The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1896-06-24
ROUGH ON M KINLEY

occupy conspicuous place in history
because Of the oratory it brought forth.
it's forsenic products were as mediocre
as the ticket 1t nominated. But among
the best and decidedly the most pointed
of the speeches delivered was the one of
Delegate Littlefield in seconding the
nomination of Speaker Reed. In telling
of just the sort of man the convention
should select as its standard bearer, Mr..
Littlefeld drew a picture that at once
outlined his ideal and reflected on Nc
Kinley In a manner quite the contrary
| of gingerly.
THE occasion" said he. demands our
| greatest man, our foremost leader. He
| should not be the representative of any
| special policy or any single principle of
the party. He must be the representa-
tive of all interests, all elements, all Sec
tions. He must have private life and
public record-fawless, untarnished
by suspicion, unsullied by calumny;
life upon which the calcium light of
campaign can cast no shadow. He must
have opinions and the courage to de-
clare them, and when he has once de-
clared them to stand like Luther. if
need be, forever. He must have COM
handing ability, integrity above suspic-
all the principles of the party. He must
have a thorough knowledge of the
science of practical government, an intel
ligent apprehension Of the true deStinies
of the republic, a sincere purpose, a
manly independence, a freedom from OBJ
legations, entanglements and alliances.
= But for his (Reed's) overmaster-
ing courage and inflexible determination
the Mckinley bill would have been moth
ing but legislative dream. His
record for sound money is without a
break. He believes in sound finance, and
in sound finance with definition. He
| believes in a definition which defines. He
| is willing that his definition shall be
| known of all men, and his definition is
that until we can have bimetallism by
| international agreement, the present
| gold standard should be maintained If
! nominated by the convention he and
none other will be the president Of this
republic"
There was plain intimation in all this
that no one idead man, no tariff crank
for instance. was desirable. Mckinley
being the only avowedly single notioned
candidate before the convention, there
was no mistaking for whom the shot was
intended. "A life upon which the cal
cium light Of campaign can cast no
shadow" Mr.. Littlefleld demanded as an
essential. He knew that the Hanna can
didate could supply no such life for the
calcium light of the campaign" when
turned on the career of that candidate
would develop in,huge proportions the
discreditable incident of his endorsement
of between 100000 and $4,000 of COM
mercial paper at time when his per-
sonal fortune could not have exceeded
$40 900.
The requisites Of opinions boldly de-
clared and bravely stood by; Of thor
ough knowledge of the science of practi-
cal government" of manly independ-
ence, a freedom from entanglements,
obligations and alliances" are in Nc
Kinley VIGOROUSLY absent. The scandal
and confusion which characterized his
administration of the gubernatorial
office of Ohio demonstrated his complete
ignorance of the Science OF practical
government" if his career in congress
had not already proved that beyond
cavil, and exposed some of the disreput-
able influences to which he was subject.
The entanglements, obligations and alli-
ances he has entered into in order to
secure the funds and support to carry on
his campaign, for the nomination just
obtained, are so plain and binding that
the sobriquet, the mortgage candidate, :"
has been bestowed on him by some of the
most distinguished leaders of his own
party.
But the "unkindest cut of all" was
when Littlefield adverted to Reed as be-
lieving in Sound finance with defini-
tion." "A definition which de-
fines" and as having Willingness that
Ibis definition should be known to all
men," In making these remarks the
Reed spokesman of course had in mind
the meaningless Mckinley defamation
about money of sold, silver and paper,
each as good as the other and all as I'M
furnished as the honor of the govrn-
ment.' And when, in the closing sem
tence of the excerpt quoted, he said, that
in the event of Reeds nomination and
election none other than the Maine
statesman would be president the pic
ture of Mark A. Hanna directing the
hand of the Canton Napoleon must
have filled his observant eye.
The unpleasant comparisons suggest
ed by Mr.. Littlefield We're of course for
the purpose of unfavorably affecting the
chances of Mckinley before the conven-
ton, but they are none the less signifi-
cant for that. They indicate dis
trust of the prince of tariffites in the
eastern mind that may prove his undoing
on election day, in fact that certainly
will entail his defeat if the Democratic
convention, which meets next month in
Chicago, acts with simple common
sense.
PERSONALS