Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-09-02
WILLIAM MCKINLEY. Jr.
Why the People Honor Him.
The Record of his Life---IIis Chnrac-
teristics as "A Man and a Statesman.

The Record of his Life---IIis Chnrac-
teristics as Man and a Statesman.
The present week has been made nota-
BILE in the political annals of Vermont by
| the presence in the state of Gov. Wm.
| Mckinley, jr., of Ohio. Windham county
has been especially favored by having two
addresses from him, one at Bellows Falls
and one at Brattleboro, on the issues of
the campaign, and his strong, sound words
and the charm of his personal presence
/ VIII long remain pleasant memory in the
minds of the thousands who gathered.
| The only regret is that an imperative sum
mons to attend to official business at the
Ohio state capital compelled the disarrange-
ment of the plans for an afternoon demon
| stration in Brattleboro.
GOV. Mckinley was born at Niles. Ohio.
Feb. 26, 1874. In May, 1861. he enlist
ed as a private in the 23d regiment of Ohio
Infantry, passed through 10 bloody battles
of the Civil war, and was mustered ont in
September 1865, as captain and brevet
major. He studied law and settled at
Canton, where he still lives. In 1876 he
was elected to the 45th Congress and was
three times reelected, though the third
time he was counted out late in the session
by Democratic House. He was elected
to the 49th, j0th, and 51st Congresses
and in the last was chairman of the COM
mittee on ways and means, and the leader
in enacting the great tariff bill which bears
his name.
During his last term Democratic leg
islature redistricted Ohio in a way to put
Democratic majority of more than 2500
in his district. Nevertheless, he went be-
fore the people for reelection. and so great
was his personal popularity, and so strong
the belief in the wisdom of the new tariff,
when his lucid explanations made it under
stood, that he ran only 302 votes behind
his Democratic opponent.
On the 18th of June, 1891, he was
unanimously nominated by the Republi-
can state convention at Columbus for GOV
ernor, and after a hotly contested cam
paign of remarkable brilliancy, during
which Mckinley spoke in nearly or quite
every one of the SS counties of Ohio, oft
en- making three or four speeches a dav.
he was triumphantly elected by plurality
of 2l,5ll votes over Campbell, his Demo
cratic opponent.
Gov. Mckinley was elected chairman of
the Republican national convention held
at Minneapolis last June, and the power
and charm of his personal presence were
felt and acknowledged by every one of the
great throng of $1,000 delegates and spec
tators there in attendance. Repeatedly
during the proceedings there We're indica-
tiOns of stampede of the convention to
Gov. Mckinley as the favorite presidential
candidate, but he went to the convention
as a firm believer in President Harrison.
and as his friend and supporter, and he
steadily refused to cOuHtenance any move
ment in his own behalf in a sincere, deter
mined and manly way which made his pop
ularity greater than ever.
In his personal bearing Gov. Mckinley
is the most genial and atfabe of men. His
face, as our admirable engraving shows, is
of the strong, open type, which of itself
instantly wins friendship and confidence.
His domestic and social life is pure, and
his character above reproach. In every
way he is an admirable example of our
best American manhood.
That Gov. Mckinley is at present the
strongest political speaker in this country,
and the man more sought after than any
other, goes without saying. That this is
so, however, is not because he is a great
orator, for he is not remarkable for his ell
oquence. He is clear, forcible and elegant,
but, what is much more than this, he is
sound, logical and genuine. The eager
ness of the people to hear him is due to
the confidence they have in his statesman
ship. They recognize in him an embodi-
ment of the American doctrine of protec-
tion as principle of our American life,