The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-04-15
MINNESOTA M'KINLEY1sM.

Editor Representative: =
If the Minneapolis convention Of March
oath represents the Republican party of
Minnesota, then that party has simply
gone Mckinley crazy.
The ST. Paul Dispatch in its extra con-
vention edition contains in one column the
headline, For Ohio's Son, Mckinley car
ries the state convention with rush. Mo-
ton to instruct for him put through with
a hurrah'-and on the same page another
column relating to the convention has
among its headlines the startling words
ohio Plank Sat Down Upon in the Plat
form"
Are these two acts-the sending McKin-
ley through with rush, and the setting
down on the Ohio plank-consistent with
the conduct of sane men? 1t doesn't look
Like it. What is the Ohio plank which
was sat upon? 1t is as we understand it,
an exact quotation from recent speech
Of Maj. Mckinley; not some other Nc
Kinley, but THE Mckinley who carried
with a rush" the very convention which
'sat upon" his plank.
If that convention represents the Re-
publican party of this state (and, by the
plain its idolatry? Are the thinking Re-
pubicans of this state hurrahing for Nc
Kinley for president Of the United States,
because they like the shape of his legs,
the color of his hair. or the fit Of his
clothes?
1t is true that Mckinley is known as the
apostle Of protection, but Minnesota is not
Pennsylvania, and it is hard to realize
that the average Minnesota man, whether
Republican. Democrat, or Populist, would
became hysterical at the mention Of the
name of a man who represents only the
idea of protection. 1t doesn't seem posi-
BILE that the champion of doctrine which
would make the people Of Minnesota pay
premiums on the necessaries of life, and
receive nothing in return for the prem
iums. should. on that account alone be
popular idol. And yet, that is the logical
conclusion, unless we fall back upon the
legs. or hair or clothes or some other per-
sonal quality. For, on the only other i'm
portant question, Mckinley does not
agree with his Republican brethren of
Minnesota, as represented by the delegates
to the state convention. He so far disa-
grees with them that he was actually "sat
upon" as he went sailing through the
convention with a rush." No matter
what is said of the mental calibre of the
convention delegates, we cannot deny to
them the attribute Of physical prowess
for 1t was no ordinary gymnastic feat
to sit upon a man as he went flying
through the convention with rush.
If this madness should get any worse
Minnesota Republicans-"You are the
darndest set Of fools 1 ever saw; didn't
you see that your interests don't lie with
me and the protected monopolies and mon
ey sharks of the East, but with the healthy
and rapidly developing West?" Mckinley
himself could say this, and his audience
would simply below "Rah for Mckinley"
Or he might shout into their very ears
that by voting without thinking they
were sacrificing the liberty Of themselves
and of their children to the greed of mon
sters, many of whom are creatures Of the
Mckinley Goctrine--the answer would be
the same, "Rah for Mckinley"
If these men who yell for Mckinley
without apperent reason, could only real
ize the sorry figure they cut as American
citizens in a presidential campaign, and
could only realize how Mckinley himself
must laugh at them, they would feel mean
enough to join the Spanish army in Cuba.
But after they had been there while they
would all be splitting their lungs yelling
"Rah for Weyler"-and they could give a
better eason for that yell than for any
other, for Weyler would be feeding them.
j. A. G.
St. Paul, MINI, March %, 1896.