The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-02-28

shade by the vast economical develop
rtehts which took place during Mr.. Nc
kiniey's administration. Up to the time
of his first election, the country was
suffering from q long period OF depres-
sion, the reasons OF which | will not try
to seek But FROM the moment the bal
lots were counted that bet6kehed his
advent to power great and momentous
movement in advance declared itself
alcng all the lines of industry and COM
nIerce. In the very month of his inau-
guration steel rails began to be sold at
SIS a ton~-one of the most Significant
facts of modern times. II meant that
American industries had adjusted them
selves to the long depression-that
through the power Of the race TO organ
ize and combine, stimulated by the con-
dition5 then prevailing, and perhaps by
the prospect of legislation favorable to
/ industry. America had begun to under
! sell the rest of the world. The move
ment went on without ceasng. The
| President and his party kept the pledges
of their platform and their canvass. The
! Dingley bill was speedily framed and set
| in operation. All industries responded to
! the new stimulus and American trade set
| out on it's new crusade, not to conquer
| the world but to trade with it on terms
advantageous to all concerned | will
not weary you with statistics; but one or
| two words seem necessary to show how
the acts of Mckinley as President kept
pace with his professions as candidate.
I His four years of administration were
costly; We carried on a war which,
| though brief was expensive. Although
we borrowed two hundred millions and
paid our own expenses, without asking
for indemnity, the effective reduction of
the debt now exceeds the total of the
war bonds. We pay six millions less in
interest than we did before the war and
no bond of the United States yields the
holder 2 per cent on it's market value. So
much for the Government credit; ana
we have five hundred and forty-six mil
lions of gross gold in the Treasury.
But coming to the development of our
trade in the four Mckinley years, we
seem to be entering the realm of fable.
In the last fiscal year our excess of ex-
ports over imports was 1864 592, S26. In
tbe last four years it was $2,354, 442, 213
These figures are so stupendous that they
mean little to careless reader-but
consider The excess of exports over
imports for the whole preceding period
from 1870 TO 1S97-from Washington to
McKinley-was only 1856, 1922
The most extravagant promises made
by the sanguine McKinleya dvocates five
years ago are left out of sight by these
sober facts. The debtor nation" has
become the chief creditor nation. The
financial center of the world, which re-
quired thousands of years to journey
from the Euphrates to the Thames and
the Seine, seems passing to the Hudson
between daybreak and dark.
/ will not waste your time by explain
, ing that l do not invoke for any man the
credit of this vast result. The captain
ccnnot claim that it is he who drives the
mighty steamship over the tumbling bill
lows of the trackless deep; but praise is
, justly due him if he has made the bes
of her tremendous powers, il he has reaC
, Alright the currents of the sea and the
= lessons of the stars. And we should bt
: ungrateful, il in this hour of prodigiou
a prosperity we should fail to remember
: that William Mckinley with sublim,
+ faith fCresaw it, with indomitable cour
age labcred for it, put his whole hear
n and mind into the work of bringing i
- about; that it was his voice which, il
Q dark hours, rang out, heraldng the com
ing light. over the twilight waters o
y the Nile the mystic cry of Memnon on
e nounced the dawn to Egypt, waking from
G sleep.
a DREW TIL ESECTION TOGETHER
Among the most agreeable incident
of the Presidents term of office were tn
:, two Journeys he made to the South
? The moral reunion of the sectons-s
long and so ardently desired by him
had been initiated by the Spanish wal
- when the veterans of both sides, an
their sons, had marched shoulder t.
:, shoulder together under the same ban
:, Fer. The President in these journey
: sought, with more than usual eloquenc
= and pathos, to create sentiment whic
= | should end forever the ancient feud II
:. was too good a politician to expect an
. results in the way of votes in his favor
- and he accomplished none. But for a
= that the good seed did not fall on barre
Il ound. In the warm and chivalrou
= hearts of that generous people, the ech
= of his cordial and brothery words wi
linger long, and his name will be cher
. ished in many a household where eve
=, yet the Lost Cause is worshipped.
: MIR. Mckinley was reelected by a
. overwhelming majority. There had bee
- little doubt of the result among wei
: informed people; but when it was known
a profound feeling of relief and renew;
- of trust were evident among the leader
- of capital and industry, not only in tn
80 county, but everywhere. They felt thu
- the immediate future was secure, an
that trade and commerce might safe
70 push forward in every field of effort ar
+o enterprise. He inspired universal conf
10 dence. which is the lifeblood of the con
mercial system of the world. 1t bege
frequently to be said that such sta
of things ought to continue; one aft
another, men of prominence said that Il
II President was his own best successor +
y paid little attention to these sugge
he lions until they were repeated by son
re of his dearest friends. Then he saw TIL
r. one of the most cherished traditions
re our public life was in danger. The gel
ne GRAFTON which has seen the prophecy
al the Papal throne-Non yidebis ann
in Petri-twice contradicted by the longevi
re of holy men was in peril of forgettil
IN the unwritten law of our Republic: Thu
in shalt not exceed the years of Washir
lr ton. The President saw it was time
IN cbor m