The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-09-14

| place on the ways and means commit
tee. which opened the portals to his
| new career as the expounder of the
| tariff and the protector of American
| labor.
One of the first opportInitie; to dis
| tinguish himself I'm this line came In
1884 in the discussion of the Mills tariff
bill, and the Ohio congressman leaped
| into national fame on that incident.
Samuel Randall of Pennsylvania.
though Democrat, had been granted
an hour to speak against the bill and
was to be followed by Mckinley.
Courtesy to Randall.
When the hour was up Randall ask
ed for an extension of time. but Mills
refused to give it. Suddenly, amid the
din and uproar. clear, musical, vi
brant voice rang out. MIR. Chairman"
and Major Mckinley. with beaming
| face. was seen making his way to the
front
MIR. Chairman" he said, 81 believe
I am to be recognized next after the
gentleman from Pennsylvania. yield
him fifteen minutes of my time"
This chivalric action was greeted
WIN VI dpIltINP, Il'b Iflt
Ohiosn had captured the house and
| galleries. When he arose TO speak
! sympathy was strongly with him, and
| he gave the assemblage fine sample
of those qualities that have since dis
| tinguished him as one of the best or
| ators the United States has produced.
His speech was characterized by un-
| limited and spontaneous good nature,
| a kann of
absolute grasp of the general subject
and perfect mastery of all details.
McKinley's bearing and delivery were
| inimtable-dignifed but easy, familiar
but elevated, thoroughly earnest and
carrying proof of personal conviction,
and withal so amiable a manner as to
win unprejudiced listeners.
Style Marks Master.
His style was clearness and straight
| forwardness exemplified, and so direct
and simple that no effort was required
| to follow him through an ordinarily
| dry discourse. He displayed to perfec-
ton that happy faculty for which he
! has since become famous of clothing
| with the magnetic charm nf life the
| cold. practical facts of economic phil
| osophy and experience. His voice,
| high but resonant, clear and musical
| as a bell, pierced to every corner of
| the house, and it was evident to his
hearers that new leader had sprung
into the front ranks of the great Re-
| publican party.
| Congressman Mckinley was q candi-
| date against Thomas B. Reed I'm 1889
| for the speakership of .hA house, but
| fate, wiser than he. reserved him for
! the Craftsmanship of the ways and
| means committee, the second highest
place, and sometimes the first, i'm the
| house. 1t was thus that the way was
paved for the Mckinley tariff bill of
| 1890, which has had such an incalcul-
| able influence on the affairs of the
| United States. That measure was the
| expression of the Ohio statesman's
protection dogma, and in it, too, blaz-
ed the reciprocity policy which the
great leader reiterated only few
hours before he was struck down by
the assassn's shot.
Stems Stampede.
So deep an impress had he made
on the attention of the country by his
fight against the Mills bill that he be-
came an important factor i'm the ma
tional convention of 1884. He was an
ardent follower of Blaine, though John
sherman of Ohio was candidate for
| the Republican nomination. When an
effort was made to divert stampede
from Blaine by an adjournment it was
Mckinley who jumped into the breach
/ and by a few words in that clear-cut,
high pitched voice of his foiled the
scheme of the political plotters.
lie was afterwarG the central figure
in two Of the most dramatic scenes of
national conventions, in which he ex-
| hibited the keen sense of personal
honor which has been so marked a
characteristic. In 1888 he was dele
! gate pledged to support Sherman. He
! was then so popular that an effort was
made to carry the convention for him,
an effort that might have succeeded
if he had not stopped it. At the proper
moment he made ali impassioned
speech against the plan, concluding
with these words, which left no doubt
of his sincerity:
| II do request, do demand that no
delegate who would not cast reflection
upon me shall cast a ballot for me-"
Again Declined.
Four years later at Minneapolis he
was a Harrison delegate. Ohio tried to
start a Mckinley stampede by casting
| its vote for him, but he arose from
the chair, for he was presiding, and
challenged the vote, leaving no doubt
of his loyalty to his pledge. These
evidences of popularity pointed TO Nc
Kinley as the foreordained nominee of
the Republican party for president
After his defeat for congress in 1890
he was nominated for governor of
Ohio the following year. redeemed the
state from the Democracy. and was re-
elected in 1898 The presidential nom
ination came to him in 1886.
| The campaign of that year was one
| OF the most hotly contested in the
political history of the nation. The
| free and unlimited coinage of silver
was the issue forced by the Demo-
cratic party, but the Ohioan took his
stand on platform declaring for an
honest currency for an honorable full
fllment OF the pledges of the nation
and for such sound measures as should
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