The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-04-07
M,KINLEY A STUDENT

| The Eagle has been asked question
which it takes pleasure in answering.
The question arose from the declara-
ton of the Eagle that Mckinley is not
| politician made" hero; that he has
arisen to great heighth in politics with
out the aid of the common political
| tricks; that he is honest in word and
deed; and will reach the presidency
without departing from this degree of
| integrity.
The question asked is this: Glow
was it possible for Mckinley to go up
in politics, as he has, without STOPPING
to the deceits and dishonesty of regu-
lation politics."
In the first place Mckinley is not a
politician. The manager of his cam
paign. selected no doubt by Mckinley
himself, is not politician, for Marcus
Aurelius Hanna of Cleveland, Ohio, is
a business man. Mckinley is an pol
itical economic student. His election
to the presidency will be an historical
accident Mckinley early took up the
study of the tariff question. He studied
that question exclusively. He devoted
his time exclusively to all the schedules
of imports. He talked tariff at public
meetings. While the fellows with
whom he associated were pulling the
partiSanS into line with all the stock
appears to prejudices Mckinley was
forever dining the idea of protective
tariff in their ears. He had entered
upon the solution Of the tariff question
and he believed he had discovered it.
Having mastered that question he talk
ed little else. 1t happened therefore
that he was peculiarly nominated and
elected-nOminated and elected on ac-
count of his fidelity and belief in a pro-
tective tariff system. Once in con-
gress he soon became known as a tariff
expert. and it was because of that fact.
that when 4 tariff bill was prepared of
an extreme nature, it once took the
name of this tariff student, and not
tariff politician. William Mckinley.
The nation did not like that bill and
said 50 in Stentorian tones. They be-
lieved this tariff student wrong and
turned him and his party down. Then
came Democratic incompetency and
laundering and the people turned to the
tariff student 10 apologize for their
haste in condemning him. He was
taken up by the Ohio Republicans and
elected governor. His speeches in
Ohio We're speeches on the tariff. He
made his campaign on the tariff. The
news of his great victory in that state
in 1923 was greeted with acclaim by
the Republicans Of the nation. Demo
cratic laundering and incompetency
continued and Mckinley'S popularity
grew.
Without his Steadfast fidelity 70 the
tariff Mchinley'S present popularity
would have been impossible He was
never nominated and elected because
he was personally a vote-Cetter. be-
cause he could TX = shattered fence
here or there or talk dissatisfied ele-
ments into line, but because he repre-
scented principle which was nation
wide and because the people believed
him and that principle identical
Singularly enough the great west is
today supporting Mckinley. There
are several causes for This. The east
IS not supporting Mckinley. first be-
cause the great politicians of this conn
Try living almost wholly in the east 90
not want student in the White House.
They want politician there. Then
the great moneyed classes of the east
are against him because they fear him |
on the money question. Why shouldn't
the goldbugS fear him: Mckinley is ;
bimetallist, thar Is, he is for the stan