Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-28

among the ahlest and most influential lead
ers; this leadership was of immense conse-
quenCe in bringing about the result, but.
after all, the prime factor was the trust In
aud devotion to him felt by the great mass
of men who had come to accept him as
their recognized spokesman. In his nom
ination 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
But even as "a candidate President Nc
kinley was far more than the candidate
Of party and as president he was in the
broauest and fullest sense the president OF
all the people of ali sections Of the
country.
brings Prosperity 10 Land.
His first nomination came to him be
cause of the qualities he had shown IN
healthy ana open pontical leadership the
leadership which by word and deed inn
presses itself as a virile force for good
upon the people at large and which has
nothing In common with mere intrigue or
manipulation But i'm 1896 the issue was
fairly Joined, chiefly upon question when
as party question was entirely new, SO
that the old lines OF political cleavage were
in large part abandoned. All other issues
sank in Importance when compared with
the vital need of keeping our financial sys-
TEN on the high and honorable plane I'M
peratively demanded by our position as a
great civilized power. AS the champion
of such principle President Mckinney
received the support not only OF his own
party but Of hundreds OF thousands OF
those to whom he had ben politically op-
with scrupIlous fidelity the promises upon
which the campaign was won. We were
at the time in a period OF great indusIrlal
depression and II was promised FOR ana on
behalf of Mckinley that II he were elected
our financial system should not only be
preserved unharmed but improved, ahd
our economic system shaped In accord
ance with those theories which have al
ways marked our periods OF greatest pros
perlty. The promises We're sept ana To-
lowing their keeping came the prosperity
which we now ENJOY. All that was toretuid
concerning the well-being which would iol-
low the election of Mckinley mas Deen
justified by the event.
But, as often happens in ou. history, the
president was forced TO race qutsuohs
his election Within year the situation
in Cuba had become literally lntoleraDie;
President Mckinley had fought TOO Wen
In his youth, he knew too Wen at nlst
hand what war really was, lightly to enter
INTO a struggle. He sought by every honoI-
able means to preserve peace, to avert war
He made every effort consistent with the
national honor to bring about an amic9ple
settlement of the cuban dithcultN. Ihen'
when II became evident thal these eIorlS
were useless, that peace cotII ilpI pe t, Ilo.-
orably entertained, he devoted his strengt IN
to making the war as short ana as declsl ie
as possible. 1t is needless TO tel the result
in detail. Suffice 1t to say that rarely IN
deed in history has contest so lar-
reaching in the Importance OF It's outcome
been achieved with such case. There FOL
lowed a harder task. AS result OF the
war we came into possession OF Cupa,
Porto RlCO ana tnt Inllpplli'S. II Ne1Nii
island the conditions were such that we
mad to face problems entirely new TO our
national experience, and moreover, IN SaCh
island or group of ISLANDS the prooIS ms rs
differed radically from those presented IN
the others. In Porto Rico the task was
simple. The island could not be lndepehdee
ent 1t became I'm all essentials a part OF
the union. 1t has been given all Ihe pene-
fits of our economic and financial system.
its inhabitants have been given the ngnrr hgne5l
ment has been kept under tne SUPERVISION
OF officials so well chosen that the lslan9
can be appealed to as aHordlns moue1
for all such experiments in the future; and
this result was mainly owing TO me admlr-
able choice of instruments by Presldent
Mckinley when he selected the governing
President McKinley's second campaign
was fought mainly on the issue OF appr9E-
ing what he had done in his hrst admlhls-
tration, and specifically what he had done
as regards these problems springing out OF
the war with Spain Inc result wa was ,,nTe oi1Ss
overwhelming than ii had been before.
Honorable EnOrt Attains Success.
No other president in our history has
seen high and honorable effort crowned
with more conspicuous personal success;
No other president entered upon ms secon9
term feeling such right to a profound ana
horror, so strange in it's fantastic iniquity
as to stand unique in the black annals OF
crime, he was struck down. The prave'
]
and word was brought to the woman VINO
wept that she was to walk thencefortn
alone in the shadow. The hldeous lnIainS y
of the deed shocked the nation. TO lts
oepths for the man thus struck at was
in a peculiar sense the champion OF lhe
plain people in peculiar sense b tme tdpeaIs
which IL we live up to them, VIII make, as
they have largely made, our country "a "a
blessed refuge for all who strive 10 90
right and to live their lives simply and
well as light is given them. The nation
was stunned, and the people mourneu MWisi M
a sense of bitter bereavement because they
rad lost a man whose heart beat for them
as the heart of Lincoln once had beaten.
We did right to mourn fo[ the o,Sn loss fS,i7 Mns
ness of his triumph. He died victorious In
that highest of all kinds OF strite-the
strife for an ampler lnsIer anu IN t,ioi ,S7rei
nut woe for those whom he LETT behlnd
woe to the nation that lost him; ana woe TO
mankind that there should exist GrSat t.iIsS tuiss
SO foul that one among them should strike
We are gathered together tonight to re-
call his memory TO pay our tribute OF re-
spect to the great chief and leader who
fell i'm the harness, who was strlckeh
down while his eyes were brlghI WIN ! ohe
light that tells of triumph tasted we car
honor him best by the waV we snow IN
actual deed that we have taken 10 hearl
the lessons of his life. We must strive 10
achieve each in the measure that he can
something of the qualities which MADE
President Mckinley a leader or men
mighty power 1Of BOOu-u!S sNiSlit3 III MS
courage, his courtesy and dignity, his sense
OF Justice his ever-present kindliness and
regard for the rights of others. He won
greatness by meeting and solving the Is
sues a they arose-not by shirkng them
meeting them with wisdom, with the eXer-
else of the most Skillful and cautious luds-
ment but with fearless resolution when
the time OF crisis came. He net each crisis on
its own merits; he never sought excuse
for Sinking a task in the fact that IT was
edifferent from the one he had expected 10
face The long public career, which opened
when as a boy he carried a musket IN the
ranks and closed when as man IN the
prime of his intellectual strength he stood
among the worlds chief statesmen, came
to what 1t was because he treated each
triumph as opening the road 10 fresh et-
fort not as an excuse for ceasing from
EFFORT He undertook mighty tasks. Some
Of them he finished completely; others we
must finish, and there remain yet Others
which he did not have TO face, but which
II We are worthy 70 be the inhertors OF his
Driuciples we will in oar turn face with
Tho same resolution. the same sanity, the
same unfaltering belief in the greatness OF
This country. and unfaltering championship
Of the rights OF each and all of our people
which marked his high and splendid career.
uVMCMCAI