The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-06-28
CREATURE OF LUCK.
ENTHUSIASM FOR M'KINLEY NOT
DUE TO HIS ABILITY.
Lacks Both Brains and Heart
weakkneed and Without Force of
Cllaracter-Ignorn Masses Be-
Heve That Wages Can Be Regu-
lated by Government.


OF course everybody of any sense
knows that shrewd management and
prodigal expenditures of money have
contributed largely to the nomination
of Mckinley, says the New York
Evening Post. But after making all
proper allowance for this element in
the case, the fact remains that there is
a genuine enthusiasm for the Ohio
candidate such as few men in our po-
litical history have aroused. The
cause for this enthusiasm deserves
careful attention.
There have been candidates whose
personal magnetism" aroused popu-
lar feeling in their favor so widespread
and irresistible that it swept every
thing before 1t. Henry Clay, in the
Wing party of his day, and James G.
Blaine. in the Republican party gen
GRAFTON later, were the two most con-
Spicuous Illustrations of this influence.
The personality of the man was what
made Blaine so often a strong candi-
date for the Republican nomination
and the nominee in 1884. The hold OF
the man upon the affections of others
was what made so many Wings weep
as over a death in their families when
Clay's defeat at the polls half a CEN
fury ago became known. Mckinley is
a cold,
WOODEN" SORT OF A MAN,
whose daily associates for years in the
house never felt any spell Of personal
influence, SO that this does not account
for the enthusiasm in his case.
There have been candidates who
aroused the masses of their party by
their eminent capacity for leadership
and their distinguished services in be-
half of a cause which they represented.
Grover Cleveland is the most striking
example of this in our modern history.
The force of character pushed him to
the front ahead of many older and
more prominent men and made him
presidential nominee within two years
after his reputation had spread beyond
his city. and the demonstration of his
power as a leader during his first term
made him twice afterward the candi-
date through !. the overwhelming de-
mand of the people for his choice. Nc
ter and in capacity for leadership
that when in 1889, after a dozen years
of continuous service in the house.
he sought the speakership, he could
command only 80 out of 165 votes in
the party caucus, SO that this
DOES NOT ACCOUNT
for the enthusiasm in his behalf
What, then. does explain the en-
thusiasm for one who is neither mill
tary hero, a. leader in civil life nor a
magnetic" man? 1t is the fact, which
was itself q, mere chance, that McKin-
ley'S name came to be associated with
a, tariff act. the passage of which was
coincident with period of prosperity.
and the re-passage of which is be-
lieved by the masses to be capable of
Immediately restoring prosperity A
mere chance, we say. In the Republic
can caucus which nominated Reed for
speaker in 1889, Mckinley stood sec
ond with SO votes and Cannon of Hi
nois third with %. Custom virtually
DEGREES the naming by the successful
candidate of his chief rival as chair
man Of the ways and means commit
tee, and so leader of the house" If
Cannon had received the 80 votes and
Mckinley the %. it would have been
the Cannon tariff, and we should have
had today, with precisely as much rea-
son, unbounded enthusiasm for Can
mona man, by the way, with quite as
much claim to the presidency in point
of ability as McKinley-and Cannon's
claim would seem too ridiculous for
confederate
In other words, the enthusiasm for
Mckinley is matter of
NEITHER BRAINS NOR HEART.
1t is not based upon admiration of the
mans ability nor upon affection
for one who makes tens of thou
sands regard him as a personal friend.
1t is purely a matter of the pocket. It
is based upon the belief that among
the masses that McKinley's election in
1S96-or, for that matter, Cannons if
Cannon had been appointed chairman
of the ways and means committee in
1SS9-will give them constant work
with easy hours ait high wages. In
short, it rests upon the theory that
the tariff is the most important thing
in the country, and that the govern
ment can mark wages up or down. 1t
is due to the spreading among the
ignorant of the idea that prosperity
is to be determined by votes.
The success of a campaign based
upon an unreasoning enthusiasm of
this sort must be followed by disil-
lusioning and a disappointment which
will provoke a, tremendous revolution
in public sentiment. Thoughtful Re-
publicans view with apprehension the
PROSPECT OF McKINLEY'S ELEC-
TON.
1t is not simply that nobody knows
where he stands on the financial ques-
ton now, or how so weak kneed a per-
son would stand if he should become
president. 1t is still more because,
even if he were sound on this issue,
he could not possibly satisfy the ex-
tra.vagant expectations that are enter
tanned of the effect of his election.
The enthusiasm for Mckinley is due
to the belief by the masses that he will
usher in the millennium at noon on the
4th of March, 1897, and their indigna-
ton when they shall find how they
have been deceived is something that
is dreaded by many a. Republican who
does not dare to resist the tide.