength, while the respect with which he was regarded abroad, and his known conservative views and lack of aggressive sentiments In international affairs, were sure to make him a safe and suitable Incumbent of the office. His selection met with the cordial approbation of the country, and was very favorably commented on in Europe. 2i8 FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT Not less important in the administrative duties of the Govern- ment stands the Secretary of the Treasury, the man to whom the vast and compHcated financial interests of our country are intrusted, the official who, by an unwise move, may succeed in sending a wave of dismay and distress through the delicately poised financial insti- tutions of our States, and on the other hand, by a judicious and well-considered act, may save the land from panic ; coming to the aid of the community in those critical moments when disaster impends and ruin seems inevitable. HIS SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY Before selecting this highly important official, Mr. McKinley long and anxiously surveyed the field, studying the records of the foremost financiers of the country. He finally called from private life a man whose appointment was hailed not merely with approval but with enthusiasm. There was no longer any doubt about the wise control of the finances. The President-elect had not been looking for a popular man, but for one who had the requisite quali- fications. And it is not likely that Mr. McKinley suspected how much he was enhancing his own popularity when he offered the Treasury portfolio to Mr. Lyman J. Gage, the Chicago banker. Mr. Gage had won a national reputation as a banker of excep- tionally quick conception and original genius in finance. It was feared, indeed, that his appointment might prove unsatisfactory to the wage-earners and farmers of the country, who distrusted and were prejudiced against bankers and capitalists. But, as it quickly proved, these classes were the ones best pleased. They knew Mr. Gage as a man of high character, of broad views, of a sincere desire for the welfare of all his fellow-citizens, absolutely devoid of the arts and wiles of the professional politician, and fitted by virtue of great financial knowledge and experience for the work of conducting the national finances. For Secretary of War was chosen General Russell A. Alger, in every respect a self-made man. He had been, soniewhat like FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT 219 McKinley himself, successively a farmer's son in Ohio, a farm laborer, a school-teacher, a lawyer, and a soldier, in the latter capa- city rising- from captain to major-general, and having a record of wounds, capture, imprisonment and escape. Subsequently he became an active business man in Michigan, and rose to the posses- sion of great wealth, and to the position of Governor of that State. His record as an active and successful man of affairs, and his long and varied experience as a soldier, seemed to fit him well as a con- troller of the military affairs of the United States. HIS OTHER SECRETARIES The remaining members of the Cabinet were John D. Long, of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Navy ; Cornelius N. Bliss, of New York, Secretary of the Interior ; James Wilson, of Iowa, Sec- retary of Agriculture ; James A. Gary, of Maryland, Postmaster- General, and Joseph McKenna, of California, Attorney-General. Of these it must serve to speak in general. Mr. Wilson, Mr. Long and Mr. McKenna had been long in State Legislature service and in Congress, while Mr. Long had been one of the most brilliant Governors of his State. Mr. Bliss might more than once have been Governor of New York, had he so desired, and Mr. Gary would have held the same ofiBce in Maryland but for its large Democratic majority. We may say further that the Cabinet was one of self- made men, nearly every member of it having been the architect of his own fortune. As time went on, various changes were made in the persoimel of the Cabinet, there being one resignation before the end of the year, that of Attorney-General McKenna, who gave up his post on December 17th, to become Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was succeeded by John W. Griggs, of New Jersey, appointed January 21, 1898. Secretary of State Sherman resigned April 27, 1898, when war with Spain had become certain, being unable to bear the additional burdens of labor which warlike conditions would bring. He was 220 FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT succeeded byW. R. Day, then Assistant Secretary. Secretary Day resigned on September i6th, on account of the responsible duties be- fore him as a member of the commission to arrange terms of peace with Spain, and was succeeded by John Hay, who had been Ambassa- dor to England during the earlier period of the administration. Sec- retary Day's resignation was made with the understanding that he would be subsequently appointed to a seat on the bench of the United States Court. This has been done, he being appointed Justice of the Northern District of Ohio. OTHER CHANGES IN THE CABINET On April 