It

to encounter also the trials of war. That unusual emergency came. came unexpectedly-as wars generally come. It came in spite of all he could honorably do to avert it. It came to find the country unprepared for it, but it found him equal to all its extraordinary requirements.

"And it is no exaggeration to say that in all American history there is no chapter more brilliant than that which chronicles, with him as our commander-in-chief, our victory on land and sea. In one hundred days he drove Spain from the Western Hemisphere, gilded the earth with our acquisition and filled the world with the splendor of our power. The American name has a new and greater significance now. Our flag has a new glory. It not only symbolizes human liberty and political equality at home, but it means freedom and independence for the longsuffering patriots of Cuba, and complete protection, education and enlightenment, and ultimate local self-government and the enjoyment of all the blessings of liberty to the millions of Porto Rico and the Philippines. What we have so gloriously done for ourselves we propose most generously to do for them. We have so declared in the platform that we have adopted.

"A fitting place it is for the party to make such a declaration. Here in this magnificent city of Philadelphia, where the evidences so abound of the rich blessings the Republican party has brought to the American people; here at the birthplace of the Nation, where our own Declaration of Independence was adopted and our Constitution formed; where Washington and Jefferson and Hancock and John Adams and their illustrious associates wrote their immortal work; here, where center so many historic memories that stir the blood and flush the cheek and excite the sentiments of human liberty and patriotism, is indeed a most fitting place for the party of Lincoln and Grant and Garfield and Blaine.

"The party of union and liberty for all men formally dedicates itself to this great duty. We are now in the midst of its discharge. We could not turn back if we would, and we would not if we could. We are on trial before the world and must triumphantly meet our responsibilities or ignominiously fail in the presence of mankind. These responsibilities speak to this convention here and now, and command us that we choose to be our candidate and the next President-which is one and the same thing-the best fitted man for the discharge of this great duty in all the republic.

"On that point there is no difference of opinion. No man in all the

Nation is so well qualified for this trust as the great leader under whom the work has been so far conducted. He has the head, he has the heart, he has the special knowledge and the special experience that qualify him beyond all others. And he has also the stainless reputation and character and has led the blameless life that endear him to his countrymen and give to him the confidence, the respect, the admiration, the love and the affection of the whole American people. He is an ideal man, representing the highest type of American citizenship, an ideal candidate and an ideal President. With our banner in his hands it will be carried to triumphant victory on November next.

"In the name of all these considerations, not only on behalf of his beloved State of Ohio, but on behalf of every other State and Territory here represented, and in the name of all Republicans everywhere throughout our jurisdiction, I nominate to be our next candidate for the presidency, William McKinley."

The ringing speech of the Senator moved the enormous audience. The standards of the States were paraded, the band played the airs of fame and glory. Senator Hanna led the applause on the platform, and for a quarter of an hour business was suspended.

Governor Roosevelt took the platform to second the nomination of McKinley, and there was wild shouting "Roosevelt, Roosevelt," and these expressions were mingled with "Teddy, Teddy, Teddy." The Kansas folks, who were close to the rostrum, roared out "He's a dandy."

Governor Roosevelt waited patiently, but the greeting did not come to an end until he raised his right hand and waved his indication that he would like to be heard. His wishes were respected.

The Governor said:

"Mr. Chairman-I rise to second the nomination of William McKin ley, the President who has had to meet and solve problems more numerous and more important than any other President since the days of mighty Abraham Lincoln; the President under whose administration this country has attained a higher pitch of prosperity at home and honor abroad than ever before in its history. Four years ago the Republican party nominated William McKinley as its standard bearer in a political conflict of graver moment to the Nation than any that had taken place since the close of the Civil War saw us once more a united country. The Republican party nominated him, but before the campaign was many days old he had become the candidate not only of all Republicans,

but of all Americans who were both far-sighted enough to see where the true interests of the country lay, and clear-minded enough to be keenly sensitive to the taint of dishonor. President McKinley was triumphantly elected on certain distinct pledges, and those pledges have been made more than good.

"We were then in a condition of industrial paralysis. The capitalist was plunged in ruin and disaster; the wage-worker was on the edge of actual want; the success of our opponents would have meant not only immense aggravation of the actual physical distress, but also a stain on the Nation's honor so deep that more than one generation would have to pass before it would be effectually wiped out. We prom ised that if President McKinley were elected not only should the national honor be kept unstained at home and abroad, but that the mill and the workshop should open, the farmer have a market for his goods, the merchant for his wares, and that the wage-worker should prosper as never before.

"We did not promise the impossible; we did not say that by good legislation and good administration there would come prosperity to all men; but we did say that each man should have a better chance to win prosperity than he had ever yet had. In the long run, the thrift, industry, energy and capacity of the individual must always remain the chief factors in his success. By unwise or dishonest legislation or adminis tration on the part of the National authorities all these qualities in the individual can be nullified; but wise legislation and upright administration will give them free scope. And it was this free scope that we promised should be given.

“Well, we kept our word. The opportunity has been given, and it has been seized by American energy, thrift and business enterprise. As a result we have prospered as never before, and we are now prospering to a degree that would have seemed incredible four years ago, when the cloud of menace to our industrial well-being hung black above the land.

"So it has been in foreign affairs. Four years ago the Nation was uneasy because right at our doors an American island lay writhing in awful agony under the curse of worse than mediæval tyranny and misrule. We had our Armenia at our very doors, for the situation in Cuba had grown intolerable, and such that this Nation could no longer refrain from interference, and retain its own self respect. President McKinley turned to this duty as he had turned to others. He sought by every

effort possible to provide for Spain's withdrawal from the island which she was impotent longer to do aught than oppress. Then when pacific means had failed, and there remained the only alternative, we waged the most righteous and brilliantly successful foreign war that any country has waged during the lifetime of the present generation. It was not a great war, simply because it was won too quickly; but it was momentous indeed in its effects. It left us, as all great feats must leave those who perform them, an inheritance both of honor and of responsibility; and under the lead of President McKinley the Nation has taken up the task of securing orderly liberty and the reign of justice and law in the islands from which we drove the tyranny of Spain, with the same serious realization of duty and sincere purpose to perform it, that has marked the national attitude in dealing with the economic and financial difficulties that face us at home.

"This is what the Nation has done during the three years that have elapsed since we made McKinley President, and all this is what he typifies and stands for. We here nominate him again, and in November next we shall elect him again; because it has been given to him to personify the cause of honor abroad and prosperity at home, of wise legis lation and straightforward administration. We all know the old adage about swapping horses while crossing a stream, and the still older adage about letting well enough alone. To change from President McKinley now would not be merely to swap horses. It would be to jump off the horse that had carried us across, and wade back into the torrents; and to put him for four years more into the White House means not merely to let well enough alone, but to insist that when we are thriving as never before we shall not be plunged back into an abyss of shame and panic and disaster.

"We have done so well that our opponents actually use this very fact as an appeal for turning us out. We have put the tariff on a foundation so secure; we have passed such wise laws on finance, that they actually appeal to the patriotic, honest men who deserted them at the last election to help them now; because, forsooth, we have done so well that nobody need fear their capacity to undo our work! I am not exaggerating. This is literally the argument that is now addressed to the Gold Democrats as a reason why they need no longer stand by the Republican party. To all such who may be inclined to listen to these specious arguments, I would address an emphatic word of warning.