The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-26
MKIsLEy's GUBERNAToRIAIs REC
ORD.


OF the patriotic portion of the people,
of all that portion of the people which
is endowed with sweetness and light
Their breasts are never actuated by
any motives but the purest: their
/ thoughts are ever the most elevated;
and they would not think the least sin
lister thought for all the silver in the
world, no matter what they might do
for gold. And Major Mckinley is the
candidate of all these people; nay. he
is their ideal; in him they see blended
in perfect harmony the true, the beau
tiful and the good.
Mckinley seeks to be the chief execu-
tive of the nation. He was chief execu-
tive of Ohio and made record there,
one that some of his now over-zealous
supporters seem to have disremem-
bered. A correspondent of the New
York Evening Post, writing from Co.
lumbus, O., under date OF April II,
1896, says:
If the four years of Governor Nc
kinley's so-called administration" in
Ohio show a record of feebleness, neg
lect and subservience to rings and loD-
bies in connection with thl states
tinanciering, they are positively dis
reputable. in another light; Tor the gov
ernor proved himself not only nerveless
and ineffective in dealing with any i'm
portant public question, but unable to
choose men for appointment who could
keep clear OF scandals. II he had left
in their places all the executive officers
who were already in the service when
he took his chair, or if he had in max
ing changes, sought only those whose
approved service under former govern
ors had given them title to his con-
sideration, he could have steered clear
of many of the perils which beset his
course, and gone out of the governor
ship with a record fit for candidate
for the presidency. But instead OF that
he had a general clearing-out. reorgan-
iZing officers and STATS and boards and
commissions till he had Mckinley
lied" practically the whole state gov
eminent, with results which proved
his incapacity for exercising the power
of appointment and removal.
And today the Post and the other
too-good-to-l ive-long papers and people
are holding UP their hands in holy hor-
ror because Mr.. Bryan stands upon
platform that is against holding Office
for life. Ii Mckinley is elected there
is little danger that any Democrats
win hold office for life or any consid-
cradle length of time If the Corsican
of Canton did not hesitate TO 'MeKin-
leyize' Ohio. would he hesitate to Nc
Kinleyize" the whole country for the
sake of good government as exem-
plified in his own person?
This correspondent gives further &C
count of McKinley's gubernatortal rec
ord. He proceeds:
indeed, the first cases which occur to
mind are those of one new appointee
and one holdover. The new appointee
was the governors personal choice for
a high place on his military staff; he
retired after the newspapers had as'5o-
ciated his name with a domestic scan
6al of which the details would not edify
the refined readers of the Evening Post,
and which it would be better to dismiss
with this brief reference. The holdover
almost, if not quite, the only person
in a highly responsible Office whom
Governor Mckinley saw fit to keep IN
his place-was W. y. Mcdonald, chief
inspector of workshops and factories
1t is the duty of this functionary to
inspect all buildings in which large
numbers of persons are housed, ana
pass upon their safety and the sufiic-
iency of their sanitary equipment. AS
an officer, Mcdonald made himself I'M
popular by his zeal in insisting on sup
plying all sorts of buildings with IRE
escapes He marred the architecture
Of many pretentious hotels, and added
considerably to the expense of various
manufacturing plants by this means,
and the proprietors whose pockets felt
the pinch reviled him as a fire escape
fieno' and threw out broad hints That
he received a commission from dealers
in safety appliances. In view Of the eX-
cellence of the end gained, however,
no attention was paid to this grump-
ling. But one fine day the capital city
was startled by the story that MeDon-
aid had been drawing money from the
state treasury on fraudulent warrants,
and the accused officer was arrested
and brought to trial.
1t was a queer1y mixed Let of evil
dence which was brought out for both
prosecution and defence, so much so
that the jury disagreed and no further
proceedings were taken, Mcdonald
having made good some $4,000, respc1-
sikiltty for which seemed to have been
fixed upon him 1t appeared that he
had eleven deputies serving under him.
who divided their time between official
and political work. They had been ac-
tive. as he had been also, in helping to
elect Governor McKi-ley ana other
Republican candidates TO Office. Money
was needed to keeT, the machine run
ming. and these fellows contributed
with the rest For their expenses
they were expected to make regular
accourting to their chief, who in turn
would draw the money from the state
treasury. Between accepting oral
statements of the expenses of his su-
bordfnates, instead Of vouchers, and
keeping run III his head of the amounts
ne advanced to them for the payment
OF the political assessments. Melon
AIDS accounts became a hopeless tan
gle, and all attempts to Straighten
them before a jury made the political
scandals OF his administration thicker.
Al the same time it became pain 10 all
who followed the testimony that his
own bank account I'D not Droht by
his irregularities. but that he was the
victim of a rotten sort OF partisan
ship which permea1ed the higher poll
tics of Ohio-a convenient scapegOat
on whom bigger men could heap their
own responsibilities. tt was sympathy
for his situation as a vicaI-ous martyr
which undoubtedly had most to do
with the disagreement Of the jury, and
it was the dread of raking over more
administration scandals which prompt
ed the dismissal of the case after one
mistrial
How did Governor Mckinley act in
the premises? Did he. as soon as it
became clear that Mcdonald had got
into trouble by over-zeal in working