21, 1898, Postmaster-General Gary resigned, and was succeeded by Charles Emory Smith, proprietor and editor of the Press, the leading Republican newspaper of Philadelphia. On December 22, 1898, Secretary Bliss retired, and was succeeded by Ethan A. Hitchcock, until then Ambassador to Russia. On August I, 1899, Russell A. Alger retired from the War Department, as a con- sequence of the severe assault made upon him for alleged incom- petence and mismanagement in connection with the commissary supplies of the army in Cuba. He was succeeded by Elihu Root, of New York. It is of interest to remark, in this connection, that Theodore Roosevelt, now President of the United States, served for a short time as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, resigning when war became inevitable to take part with the "Rough Riders" in the field. We may say further that Vice-President Hobart did not survive his term of office, dying in 1899. The Administration was represented at foreign courts as fol- lows : Ambassador to Great Britain, John Hay, of Ohio — succeeded in 1899 by Joseph H. Choate, of New York; to France, Horace Porter of New York ; to Austria and Austria-Hungary, Charle- magne Tower, of Pennsylvania — succeeded in 1899 by Addison C. Harris, of Indiana; United States Minister to Russia, Ethan A. Hitchcock, of Missouri, raised to Ambassador in 1898, and suc- ceeded in 1899 by Charlemagne Tower; Ambassador to Germany, FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT 221 Andrew D. White, of New York; Ambassador to Italy, William F. Draper, of Massachussets — succeeded in 1901 by George von L. Meyer, of Massachusetts ; Ambassador to Spain, Stewart L.Wood- ford, of New York, who served until official relations were broken off in April, 1898, and in April, 1899, was succeeded by Bellamy Storer, of Ohio. Among the events of importance during McKinley's first year in ofifice, not adverted to above, may be named the discovery of gold in Alaska and the intense excitement to which it gave rise. A rush of miners to that Territory began in the latter half of 1897 and continued during the following years, the result being a great increase in the white population of Alaska and a considerable addi- tion to the gold supply of the world. In the same year a highly important municipal event was con- summated, namely, the consolidation of the cities of New York and Brooklyn and the adjoining populous districts into one enormous city, which was popularly named Greater New York. As thus constituted, the city of New York covered an area of 317.77 square miles, and had a population of over 3,000,000, becoming the second city in the world. McKinley's administration was signalized by no more momentous event than this remarkable example of our civic growth in a little over a century of national existence. The most exciting events of the year were those in connection with the savage acts of the Spanish generals and forces in their endeavor to suppress the rebellion in Cuba. The indignation to which these gave rise in the United States, and the slow but steady drift of this country into warlike relations with Spain, must be left for treatment in the next chapter. We may here fitly close with reference to an impressive event, in which President McKinley took part, the removal of the remains of General Grant to their final resting place in the magni- ficent tomb erected on Morningside Heights, overlooking the Hudson, in the city of New York. 13 222 FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT The ceremonies attending the removal of the remains on April 27, 1897, included three Impressive displays, the ceremony at the tomb, the parade of the troops, National Guard and civic bodies, and the review of the navy and merchant marine on the Hudson. Those who gathered to take part in the final tribute to the great soldier included the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Cabinet, many State governors, prominent American citizens, and representatives of foreign nations. From 129th Street to the Battery, and from Whitehall up East River to the Bridge, thousands of American and foreign flags were dis- played, while the parade of men on foot included 60,000 persons. MCKINLEY AT DEDICATION OF GRANt's TOMB Bishop Newman opened the exercises with prayer, and Presi- dent McKinley made one of the finest speeches of his life, the opening words of which were : " A great life, dedicated to the welfare of the nation, here finds its earthly cqronation. Even If this day lacked the impres- siveness of ceremony and was devoid of pageantry, it would still be memorable, because it is the anniversary of the birth of the most famous and best beloved of American soldiers." The President concluded with the words : "With Washington and Lincoln, Grant had an exalted place in the history and the affections of the people. To-day his memory is held in equal esteem by those whom he led to victory, and by those who accepted his generous terms of peace. The veteran leaders of the Blue and Gray here meet not only to honor the name of Grant, but to testify to the living reality of a fraternal, national spirit