Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-03-06

rccttude of its purposes. our history
shows how surely an executive courts
disaster and ruin by assuming an atti-
tude of hostility or distrust to the Legs-
laturc, and, on the other hand. McKin
lcY's frank and sincere trust and conf
donce in Congress were repaid by prompt
and loyal support in cooperation. During
his entire term of office this mutual
trust and rcgard--so essential to the pub
lie welfare--was never Swallowed by Il
single cloud
He was n Republican. lie could not b.
anything else. a Union soldier grated
upon a Clay Wing, he necessarily believed
in the "AmcriCan SN stcm''-in protection
to home industries; in n strong, aggressive
nationality; in a liberal construction of
the Constitution. What any sclf-reliant
nation might rightly do, he felt this nation
had power to do. if required by the com
mon 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 the
national housekeeping. He took high rank
in the House from the beginning. Ills
readiness in debate, his mastery of every
subject he handled. the bright and amia-
BILE light he shed about him, and above all
the unfailng courtesy and good will with
which he treated friend and foe alike-one
of the surest signatures of a nature born
House Il pathway Of unbroken success and
brought him at last to the al-imporanat
post of chairman of ways and means and
leader of the majority. Of the famous
revenue act which. in that capacity. he
framed and carried through Congress, it
is not my purpose here and now to speak.
The embers of the controversy in the midst
OF which that law had its troubled being
are yet too warm to be handled ON "A day
like this. | may only say that 1t was
never sufficiently tested to prove the
praises of it's friends or the criticism of
its opponents. After a brief existence it
passed away, for Il time. in the storm that
swept the RrpubcanS out of power. Nc
kinleY also passed through a brief zone
of shadow. his congressional district hav-
ing been rearranged for that purpose by a
hostile legislature.
Someone has said it is easy to love our
enemies; they help us SO much more than
our friends. The people whose malevolent
skill had turned Nick inley out of Con-
gross deserved well of him and of the
Republic. Never was Nemesis more swift
and energetic. The Republicans of ohio
were saved the trouble of choosing gov
ernor-thc other side had chosen one for
them. year after Mckinley left Con-
gresS he was made Governor of Ohio, and
two years later he was reelected, each
time by majorities unhoped-for and over
whclmng. He came to fill a space in the
public eye which ObSCured a great por-
ton 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,-delivered with a tone and ges-
turc there was no denying. His hour was
not yet come.
There was, however, 10 long delay. He
became. from year to year, the most
prominent politician and orator in the
country. Passionatcly 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
candidates. His face and his voice became
familiar to millions of our people; and
wherever they We're seen and heard, men
became his partisans. His face was cast
inv 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-statesman of Italy; his voice was
the voice of the perfect orator-ringing,
vibrating, tireless, persuadinS by its very
sound, by its accent of sincere CONVECTION
So prudent and so guarded were all MS
utte1anccs, so lofty his courtesy, that h.
never embarrassed his friends and never
offended his opponents. For several
months before the republican national
convention met in 1896 it was evident t.
all who had eyes to sec that Mr.. Mckinney
> was the only probable candidate Of his
party. Other names were mentioned. OF
the highest rank in ability, character ana
popularity; they We're supported by pow
crful combinations; but the nomination OF
NCEinlcN MS against the field was lneNl-