438 



McKINLEY, WILLIAM. 



every opportunity to present their views and testi- 

 mony, and to hear those of the opposition. All this 

 entailed a burden of work and trouble upon the 

 chairman that it is impossible to conceive, but it 

 was borne with a patience and consideration per- 

 fectly amazing. His speech in support of the 

 measure, May 7, fully sustained his high reputation 

 as an orator and dispassionate advocate, and, de- 

 spite the many sharp differences of opinion as to 

 the particular schedules or items, its reception by 

 the House proved conclusively that the passage of 

 the bill was assured. Seldom, if ever, in the annals 

 of Congress, has such hearty applause been given 

 to any leader as that which greeted him at the con- 

 clusion of this eloquent address. It seemed as if 

 every Republican on the floor united in the demand 

 for an immediate vote when with ringing tones he 

 declared : " With me this position is a deep convic- 

 viction, not a theory. I believe in it, and thus 

 warmly advocate it, because enveloped in it are my 

 country's highest development and greatest pros- 

 perity. Out of it comes the greatest gain to the 

 people, the greatest comfort to the masses, the 

 widest encouragement to manly aspirations with 

 the largest reward, dignifying and elevating our 

 citizenship, upon which the safety, purity, and per- 

 manency of our political system depend." The bill 

 was passed by the House on May 21, but was de- 

 bated for months in the Senate, that body finally 

 passing it, as amended, on Sept. 11. The amend- 

 ments were numerous, but mostly verbal, or other 

 slight changes, upon which the conference com- 

 mittee quickly agreed. The House accepted the rec- 

 iprocity amendment, proposed by the Senate, which 

 McKinley had unavailingly supported before the 

 House Committee, and the Senate accepted the in- 

 ternal-revenue sections insisted upon by the House; 

 and thereupon the bill became a law, subject to the 

 approval of the President, which was given Oct. 6, 

 1890. 



In the midst of the innumerable difficulties of 

 this protracted struggle, Major McKinley had dis- 

 played qualities of leadership and self-control, of 

 management and tact, and of patience and good 

 nature, that were indeed remarkable, and without 

 which the measure must inevkably have failed. A 

 single rash or hasty move, an angry or bitter word 

 in debate, a failure of proper recognition or respect- 

 ful attention to any one of a dozen contentious 

 members of his own party, as well as the united 

 Democracy, would have lost the fight. But no such 

 excuse for opposition was ever given, and so the bill 

 received the support of all the Republicans in Con- 

 gress who voted upon 

 it, except three. Its 

 passage was hardly ef- 

 fected, however, before 

 the general election oc- 

 curred, and in this the 

 Republicans were, as 

 anticipated, badly de- 

 feated. His own dis- 

 trict had been gerry- 

 mandered again, so that 

 he had 3.000 majority 

 to overcome. Hardly 

 a month elapsed from 

 the adjournment of 

 Congress before the 

 election, but he ac- 



THE GERRYMANDER OF THE 16TH ceptejl tho nomination 

 OHIO DISTRICT. BY WHICH MC- for Congress and eu- 



K1NLEY %YAS DEFEATED IN ISM. tCrcd the fight With til 6 



determination to de- 

 serve success, even though the odds against him 

 were invincible. Never was a congressional cam- 

 paign more fiercely fought, the contest immediately 



assuming a National phase, and attracting attention 

 everywhere, similar to that given the noted Lincoln- 

 Douglas debate in Illinois thirty-two years before. 

 His competitor was Hon. John G. Warwick, recently 

 Lieutenant Governor, a wealthy merchant and coal 

 operator of his own county, who was ably supported 

 by the strongest Democratic leaders of the country. 

 D'espite the fact that the tide of public sentiment 

 was clearly against his party, and that the most 

 outrageous imposition was practiced upon the peo- 

 ple in the outcry about the prices of all kinds of 

 goods being advanced by the new tariff, McKinley 

 still ran largely ahead of his ticket and came within 

 300 of being elected. No Republican had ever re- 

 ceived nearly so many votes in the counties compos- 

 ing the district, his vote exceeding by 1,250 that of 

 Harrison in the previous presidential campaign. 

 He returned to Congress for the short session, 

 where but little general legislation was attempted, 

 with the same confidence in the justice and ulti- 

 mate triumph of the great principle he had so long 

 advocated that always has animated him. Imme- 

 diately after the election a popular movement be- 

 gan in Ohio for his nomination for Governor. It 

 was evident before the winter was half over that he 

 would be nominated, and the sentiment continued 

 to increase so strongly that when it was learned 

 that he would accept the State convention in June, 

 1891, made him its candidate by acclamation. 

 Meanwhile he made speeches and addresses that 

 added to his reputation as an eloquent and ready 

 orator. In Congress he spoke and voted for the 

 eight-hour law ; he advocated efficient antitrust 

 and antioption laws; he supported the direct-tax 

 refunding law in an argument that abounds with 

 pertinent information ; and he presented and ad- 

 vised the adoption of a resolution declaring that 

 nothing in the new tariff law should be held to in- 

 validate our treaty with Hawaii. In December, 

 1890, he responded to the toast " New England and 

 the Future," at the New England dinner in Phila- 

 delphia. On the occasion of the seventieth anni- 

 versary of the birth of Judge Thurman, at Colum- 

 bus, in November, 1890, Mr. Cleveland spoke upon 

 "American Citizenship," and "made cheapness the 

 theme of his discourse, counting it one of the high- 

 est aspirations of American life." Major McKinley, 

 replying to this address at the Lincoln banquet in 

 Toledo, Feb. 12, 1891, to the contrary held that such 

 a boon as " cheap coats " meant inevitably " cheap 

 men," with all the evils of cheap and degraded 

 labor. He spoke of the future most confidently, 

 and. while not arrogating to himself undue credit, 

 he in nowise shirked responsibility for the new 

 tariff law, which was then condemned throughout 

 the country by both the Democratic and independ- 

 ent parties and press, as well as by many wavering 

 Republican leaders and prominent journals. " Time 

 and experience have vindicated the protective sys- 

 tem," he said, " and time and truth will vindicate 

 the new law, which was founded upon it. False 

 witnesses will be confounded by the unimpeachable 

 testimony of trade and experience. Their portents 

 have already been impeached ; false prophecy must 

 fall before good times and abounding prosperity. 

 Campaign prices have already been convicted as 

 campaign lies." He spoke at the jubilee of the 

 "Tribune," New York, April 10, 1891, in the same 

 hopeful vein : " The issue may be blinded by other 

 considerations, it may be subordinated for a time to 

 other questions, but when it is once clearly pre- 

 sented, the plain people, whose interests and indus- 

 tries are involved, whose wages and -homes are 

 affected, can not be induced to vote against them- 

 selves, against their families and fellow-citizens, 

 and in opposition to the progress and glory of the 

 republic. I have an abiding faith in the people." 