which has triumphed over the differences of the past and transcends the limitations of sectional lines. Its completion — which we pray God to speed — will be the nation's greatest glory. " It is right that General Grant should have a memorial com- mensurate with his greatness, and that his last resting-place should be in the city of his choice, to which he was so attached, and of FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT 223 whose ties he was not forgetful even in death. Fitting, too, is it that the great soldier should sleep beside the noble river on whose banks he first learned the art of war, of which he became master and leader without a rival. " But let us not forget the glorious distinction with which the metropolis among the fair sisterhood of American cities has honored his life and memory. With all that riches and sculpture can do to render the edifice worthy of the man, upon a site unsur- passed for magnificence, has this monument been reared by New York as a perpetual record of his illustrious deeds, in the certainty that, as time passes, around it will assemble, with gratitude and veneration, men of all climes, races, and nationalities. " New York holds in its keeping the precious dust of the silent soldier, but his achievements — what he and his brave comrades wrought for mankind — are in the keeping of seventy millions of American citizens, who will guard the sacred heritage forever and forevermore." While the events of which we have spoken were taking place various important questions and new political issues had arisen for the government to deal with. Throughout President McKinley's administration the prosperity of the country had immensely increased. We have elsewhere given the figures for the extraordinarily great commercial development, while home industries had shown a corresponding progress. Among the much debated questions that came to the front may be mentioned that of popular control of municipal affairs, such as street railways, water, gas, and other civic requisites, and also the parallel demand for public control of the railroads and telegraphs of the country, and other so-called public utilities. These questions, while still excit- ing much discussion, remain for future settlement. Among the leading measures considered in Congress, that of governmental support of the mercantile navy, by national subsidies, excited an animated discussion, but led to no final decision. In March, 1900, a new financial law was enacted, its purpose being 224 FIRST YEAR AS PRESIDENT the fixing of the monetary standard of value. It re-established the gold standard and made important provisions for the facile control of the finances, containing a provision for breaking the "endless chain," by prohibiting the re-issue of notes that had been redeemed to nieet deficiencies in the current revenues. This, it will be remembered, had more than once been earnestly advocated by the President. One clause of the bill provided for the coining of the silver bullion on hand into subsidiary silver coins up to the limit of $100,000,000. Various changes were made in the National Banking Act, mainly for the purpose of permitting banks to be organized with small capital in places of 3,000 inhabitants or less. THE CHILDREN OF PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT CHAPTER XIV Revolution in Cuba and War with Spain THE most momentous and striking event of McKinley's first administration was the war of i8g8, between the United States and Spain. This highly important conflict was due to a concurrence of circumstances, by which this country was irresist- ibly forced into drawing the sword in defence of its national honor and in retribution for the horrors of Spanish rule in Cuba, an island in the closest contiguity to our own territory, and whose long record of wrongs had for years appealed to the sympathy and aroused the indignation of the people of the United States. That the origin of this conflict may be the better understood, it becomes necessary to review in brief the relations between Spain and her island colony. The history of Spain may best illustrate the decline of the Latin race, and the rise of the Anglo-Saxon. When America was discovered, that country was the leading maritime power of the world, but it was corrupt, rapacious, ferocious, and totally devoid of what is best expressed by the term " common sense." So lacking indeed was it in this prime requisite that it alienated, when it was just as easy to attract, the weaker nations and colonies which came under its influence and control. This was especially the case with Cuba, the only im.portant colony which remained to Spain after her colonial territories on the American continent had been driven into revolt and won their independence. The steadiness with which Cuba clung to the mother country won for her the title of the " Ever Faithful Isle." Had she received any consideration at all, she would still have held fast. She poured princely revenues into the lap of Spain, and when 227 228 ■ THE WAR WITH SPAIN other colonies revolted, she refused to be moved. It required long years of outrage, robbery and injustice