CHAPTER XXIII.
SECOND PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF McKINLEY.
That McKinley would receive a second nomination at the hands of his party was settled long before the convention of 1900 was called. The fact that under his administration prosperity had been restored, at once gave him a prestige that only the most egregious blundering could overcome. To blunder was not a characteristic of the President, and he made no false step. His hand was steadily on the helm of the ship of state, and while he never sought for troubled waters, he never turned aside if it was necessary for the public good that they should be encountered.
His splendid handling of all the delicate questions that grew out of the Spanish war, as well as the firmness with which he met that great emergency in our national life, made it appear that to him, and him alone, must be entrusted the task of shaping the policy of the government in its new and suddenly acquired position of a world power.
No Republican throughout the land gave thought for an instant to succeeding the President. His leadership was as pronounced as that of Lincoln, in 1864, or Grant in 1872. Nor was there any question as to party policy. To define the relations of the government as a world power; to tranquillize the new possessions; give them stable government, and ultimately to work out whatever destiny had in store for them and the United States—these were the pressing questions.
To be sure, there were the cries against trusts, a clamor against “government by injunction,” a recrudescence of the silver question, and other matters, but who so well qualified to meet them all safely and creditably to his country as the man who had for so many years, in different spheres of activity, proved his fitness for the work, and his loyalty to the people?
It was in some such frame of mind as to the head of the ticket that the delegates to the Republican national convention gathered in the convention hall at Philadelphia, June 19, 1900.
While President McKinley’s renomination was a foregone conclusion, there was a lively fight in progress over the nomination of Vice President. The death of Garret A. Hobart, Vice President, had brought forward a host of aspirants for that position. Favorite sons from various states were brought out, and the contest was keen. Lieutenant-Governor Timothy Woodruff of New York was one of the persistent seekers after the honor, and he had a considerable following. Cornelius N. Bliss of the same state was also put forward, and the name of Governor Roosevelt was often mentioned. Illinois had in the forefront Private Joe Fifer and Congressman Hitt; Iowa presented Congressman Dolliver; Senator C. K. Davis of Minnesota was also mentioned, and Secretary Long of the Navy was considered a possibility.
Senator Platt, of New York, was credited with a desire to force the nomination of Governor Roosevelt, for the purpose of taking that energetic young man out of New York state politics, and the administration was said to be opposed to such a proceeding. There was no doubt concerning the attitude of the Governor. He declared openly and frequently that he did not want the nomination, and finally went so far as to assert he would not accept the place if tendered.
The convention was called to order by Senator M. A. Hanna, chairman of the National Committee, amidst the greatest enthusiasm. There were 906 delegates, and they roared with an exuberance rarely heard apart from such a gathering. In his opening remarks, Chairman Hanna said: “We are now forming our battalions under the leadership of our general, William McKinley,” and a roar arose that continued for several minutes. The chairman then introduced Senator Wolcott, of Colorado, as temporary chairman of the convention. In his address to the convention, Senator Wolcott said:
“The spirit of justice and liberty that animated our fathers found voice three-quarters of a century later in this same City of Brotherly Love, when Fremont led the forlorn hope of united patriots who laid here the foundations of our party, and put human freedom as its corner-stone. It compelled our ears to listen to the cry of suffering across the shallow waters of the gulf two years ago. While we observe the law of nations and maintain that neutrality which we owe to a great and friendly government, the same spirit lives to-day in the genuine sympathy we cherish for the brave men now fighting for their homes in the veldts of South Africa. It prompts us in our determination to give the dusky races of the Philippines the blessings of good government and republican institutions, and finds voice in our indignant protest against the violent suppression of the rights of the colored men in the South. That spirit will survive in the breasts of patriotic men as long as the nation endures, and the events of the past have taught us that it can find its fair and free and full expression only in the principles and policy of the Republican party.
“The first and pleasant duty of this great convention, as well as its instinctive impulse, is to send a message of affectionate greeting to our leader and our country’s President, William McKinley. In all that pertains to our welfare in times of peace his genius has directed us. He has shown an unerring mastery of the economic problems which confront us, and has guided us out of the slough of financial disaster, impaired credit, and commercial stagnation, up to the high and safe ground of national prosperity and financial stability. Through the delicate and trying events of the late war he stood firm, courageous and conservative, and under his leadership we emerged triumphant, our national honor untarnished, our credit unassailed, and the equal devotion of every section of our common country to the welfare of the republic, cemented forever. Never in the memory of this generation has there stood at the head of the government a truer patriot, a wiser or more courageous leader, or a better example of the highest type of American manhood. The victories of peace and the victories of war are alike inscribed upon his banner.”
The second day’s proceedings of the convention introduced Senator H. C. Lodge, of Massachusetts, as the permanent chairman of the body. Twenty thousand people attended the session, in the expectation that President McKinley would be renominated, but for the time being they were disappointed. In his opening speech Chairman Lodge said:
“Dominant among the issues of four years ago was that of our monetary and financial system. The Republican party promised to uphold our credit, to protect our currency from revolution and to maintain the gold standard. We have done so. Failing to secure, after honest effort, any encouragement for international bimetallism, we have passed a law strengthening the gold standard and planting it more firmly than ever in our financial system, improving our banking laws, buttressing our credit, and refunding the public debt at 2 per cent interest, the lowest rate in the world. It was a great work well done.”
Concerning the war with Spain he said:
“Here they are, these great feats: A war of a hundred days, with many victories and no defeats, with no prisoners taken from us, and no advance stayed; with a triumphant outcome startling in its completeness and in its world-wide meaning. Was ever a war more justly entered upon, more quickly fought, more fully won, more thorough in its results? Cuba is free. Spain has been driven from the Western hemisphere. Fresh glory has come to our arms and crowned our flag. It was the work of the American people, but the Republican party was their instrument.
