The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-09-23
THAT RUSH FOR M'KINLEY.

stes
of Canton, A few months ago Jus
population of less than 3o'ooo WAC
busv in its factories and stores anu
tbe Mace seldom was spoken or
To-day III is the Mecca Of hundreds
of thousands Tt is Mckinley
home. and Mckinley is the hope OF
the American people
And here is tale Of one OF MclNin-
lev's s.busy days." from the New YORK
commercial Advertiser, whose loyal
tx" has grown mysteriously with the
growth of that newsy paper;
..Nfaior McKinley's busiest day
was Saturday, when he broke all
records by making nine speeches
to as many delegations at Canton.
Then Chicago speaks again:
Everybody has heard of Moham-
med's common sense that since
the mountain would not come to
the prophet, the prophet must so
To the mountain. There was no
other way for the two to come
together"
The truth about all these new roles
of Messiah that seem SO suddenly to
have been created" for Mckinley has
been so ill-disguised that even the
members of the Press Associations
which handle the stuff go into sleeve
litter over the inside" motive-power
behind the masses" moving that way.
Mark Hanna's ears are not deaf TO the
cheers of the masses especially those
he has heard from the common people
who have been listening to Bryan, and
he has been quick to see that some
thing had to be done. While the great
cities were rocking with applause for
the man who was to deliver them, Nc
Kinley was rocking in his Canton front
porch alone. His name even was getting
to be a comparatively scarce article in
the papers, to say nothing of his vacu-
Gus personality.
A pitiful figure, indeed. Now it
comes to pass in letter written to the
ST. Louis Republican from an old sol
der, that Mckinley got himself detail
ed as cook, and served in that capacity
until he was appointed a Commissary
Sergeant. He was, of course, non
combatant, and never carried or used
musket in the rank and file"
Tt does seem hard to believe that d
man who has withered as if conscience
stricken at every touch of Hanna,
could have been heroic in war or peace.
His tariff bill, the only bone upon
which he lives, turns out to have been
| the doing of Thomas B. Reed as much
as was Mckinley himself, when made
chairman of the Ways and Means COM
mfttee, doing of Reed.
And then the third great step in
his career was the smashing up of the
State finances of Ohio under his loose
gubernatorial management, and then
his nomination made by Hanna six
weeks before American freemen had
even met in convention.
Since then he has been playing Tril-
by TO Hanna's Syengali. He is silent
or he is speechful at the wave of the
thick hand of the Cleveland iron-mas-
ter. Now we can hear him singing all
the Ben Bolts that are put before him
to all the Ben Boilers that are hauled
against their will to hear him. There is
nobody being faxed by this. The Ameri-
can people have that saving sense OF
humor which puts them on" very
quickly, but then enjoyment in this
case has an element of pity in it as
we'll
Here is what the St. Louis Republic
says as to this new phase Of American
politics: 4'a. oeo
"The Republic has referred to
the pilgrimages to Canton as the
diversion of people who liked to
travel in special coaches on free
passes
'sBut it appears from evidence
laid before the National Demo-
cratic committee by Chicago work
ingmen that this view of the Can
confront porch campaign is erro-
neous. Not able to find enough
people willing to pay for free
railroad trip by taking dose of
Mckinley platitudes, Boss Hanna
has given out the word that COM
Tulsion must be adopted for the
purpose of swelling the Canton
procession to proper proportions.
The workingmen say that they
are ordered on pain of dismissal to
visit Mckinley and hear his
speeches.
''This is coercion extraordinary.
The attempt to make man join
political club and vote ticket not
to his liking is an attack on his
manhood and independence as an
American citizen. 1t is a blow at
liberty
"But the attempt TO force men to
visit Canton and listen to a McKin-
ley speech is worse than ordinary
political coercion, because itadds to
tyranny refined cruelty. 1t is said
that no suffering is greater than
that of having water drOD cOntin-