The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-25
SMOOTH MARCUS A. HANNA
He Appears Every Four Years in
National Politics.
MANAGER OF M'kINLEY's BOON
lie levOtes Time. Money. Energy ana
Braius TO His favoritc Candidates.
A Political Comet just Now
Rising to Its Zenith.

Cleveland. Ohio. March I'm. A.
Hanna IL a political comet. He appears
every four years. His presence in the
national sky sets the country to tax
ing for a summer; he then slips under
the horizon. He Is now In the ascend
ancy. He is discussed over the breadth
and width OF the land. He shares public
attention with the leaders who make
u business of being public The peo-
pie have learned to know him-to rec
ognize his intiuence-and they wonder
at the manner of man he Is that In the
distribution of the rewards OF victory
he neither gets nor seeks any portion.
This unique trait IL sufficient to make
him conspicuous. There are many other
reasons why he Is one Of the remark
able men of the day.
Mr.. Hanna Is primarily business
man. He owns large part OF Cleve-
land. He denies that he Is in politics
"a statement which needs an eNplana-
tion. He refuses to be classed with the
men who are in politics, because the
phrase suggests the brood scrambling
for office. His interest in the affairs
of state is no more than Is the right
and duty of all good citizens. he has
never held office-Save an unsalaried.
but trying compliment from the hands
of President Cleveland. He never
wants another and at the end OF this
campaigns he will again retire from the
trials and veXations OF conferences.
turn aside from the contests with party
bosses. temporarily abandon the strug-
gle with the big combinations. ana
become u private citizen In his palace
on the Erie lake shore.
EARLIER FRIENDS.
President Garfield and Senator Sher-
man We're the first men of fame to learn
the effective value of Mr.. Hannas
friendship Senator Foraker has the
best appreciation of the effectiveness
Of his opposition. The first two were
swept into position because he believed
the country needed leadership of their
type Senator Foraker was compelled
to walt season. and, after waiting, he
was honored This is the sort of citi
Zen's interest this new power in Ohio
nanifests. He has no measure Of good
will for the candidate he regards as
fitted for distinction. He is with him
from the bottom of his feet to the top Of
his head. His time, money. energy.
brains, are all at his service. He has
nothing for the candidate In whom he
lacks faith. He has no middle ground.
He is all for or all against This rule
Is no in force. and there will be no rest.
no peace for him SO long as his idol
stands for the Endorsement of the ma
tiOnal Republican convention. He pos
sesses the conviction that the CONNER
cial interests Of the land demand the
election Of William Mckinley to the
presidency. So long as that decision
remains so long will Mr.. Hanna be not
private citizen Of Cleveland. but one
of the busiest characters from the At
lantic to the Pacific.
Mr.. Mckinley is the last man to bring
Mr.. Hanna into the din and noise of
hot campaign. They have not always
been as harmonious In opinion as they
are at present. They have very often
been on opposite sides of political situa-
tions. They We're both delegates to the
national convention Of 1894. The major
was last, first and all the time Blaine
boomer at that meeting. Mr.. Hanna
was the champion of John sherman.
They had the same room at the hotel,
with beds In diagonal corners. Senator
Edmunds had chance of winning AS
a compromise candidate. His cause
was in the hands Of George William
Curtis and Theodore Roosevelt. There
was u great knocking ut the door of
the Hanna Mckinley room late in the
first night of the convention. Mr. Nc
Kinley answered the call and admitted
the boomers of the Vermont man.
They hurriedly told their plan for a
combination by which the nomination
should go to Edmunds or Sherman, ac-
cording to the number of ballots each
should receive the first vote The ma
jor listened to the scheme from his
place under the covers. but made no
comment on the elaborate plan. He
heard them nearly to the end, and then
said: Gentlemen. l think you must
have made a mistake. The Sherman
man is over there in the other bed"
He then rolled over and went to sleep,
as the visitors shook up Hanna to retell
their story. 1t increased Mr.. Hanna's
faith in Mr.. Mckinley that he never
made use of his unwilling condolences
to the benefit of his man Blaine.
is WORTH MILLIONS.
There is no doubt that Mr.. Hanna is a
business man. lie has millions. He
dug some of them out Of the iron and
copper hills of northern Michigan. 9th
erS came from the means he provided
for others to do the same thing. He
was the pioneer in the Lake Superior
ship trade. and 1t now takes two fleets
of iron boats to handle the ores from
his holdings. A company to make
boats for sale was his project, and its
development made Cleveland the first
naval yard along the inland seas. 4
lot of kindred enterprises followed-the
managing genius of which was Mr..
Hanna. There was municipal neces-
sity for a new street car line-he build
ed 1t. His financial tact was demand
ell in banking circles-and his name
makes the Union National II leader in
the country. He once owned q news
paper His money built the Euclid
Avenue Opera house. His energy
founded the biggest furnaces. He