Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-28

estimating the forces which brought about
his nomination and election l. do not under
value that devoted personal friendship
which he had the faculty to inspire in so
marked degree among the ablest and most
influential leaders; this leadership was Of
immense consequence in bringing about the
the trust in and devotion to him felt by
the great mass of men who had come to &C
cept him as their, recognized spokesman.
In his nomination the national convention
of great party carried. into effect in good
faith the deliberate Judgment of that party
as to who it's candidate should be.
But even as a candidate President Nc
Kinley was far more than the candidate OF
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.
His first nomination came to him because
of the qualities he had. shown In healthy
and open political leadership the leadership
which by word and deed impresses itself
as a 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 party question was
entirely new, so that the old lines of pOltt-
ical cleavage 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 honor
able plane imperatfvely- demanded by our
position as a great civilized power AS the
champion Of such 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 OPP
posed. He triumphed, and he made good
with scrupulous fidelity the promises upon
which the campaign was won. We were at
the time In period o. great Industrial de-
preston. and it was promised for and on
behalf OF Mckinley that If he were elected
our financial system should not only be pre-
served unframed. but improved, and our
economic system shaped in accordance with
those theories which have always marked
our periods Of greatest prosperity. The
promises were kept. and following their
keeping came the prosperity which we now
we'll being which would follow the election
Of Mckinley has been justified by the event.
Sought to Prevent War.
But as 80 often happens in our history,
the President was forced to face questions
other than those at issue at the time Of his
election. Within year the situation in
Cuba had become literally intolerable Pres
ident Mckinley had fought too we'll in his
youth. he knew too well at first hand what
war really was. lightly to enter into a
struggle. He sought by every honorable
means to preserve peace, to avert war; He
made every effort consistent with the ma
tional honor to bring about an am1cable
settlement Of the Cuban difficulty. Then,
when 1t became evident that these EFFORTS
were useless, that peace could not De non
orally entertained he devoted his strength
to making the war as short and as decisive
as possible. 1t Is needless to tell the re-
suit in detail. Suffice it to say that rarely,
indeed, in history has O contest so TAR
reaching in the importance Of its outcome
been achieved with such ease. There fol-
lowed harder task. 1As Ar result OF the
war we came into possession. pf CUBA, Porto
Rico and the Philippines. In each island
the conditions were such that we had to
face problems entirely new to our national
experience, and. MOREOVER IN each Island
or group of islands the problems dinered
radically from those presented In the 9TH
ers. In Porto Rico the task was simple.
The island could not be rindepsndent. It be-
came in all essentials a part OF the Union.
1t has been given allr the Dement'S OF our
economic and financial system. Its inhabi-
tants have been given the highest individual
liberty. while yet their government has
been kept under the supervision OF omclals
so well chosen that the island can be APP
pealed to as affording a model for all such
experiments in the future. and this result
was mainly owing to the admirable choice
of instruments by President MCKINLEY when
he selected the governing officials.
His Treatment Of Cuba.
In Cuba. where we were pledged to give
the island independence, the pledge was
kept not merely In letter but In spirit. 1t
would have been a betrayal Of our duty to
have given Cuba Independence out OF hand.
President Mckinley with his usual singular
sagacity in the choice Of agents, selected in
Gen. Leonard Wood the man OF all others
best At to bring the island through its UNI
certain period Of preparation for independ-
ence. and the result OF his wisdom was
shown when last May the island became In
name and in fact free republic, for 1t
started with better equipment and under
more favorable conditions than had ever
previously been the case with any Spanish
American commonwealth
Finally. In the Philippines, the problem
was one Of great eonplcxity. There was