New-York tribune., 1903-01-28


stored the Union and freed the slave was not
thereafter 10 be daunted by danger or fright .
ened out of his belief in the great destiny OIL
our people
RISE IN POLITICAL POSITION.
some Years after the war closed Mckinley
came to Congress, and rose, during Succession
of terms to leadership in his party in the lower
house. He also became Governor of ms hd'lNe
State Ohio During this varied service he re-
ceived practical training Of the kind most valua
BILE TO MIN when he became Chief Executive oI
the nation To the high faith of his early years
was added the capacity TO realize MS ideals, ~
work with his fellow men at the same time that
he led them. .
President McKinley's rise to greatness had in
il nothing of the sudden. nothing of the uheA-
pected or seemingly accidental Thloughout ms
long term of service in Congress there was d
steady increase alike in his power OF G hi
and in the recognition of that power botn D! ne
associates in public life and oy the puDllC Itsell
Session after session his influence in the House
grew greater; his party antagonists grew 10
lock upon him with constantly increasing re
spect; his party friends with constantly lh-
creasing faith and admiration. Eight years pc
fore he was nominated for President ne was
already considered a Presidential posslollltf
Four years before he was nominated only ms ~hlS
own high sense of honor prevented ms pelis
made formidab BILE competitor of the ch1ef upon
whom the choice of the convention then actu-
ally fell In 1896 he chosen because the
great mass of his party knew him and believed
+, him and regarded him as symboizing their
ideals. as representing their aspirations IN
estimating the forces which brought apoul ms
nomination and election 90 not uiluetN
devoted personal friendship which he had the
faculty TO inspire in marked degree among
the ablest and most influential leaders; thLS
leadership of immense consequence III Va ihS
ing about the result: but, after ALL the prime
factor was the trust in and devotion 10 MIN
felt by the great mass of men who had coliIe
To accent him as their recognized spokesman.
In his nomination the national convention Oh d
great party carried into effect in good faith the
deliberate Judgment of that party as to who lis
candidate should be.
F
But even as candidate President Mckinley
was far more than the candidate OF party,
and as President he was in the broadest anu
fullest sense the President of all the people OF
IL sections of the country.
Eis tirst nomination came to him because Of
the qualities he had shown in healthy and open
political leadership. the leadership Wnlch p9
word ard deed impresses itself as write Ioite
for good upon the people at large. and Whlch
has nothing in common with mere intrigue or
manipulation. But in 1896 the issue was talriy
ioined chiefly upon a question which. as party
question, was entirely new, so that the old INES
OF political cleavage were in large part aoan-
doped. All other issues sank in importance
when compared with the vital need of keeping
our financial system on the high and honoraple
plane impera lively demanded by our position
as a great civilized power As the champion OF
s,,cb nrinciple President Mckinley received
the support not only of his own party, out OF
hundreds OF thousands of those TO whom ne mao
been politically opposed. He triumphed ana
he made good with scrupulous fidelity the prom
ises upon which the campaign was won
We were at the time in period OF great IN
dustrial depression and il was promised for ana
on behalf of Mckinley that if he were elected
our financial system should not only he pre-
served unharmed, but improved and our eco
nornic system shaped in accordance with those
theories which have always marked our perloos
of greatest prosperity. The promises were kept
and following their keeping came the pros
perity which now enjoy. All that was fore
told concerning the wellbeing which would fol-
low the election OF Mckinley has been justlned
by the event.
FACED FOREIGN PROBLEMS.
But as so 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. President Mckinley had
fought too we'll in his youth, he knew too wen
at first hand what war really was, lightly 10
enter into a struggle. He sought by every hon
orable means to preserve peace to avert war
He made eyery effort consistent with the
tionaI honor TO bring about an amica bic settle
ment Of the Cuban difficulty Then, when II
became evident that these efforts were useless
that peace could not be honora ably entertained,
he devoted his strength to making the war as
Shorthand as decisive as posslbIe- Ii Is neediess
to tell the result in detail Suffice it to say that
rarely indeed in history has a contest so FAR
reaching in the importance of its outcome been
achieved with such ease There followed a
harder task AS a result of the came
into possession of Cuba, Porto Rico and the
Philippines. In each island the conditions were
such that had to face problems entirely new
to our national experience, and, moreover IN
each island group of islands the problems
differed radically from those presented in the
others. In Porto Rico the task simple.
The island could not be independent 1t became
in all essentials a part of the Union. 1t has
been given all the benefits of our economic and
financial system Its inha bitants have been
given the highest individual liberty, while yet
their government has been kept under the super
vision of officials we'll chosen that the island
can be appealed to affording model for all
such experiments in the future and this result
mainly owing to the admirable choice of
instruments by President Mckinley when he
selected the governing officials.
IN CUBA AND THE PHILIPPINES
In Cuba, where we were pledged to give the
island independence. the pledge kept, not
merely in letter but in spirit. 1t would have
been betrayal of duty to have given Cuba
independence out of hand. President Mckinley,
with his usual singular sagacity in the choice
of agents, selected in General Leonard Wood
the of all others best fit to bring the island
through its uncertain period of preparation for
independence. and the result of his wisdom
shown when last May the island became III name
and in fact a free republic, for it started with
a 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
one of great completely. There was an insur-
rectionary party claiming to represent the people
OF the islands, and putting forth their claim
with a certain speciousness which deceived no
small number OF excellent men here at home,
and which afforded TO yet others chance to
arouse factious party spirit against the Presi
dent OF course, looking back. it is now easy
TO see that 1t would have been both absurd and
and let the scores of different tribes-Christian,
Mahometan and pagan, in every stage Of semi
civilization and Asiatic barba rism-turn the ISL
ands into weIter Of bloody savagery. with the
absolute certainty that some strong power would
have to step in and take possession. But though
now IL is easy enough to see that our duty was
TO stay in the islands. TO put down the insurrec
tion by force of arms, and then to establish
freedom. giving civil government, it needed gen.
uine craftsmanship TO see this and to act accord
lngly at the time OF the first revolt
STOOD BY NEW POSSESSIONS.
A weaker and less far sighted man than Pres-