Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1903-02-05


as symbolizing their ideals, as repre-
senting their aspirations. In estlmat-
ing the forces which brought about his
nomination and election | do not un-
dervalue that devoted personal friend
ship which he had the faculty TO IN
spire in so marked degree among the
ablest and most influential leaders;
this 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 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 a candidate President
Mckinley was far more than the can
didate 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 came to him be-
cause of the qualities he had shown In
healthy and open political leadership,
the leadership which by word and deed
impresses itself as a yirile 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, so
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
ly demanded by our position as a
great civilized power. AS the cham
pion 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 opposed. He tri-
umphed, and he made good with scru-
pulous fidelity the promises upon which
the campaign was won. We were at
the time in period of great industrial
depression and it was promised for
and on behalf of Mckinley that if he
were elected our financial system
should not only be preserved un-
harmed but improved and our econom-
ic system shaped in accordance with
those theories which have always
marked our periods of greatest pros
perity, The promises were kept, and
following their keeping came the pros
perity which we now enjoy. All that
was foretold concerning the we'll
being which would follow the election
of Mckinley has been justified by the
event.
Problems of the War.
But as so often happens in our his
tory, the president was forced to face
ques tions other than those at issue
at the time of his election. Within Il
year the situation in Cuba had be-
come literally intolerable. President
Mckinley had fought too well in his
youth, he knew too well at first hand
what war really was, lightly to en-
ter into a struggle. He sought by
every honorable means to preserve
peace, TO avert war. He made every
effort consistent with the national
honor to bring about an amicable
settlement of the Cuban difficulty.
Then, when it became evident that
these efforts were useless, that peace
could not be honorably entertained,
he devoted his strength to making
the war as short and as decisive as
possible. 1t is needless to tell the
result in detail. Suffice it to say
that rarely indeed in history has a
contest so far-reaching in the impor-
tance of its outcome been achieved
with such ease. There followed a
harder task. AS a result of the war
we came into possession of Cuba,
Porto Rico and the Philippines. In
each island the conditions were such
that we had to face problems en-
tircly new to our national expert
ence, and, 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 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. It's
inhabitants have been given the high
est individual liberty, while yet their
government has been kept under the
supervision of officials so well chosen
that the island can be appealed to
as affording a model for all such eX-
perments in the future; and this re-
suit was mainly owing to the adj
mrable choice of Instruments by
President Mckinley when he selected
the governing officials.
In Cuba, where we were pledged tC
give the island independence, the
pledge was kept, not merely in let
ter, but in spirit. 1t would have
been a betrayal of our duty to have
given Csba 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 fit
to bring the island through its un-