The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-02-16

advent a cloud settled over the land.
The business world experienced a sea-
son of distress and ~anci disaster.
There was much tinkering with the
tariff, which is the sensitive nerve of
business, and paralysis followed. Fac
torres closed, furnaces grew cold. idle
tramps thronged the highways, ruin
was widespread. In this extremity
Hanna felt that the hour and the man
nad come. He would make William
Mckinley, the apostle Of the protective
tariff. the president of the United
States.
Hanna never made a public speech
until he was 50 years old. The cam
paign forced him to talk. Before that
time he had been a man OF action and
had given little thought to words.
His debut as a speaker occurred in
1896. One night he left the campaign
headquarters in Chicago to visit a
over in one of The foreign sections of
the city. One of the orators of the
evening failed to appear, and it was
suggested that Hanna take his place.
The senator laughed at the idea
Speak," he queried. why, I couldn't
say three words"
Nevertheless, Hanna took the plunge.
The water was not SO very cold, after
audience twelve minutes. Everybody
congratulated him, but to this day he
cannot remember what he said. He
knew, OF course, that he urged every
body to vote for Mckinley for business
reasons. No other argument than a
business n would ever occur to
Hanna. However, the effort left a
pleasant taste in his mouth. He rather
nked the sensation of ~endeavoring to
influence the minds of men by his
spoken word. He had done it before in
the privacy of a room or round the d.
r~ectors' table. Why should he not try
1t on a larger scale? And applause is
sweet to the ear, even if you are as
great a man as Hanna.
The next audience which Hanna faced
filled the entire Auditorium. 1t was on
the V of election, and while there were
many noted orators on the list, Hanna'S
speech was the address of the evening.
1t was not long but it was full of meat.
Hanna claimed that Mckinley would be
elected and he told the reasons why.
There was something more to his ak
than the mere assertion of the political
manager. 1t seemed to be based upon
confident knowledge and impressed the
listeners with the force of a bank state
ment. It was Hanna's way of doing
things-hrst, to know where he stood
and then to convince the people that he
was telling the truth. In all of his cam
paigns he takes anything for
granted. He wants to know. There
never was a time, from the day when
he determined to secure the Inaugural
ton of Mckinley init he closed his
desk On the eve of McKinIey's re-elec-
ton, that he did not know the result
that awaited him when the votes were
counted.
One speech, by merest chance, before
some Bohemians in 1896. In 1900 more
requests at the national headquarters
for speeches by Hanna han for adj
dresses by any other orator, no matter
how famous or how eloquent. Notice
again how Hanna, some how or other,
always gets to the top of the tree, not
wlthstanding that it may be late in life
before he begins to climb.
On the 4th of March, 1897, Hanna en-
tered the United States senate, while
Mckinley went into the White House.
Hanna had been appointed by Governor
John Sherman in the United States SEN
ate, and when the extra session ended
he was ready to go back to Ohio to
seek reelection at h hands of the
Now" said Mckinley, bidding his
friend good by, you will have to make
speeches"
That's ridiculous" said Hanna.
But you cannot go around the state
n just show yourself, saying nothing
continued Mckinley.
I'll try" said Hanna.
He walked on thin ice, as 1t were, for
a while. Senator Thurston, who was
with him., would talk for an hour or two
n then Hanna would speak for fifteen
minutes. The managers were very du-
bious as to the effect of his a It
IS told of Governor Nash that one day
he asked rather anxiously concerning a
Republican meeting at Mount Vernon,
Ohio, where the county was about
equally divided politically.
And Hanna also spoke" said his in
formant.
Then We will lose the county," said
Nash, in all seriousness. But the county
was not lost. On the contrary, it gave an
increased Republican majority.
began to shout for Hanna before they
how or other they liked the style Of this
plain, blunt, matter-of-fact man, who
came out upon the platform and talked
70 tnem IN language that they under
stood; His stories-and he knows how
10 tell a good ~story-were short and to the
point. No diagrams were needed. He
talked to two or three thousand people
as he would converse with one man, never
~elevating his voice beyond the necessary
none of the airs and graces of the pro-
fessional speaker. He had many unique
stance, advancing to the front of the
platform, he would face his audience for
a moment in silence. Then he would utter
this sentence:
"Aa in favor of William Mckinley, say
ayer"
Everybody would spontaneously answer
aye" and upon the hearty laugh that
followed Hanna would launch his speech.
Seventy-three speeches is his record for
a weeks trip through the northwest in
the fall of 1900: For one day, nineteen
speeches. and all different. And yet three
years before he had told Mckinley that
the very suggestion of public speaking
was too ridiculous to be considered.
There is nothing stronger than habit, -
said Hanna, talking of his daily life, "and
I nave contracted the habit of work"
All during his life Hanna has been a
busy man. From the day when he took
his fathers place in the grocery store I'M
til he was at the head of the firm of NJ.
A. Hanna & Co. he did not take a vaca-
tion.N This strain was too great He suf-
fered from insomnia and from a general
breaking down of the nervous system.
That astute gentleman picked up a piece
of string lying on his table and tied the
ends around his hands. Gradually he be-
ban to pull, Hanna watching him. The
string stretched and stretched. and final
SLOAN s1 Ryou are h a q piece Of aai String hns PYn You
will break if you don't stop the strain"
Acting under the doctors orders, Hanna
uron+ q 80 -.