The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1926-12-08
sen. M'KINLEY.
SUCCUMBS TO
LONG ILLNESS
Illinois Solon Passes Away
Late Yesterday at Mar.
tinsville, Indiana
FUNERAL TO BE FRIDAY
Col. Frank A. Smith, Elected
to Succeed Him, May Fill
Unexpired Term

Martinsville, Ind, Dec. 8(R-
His courageous battle against i'm
pending death over, friends and rel
atives today will take the body of
Senator William b. Mckinley of ILL.,
nois to his home in Champaign,
where funeral services will be con-
Quoted Friday.
The senator died late yesterday
after a four months battle against
prostate cancer.
The death Of the senator, who was
40 years old, was apparently only
matter Of weeks as long as last May,
when he was defeated for renomina-
tion to the senate by Colonel Frank
A. Smith Of Dwight, who was subse-
quently elected. The defeat in the
primary came on the heels of the
senator's vigorous stand in favor of
American adherence to the world
court protocol and brought to a close
a congressional career of 20 years,
IA Of which were spent in the house
Of representative.
! May Appoint Smith
Springfield, Illinois, advices indi-
Gated the possibility that his elected
successor, Colonel Smith. would fill
the remainder Of Senator McKinley's
uncxpired term, but there we're re
ports current in Washington that
pressure might be brought on Gov
crnor Len Small to name some other
person for the present short term
Of congress, to avoid possible de-
lay to impoEtant administration leg
islation which might occur if Colonel
Smith were appointed and the sub
jcct Of primary campaign funds thus
brought before congress.
Blundered Into Politics
William B. Mckinley, whose span
Of more than 20 years in congress,
the latter portion as United States
,enator from Illinois, covered the in
,urgency among national legislators,
/ the Roosevelt bolt Of 1912, and the
primary scandals Of 1925, was q
business man and philanthropist. BY
his own avowal, he "blundercd into
politics" because his business was
running so smoothly he had nothing
else to do.
II really blundercd into politics."
the senator once said. II was get
ting unnecessary in my business.
Things went on without me. So
when it was suggested to me that
run for congress. ! accepted just for
something to do. never regetted
It,"
McKinley's "biundcr" lasted from
the time the Republicans Of Cham
paign. ,Ill., and the nineteenth con-
gressional district sent him to the
lower house Of congress in 1906 un-
til he was defeated for the party
nomination by Frank l.. Smith. Of
Dwight. H., in the 1926 primary as
Mckinley was finishing his first six
year term in the senate.
Spent His Own Money
1t was the huge expenditures in
that last campaign that brought Il
senate investigating committee to
Chicago after the Pennsylvania pri-
mary expense scandal had aroused
national attention. The Chicago
hearing developed that while Senator
Mckinley had spent about $35O, 900, it
was virtually all his own money.
Managers of his successful oppon-
ent, Col. Smith, who was, chairman
of the Illinois Commerce Commits
sion, accounted for approximately
$500, 900, much of it contributed by
executives of public utilities, an in
dustrial field in which Senator Nc
Kinley had made fortune and been
interested for years.
His defeat was Immediately fol-
lowd by the senator's decline in
health and serious illness Of sciatic
rheumatism.
Aside from his political career,
Senator Mckinley was best known
for his contributions to educational
and religious Institutions. His
philanthropies were unattended by
publicity, but his friends estimated
lin 1925 that his gifts to education
had passed the million dollar mark.
A Regular Republican
Always a regular republican. from
"standpatter" times to farm bloc"
days. Mckinley directed the admin
istration campaign for the renomi-
nation Of President William Howard
Taft in 1912 when the Rooseveltians
split the Republican party.
- Mckinley issued q statement de-
scribing- Roosevelt as an "Ajax defy
ing the lightning." and denied the
Roosevelt charges of stolen conven-
ton seats. He challenged Roosevelt
to come from his Oyster Bay. N. Y,
home to the storm center, Chicago,
and. predicted an unsuccessful bolt
from the Republican party. Roose-
: Welt accepted the challenge and soon
after his arrival in Chicago, his ad-
herents left the party convention and
organized the Progressive or Bull
Moose convention and nominated
Roosevelt for the presidency.
The defeat of both. Roosevelt and
Taft by Woodrow Wilson, the demo-
cratic nominee, took Mckinley down
to defeat in his home district and he
| was out Of congress In 1918 and 1914.
He was again elected to the house,
however, and in 1921 was elected to
the Senate by few thousand votes
(Centinued On paoe six.)