The San Francisco call., 1896-08-23
Conduct That Won for the Ohio
Statesman the Respect of
Democrats.
CAPTURED THE GALLERIES
Keen Wit, Spontaneous Good Nature
and a Perfect Mastery of
Details.

The Washington correspondent of the
st. Louis Globe-Democrat devotes letter
to McKinley's first great speech on the
tariff. The story told in the following is
just now of peculiar interest to both DEM
ocrats and Republicans: y
William McKinley's first leap into Ma
tional fame as one of the country's fore
most orators was an achievement that
will never be forgotten by those who wit
messed it, and his triumph on that day
was all the more memorable and remark
able then and all the more interesting to
recall now from the TACT that it was asso-
ciated with an exciting little episode that
won for him the warm goodwill not only
of all Republicans but of large numbers OF
conservative Democrats of the old school.
Unlike William ]. Bryan's recent oratori-
cal exploit at Chicago, by which he cap
tured the Presidential nomination, Nc
Kinley's speech was not a clever piece of
verbal clap-trap-an ingeniously contrived
use of ammunition already spent-a
patchwork OF blasphemous phrases and
sensational sentences already published
and paraded; but it was an original, solid
and sustained effort OF two hours dura-
ton upon a subject to which he had de-
voted long attention-an effort which he
has since equaled and an effort whose sue
cess he has since more than justified.
The occasion was eight years ago, back
in the Fiftleth Congress, when the tariff
measure then known as the Mills bill, now
a mere historical reminiscence, was under
discussion in the House of Representa-
tives, of which Mckinley was a membe
1t was on one of the last days of the gen.
eral debate on the bill and the red-letter
date was May 1S, 1888. Ex-Speaker Samuel
j. Randall, the heroic old-school Democrat
of Pennsylvania, with Mckinley and the
silver-tongued Breckenridge of Kentucky,
occupied the lists in summing up the ar
guments OF that great forensic struggle, to
be followed next day by Speaker Carlisle
and Thomas B. Reed of Maine for the
Democratic and Republican sides, respect
lively.
BY special arrangement ex-Speaker Ran |
dali was to occupy the first hour of the tilt |
on that field day and Mckinley and Breck- I
inridge were to consume Jointly the re-
mainder of the time; and in order to effect /
this and to concede to Randall even the
inadequate hearing of one hour-he being
at odds with the managers of his own
party-it was agreed that the House should |
meet at 10 o'clock that morning.
Randall accordingly appeared promptly |
at the appointed hour, in readiness to |
address the House, and Springer of Hi |
nois was in the chair. But, unfortunately, |
a vigorous "Independent" Congressman |
named A. R. Anderson, from Iowa, had |
secured the floor on the preceding even |
ing, and when the House met at 10.o clock |
he insisted on his technical right to con-
tinue. So, while the overfowing galleries |
in a high pitch of expectation fidgeted
restlessly on account of the Interpolation,
Anderson reeled off a long free-trade COM
position with unintelligible speed, occupy
ing the whole hour that had been allotted
to Randall.
At II o'clock, however, Randall arose
and, taking position near the front row
of the Democratic side addressed the as
sembly. Notwithstanding he had been
notable figure in Congress for a quarter of
a century and had won and wielced un-
disputed leadership in the Democratic
party, he had been 'read out" of it for
refusing to reverse his life long tariff |
views upon the peremptory demand of the !
new free-trade managers. Standing up |
almost solitary and alone in defense of |
the traditional protectionist tenets of old |
line Democracy, and physically weak and |
i'll unto death of the malady that after |
ward laid him low, he heroically ex- |
pounded the non partisan doctrine of |
American protection, and, like an inspired |
prophet in his old age, warned his erring
party associates of the folly of abandoning |
good economic principles for bad.
His face paled visibly as he began, read
ing from manuscript, and his hands trem-
bled as he held the leaves His progress
was painful. but his audience was i'm |
pressed by the simple grandeur of the Sit
uation, and his own marvellous will power
sustained him.
He briefly alluded to the recognized |
necessity of a tariff revision and the prom
ises of mis- party to that end, and pro-
ceeded to explain the provisions OF the |
III - iob
ture knowledge had prepared and intro |
duced, to demonstrate that tariff revision |
fulfilling the party promises and remedy |
ing existing abuses could be accomplished /
upon Democratic lines and at the same
time wreak injury to no American indus
try After adverting TO the Mills bill in a
general way, he next proceeded to analyze
the blunders in it, showing that it left |
dutiable many so-called raw materials, |
while placing on the free list articles made |
from them, thus not only erecting an in
barrier against the produce
ton of such articles here, but actually pro-
tecting the foreigner against US, and i'm
posing burdens upon ourselves for the for
eigner's beneft.
He pointed out, TOO, that while the bills |
supporters claimed to be the peculiar
friends OF the farmer, tney took from him
his protective duties on wool, hemp, fax,
meats, milk, fruits, vegetables and seeds,
and while protesting 10 give the manu-
facturer better rates, deprived him of his
protective duties. And instead of remov-
ng, taxes from necessaries and imposing
hem upon luxurles, the bill gave free
,Iiye oil to the epicure and taxed castor
,iI 81 per cent; gave free tin-plate to the
,reat oil and meat-canning monopolIes,
ind imposed duty of 100 D per cent upon
ice; gave the sugar trust free boneblack
or cheaper manufacture, and levied a pro-
libitory duty on grocery sugar; imposed
% per cent duty upon the ''poor mans
blanket" ana only 80 per cent upon the
administer carpet of the rich; and finally
made free the blooded horses of the gentle
nen of the turf and the fine paintings and
tatua-y OF the railway millionaire and
coal baron
Al this point, his allotted hour having
xpired. The Speaker asked for slight ex-
ension of time; but Chairman Roger Q.
Nils OF Texas. then head of the Ways
md Means Committee, who had naturally
,een writhing in irritation under this
earchipg analysis of the measure bearing
lis name. and whose plans as leader of
he House in control of the debate would
necessarily be interfered with and disar-
anged by any extension of RandalPs
IL = 1