The herald., 1896-05-24
M'KINLEY'S SILENCE

guard,
Eff he must hev beliefs, nut TO b lieve EN-
tn hard; - -
For, ez sure ez he does, ne II ne plurtln
EN- out
'Thout regardn' the natur O man more'n
Nor it don't ask much gumption to pick out
flaw 81, u
In parry whose leader are loose IN inc
An SO in our own case l ventur' to hint
Tibet we'd better nut air our perceedins
in print
Nor pass resserlootions ez long ez your arm
Tibet may ez things happen to turn du
us harm;
For when you've done all your real mean
in to smother,
The darned things II up an mean Sunthln
or mother. -Biglow Papers.
Probably nothing SO extraordinary as
McKinleys silence has happened in po-
litical history. His champions, such as
General Alger, have nothing to say i'll
explanation of it. The Tribune, his lead
ing advocate here, has accounted for
it in two ways, one on Monday, by show
ing that the currency Is of no conse-
ouence; the other today, by showing
that the Sun is amusing and etfectiVe:
that the Evening Post Is (sarcastically)
''amia BILE, optimistic, and sweet tenn
pered," and that severa, papers are
''wailing' over Mckinley. About Nc
Kinleys opinions not a word. The sit
uation in absurdity resembles very much
proposing to nominate Lincoln in 1860,
and his refusing to say whether he was
or was not opposed to slavery until he
saw the platform, which would set forth
that slavery. like free labor, had many
defects, but that it was improving like
free labor, and though every man should
liberate his slaves on request, no one
should do so on compulsion, and that
no slaves who did not like to go into the
territories should be carried therein
without their consent in writing, and so
on. A candidate on a platform of this
kind would have filed the land with
ineXtinguishable laughter. Has the
American sense of humor declined?-
New York Evening Post.
The demand for a declaration from
Mckinley has grown out Of the Ohio
straddle. 1t is understood that Mr. Nc
Kinley was the author of that straddle.
No other incident of the preliminary
campaign has been so much discussed
or so generally condemned as that state
after state has swung into the McKin-
ley column since the Ohio Republicans
perpetrated that bunder, but nearly
all such states have regarded the Ohio
plank not as a model but an awful eX-
ample. The Republican papers OF the
entire country, with few exceptions.
have condemned that evasive deliver
ance in unmeasured terms. Even the
leading Mckinley organ in Ohio has
admitted and deplored the mistake
made at Columbus. Under these cir
cumstances it is not strange that there
is loud call for a few words from tina
Ohio candidate. Courage wins oftener
than timidity.- Washington Post.
"
Our esteemed contemporary, the Her
aid. had no better success than did the
World in obtaining from Major McKin-
ley a declaration of his present views on
the subject of free silver. To all the
written questions submitted to him he
returned the same answer: 81 have
nothing to say" Whereupon the Her
aid has something to say as follows:
ut is inconceivable that the great Re-
publican party will put forward as its
candidate for president a man who
either has no convictions on this domi-
nant question or who. if he has any con-
victions, lacks the courage to avow
them. His reticence may be regarded
by his advisers as good politics. but it
stamps him as man lacking the two es,