M.KIXLFY. WILLIAM. 



435 



and again in l^ST.ho was on the stump in all parts of 

 Ohio, two of his strongest being th> - 



Iroiiton. ( u-t. 1. 1885, iual suffrage, and at Day- 



t, in. <>ei. the Cleveland administration, 



In tin- Forty-ninth ' LpriJ ~. l sv( '. he made 



a notable speech on arbitration as the best means of 

 settling labor disputes. " I believe in arbitration as 

 a principle." .-aid lie. ''I believe it should prevail 

 in the settlement of international differences. It 

 - a higher civilization than the arbitrament 

 of war. I believe it is in :d with the best 



thought and sentiment of mankind: I believe it is 

 the true way of settling differences between labor 

 and capital : I believe if will bring both to a better 

 undfi>tandint:. uniting them closer in interest and 

 promoting better relations, avoiding force, avoiding 

 unjust exactions and oppression, avoiding the loss 

 of earnings to labor, avoiding disturbances to trade 

 and transportation, and if this House can con- 

 tribute in the smallest measure by legislative < x- 

 -ion, or otherwise, to these ends, it will deserve 

 and receive the gratitude of all men who love peace. 

 order, justice, and fair play.'' He also spoke 

 at this session on the payment of pensions and the 

 surplus in the Treasury, and both speeches merit 

 attention as forcible statements of the position of 

 his party on those questions. 



The State of Ohio designated James A. Garfield 

 as one of the two of her sons. " illustrious for their 

 heroic renown or distinguished by civic or mili- 

 tary services." whose statues should be placed in 

 the Statuary Hall at the Capitol, and he delivered a 

 memorial address on the occasion of its presenta- 

 tion to Congress. Jan. 19. 1886. " Great in dealing 

 with all public questions.'' he said of Garfield, ' dull 

 and commonplace in none, tome he was the strong- 

 est, broadest, and bravest when he spoke for honest 

 money, the fulfillment of the Nation's promises, the 

 resumption of specie payments, and the mainte- 

 nance of the public faith. He contributed his share, 

 in full measure, to secure National honesty, and pre- 

 serve inviolate our National honor. None did more, 

 few, if any. so much to bring the Government back 

 to a sound, stable, and constitutional money. lie 

 was a very giant in those memorable struggles." At 

 the second "session, Feb. 16. 1887. he delivered a me- 

 morial address on Gen. John A. Logan, of Illinois, 

 much admired for its beauty and tenderness. "The 

 old soldiers will miss him." said he ; " the mighty oak 

 around which their hearts were entwined, to which 

 their hopes clung, has fallen. The veterans have 

 lost their steady" friend. Congress one of its able 

 counselors, the Republican party one of its great 

 leaders, the country one of its noble defenders." 

 He advocated the passage of the dependent pension 

 bill. Feb. 24. over President Cleveland's veto, as a 

 "simple act of justice." and "the instinct of a de- 

 cent humanity and our Christian civilization.'' It 

 was the plea of a veteran for deserving comrades : 

 the protest of a true soldier who revolted at the 

 thought of any veteran dying of hunger or priva- 

 tion, or being driven to the unwilling and grudging 

 shelter of an almshouse in the land which lie would 

 have died to save. 



The attention not only of the Fiftieth Congress, 

 but of the country was sharply arrested by Mr. 

 land's third annual message. Dec. 6. 1887. for it 

 was largely devoted to a harsh assault on our pro- 

 tective tariff laws, upon which he was previously 

 thought to hold a conservative position. He de- 

 nounced them as " the vicious, inequitable, and il- 

 logical source of unnecessary taxation." which 

 "ought to be at once revised and amended." be- 

 cause " their primary and plain effect is to raise the 

 price to consumers of all articles imported and sub- 

 ject to duty, by precisely the sum paid for such 

 duties." A bill was immediately prepared and in- 



occurred the most remarkable debate, under the 

 inspiration and enci uragement of the presidential 

 canvass already pending, in the history of < 



-. It may be > 



McKinle\' <inal life, the very occasion" for 



which, in the interests of his constituents, and ac- 

 cording to his firm convictions from boyhood 

 among the furnaces of the Mahoning valley, he 

 had been unconsciously preparing himself, and 

 never was such an opportunity more splendidly im- 

 proved. Absenting himself from Congress a few 

 days, he returned to Canton. Dec. 13. lss7. and de- 

 livered a masterly address before the Ohio State 

 Grange on "The American Farmer." In this he 

 declared against alien land holding and advised his 

 hearers to remain true to their faith in protection. 

 'We must avoid in this country," said he, "the 

 holding of large tracts of lands by nonresident 

 owners for speculative purposes, and set our faces 

 airainst alien land holding in small or large tracts. 

 Our public domain must be rededicated to our own 

 people, and neither foreign syndicates nor domestic 

 corporations must be permitted to divert it from 

 the hallowed purpose of actual settlement and cul- 

 tivation by real farmers. . . . Let us accept the 

 advice of the fathers of the republic, heed their 

 patriotic counsel, walk steadfastly in their faith, 

 preserve the mutual helpfulness and harmony of 

 the industries, and maintain our independence 

 National, industrial, and individual against all 

 the world, and thus advance to the high destiny in 

 store for us and our posterity." He also went to 

 Boston and discussed before the Home Market Club, 

 Feb. 9. ls-S s . the question of "free raw material," 

 upon which the majority in the House counted so 

 confidently to divide their Republican opponents, 

 with such breadth and force that the doctrine was 

 abandoned in New England, where it was supposed 

 to be strongest, as untenable and unworthy the sup- 

 port of any great interest or party. McKinley took 

 the position from which he has never changed or 

 retreated : " If protection, as a broad National 

 policy, is not sound in principle and wholesome in 

 practice, then it ought to be abandoned, provided 

 something better is offered in its place. The real 

 interest which the people of New England, as well 

 as the people of other sections, have in this question 

 is not narrow or sectional, but general and National. 

 If any other system will better promote industrial 

 growth, conserve National ends, reward individual 

 efforts, and the just aspirations of the people, then 

 it should be adopted, and adopted at once. ... I 

 warn you against false teachers who appeal to indi- 

 vidual" greed and narrow selfishness. They are sow- 

 ing the seeds of destruction to a system that has 

 produced results which are the wonder of the pres- 

 ent century, and which, if continued, will be the 

 marvel of the next." 



On Feb. 29 he addressed the House on the bill 

 to regulate the purchase of Government bonds, not 

 so much in opposition to the measure, for he heart- 

 ily favored their retirement as speedily as possible, 

 biit because of the wrong impression sought to be 

 conveyed. The President and the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, he said, had always had abundant au- 

 thority to buy bonds as fast as the revenues admit- 

 ted and "their ulterior motive in piling up 8 sur- 

 plus" of $60.000.000 in the Treasury, without 

 retiring any of them, was evidently for the pur- 

 pose of creating a condition of things in the coun- 

 try which would get up a scare and stampede 

 against the protective sy>rem." He was willing to 

 do anything to help " put in circulation the mil- 

 lions they had been hoarding, and pay off that 



