The river press., 1904-10-19
Indiana Senator WeIi-Fitted for
the Vice Presidency.
III: las DIGNITY AND FORCE
I'D His Training and Experience Will
Enable Him to Preside Over the
Senate with Credit to the Ma.
liun-M McKin!ey's Friend.

| Washington. D. c.. Sept. 1O.-Evcry
i c:.c here who is any way connected with
tlc government has Il great amount OF
| Personal interest in the nomination Of
! Stnat " Fairbanks of Indiana for second
| Place Oh the Republican ticket. The In
! d:12a Senator his !, personality all his
| o"'ia, and his figure merely from a phySi.
| cnl point Of view is 50 striking he has
| been marked mail in Washington ever
| since he came here. Straight as an ar.
| i.'w, thin, unusually tall. with bright
red cheeks. with Il becoming amount of
sena ta,ial dignity. and Yet with Il genu.
i've denocTacy Which is seldom evllalel
by publis. lae:.. the Republican can,li.
dase for tAe vice presidency is more than
usaail? popular as public men go.
Aside from this. however, the peop.
.'ho are OH the inside of public affairs
II Washington know, as people of the
! 1a.t Of t,e country may not know. that
Se..at3r Fairbanks is one Of the compar:
ativeiy feN men iii pyb1ic life who have
actu; ;.ly made their Impress upon th>
afa!1s Of TAG government III every
church. every club, every village debat.
ing so>iety, j. every Congress and every
ParliaMcnt, tacrc are always select
A.: '..ilo 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 and assistance
are sought when great things are to be
done
Courteous aud Modest.
SnNSt1 mi ly invayin in hl1- l. nd.
~. 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
sesse; here in Washington. His asso-
! ciateS in the Senate the members OF the
cabinet. and thuse whose duty it is to
execute the law have learned, however,
the quiet force Of the Senator from In
diars. 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
| iio-.... alton for the vice presidency was
absolutely forced upon him because. in
the opinion of his associates in the Sen
ate an1 the party leaders generally. he
WAS tic best equipped man for the posi-
! ton, and was by his training and by his
| political association of presidential size.
SO thlt he might be ready at any time
t. s..sAl',il the duties of chief executive
| u II sA,Dltll become Mcress'lYs4
Few people are aware OF tile tnius,tat
degree t. which WiM!;am Mckinney gave
his con';detrs to Senator Fairbanks The
two men were Old friends, they reprc-
| scented much the sane element in the
party, ana 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
President elect began to lean upon the
Senator-elert. This trust in the wisdom
Of ,ho stltcsma from Indiana was never
lesscned. 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
ron during the latter part OF 1897 and III |
the early part Of lS0S. The United States :
and Spain were drifting inevitably to-
war" War. The sentiment in this coun-
try was overwhelmingly in favor of in !
terfc:envc in behalf of the suffering pco.
PIE OF Cuba. The pressure for action
grew daily stranger. LIN the public press,
III Congress. in the churches. on tine
streets. everywhere from the Atlantic :,
to the Pacific there was Il constantly
growing sentiment that the United States
must put an end to the shocking condi.
tion> III Cuba.
Mckinley Knew Public sentiment,
" hen he w,i> elected William Nckin-l
ley well knew what this public sentiment
Was and where it was likely to lead, 30
man ever lived who was more skilled in
1cellng the pulse Of the public than the
Ifeslatnt who laid down his life at
b"Hal". When lie came to the White
HOUSE. nevertheless. he was determined
to exhaust every device known to ,liplo-
macy. short Of actual warfare, to bring
SPAN to terms and to bring peace to
oun'. FRAMED in the arts OF war him
ser. william Mckinley we'll knew that
war was not to be entered upon lightly.
ne was for peace from the beginning. o.:
burlns the first six months of the Me-
N'nley administration the tension here
~ Washington was extraordinary. Pub
NC sentiment or itself might have forced
war beca"s" OF the ourages com;n-
unily committed by the Spaniar.ls upou
the poor people OF Cuba. Then came
the explosion OF the Maine. which
touched the spark in the magazine. and
Ni'n1ll rev weeks the people OF the
lhlt'd States were raging with the lust I
Of blood. [,
Still William Mckinley stood stead
fast. lie knew war WAS nearly in
crltAhle. hut he was in Il position to
snow also that rliis country. r.L though
was iii men and resources. was nvt
'eady for war. Tie was in "A position
% know that there were no rifles, no
aHhoh. no clothes. no tents. no pro-
'lSln!.S OF war for even the most mod
,rat" army He had not exhausted di
'lnn.a"y. and even t,lcu he knew that
INC WAS nrrcSS >Ty 10 prepare tile conn
r. FOR var The grrn, public which
v'S ignorant of til" reo' situation and
Which did not realize that Il mistaken
"''ir p':irs hal. allowr:l our army to Z. .
un I'wrh'o point where we were not .
'!t":i II fight cvra Il little nation like
Stil1 rf,u,,Hnrn] f,, /