The San Francisco call., 1896-06-12
Mckinley AND THE MASSES.

Comparatively q short time ago every
prospect of the political situation pre-
saged prolonged contest for the Presi-
dental nomination at st. Louis. The Re-
publican party is so atfiuent of great men
that in almost every section of the Union
there is a leader whom his friends may
rightly hope to see elevated to the Presi-
Gency. Each of these was put forward in
this campaign with degree OF ardor and
strength of support that implied long
and close contest before the victory would
be awarded to either. To-day the whole
situation is changed. There is no longer
contest. Mckinley will be nominated al
most without a ballot. The convention
will be simply an ovation for him.
What has produced this changer The
friends of Allison, of Cullom, of Morton,
of Quay and of Reed are as ardent, as
loyal and as true as ever. In no sense
has any of these great leaders lost the
confidence or the admiration of his
friends or of the party generally in the
slightest degree. All hold to-day as
high prestige and exert as strong an infu-
ence in the party and the Nation as ever
they did. Back OF them, around them and
above them, however, have arisen the
prestige and the influence OF popular SEN
timent. This is the power which has
wrought the ch ange in the prospects of
the convention. It is the voice of the
people declaring for Mckinley that makes
his nomination assured.
For weeks past this voice of the people
has been making itself heard with grow
ing distinetness of utteranee. 1t has
spoken not from one section of the Union,
but from all. Every State has had it's Nc
Kinley clubs and its manifestations of
popular desire for Mckinley leadership.
The sentiment grew with the days, deep
ened as it widened ana increased in inten-
sity with its extending sweep. 1t ar, Sc
spontaneously from the people, came up
from loyal Republican hearts North and
South and East and West, and is now
concentrated at st. Louis, where it has
alreedy shown a force and energy which
will make the great National Convention
a meeting to ratify its will and turn what
promised TO be contest into an ovation
to the peoples choice.
This popular movement has not been
an uninteIligent one, nor is it without
deep significance to those who are capable
Of understanding it. For three years
under Democratic administration there
have been disasters to every American in
dustry, losses to every American trade and
the pressure of hard times on every Amer
lean home. Out of the trials and the mis-
fortunes of those years the workingmen
and what Lincoln called the ''plain people
of the country" have drawn a deep and
lasting resolve. They have determined
that the Government which they support
shall be Government for their benefit;
that it shall protect their wages from
foreign competition and their homes from
ruin. That resolve they propose TO put
into execution in this campaign, and,
moreover, they intend to make their will
so clear that even the most foolish cannot
mistake it.
Among the many leaders of the Repub-
lican party Mckinley is the one whose
name is most closely identified with the
idea of high protective tariff. Moreover,
his name III politics stands for almost
nothing else. The people know him as
brave soldier of the war for the Union and |
a stalwart defender of the flag This and
his record on the tariff is what he repre-
sents to them. 1t is clear that the mean
ing of the popular uprising for Mckinley
is that the issues this year are to be pro-
lection and true Americanism. The
money question will be subordinated for
time. The people have decreed it. The
only issues are those included in the Nc
Knley battle-cry, patriotism, protection
nd