“So much for the past. We are proud of it, but we do not expect to live upon it, for the Republican party is pre-eminently the party of action, and its march is ever forward. The deeds of yesterday are in their turn a pledge and proof that what we promise we perform, and that the people who put faith in our declarations in 1896 were not deceived, and may place the same trust in us in 1900. But our pathway has never lain among dead issues, nor have we won our victories and made history by delving in political graveyards.
“We are the party of to-day, with cheerful yesterdays and confident to-morrows. The living present is ours; the present of prosperity and activity in business, of good wages and quick payments, of labor employed and capital invested; of sunshine in the market-place and the stir of abounding life in the workshop and on the farm. It is with this that we have replaced the depression, the doubts, the dull business, the low wages, the idle labor, the frightened capital, the dark clouds which overhung industry and agriculture in 1896. This is what we would preserve, so far as sound government and wise legislation can do it. This is what we offer now.”
In such an atmosphere of optimism the convention proceeded to adopt the platform on which the candidates should ask the suffrages of the American electorate. That document set forth that four years before—
“When the people assembled at the polls after a term of Democratic legislation and administration, business was dead, industry was paralyzed, and the national credit disastrously impaired. The country’s capital was hidden away and its labor distressed and unemployed.
“The Democrats had no other plan with which to improve the ruinous conditions, which they had themselves produced, than to coin silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. The Republican party, denouncing this plan as sure to produce conditions even worse than those from which relief was sought, promised to restore prosperity by means of two legislative measures—a protective tariff and a law making gold the standard of value.
“The people, by great majorities, issued to the Republican party a commission to enact these laws. This commission has been executed, and the Republican promise is redeemed. Prosperity, more general and more abundant than we have ever known, has followed these enactments. There is no longer controversy as to the value of any government obligations. Every American dollar is a gold dollar, or its assured equivalent, and American credit stands higher than that of any other nation. Capital is fully employed and everywhere labor is profitably occupied.
“We endorse the administration of William McKinley. Its acts have been established in wisdom and in patriotism, and at home and abroad it has distinctly elevated and extended the influence of the American nation. Walking untried paths and facing unforeseen responsibilities, President McKinley has been in every situation the true American patriot, and the upright statesman, clear in vision, strong in judgment, firm in action, always inspiring, and deserving the confidence of his countrymen.”
The platform further declared in favor of a renewal of “allegiance to the principle of the gold standard”; of a law to effectually restrain and prevent all conspiracies and combinations intended to restrict business, to create monopolies, to limit production or to control prices; the protection policy was endorsed, and legislation in favor of the interests of workingmen advocated; help to American shipping, pensions for soldiers, maintenance of the civil service system, construction of an isthmian canal, and endorsement of the treaty of Paris were also favored.
This brought the convention to its third and last day’s session, and it was a veritable love feast. Factional fights and all friction as to policy had been swept away. All that was now necessary was the naming of the ticket. Twenty thousand people again crowded the convention hall, and the great building was shaken again and again by the enthusiastic applause of the multitude.
Alabama yielded to Ohio when the call of States began, and Senator Foraker, to whom had been accorded the honor of nominating the President, arose and said:
“Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: Alabama yields to Ohio, and I thank Alabama for that accommodation. Alabama has so yielded, however, by reason of a fact that would seem in an important sense to make the duty that has been assigned to me a superfluous duty, for Alabama has yielded because of the fact that our candidate for the Presidency has in fact been already nominated. He was nominated by the distinguished Senator from Colorado when he assumed the duties of temporary chairman. He was nominated again yesterday by the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts, when he took the office of permanent chairman, and he was nominated for a third time when the Senator from Indiana yesterday read us the platform.
“And not only has he been nominated by this convention, but he was also nominated by the whole American people. From one end of this land to the other, in every mind, only one and the same man is thought of for the honor which we are now about to confer, and that man is the first choice of every other man who wishes Republican success next November. Upon this account, it is indeed not necessary for me or anyone else to speak for him here or elsewhere. He has already spoken for himself, and to all the world.
“He has a record replete with brilliant achievements; a record that speaks at once both his performances and his highest energy. It comprehends both peace and war, and constitutes the most striking illustration possible of triumphant and inspiring fidelity and success in the discharge of public duty.”
The nomination was seconded by Governor Roosevelt, Senator Thurston, John W. Yerkes, of Kentucky, George Knight, of California, and Governor Mount, of Indiana. When Senator Foraker pronounced the name of the President, there was a great demonstration on the part of the convention. Someone threw into the delegate’s division a great bundle of red, white and blue plumes, made of pampas grass. The delegates caught them up, and with flags, handkerchiefs and State banners waving, shouted themselves hoarse. The whole convention, 926 delegates, voted for President McKinley.
Then came the nomination for Vice-President. The wisdom of the convention had decided on Governor Roosevelt, and all other candidates had withdrawn from the contest. Though strongly against his inclination, the Governor had agreed to accept the position. Colonel Lafayette Young, of Iowa, nominated the Governor, and Butler Murray, of Massachusetts, Gen. J. M. Ashton, of Wisconsin, and Senator Depew, of New York, seconded the nomination. Senator Depew said, in closing:
“We have the best ticket ever presented. We have at the head of it a Western man with Eastern notions, and we have at the other end, an Eastern man with Western character—the statesman and the cowboy, the accomplished man of affairs, and the heroic fighter. The man who has proved great as President, and the fighter who has proved great as Governor. We leave this old town simply to keep on shouting and working to make it unanimous for McKinley and for Roosevelt.”