to turn her affection into hate, but Spain persisted until the time came when human nature could stand no more. The truth gradually worked its way into the Cuban mind that the only thing a Spaniard could be depended upon to do is to violate his most solemn promise. Secret societies began forming in the island, whose plottings and aims were to wrest their country from the cruel domination of Spain. We shall not dwell on the several unsuccessful attempts at revolt made by these organizations during the first half of the nineteenth century. The first important revolutionary movement took place in 1868, the Cuban patriots availing themselves of an uprising in Spain against the hated Queen Isabella. The war that followed lasted ten years, with varying fortunes, but all that Cuba won were promises of reform, definitely stated in the treaty of El Zanjon, February lo, 1878, but deliberately broken before many years had passed. The Cubans had again trusted to Spanish honor, and had again been deceived. They quietly prepared for another rising, and in February, 1895, the fires of revolt were again kindled. We are not concerned with this war, our interest as Americans being solely in the way in which it was conducted and the conse- quences to which it led. The methods adopted by General Wey- ler made it a tale of horror. He spread ruin and desolation over the land, and, collecting the non-combatants into camps, under the guns of his troops, left them to slowly starve. More than a hun- dred thousand are said to have died from sheer starvation. This inhumanity called forth the strongest sympathy in the United States for the sufferers, and aroused an indignation which threatened to carry the country into war. Congressmen visited the island, and their hearts wept at sight of the cruelties they beheld. So indignant was the protest of this country that Weyler was recalled and General Blanco took his place. But the change in captains-general caused little alleviation of the situation. THE WAR WITH SPAIN 229 Matters were in this state of extreme tension when the blowing up of the Maine occurred While riding quietly at anchor in the harbor of Havana, on the night of February 15, 1898, this American battleship was utterly destroyed by a terrific explosion, which killed 266 officers and men. The news thrilled the land with horror and rage, for it was taken at once for granted that the appalling crime had been committed by Spaniards, and this feeling was deepened by the report of the investigating committee, to the effect that, beyond question, the Maine was destroyed by an outside explosion, or sub- marine mine. It was everywhere felt that this could only have been purposely planted, by Spanish hands. The war between the United States and Spain was, in brief, a war for humanity, for America could no longer close her ears to the wails of the starving people who lay perishing, as may be said, on her very doorsteps. It was not a war for conquest or gain, nor was it in revenge for the awful destruction of the Maine, though few nations would have restrained their wrath with such sublime patience as did our countrymen while the investiga- tion was in progress. Yet it cannot be denied that this unparalleled outrage intensified the war fever in the United States, and thou- sands were eager for the opportunity to punish Spanish cruelty and treachery. Congress reflected this spirit when by a unanimous vote it appropriated $50,000,000 " for the national defense." The War and Navy Departments hummed with the activity of recruit- ing, the preparations of vessels and coast defenses, the purchase of war material and vessels at home, while agents were sent to Europe to procure all the war-ships in the market. Unlimited capital was at their command, and the question of price was never an obstacle. When hostilities impended the United States was unprepared for war, but by amazing activity, energy, and skill the preparations were pushed and completed with a rapidity that approached the marvelous. War being inevitable. President McKinley sought to gain time for our consular representatives to leave Cuba, where the situation 230 THE WAR WITH SPAIN daily and hourly grew more dangerous. On April i8th the two houses of Congress adopted the following . Resolutions Whereas, The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the island of Cuba, so near to our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civiliza- tion, culminating as they have, in the destruction of a United States battle-ship with 266 of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Congress of April 11, 1898, upon which the action of Con- gress was invited ; therefore. Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled — • First — That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. Second — That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the govern- ment of the United States does hereby demand, that the government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. Third — That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United States, and to call into the actual service of the United States the militia of the several states, to such an extent as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect. Fourth — That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island, except for the paci- fication thereof, and' asserts its determination when that is completed' to leave the government and control of the island to its people. This resolution was signed by the President April 20th, and a copy served on the Spanish minister, who demanded his passports, and immediately left Washington. The contents were telegraphed to United States Minister Woodford at Madrid, with instructions to officially communicate them to the Spanish government, giving it until the 23d to answer. The Spanish authorities, however, antici- pated this action by sending the American minister his passports on the morning of the 21st. This act was of itself equivalent to a declaration of war. THE WAR WITH SPAIN 231 The making of history now went forward with impressive swiftness. War Preparations On April 2 2d the United States fleet was ordered to blockade Havana. On the 24th Spain declared war, and the United States Congress followed with a similar declaration on the 25th. The call for 75,000 volunteer troops was increased to 125,000 and subse- quently to 200,000. The massing of men and stores was rapidly begun throughout the country. Within a month expeditions were organized for various points of attack, war-vessels were bought, and ocean passenger steamers were converted into auxiliary cruisers and transports. By the first of July 40,000 soldiers had been sent to Cuba and the Philippine Islands. The rapidity with which prepara- tions were made and the victories gained and the progress shown by the Americans at once astonished and challenged the admiration of foreign nations who had regarded America as a country unpre- pared for war by land or sea. On April 2 7th, following the declaration of war on the 25th, Admiral Sampson, having previously blockaded the harbor of Havana, was reconnoitering with three vessels in the vicinity of Matanzas, Cuba, when he discovered the Spanish forces building earthworks, and ventured so close in his efforts to investi- gate the same that a challenge shot was fired from the fortification, Rubal Cava. Admiral Sampson quickly formed the JVew York, Cin- cinnati and Puritan into a triangle and opened fire with their eight- inch guns. The action was very spirited on both sides for the space of eighteen minutes, at the expiration of which time the Spanish batteries were silenced and the earthworks destroyed, without casualty on the American side, though two shells burst dangerously near the New York. The last shot fired by the Americans was from one of the Puritans thirteen-inch guns, which landed with deadly accuracy in the very centre of Rubal Cava, and, exploding, completely destroyed the earthworks. This was the first action of the war, thoug it could hardly be dignified by the name of a battle. 232 THE WAR WITH SPAIN It was expected that the next engagement would be the bom- bardment of Morro Castle, at Havana. But it is the unexpected that often happens in war. In the Philippine Islands, on the other side of the world, the first real battle — one of the most remarkable in history — was next to occur. The Battle of Manila On April 25th the following dispatch of eight potent words was cabled to Commodore Dewey on the Coast of China : " Capture or destroy the Spanish squadron at Manila." " Never," says James Gordon Bennett, " were instructions more effectively carried out. Within seven hours after arriving on the scene of action nothing remained to be done." It was on the 27th that Dewey sailed from Mirs Bay, China, and on the night of the 30th he lay before the entrance of the harbor of Manila, 700 miles away. Under the cover of darkness, with all lights extinguished on his ships, he dar- ingly steamed into this unknown harbor, which he oelieved to be strewn with mines, and at daybreak engaged the Spanish fleet. Commodore Dewey knew it meant everything for him and his fleet to win or lose this battle. He was in the enemy's country, 7,000 miles from home. The issue of this battle must mean victory, Spanish dungeons, or the bottom of the ocean. "■ Keep cool and obey orders " was the signal he gave to his fleet, and then came the order to fire. The Americans had seven ships, the Olympia, Balti- more, Raleigh, Petrel, Concord, Boston, and the dispatch boat Mc- Cullough. The Spaniards had eleven, the Reina Christina, Cas- tilla, Don Antonio de Ulloa, Isla de Luzon, Isla de Cuba, General LeBo, Marquis de Duero, Cano, Velasco, Isla de Mindanao, and a transport. From the beginning Commodore Dewey fought on the offen- sive, and, after the manner of Nelson and Farragut, concentrated his fire upon the strongest ships one after another with terrible execution. The Spanish ships were inferior to his, but there were more of them, and they were under the protection of the land bat- teries. The fire of the Americans was especially noted for its THE WAR WITH SPAIN 233 terrific rapidity and the wonderful accuracy of its aim. The battle lasted for about five hours, and resulted in the destruction of