Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-06-17
McKINLEY'S MANAGER.

McKINLEY'S MANAGER.
Although, so far, at st. Louis little has
. been heard ofany other name than that o.
Mckinley, it has clearly and definitely
developed that the real power behind the
remarkable boom of the great apostle Of
protection, is Marcus Aurelius Hanna, 6
wealthy Ohioan, who, until the past few
wears, has had little to do with politics
And the facts in the case make strange
story.
Though Mckinley is generally looked
upon as an intellectual giant, as a matter
of fact, there is reason to doubt as to
whether he isa man Of more than medi-
ocre ability. His reputation was made
while he was chairman of the ways and
means committee of the house, in connec-
ton with the high protective tariff bill
which, by virtue of the Office he held, was
given his name. The fact that Mckinley
was chairman of the ways and means
committee is not necessarily aguarantee OF
superior ability. On the contrary it is easily
possible that he may have been selected
for the reason that, having no decided
opinions of his own, he could more easily
become the willing tool of the powers that
gave him the position, and from condi-
tions as they exist today, this idea takes
deep color.
During all the months that Mckinley
has been prominent candidate for the
Republican presidential nomination,
personally, he has not been known to
make single significant statement bear
ing upon the political situation. His
words, his writings, his actions, and, it
seems, his very thoughts, have been under
the complete control and dictation of
Mark Hanna, and there is. reason to be-
lieve that if Mckinley is made president,
it has already been arranged that Hanna
is to be the real power behind the throne.
For this suspicion there are plausible
reasons.
1t will be remembered that while Nc
Kinley was governor of Ohio, he was
financially ruined. The cause of his
trouble was security debts. The news was
published abroad, however, that he met
the situation like man. Instead of try
ing to save even few remnants from the
wreck of his small fortune, he gave up to
his creditors everything and courageous
ly started out anew. The world loves a
disinterested display of honesty under
such conditions, and the sympathy that
was won by Mckinley was widespread.
Recently it has developed toa reasonable
certainty that the whole thing was not
exactly what it seemed. Indeed, it is pos
sible that the incident had heen cut and
dried beforehand, for it is now accepted as
fact that it was Mark Hanna, who,
out of his almost inexhaustible means,
furnished the cash with which the great
display of disinterested integrity was
made.
When VIM. L. Wilson stood for re-elec-
ton to congress after the framing OF the
tariff bill that was passed to supplant the
Mckinley law, it soon became evident
that money was being spent against
him in his district like water. AS the re-
suit fthis large expenditure of money,
Wilson was defeated but even before the
election took place, it developed that the
principal mover in the campaign-the
man with the barrel-was Mark Hanna.
And now the whole situation seems to be
growing clear.
All this activity on the part of the Ohio
millionaire is hardly to be taken as dis
interested admiration for the Republican
idol. On the contrary it would appear
that years ago Hanna realized that the
name of Mckinley was great, and with
the same business shrewness that enabled
him to accumulate his millions, he forth
with bought it as trademark upon which
to build political fortune. Owning Nc
Kinley, as he evidently does, if Mckinley
should ever become president, Hanna will
pull the strings even as Stetson, Morgan
and others have been pulling the strings
for Mr.. Cleveland.