The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-11-04

has also gone out to make himself the
| reputation of being one of the foremost
| lawyers of Ohio. He was known be-
| fore going To congress as one of the
| hrSt advocates in the state. and two
| celebrated eases won that reputation
| Ior him. One of these cases was where
he defended a number of Ohio miners,
charged with having melted \ riot and
| rintlng. He not only defended the case
| With extraordinary abnlty. hut cleared
| all of the mon but one. and then.
| knowing that his clients were poor men.
| refused to accept a fee from them.
When this news went out into the vari-
,us mining communities of eastern
ohio it made for Mckinley a reputa-
! ton for fairness and generosity that
= has never been forgotten by that class
| OF labor. The other case was that of
| DR.. Cans, once the leading physician
| i'm Stark county. He was charged with
malpractice and was defended by
| Major Mckinley. The counsel's speech
in defense of his client was on a par
with any oratorical effort of his life,
and was much talked about by the
legal profession of the counties in the
! judicial district. As lawyer, Mckin-
ley was known here as always thorough
| and careful in the preparation of his
cases. He possessed power to mas
\ ter details often overlooked by many
public men of equal brilliancy in other
\ respects. He is called a worker" He
! is always reading and studying and
asking questions. 1t is told of him
that when student in the Bible class
of the Methodist church at Poland his
| DISTINGUISHING trait was the frequency
and pertinacity with which he asked
! questions. He is never satisfied with
| knowing enough. He thinks constant
ly that there Is something which he has
not yet learned along the line of eco-
nomic study. which he has made the
work OF his life. Yet he will turn from
his books to play game of cribbage
or friendly hand of euchre. He Is
temperance man. He never drank
liquor and never will. and in this Mrs.
Mckinley strongly supports him. At
social functions her glass Is inverted.
he smokes a strong cigar, and it must
be a good one. He speaks slowly with
a careful choice of language, fitting
his words to the character of the ar
gument he is making. His voice is
penetrating. When the Mckinley tariff
bill passed in the house a Washington
correspondent wrote of his style of ora
tory: There We're no meretricious
gllttering phrases to tickle the fancy.
Every sentence was as solid as the
granite in the eternal hills
He held an audience of Georgia peo-
pie at Chautauqua assembly near
Atlanta for two hours once while
speaking of the subject of protection.
Henry w. Grady said afterward of this
address: 1T was only by the greatest
| self control that ! restrained myself
from rising as Mr.. Mckinley concluded
his wonderful speech an declaring my
self henceforth ready to follow him
as a disciple" Three times Major Nc
kinley has figured prominently in Re-
publican national conventions, and the
Canton people have not finished telling
stories vet Of the power he welded in
them. He came to the Chicago con-
vention Of 1884 as a Blaine delegate.
Juge Kelley, Odf Pennsylvania, said at
that time that there was no man upon
whose shoulders he would rather let
his mantle fall than William Mckinley.
The people of the whole Mahoning
Valley were for Blaine, and Mckinley
was sent to Chicago to speak for them
and their favorite. In Chicago he was
a strong advocate Of the sentiment
that all legitimate means should be
sought to nominate Blaine, but if that
was impossible, Ohio should cast solid
vote for Sherman. Sherman respected
McKinley's attitude. and the Canton
man came back to his home and dis
trict stronger than when he went
away. 1t was at this convention and
in the platform adopted that Mckinley
gave to the people his motto in public
life: 1T is the first duty of a good gov
ernment to protect the rights and pro-
mote the interests of it's own people,"
In 1883 he came to the Chicago conven-
ton of his party again when the great
effort was made to nominate John
Sherman for the presidency, and al
most as strong an effort made to NOM
mate Mckinley himself He proved his
manhood then and his devotion to those
to whom he had pledged his word by
absolutely refusing to allow his name
to be considered under any circum-
stances. When approached by the New
Jersey delegates and told that they
were going To cast their ballot for him
and that he would he nominated his
answer was: Father than that
would suffer the loss of my good right
arm. Yes. | would suffer death To
accept a nomina ton, il one We're pos
sible. under these circumstances would
inevitably lead to my defeat, and it
ought to lead to my defeat These
utterances give clear insight into
the kind of manhood that controls all
Of Major Mcinley's actions, and ex-
plains in one way the extraordinary
hold which lie has on the affections
an the confidence of the MohUnng dis
trict people. In 1892 he became per-
manent chairman of the national con-
vention at Minneapolis. He was n
gate-at-large on the Ohio delega-
ton and was pledged to support the
denomination of Harrison. There was
but one ballot taken in that conven-
tion for the presidential nomination.
When the roll was being called the
chairman of the Ohio delegation an
nounced the vote of that State as A for
Mckinley and two for Harrison. Nc
kinley sprang from his seat and shout
ed out: Il challenge the vote of Ohio"
He attempted to prevent the vote of
his State being cast for him. but on
: another vote taken it stood A. for him
and one for Harrison. Harrison. of
course. was nominated. and Mckinley
gave Of his time and strength all that
any human being could to secure his
re-eloction.
Many persons not intimately ac-
. Guainted with the life history of Major
! Mckinley have wondered what influ-
cnces have combined to give him his
power over other men. first. and finally
over whole nation. Reference has
! been to the strong mother. who lives
| with him, and to the sweetfaced
; wife, as having had much to do with
his mastery control over himself. There
was. in his early days, though. the in
nuence of Anna Mckinley. his sister.
upon him. She lies buried now in the
beautiful Westlawn cemetery of this
city. She was one of the many noble
women Canton people delight in honor
| ing She became a school trustee. and
, was one of the principals in the gram
. mar school system Of the city for years
, She was an educator of arked force
+ and strength of character. When Nc
' Kinley. fresh from the army and anN-
p ious to do something to aid his family
\ financially, hesitated about taking ur
. the study Of law. because he thought he
, | should enter business life, where he
! | or, IL, .,,ax,o,. ron .lil,. i, 70