The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1901-09-19

duN WhAOA NC pEi1ou hOES IMAM any
of the higher official names by which
he has since been known.
The first time ever saw him was
at the Chicago convention of 1883,
when he rose as chairman of the COM
mittee on resolutions to read,the party
platform. ! asked gentleman wear
ing an Ohio badge, who was near me,
il he knew who the speaker was. He
replied: "That is Congressman Nc
Kinley, of Ohio, and he will be presi-
dent some day" The prophecy struck
me quite forcibly at the time, and
when / became colleague of the
major soon after, was prepared to
look upon him as a man that the ma
ton at large might have much use for.
My first term in congress was Nc
Kinley's last, and we soon became
friends. We we're both defeated in
the next campaign, but he was again
called to public life by his state and
by the nation and have seen much
of him in the years in which / have
been honored with the position of
representative from this congression-
al district. l have learned to love
him as friend and to admire him as
a statesman and a man.
He was without question the best
trained public man who ever filed
the high Office to which he was called.
His long service in the House, and his
two terms as governor of the state,
gave him knowledge of the public
men of the United States not equaled
by that of any other statesman of
his time.
Unlike many other old members he
sought the acquaintance of newly
elected colleagues, and kept in con-
slant touch with public affairs. His
friendships were not limited to men
of his own political faith land he never
looked upon the visits of the repre-
sentatives of the people in the light
OF burden He could decline to grant
a requ est in such manner and with
such perfect courtesy that the refusal
seemed like favor. He could say
no, and his position required him to
do so very often. But his mo" was
never of an offensive form, and his
respect for the feelings Of others in
sured like recognition of the cour-
tesy due to himself.
He had k cen sense of humor, and
was always ready to pass joke with
his friends. There was smile on his
face and Jest upon his lips when
babe him goodbye last March. Little
did l think that would see him no
more. How we treasure up the little
remembrances of the dead! How my
little granddaughter will prize the
carnation that the president plucked
from his button-hole one day last
winter and pinned upon her cloak!
No m an was more a master of those
little courtesies which make life pleas
ant. He was natures gentleman.
AS a statesman President Nc Kinley
was essentially an American. He
was first for his own country. He
was much misunderstood. abroad land
his intense Americanism was resented
by nearly all the countries of the Old
World. But he lived to win the re-
spect of the whole world.
His early manhood was spent amid
the scenes of war ands death, and
there he learned to love peace as
only soldier can. Whenl the rela-
tions betw cen our country and Spain
became so strained that peace seemed
no longer possible, he stood out a
gainst the popular cry and sought
eaceful solution to the last.
Only when the Maine Commission
declared that the horrible 2catastro-
phe in the harbor of Havana was due
to outside causes, did he send his
message to congress askiuglaction at
their hands, and the American peo-
pie responded with unexampled
unanimity.
Without a dissenting voice did
they place fifty million dollars in his
personal control to spend at his dis
cretion in preparation for war or de-
Tense, Slow to quarrel, he proved
active in the fight when once it be-
gan. And in his war office at the
White House he watched with the
aid of telegraph every movement
of our feet and armies until at the
end of one hundred and thirteen days
the victory was won, and Spain had
been driven back forever to her mar
row European limits.
No man since Lincoln h as been
compelled to meet and solve 80 many
important questions as has Mckinley.
When he was first elected it was
freely stated by many that some in
fuence behind the executive chair
would WELD the power of his mighty
office, and that he would be president
only in name.
Actual experience soon disp elled
these false assumptions. No man
was ever more ready to listen to ad-
vice and suggestion, but when he had
taken counsel and fully informed
himself, no one of our chief magis-
trates has been more ready to make
the ultimate decision for himself.
/, for one, was anxious when the
Spanish war ended to find so me way
to avoid the dangers of expansion in
| the far east. 1t was an untried sea,