Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-01-29

feacnlnS service TO the republic. In
the Civil war the two functions were
divided, and Lincoln and Grant will
stand forevermore with their names in
scribed on the honor roll of those who
have deserved well of mankind by saw
ing to humanity precious heritage. In
similar fashion Thomas Jefferson and
Andrew Jackson each stands as the
foremost representative of the great
movement of his generation, and their
names symbolic to us their times and
the hopes and aspirations of their
times.
An Able Leader.
1t was given to President Mckinley
to take the foremost place in our po-
litical life at the time when our coun-
try was brought face to face with prob
lens more momentous than any whose
solution We have ever attempted
save only in the Revolution and in
the Civil war; and it was under his
leadership that the nation solved these
mighty problems Alright. Therefore,
he shall stand in the eyes OF history
not merely as the first man OF his gen
GRAFTON, but as among the greatest
figures in our national life, coming sec
ond only to the men of the two great
crises in which the union was founded
and preserved.
Early Training.
mo man could carry through sue
cessfully such a task as President
Mckinley undertook, unles trained by
long years of effort for it's perform
ance. knowledge of his fellow citi--
zens, ability to understand them, keen
sympathy with even their innermost
feelings, and yet power to lead them
together with far-sighted sagacity and
resolute belief both in the people and
in their future-all these were need
ed in the man who headed the march
of our people during the eyentful
years from 1896 to 1901. These were
the qualities possessed by Mckinley
and developed by him throughout his
whole history previous to assuming
the Presidency. AS a lad he had the
inestimable privilege of serving, first
in the ranks, and then as commits
stoned officer, in the great war for
national union, righteousness and
grandeur; he was one of those whom
kindly Providence permitted to take
part in "a struggle which ennobled
every man who fought therein He
who when little more than a boy had
seen the grim steadfastness which af
ter four years of giant struggle re-
stored the union and freed the slave
was not therefore to be daunted by
danger orr frightened out of his be-
lief in the great destiny of our PEG.
pie.
To Congress.
"Some years after the war closed
Mckinley came to congress, and rose
during a succession OF terms, to lead
ership in his party in the lower
house. He also became governor OF
his native state, Ohio. During his
varied service he received practical
training of the kind most valuable to
him when he became chief executive
of the nation. To the high faith OF
his early years was added the capacity
to realize his ideals, to work with his
fellow-men at the same time that he
led them.
Not Accidental.
president McKinley's rise to great
ness had in it nothing of the sudden
nothing of the unexpected or seemingly
accidental. Throughout his long term
of service i'll congress there was a
steady increase alike in his power OF
leadership and in the recognition of that
power both by his associates in public
life and by the public itself. Session
after session his influence in the house
grew greater; his party antagonists
grew to look upon him with constantly
increasing respect; his party friends
with constantly increasing faith and
admiration. Eight years before he
was nominated for President he was al
ready considered a presidential posi-
bility. -Four years before he was nom
mated, only his own high sense of hon
or prevented his being made for
midable competitor of the chief upon
whom the choice Of the convention
then actually fell. in 1896 he was
chosen because the great mass of his
party knew him and believed in him
and regarded him as symbolizing theil
ideals, as representing their aspira
tions In estimating the forces which
brought about his nomination and cleo
tion | do not undervalue that devoted
personal friendship which he had the
faculty to inspire in SO marked a de
gree among the ablest and most infu
entail leaders; this leadership was Of
immense consequence in bringing
about the result; but, after all, the
prime factor was the trust in and de
votion to him felt by the great mass oil
men who had come to accept him as
their recognized spokesman. In his
nomination the national convention OF
the great party carried into effect il
good faith the deliberate Judgment Of
that party as to whom its candidate
should be.
The President.
But even as candidate Presiden1
Mckinley was far more than a candi
date Of a party, and as President he
was in the broadcast and fullest sense
the President of all the people of al
sections OF the country.
| But his nomination came to him be
cause of the qualities he had shown in
| healthy and open political leadership
| tLo 1aoI WI NV ,,,n,l