Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-20
ALL HONOR HIS MEMORY

The triumph of Senator Hanna In con-
verting. within the space of few short
years, very general distrustful public
opinion of him into feeling of admiration
and respect and positive affection on the
part OF men of all shades of political belief
or of no political belief at all, was, in my
opinion. one of the mightiest ever achieved
by an American public man." said a New
York correspondent who was on very close
terms Of friendship with the dead senator.
1t was a mightier triumph because 1t was
one for which the senator absolutely did
not strive. He simply remained himself
through all of the vituperation. studiously
avoided the calcium light and trusted to
the fairness and the good sense OF the
American people to give him his vindication
when they learned to know him better and
got around to 1t. He had implicit conf
oence IN the fairness of the people as
whole, and his confidence was not mis-
piaced Years ago the country woke up to
the fact that Mark Hanna was manly
ana great-hearted man, and, during his ILL
ness and after his death did not hear
single expression, even from men whom l
knew to be prejudiced and even bigoted
partisans, that was not sympathetic.
1t Is a remarkable thing how even cnl-
tureo ana fa1r-minded people in this coun-
try viii permit themselves to be uncon-
sciously swayed by the force of an erro-
neous and unproven public opinion, helped
along by the stabbing skill of the cartoon
ISL IL cannot be doubted that for several
years Mark Hanna was the most stipend
ousiy abused man in the world. Even the
sultan OF Turkey never came in for such
Mucous and incessant vituperation as this
clean minded and clean-handed citizen of
Ohio. The trouble was that he rose to his
fuli stature at an inopportune time for
Just sizing up of him on the part of the
public It was as the good friend of Will
q ho ho fiv~cf o1nSvr nd
t1Onal attention. The country knew Nc
kinley to be a blameless man. publicly and
privately, and this fact put the opponents
OF the republican party in a quandary. 1t
MADE their weapons Of no use. It bereft
them OF campaign material. This would
never do. They were well aware of the
1act That even the most partisan of the
square people OF the country would never
stand for any cooked-up and wholly ground
less attacks on Mckinley. They got out of
the dilemma by jumping on Mark Hanna,
Mckiniey's first friend. Nobody in the re-
publican party was making any bones of
admitting that it was Mark Hanna who had
brought about McKinley's nomination-Mc-
kinney himself never dreamed of denying
land SO the whole attack of the opposi-
ton was concentrated upon Hanna Not
much was really known about him. except
that he was capitalist and a pretty sci
enti1c politician, and with only this ma
terial in hand the campaign knockers went
to work.
what the result of their work was. Hav-
ing nothing specific to charge against
Hanna. they jumped him on general
grounds. They represented him as an I'M
couth beast. making plaything of his
friend Mckinley They portrayed him as
an enemy of honest labor, the grinder
or the toiling masses, the arch enemy of
the man who had to work with his hands,
the caleulatingly cruel millionaire with an
1ngrained love for the sight of human suf-
1erlng, a sort of unspeakable modern Nero
Ihs sort of thing cut Hanna more than
anybody ever knew, but he was silent under
the abuse-glad. even, that it was thus
made possible for him to draw the fire
away from his friend Mckinley the man
the same.
He stood for it like a brave and gallant
man, having prophetic feeling that the
hysteria would pass in time, and that the
people would come to have better opinion
of him. But he made no effort whatever to
coddle public opinion, or to change the inn
preston that had first been formed of him
he just went on being himself, that's all.
w men the clash of campaigns was over, and
the people, no longer blinded by the glar-
ing brands of craftsmanship, began to study
the figures of the campaign from a fair and
proper perspective. Hanna began to stand
out before them in his true light. And he
grew with the people from the hour that
they first began to know him. Some sup
posed great men decrease in stature under
the constant public gaze, but Hanna wasn't
of that kind The nearer you got to him the
bigger man he was. And the people found
1t out.
Il freely admit that I shared in a very
widespread opinion, at the beginning of
Hannas prominence. that his was a figure
calculated to cause untold damage to the
republican party The british cartoons of
him got me going somewhat. I had met
him in a momentary. casual sort of wav at
a number of republican national conyen-
tons. but really didn't know the man at
all. At the outset of the first Mckinley
xyoC nf rt,n >f.,s-
publican party was in pretty poor shane
when 1t had to push forward such rough
sort of a Warwick as Hanna was every-
where represented to be-
Il was doing national politics. to usa
shop term. for a New York newspaper at
that time, and can remember the curiosity
with which the gang of political writer's
hanging about the Fifth Avenue Hotel
awaited the announced arrival of Mark
Hanna in New York. He spent some time
In New York directing the campaign there
from huge Office building on 23d street
When he got to New York the bunch sur
rounded him at once. All hands had more
or less of an idea that the man was un
couth, not to say coarse, as his caricatures
represented him. and they studied him
shrewdly at first So did the infIuentiaI
made their headquarters at the Fifth Ave
nue. Hotel. They. before meeting him.
shared the idea that it was misfortune for
the party that Hanna had gained such a
prised all hands. He wasn't handshaker.
He did not assume any insincere air of
cordially toward anybody. He didn't seem
to<be clamorous for any mans friendship
He wasn't any political mixer. He used
mighty good and effective English, and he
talked nightly to the point. He was
mighty finely groomed man. If he knew
that he was under the closest scrutiny that
he had ever been subjected to throughout
his whole life. he didn't show It, He lust
did what he did throughout his whole pri-
vate and public career; remained Mark
Hanna. And Mark Hanna was even after
a very few days, found to be mighty lfk-
able man. He had Insecurity about him
that was captivating. He wasn't shuff1er.
but just all man. The New York gang
writer's and politicians. quickly found out
that he was dead square, and long before
the more public evidences of it cropped out.
they learned that he would go to the end of
the world and then jump off the brink for
friend And then the gang got to looking
forward to little talks with Mark Hanna,
He was a nice man to talk to. He rang
right. You knew that he saw clean through
you, and, II you were on the level you
were pleased to be thus appraised at what
you considered your rghtful value You
never made any attempt to fool Mark