Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1903-02-04
choice of the convention then actually

sehting their aspirations. In estiuiat-
ing the forces which brought about his
nomination and election | do not I'M
derValue that devoted personal friend
snip which he had the faculty to in
splre IN so marked a degree among the
aoiest and most influential leaders;
TINS leadership was of immense conse-
quence in bringing about the result;
but. after all, the prime factor was
the trust in and devotion to him felt
by the great mass of men who had
come TO accept him as their recognized
spokesman. In his nomination the
national convention of a great party
carried into effect in good faith the
deliberate judgment of that party as
to who its candidate should be.
Represented All Glasses.
But even as n candidate President
Mckinley was far more than the can
dldate of a party. and as president he
was in the broadest and fullest sense
the president of all the people of all
sections of the country.
His first nomination came to him be
cause of the qualities he had shown in
healthy and open political leadership.
the leadership which 10y word and deed
impresses itself as virile force for
good upon the people at large and
which has nothing in common with
mere intrigue or manipulation. But
in 1896 the issue was fairly Joined
chiefly upon a question which as a
party question was entirely new. 50
that the old lines of political cleav-
age were in large part abandoned.
All other issues sank in importance
when compared with the vital need of
keeping our financial system on the
high and honorable plane imperative
~ demanded by our position as n
great civilized power. As the cham
pion of such "A principle President Nc
kinley received the support not only
of his own party but of hundreds of
thousands of those TO whom he had
been politically opposed. He tri-
umphed. and he made good will scru-
pulouS fidelity the promises upon which
the campaign was won. We were at
the time in "A period of great indust rial
depression and il was promised for
and on behalf Of Mckinley that if he
were elected our financial system
harmed but improved and our econom-
10 system shaped in accordance with
those theories which have always
marked our periods Of greatest pros
pcritY. The promises were kept, and
following their keeping came the pros
pcrity which We now enjoy. All that
was foretold concerning the well
being which would follow the election
OF Mckinley has been justified 10y the
event
frobio of the War.
But rs So often happens ia our his
tory. the president was forced to face
questions other than those at issue
al the time of his election. Within i
year the situation in Cuba had bc
come literally intolerable. President
Mckinley had fought too well i'm his
youth. he knew too well at first hand
what war really was, lightly To en-
ter into n struggle. He sought bv
every honorable means to preserve
peace, To avert war. He made every
EFFORT consistent with the national
honor to bring about an amicablc
settlement of the Cuban difficulty.
these efforts were useless. that peace
could not he honurably entertained.
he devoted his strength 10 making
tic war as short and as decisive as
possible. II is needless to tell the
result i'm detail. Suffice it to say
that rarely indeed in history has 4
contest So far-reaching in the impor-
lance of it's outcome been achieved
with such case. There followed a
harder task As n result Of the war
we came into possession of Cuba.
Porto Rico and the Philippines IN
each island the conditions were such
that Wc had TO face problems en-
tIrcly ucw to our national CNpcri-
cncc, ami. moreover. in each island.
or group of islands. the problems
differed radically from those present
ed in the others. In Porto Rico the
task was simple. The island could
not he independent. II became i'm all
essentials It part Of the union II
has been given all the benefits Of our
economic and financial system. It,
inhabitants nave been given the high
est individual liberty. while yet their
.
supervision Of officials so well chosen
that the island can be appealed 10
l~ aTording model for all such eN-
/ pcrlncuts in the future; and this rc.
suit was mainly owing to the adj
mirahlc choice Of instruments 5v
/ president Mckinley when he selected
the governing officials.
In Cuba. where we were pledged to-
give the island independence. the
pledge was kept. not merely in let.
ter bat in spirit. II would have
been betrayal Of our duty 10 have
given Cuba independence out Of hand
President Mckinley, with his usual
singular sagacity in the choice n
agrE;s. selected in Gen. Leonard
Wood the man Of all others best I'll
to bring the island through its I'M