St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-18
WHY "FRYING THE FAT:"

That Mr.. Hanna should be passing
be a more accurate term - around
among the protectees Cf the East is,
in view of the unquestioned preference
Of the rank and file of the party for
Mckinley. apparently a superfluous
task. 1t would have a parallel should,
say Mr. Whitney, in 1883 or 1892, have
made a toIr of the country raising
money to aid in getting the nomination
for Mr.. Cleveland. There IS as deep a
ground swell on for Mr.. Mckinley as
there was in both those years for Mr..
Cleveland, when money was useless
either to promote or prevent his NOM
inatiOn. That Mr. Hanna is doing this
however the editorial columns of East
ern papers supporting the candidacy
OF other Republicans afford ample
proof. 1t is not a case of Democratic
assertion, but one o. Republican ad-
mission and censure. Mr.. Quays Penn
sylvania organs are especially indig-
nant that Hanna should invade his
balliwick and carry away the sinews
that should be reserved for the local
Chieftain.
Then there is the man of Illinois who
is standing for the nomination alto
gether on his resemblance to Lincoln,
for his speeches indicate no advocacy
of policy that makes him a suitable
leader. He, too, has felt the seductive
off in oic fot Of ha
Mr.. Hanna has drawn from the bene-
ficiaries of McKinleyism, and makes
no bones of saying what he thinks of
it. He is poor, he says, but had he
money he would not use it nor would
he ask financial aid because Il would
be placing myself, to an extent, in the
hands of those who furnished it,"
Without direct proof, he knows 'as
well as 1 know that the sun is shining
that NcKinley's active men are all
around Illinois. They especially tam
per with the country districts and are
working up Mckinley delegations"
Up from the South comes an indig-
nant protest. Not from Louisiana.
where Warmoth and Kellogg, those eX-
perienced and deft handlers of Doodle,
fought out the contest for Reed and
Mckinley, but from Mississippi where
John r. Lynch, the colored leader,
whilom temporary chairman of a Re-
publican national convention. loudly
asserts that faith was broken with him,
and Mckinley money used to break him
down and foist another factional leader
on the par ty. AS long ago as last
October, he says, he had an agree
ment with McKinley's managers to
support him if they would take no
part in the factionaI fight in Mississippi
and furnish no money to either fac
ton" He found out, however, when
the state committee met that money
had been furnished the Hill faction
to fix it, and he had found out where
1t came from. So the evidence accum-
ulates that, in spite of the apparent
spontaneous boom, making ante-con-
vention use of money needless, it is
being raised and used quite generally.
The why remains Il matter of curl
osity and speculation. 1t may be merely
the Wis ineltiae, the force of habit.
That fat" was freely used in and be-
fore conventions John Sherman has left
no loom for doubt in his entertaining
''Recollections;" and Sherman, the SOL
der, assured Alger, the politician. that
ne did not at all blame him if he
bought some" of the delegates away
from brother John, because it was "ac-
cording to universal usage" So, though
Manager Hanna sees everywhere the
Mckinley boom effervescing and states
and congressional districts sprouting
Mckinley delegates, the old habit of
raising boom funds is too strong to be
quit of even when the work seems
needless. But it is more probable that
Hanna knows what he is about. He
knows that it is not a few North
ern enthusiasts who will control the
choice of the convention. He knows
that it was the Southern delegates in
1892. the officeholders composing the