VIII.

GOVERNOR OF OHIO.

When it was known that great protectionist was defeated, men who did not understand the firm hold which he had on the people of his native State said that it was "the last of McKinley;" but no sooner was it known that he would not return to Congress than a movement was started for his nomination as governor.

Chief Executive of His Native State.-The interest which was immediately awakened soon grew to an overwhelming enthusiasm, and when the Convention met no other name was presented, and he was nominated by acclamation. He was elected by a plurality over Campbell of more than twenty thousand votes.

He was inaugurated in January, 1892, and made a model governor. When he entered upon the duties of his position he knew very little about the affairs of his State, except such as he had gained by reading, but he was not long in learning what was expected of him, and he soon had the affairs of his office well in hand. He was a good judge of men and in consequence made admirable appointments; he also had an eye to economy, and kept down appropriations wherever possible, though in this he was seriously handicapped as he had no veto power. During his administration he had opportunity in several instances to display a high order of courage. The moment that troops were needed to preserve order in a strike McKinley did not hesitate to order them out. He seems never to have stopped to inquire into its effect on his political future. When he saw his duty he did it. When a regiment in performance of its duty fired to kill, he sustained the soldiers. All Ohio soon realized that their governor stood for law and order, and that he would continue to stand.

A Creditable Record. His course as governor was highly creditable to him both as an executive and as a man. "He sent food,"

says Mr. Ellis, "to starving miners, assuming all responsibility for payment and asking no one to contribute, though it was done; he urged arbitration, and by securing it in many instances brought troubles to an end after they had continued for months; he was as insistent with capitalists as with their employes that each should concede something and the disputants meet half way, but while merciful and kind, he was also stern and just. When the State was threatened with disorder, he called out the whole National Guard; he assumed military command as required by the Constitution, and for weeks slept rarely more than two or three hours out of each twentyfour; he checked lawlessness, and by his prompt effectiveness averted the lynching horrors which have disgraced some other States. Thus, though his second term was trying and tempestuous, it won the respect of good citizens everywhere and increased the estimation in which McKinley was held throughout the country itself.”

His Financial Misfortune.-It was during his first term as governor that he was overcome by a great financial misfortune which has now become historic. One of his lifelong friends, a man who had helped him in his early years, went to the wall, and McKinley, being an endorser on his notes for a large amount, went with him. It is certain that McKinley had no interest whatever in the business which his friend Walker represented. He endorsed his notes simply as a friend, and because he felt that he was thereby paying a debt of gratitude. In putting his name on the notes he was led to believe that many of them were made to take up old ones. He supposed that he had really endorsed about $15,000 worth, but when the failure came it was found that the old notes had not been paid and that the entire amount footed up to $118,000. While his political opponents did. not believe that he had done anything wrong in the matter, they took advantage of his calamity to insist that he was deficient in business. ability. It should be remembered, however, that Mr. Tod, a man of extraordinary business ability, declared that he would have endorsed Walker's papers for half a million dollars the day before his failure.

McKinley had succeeded by severe economy in acquiring property to the amount of $20,000; to this his wife added her inheritance of $75,000, insisting that the debts should be paid to the last penny. The course of Mr. McKinley and his wife deeply touched the hearts of the people, and letters began to pour in upon the governor from every point of the compass, enclosing contributions to aid in the payment of the claims. In every instance, however, the money was returned, with thanks for the sympathy shown him. This led to a change in the tactics of his friends, and they began to send him money without giving their names. Not knowing what to do with these anonymous gifts, he finally, at the advice of his friends, placed his affairs in the hands of several trustees. In a few weeks his trustees came to him with the announcement that every note on which he appeared as endorser had been paid, and that not a dollar of the private fortune of his wife and himself had been touched. This did not satisfy Mr. McKinley or his wife, but the only reply they got was:

"This is nobody's business but ours."

Only the trustees themselves knew where the money came from, and they have kept the secret well.

Elected to a Second Term.-His second election to the governorship was by a plurality of 180,000, the largest ever known in that State up to that time. This overwhelming tribute to his worth. attracted wide attention, and it began to dawn upon the people that he was destined for far greater honors.

IX.

AS A CAMPAIGNER.

In 1894 the prevailing depression had created an abnormal interest in politics, and the whole country was at fever heat. There had not been a time since the war when there was such great need for a leader. It was natural that in such a crisis the Republicans of the country should turn to Mr. McKinley. He accepted the trust, and at once became the towering figure in the campaign of that year. It was one of the most remarkable campaigns in the history of American politics. During the fall Mr. McKinley made a tour of nineteen States, delivering not less than twenty speeches in each. During two days in Kansas he spoke to not less than one hundred and fifty thousand people. He spoke three hundred and seventy one times during the campaign, and in one day delivered seventeen speechs. Of this campaign Mr. S. G. McClure says:

A Remarkable Campaign.-"The combined tours far exceeded a distance half way round the world. It was one of the marvels of the man that he was able to undergo all the fatigue which this immense feat implies, and yet close the campaign in as good health as when he began, and without having lost a pound of weight. Very often he was the last of the party to retire, and almost invariably was the first to rise. He seemed tireless. Every State committee in the Mississippi Valley, and beyond it, apparently took it for granted that the gallant champion of patriotism, protection and prosperity could not be overworked. When he consented to make one speech for them, they forthwith arranged a half a dozen short stops en route, and kept him talking almost constantly from daybreak until late at night. He agreed to make forty-six set speeches in all during the campaign; when he had concluded, he had not only made them, but he had spoken at no less than three hundred and twenty-five other points as well,

Breaks the Record. "For over eight weeks he averaged more than seven speeches a day. At least two of these daily were to large audiences where he was compelled to talk for an hour or more; the others varied from ten minutes to half an hour in length, and were frequently addressed to crowds of five thousand people. On several occasions as the special train was hurrying him along he was called out for a talk before he had breakfasted, and would find to his surprise that two or three thousand persons had gathered at that early hour to see him. It was not McKinley who sought all this; it was the people who sought McKinley."

Mr. McClure adds that the glowing accounts which the Press Associations carried about his meetings were in fact modest and moderate narratives of what transpired daily. The correspondents were expected to give non-partisan accounts, and did so, though some of the opposition papers, which were served by the Press Association, were growling at what they assumed was the exaggeration the correspondents were guilty of. "The fact is, the meetings were not overdrawn in the least. If anything, the press narratives did not do him full justice, simply because to have done so would have called for general protests from the Democratic papers and the charge that the accounts were highly colored. It is not strange that this should be the case. No one who was not with McKinley part or all the time could form an adequate conception of the enthusiasm and interest with which he was received in all parts of the nation. It had to be seen to be realized.”

His Powers of Endurance.-Only a man of the most remarkable powers of endurance could have gone through what McKinley did in the campaigns of '91-'96. Murat Halstead, who was with him much of the time, says that in that period he probably spoke to more than fifteen million people and shook hands with a million and a half. He made about a thousand speeches averaging an hour in length. Such a task was enough to test the nerve of any man, but McKinley went through it all without the least symptoms of illness, though of course he was often wearied and worn.