Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-17

too bad, but II you look at 1t that way
-" then he laughed heartily.
I think | have the record OF being
the only citizen, native or imported,
who ever refused a consulate or other
governmental position.
IL was on account of Joe Manley of
Maine and the Blaine wing of the Re-
publican party l first went to Ohio.
Thomas B. Reed had told me quietly,
in a confidential interview, that he had
given up expectation of candidature,
and had said. 1T will he Mckinley on
the first ballot" My friend and asso-
ciate the editor OF the New York Press,
for which l was chief special and polit-
ical writer and special national politi-
cal correspondent. had received a let
ter from Joe Manley of Mane--T may
as well speak freely of these matters
at this distance of time-and this letter
contained the assurance Major McKln-
ley would receive the solid support of
the Blaine old guard (Tom Reed gal
lantly allowing himself 10 be sacri-
hced), and would be nominated on the
first ballot II Major Mckinley would
come out with a declaration in favor of
sound money.
The rumors Of free coinage OF silver
were causing much anxiety among east
ern financiers, and | had instructions,
If Major Mckinley showed any inclina-
ton of wavering, to stay right with
him, get his sound money declaration,
and put It on the wires Immediately.
The Parting of the Ways
1t was IN order to get his position on
the sound money question squarely de-
fined, as a result of my staying right
with him that he gave me this copy of
his speeches and addresses | have with
me tonight This book has a sentimen-
tai and historical value. because the
pencllngs In Il were made by McKin-
Iax Inns of he
he marked began. eve have reached
the point where the ways part: one
straight and honorable; the other
crooked and beset with ills: the one
leading away from the well settled
policy of the fathers. which can end
only in revolution of values. the ruin
Of national and individual credits and
financial arrangement generally: the
other leading by a shining path to pub
lie safety and financial honor" and that
Is the passage that suited me.
I said: Major. ! have lifted that
mltted you" We'll" he replied. Il
won't deny It," As soon as the country
took my tip Of you will pardon the ex-
pression) there was great excitement.
and Mark Hanna came along in a hurry
i met him for the first time, was in
troduced by Major Mckinley as the man
who had started the political pot
aboiling-I was exceedingly glad he did
not say Spilled It into the ire"-and
IT, II. Kohlsaat came down from Chi
cago. and we drafted the gold plank
for the platform.
take this opportunity Of doing JUS
tice to Mr.. Kohsaat. There is de-
plorable habit nowadays Of being jeal-
Gus Instead OF appreciative; Of trying to
rob people OF the credit Of what they
have done. or belittle it. 1t is simply
outrageous even TO suggest that Mr..
pof nj
its first form.
HE DID. and submitted the rough
draft to me. and I said: Lets take it
up to the Major"
Stuck to Sound Money
To him we said This Is the plank
you will make your campaign on. IL
looks as n IT would be a sound money
campaign" He said. "It Is a splendid
plank" and / don't think he made
more than one or two verbal changes in
IT, Mark Hanna was summoned by wire
from Cleveland. and did not see the
plank until II had been gone over by
Major Mckinley and your humble SER
ysnt.
when I went to the convention II was
not only in a newspaper capacity, but
as the personal representative Of Major
Mckinley. and most OF my work during
that great and exciting assembly con-
Mckinley every Ave or ten minutes,
until he was nominated So | was not
only the man who told him he would be
nominated. but the first man who told
him he was nominated.
SO much for politics. But I have
given you u outlines of a political
story which has never been fully told,
and IL was an epoch making story. for
IT Is largely the result of policies dat
ing from the day when Major Mckin-
ley, Mark Hanna, II. II. Kohlsaat and
some other gentlemen. met In Canton,
Ohio. that the United States finds itself
where II Is today, and l confess ] am
certain that from what / know OF Major
McKinley's views concerning American
ism II he were now an active par
tcpant in politics. as believer in
full dinner pail for the workingman
and the man of small income, he would
be today not merely In favor of tariff
revision, but of real tariff reform. Be
cause Major McKinley's constant aim
was to pursue politics in order that
popular social aim might be be at
talned to and a desirable American
social condition be brought about, TO
wit, the greatest good for the greatest
number: and not for beggarly mi
nority of pampered, protected pluto
Gratis If I knew Major Mckinley at
all, l am expressing his sentiments.
The Full Diner Pail
The expression. "a full dinner pair
which has nothing whatever to do with
pampered plutocrats and tyrants OF in
dustry, and everything to do with
the men who work for wages, was fur
nlshed by me in my dispatches to New
York. and was afterward taken up by
Major Mckinley and the Republican
party and the public. as many Of my
pet phrases were-and are.
Major Mckinley was typical Celt of
the dark race. He represented the
dhus, and not the roys or rhus. His
mother was an Allison, which Is sax
onized way of saying Macaulay Just
as Finlayson is a Saxonized way of say
ing MacKinley. which. in the Gaelic, Is
Mac Flonnlaidh. Our greatest Ameri-
can president of modern times-the only
president in forty years who was truly
a destiny maker and a policy builder
was one of the sons of Fionn. the great
Celtic hero, and he possessed that
strange mixture of tragic gloom and
sweet fancful humor which betrays the
Celtic type and is peculiar to all the
tribes and not merely to the dark sons
of Fionn the Gael
| took an early opportunity of find
ing out whether Major Mckinley real
lied he was of Celtic origin or descent
and when l found that he knew Scot
tish and Irish history backwards and
forwards and could and did dance the
Highland fling, and could and did sing
'Annie Laurie" better than anyone
ever heard sing 1t. ] concluded he was
pretty good Celt, just about as good as
they make them.
Store of Domestic Life
The domestic side of Major McKin-
fey's life partly accounted for the tragic
gloom which at times overcame him.
His wife was a chronic invalid, and he
waited on her "hand and foot" Often
/ have seen him lift her in his arms and
carry her to the carriage when they
went driving And not only was his wife
an invalid but in spite of his fame he
had never had his fondest desire,
which was to see children grow up