The Springfield herald., 1904-09-23
Indiana Senator WeIl-Fitted for
the Vice Presidency.
uE HAS DIGNITY AND FORCE
And His Training and Experience Will
Enable Him to Preside Over the
Senate with Credit TO the Ma.
tiun-McKinlcy's Friend.

Washington, D. c., Sept. 10.-Every
one here who is any way connected WIN
the government has grent amount OF
personal interest in the nomination OF
Senator Fairbanks Of Indiana for second
place on the Republican ticket. The In
diana Senator has personaEty AL Ms
own, and his figure merely from 4 physi-
cal point of view is so striking ne mas
been a marked man in Washington ever
since he came here. Straight as an ar
row, thin, unusually tail, with bright
red cheeks, with q becoming amount OF
senatorial dignity, and yet with genu-
inc democracy which is seldom equaied
by public men, the Republican candi-
date for the vice presidency is more than
usually popular as public men so.
Aside from this, however. the people
who are on the inside of public affairs
in Washington know, as people OF the
rest of the country may not know, that
Senator Fairbanks is one of the compar-
atively few men in public life who have
actually made their impress upon the
affairs of the government. In every
church, every club, every village debat-
ing society, in every Congress and every
Parliament, there are always select
few who do the great bulk of the work,
who are men of action, who are selected
by their associates to perform the things
which have to be done, who have the
executive gift which makes them wise in
council, and whose advice md assistance
are sought when great things are to bs
done.
Courteous and Modest.
Constantly courteous, invariably kind
ly. always reserved consistently modest.
never seeking to put himself in the front
rank, Senator Fairbanks is not usually
credited by the world at large with the
extraordinary influence he really pos
sesses here in Washington. His asso-
ciates in the Senate, the members of the
cabinet, and those whose duty it is to
execute the law have learned, however,
the quiet force OF the Senator from In
diana. and ever since he came here with
Mckinley in 1897 Senator Fairbanks has
been one of the inner circle. He has
grown stronger day by day until his
nomination for the vice presidency We
absolutely forced upon him because, 4.
the opinion of his associates in the Sen
ate and the party leaders generally, he
was the best equipped man for the posi-
ton. and was by his training and by his
political association of presidential size,
so that he might be ready at any time
to exercise the duties of chief executive
if it should become necessary.
Few people are aware of the unusual
degree to which William Mckinley gave
his confidence to Senator Fairbanks. The
two men were old friends, they repre-
sented much the same element in the
arty, and in the early months of 1897
following the bitter political battle of
the previous autumn Mckinley and Fair
banks were in constant touch and the
Il =. L
Senator-elect This trust in the wisdom
of the statesman from Indiana was never
lessened, but as month after month went
by the Indiana Senator was more and
more drawn into the deepest condolences
of the President.
There were trying times in Washing
ton during the latter part of 1897 and in
the early part of 1898. The United States
and Spain were drifting inevitably to-
ward war. The sentiment in this coun-
try was overwhelmingly in favor of in
reference in behalf of the suffering peo-
pie of Cuba. The pressure for action
grew daily stronger. In the public press.
in Congress, in the churches, on the
streets, everywhere from the Atlantic
to the Pacific there was a constantly
growing sentiment that the United States
must put an end to the shocking condi-
tions i'll Cuba.
Mckinley Knew Public sentiment,
When he was elected William Mckin-
ley well knew what this public sentiment
was and where it was likely to lead. No
man ever lived who was more skilled in
feeling the pulse of the public than the
President who laid down his life ut
Buffalo. When he came to the White
House, nevertheless, he was determined
to exhaust every device known to diplo-
macy, short of actual warfare, to bring
Spain to terms and to bring peace to
Cuba. Trained in the arts of war him
self, William Mckinley well knew that
war was not to be entered upon lightly.
He was for peace from the beginning.
During the first six months of the Nc
kinley administration the tension here
in Washington was extraordinary. Pub
n war because of the outrages contin-
ually committed by the Spanards upon
the poor people of Cuba. Then came
the explosion of the Maine, which
touched the spark in the magazine, and
within a few weeks the people of the
Cifited States were raging with the lust
of blood.
Still William Mckinley stood stead
fast. He knew war was nearly in
evitnble, but he was in a position to
know also that this country, rich though
it was in men and resources, was not
ready for war. He was in n position
to know that there were no rifles, no
cannon, no cluthes, no tents, no pro-
visions of war for even the most mod
crate army. He had not exhausted di.
plomacy, and even then he knew that
time was necessary to prepare the coun-
try for war. The great public which
was ignorant of the real situation and
which did not realize that a mistaken
public policy had allowed our army TO
run down to a point where we were not
fitted to fight even little nation like
Spain, still thundered for war and be-
gan to suspect the good faith and the
bravery of a man like William McKin.
ley.
Mckinley Committed Fairbank..
All this is history, which the world
knows and which need not be recn pirulat.
ed in detail. What the world does nor
generally know is that in the small cir
Gle Of men who were daily and nightly
and sometimes even hourly called into
council by William Mckinley to advise
him as to the best thing to be done
to preserve the honor and the dignity