all the Spanish ships and the silencing of the land batteries. The Spanish loss in killed and wounded was estirnated to be fully 1,000 men, while on the American side not a ship was even seriously damaged, and not a single man was killed outright, and only six were wounded. Thanked and Promoted by his Country More than a month after the battle, Captain Charles B. Gridley, commander of the Olympia, died, though his death was the result of an accident received in the discharge of his duty during the battle, and not from a wound. On May 2d Commodore Dewey cut the cable connecting Manila with Hong Kong, and destroyed the fortifications at the entrance of Manila Bay, and took possession of the naval station at Cavite. This was to prevent communication between the Philippine Islands and the government' at Madrid, and necessitated the sending of Commodore Dewey's official account of the battle by the dispatch boat McCullough to Hong Kong, whence it was cabled to the United States. After its receipt, May 9th, both Houses abopted resolutions of congratulation to Commodore Dewey and his officers and men for their gallantry at Manila, voted . an appropriation for medals for the erew and a fine sword for the gallant Commander, and also passed a bill authorizing the President to appoint another rear-admiral, which honor was promptly con- ferred upon Commodore Dewey, accompanied by the thanks of the President and of the nation for the admirable and heroic services rendered his country. The Battle of Manila must ever remain a monument to the daring and courage of Admiral Dewey. However unevenly matched the two fleets may have been, the world agrees with the eminent naval critic who declared : " This complete victory was the product of forethought, cool, well-balanced judgment, discipline, and bravery. It was a magnificent achievement, and Dewey will go down in history ranking with John Paul Jones and Lord Nelson as a naval hero." 234 THE WAR WITH SPAIN Admiral Dewey might have taken possession of the city of Manila immediately. He cabled the United States that he could do so, but the fact remained that he had not sufficient men to care for his ships and at the same time effect a successful landing in the town of Manila. Therefore he chose to remain on his ships, and though the city was at his mercy, he refrained from a bombardment because he believed it would lead to a massacre of the Spaniards on the part of the insurgents surrounding the city, which it would be beyond his power to stop. This humane manifestation toward the conquered foe adds to the lustre of the hero's crown, and at the same time places the seal of greatness upon the brow of the victor. He not only refrained from bombarding the city, but received and cared for the wounded Spaniards upon his own vessels. Thus, while he did all that was required of him without costing his coun- try the life of a single citizen, he manifested a spirit of humanity and generosity toward the vanquished foe fully in keeping with the sympathetic spirit which involved this nation in the war for humanity's sake. Difficulties for the Government The Battle of Manila further demonstrated that a fleet with heavier guns is virtually invulnerable in a campaign with a squad- ron bearing lighter metal, however gallantly the crew of the latter may fight. Before the Battle of Manila it was recognized that the govern- ment had serious trouble on its hands. On May Ath President McKinley nominated ten new Major-Generals, including James H. Wilson, Fitzhugh Lee, William J. Sewell (who was not commis- sioned), and Joseph Wheeler, from private life, and promoted Brigadier-Generals Breckinridge, Otis, Coppinger, Shafter, Graham, Wade, and Merriam, from the regular army. The organization and mobilization of troops was promptly begun and rapidly pushed. Meantime our naval vessels were actively cruising around the Island of Cuba, expecting the appearance of the Spanish fleet. On May nth the gunboat Wilmington, revenue-cutter Hud- son, and the torpedo-boat Winslow entered Cardenas Bay, Cuba, to THE WAR WITH SPAIN m attack the defences and three small Spanish gunboats that had taken refuge in the harbor. The Winslow, being of light draft, took the lead, and when within eight hundred yards of the fort was fired upon with disastrous effect, being struck eighteen times and rendered helpless. Ensign Worth Bagley, of the Winslow, who had recently entered active service, was one of the killed. He was the first ofificer who lost his life in the war. On the same date Admiral Sampson's squadron arrived at San Juan, Porto Rico, whither it had gone in the expectation of meet- ing with Admiral Cervera's fleet, which had sailed westward from the Cape Verde Islands on April 29th, after Portugal's declaration of neutrality. The Spanish fleet, however, did not materialize. Deeming it unnecessary to wait for the Spanish war-ships in the vicinity of San Juan, Sampson withdrew his squadron and sailed westward in the hope of finding Cervera's fleet, which was dodging about the Caribbean Sea. For many days the hunt of the war- ships went on like a fox-chase. On May 21st Commodore Schley blockaded