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.
[Illustration:
From a photograph taken for and used by courtesy of the Chicago Inter
Ocean.
CROWDS IN LINE AT THE CITY HALL, BUFFALO, WAITING TO VIEW THE
PRESIDENT’S REMAINS.]
[Illustration:
From a photograph taken for and used by the Chicago Inter Ocean.]
“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.”