The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-02-28

the Just made perfect Is permitted the
consciousness of earthly things, we may
be sure that his faithful sou! sis now
watching over that gentle sufrerer who
counts the long hours In their shatter-
ed home in the desolate spiendor Of his
fame. M
PUBLIC LIFE HIS SPHERE.
man possessing the qualities with
which nature had endowed Mckinley
seeks political activity ss naturally as Z
making friends and keeping them: a
faith which may be called religious. In
flowing from this, a belief that a man
could do no nobler work than to serve
such n country-these were the elements
In his character that drew him irresist-
beginning remarkable equipment: q
manner of singular grace and charm; a.
voice of ringing quality Nnd great carry.
gathered about him, he reached their
utmost fringe without apparent effort
He had an extraordinary power OF mar
ahalins and presenting significant facts
SO as to bring conviction to the average
mind. His range of reading was not
Wide he read only what he might some
day find useful, and what he read his
memory. held like brass. Those who
knew him well In those early days can
never forget the consummate skill and
power with which he would select q
few pointed facts, and, blow upon blow,
would hammer them into the attention OF
great assemblages In Ohio. as Jael drove
the nail into the head Of the Cenaanite
captain. He was not often impasstoned; !;
he rarely resorted to the aid OF wit or
humor: yet I never saw his equal in
controlling and convincing popular au-
dience by sheer appeal to their reason
aud intelligence. He did not hatter or
cajole them. but there was an implied
compliment in the serious and sober tone
I'm Which he addressed them. He seemed
one of them: In heart and feeling he was
one of them. Each artisan In great
crowd might say. That Is the sort OF
man I would like to be. and under more
favoring circumstances might have been
He had the divine gift of sympathy.
which, though given only to the elect
makes all men their friends
So IL came naturally about that In
1S76-the beginning of the second century
of the republic-he began. by an election
to congress, his political career. There
was his home. 1 use the word advisedly.
Nowhere In the world was he so in har-
mony with his environment as here; no.
where else did his mind work with such
full consciousness Of its powers. The air
of debate was native to him. here. he
drank delight of battle with his peers
In after days, when he drove this stately
pile, or when on rare occasions his duty
called him here, he greeted his old
haunts with the affectionato zest OF Il
child of the house; during all the last
ten years Of his life. filled as they were
with activity and glory, he never ceased
to be homeslck for this hall. When he
came to the presidency, there was not
day when his congressional service was
not of use to him. Probably no other
president has been In such full and cor
dial communion with congress, II we may
except Lincoln alone. Mckinley knew
the legislative body thoroughly. It's COM
position, It's methods. its habits Of
thought. Hc had the profoundest respect
for its authority and an inflexible .be-
lief In the ultimate rectitude of its pir-
poses Our history shows how surely an
summing an attitude of hostility or dis
trust to the legislature: and, on the
other hand, Mckinley's frank and sin
cere trust and confidence I'm congress
and corporation. During his entire term
of office this mutual trust and regard
so essential to the public welfare--was
never shadcwed by single cloud,
QUESTIONS OF Foley.
He was Republican. He could not
ed upon Clay Whig. he necessarily be-
lieved in the american system"-in pro-
lection to home industries: in strong
aggressive nationality: in liberal con-
self-reliant nation might rightly do
he felt this nation had power to do. IL
required by the common welfare and not
prohibited by our written charter. ~
Following the natural bent of his mind,
he devoted himself to questions of finance
and revenue, to the essentials of national
lie took high rank In the
house from, the beginning. His readl-
ness. his mastery OF every subject he
the bright and amiable light he
shed about him, and above all the un-
failing courtesy and good will with which
he treated friend and foe alike-one Of
the s,irest signatures of nature born
to great distinies-made his service In the
house pathway of unbroken success
and brought him at last to the all-im-
portant post of chairman Of ways and
means and leader of the majority, of
tho famous revenue act which, In that
he framed and carried through
congress, It Is not my purpose here and
now to- speak. The embers OF the con-
troversy In the midst of which that law
had Its troubled being are yet too warm
to be handled on day like this may
tested to prove the praises of it's friends
or the criticism of its opponents. AT
ter a brief existence 1t passed away. for
a time. In the storm that swept the Re
passed through a brief zone of shadow:
hts congressional district having been re-
arranged for that purpose by a hostile
legislature.
enemies; they help us so much more than
our friends. The people whose malevo-
lent skill hail turned Mckinley out of
congress deserved well of him and the re-
lhohN. A~SNNi was INNitttoiN oWilt
and energetic. The Republicans of Ohio
were saved the trouble of choosing
governor-the other side had chosen one
for them. A year after Mckinley left
congress he was made governor of Ohio.
and two years later he was reelected,
each time by majorities unhoped-for and
He came to I'LL a space
In the public eye which obscured u great
portion of the field of vision. In two
national conventions. the presidency
seemed within his reach. But he had
gone there In the interest of others and
his honor forbade any dalliance with
temptation. So his nay was nay--deliver-
ed with tone and gesture there was no
denying. His hour was not yet come.
There was. however. no long delay. He
became. from year to year, the most
prominent politician and orator in the
country. Passionately devoted to the
principles OF his party, he was always
ready to do anything. to go anywhere.
to proclaim It's ideas and to support its
His face and his voice be-
came familiar to millions of our people
and wherever they were seen and heard,
men became his partisans. His face
was cast In a classic mold. you see faces
like II in antique marble In the galleries
of the vatican and In the portraits OF the
great cardinal. statesmen OF Italy: his
voice was the voice of the perfect ora
tor-ringing. vibrating, tireless, per-
siading BY its very sound, by its accent
al. tail DO M aud co