Cienfuegos, supposing that Cervera was inside the harbor, but on the 24th he discovered his mistake and sailed to Santiago, where he lay before the entrance to the harbor for three days, not knowing whether or not the Spaniard was inside. On May 30th it was positively discovered that he had Cervera bottled up in the narrow harbor of Santiago. He had been there since the 19th, and had landed 800 men, 20,000 Mauser rifles, a great supply of ammunition, and four great guns for the defense of the city. Operations Against Santiago On May 31st Commodore Schley opened fire on the fortifica- tions at the mouth of the harbor, which lasted for about half an- hour. This was for the purpose of discovering the location and strength of the batteries, some of which were concealed, and in this he was completely successful. Two of the batteries were silenced, and the flagship of the Spaniards, which took part in the engage- ment, was damaged. The Americans received no injury to vessels and no loss of men. On June ist Admiral Sampson arrived before 238 THE WAR WITH SPAIN Santiago, and relieved Commodore Schley of the chief command of the forces, then consisting of sixteen war-ships. Admiral Sampson, naturally a cautious commander, suffered great apprehension lest Cervera might slip out of the harbor and escape during the darkness of the night or the progress of a storm, which would compel the blockading fleet to stand far off shore. There was a point in the channel wide enough for only one war-ship to pass at a time, and if this could be rendered impassable Cervera's doom would be sealed. How to reach and close this passage was the difficult problem to be solved. On either shore of the narrow channel stood frowning forts with cannon, and there were other fortifications to be passed before it could be reached. Lieutenant Hobson's Heroism Lieutenant Richmond Pearson Hobson, a naval engineer, at 3 o'clock A. M., June 3d, in company with seven volunteers from the New York and other ships, took the United States collier Merrimac, a large vessel with 600 tons of coal on board, and started with the purpose of sinking it in the channel. The ship had not gone far when the forts opened fire, and amid the thunder of artillery and a rain of steel and bursting shells the boat with its eight brave heroes held on its way, as steadily as if they knew not their danger. The channel was reached, and the boat turned across the channel. The sea-doors were opened and torpedoes exploded by the intrepid -crew, sinking the vessel almost instantly, but not in the position desired. As the ship went down the men, with side-arms buckled on, took to a small boat, and, escape being impossible, they surrendered to the enemy. The Spaniards were so impressed with this act of bravery and heroism that they treated the prisoners with the greatest courtesy, confined them in Morro Castle, and Admiral Cervera promptly sent a special officer, under a flag of truce, to inform Admiral Sampson of their safety. The prisoners were kept confined in Morro Castle for some days, when they were removed to a place of greater safety, where they were held until exchanged on July 7th. THE WAR WITH SPAIN 239 The danger of entering the narrow harbor in the face of Cevera's fleet rendered it necessary to take the city by land, and the government began preparations to send General Shafter with a large force from Tampa to aid the fleet in reducing the city. Some 15,000 men, including the now famous Rough Riders, cowboy cavalry, were hurried upon transports, and under the greatest convoy of gunboats, cruisers, and battle-ships which ever escorted an army started for the western end of the island of Cuba. The Landing of Shafter's Army On June 13th troops began to leave Tampa and Key West for operations against Santiago, and on June 20th the transports bearing them arrived off that city. Two days later General Shaf- ter landed his army.of 16,000 soldiers at Daiquiri, a short distance east of the entrance to the harbor, with the loss of only two men, and these by accident. The Victory of the Rough Riders On June 24th the force under General Shafter reached Juragua, and the battle by land was now really to begin. It was about ten miles out from Santiago, at a point known as La Guasima. The country was covered with high grass and chaparral, and in this and on the wooded hills a strong force of Spaniards was hidden. Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt's Rough Riders, technically known as the First Volunteer Cavalry, under command of Colonel WooS, were in the fight, and it is to their bravery and dash that the glory of the day chiefly belongs. Troops under command of General Young had been sent out in advance, with the Rough Riders on his flank. There were about 1,200 of the cavalry in all, including the Rough Riders and the First and Tenth Regulars. They encountered a body of two thousand Spaniards in a thicket, whom they fought dismounted. For an hour they held their position in the midst of an unseen force, which poured a perfect hail of bullets upon them from in front and on both sides. At length, seeing that their only way of escape was H