* CHAPTER XVII. THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION. The organization and speeches of the presiding officers-The plat form-The nominating speeches and ballots nominating the candidates for President and Vice-President. HE delegates to the Republican National T certain that the nomination of the President had been made by their constituents. William McKinley, of Ohio, was manifestly the choice of the people, because he was, more than any other man, identified with the protection of American industry. His opponents had agitated the money question— whether the Convention should declare for a gold standard by way of diversion, and as it was doubtful whether the explicit use of the word "gold" would be approved, interest centered temporarily upon that issue. The gathering of the delegates only increased the McKinley sentiment, and there were doubts whether the nomination for the great office would not be forced by acclamation. However, it was determined to make the record. The high compliment of the Temporary Chairmanship of the Convention was conferred upon C. W. Fairbanks, of Indiana, a Republican long of prominence in that State and of steadily increasing importance. His speech, upon taking the chair, was full of telling passages. find space for some of them especially forcible: We "Under the operation of honest tariff and honestmoney Republican laws the country grew in wealth and power beyond precedent. We easily outstripped all other Powers in the commercial race. On November 8th, 1892, there was work for every hand and bread for every mouth. We had reached highwater mark. Labor received higher wages than ever, and capital was profitably and securely employed. The national revenues were sufficient to meet our obligations and leave a surplus in the treasury. Foreign and domestic trade were greater in volume and value than they had ever been. Foreign balances were largely in our favor. European gold was flowing toward us. But all of this is changed. The cause is not hard to see. A reaction began when it was known that the legislative and executive branches of the government were to be Democratic. . . . The imperilled interests of the country watched and waited through the long and anxious months for some settlement of the important question. They wanted an end of uncertainty. At length the Wilson bill was adopted, and it was characterized by a Democratic President as the child of perfidy and dishonor.' It was so bad that he would not contaminate his hand by signing it. "This important law was wanting in the primary purpose of a revenue measure, for it failed to provide adequate revenue to meet the requirements of the Government. The deficiency thus far amounts to some $95,000,000. The end is not yet, for the deficiency grows day by day. This leaves the Treasury and public credit in constant peril. Our foreign credit is impaired, and domestic capital feels insecure. "The bill struck down reciprocity, one of the highest achievements in American statesmanship. No measure was ever enacted which more directly advanced the interests of the American farmers and manufacturers than reciprocity. With its destruction fell advantageous commercial agreements, under which their products were surely finding larger and profitable foreign markets, and without the surrender of their own. The substitution of ad valorem for specific duties has opened the way for systematic wholesale frauds upon the Treasury, and producers and employers of the country. 66 Having attempted to reverse the tariff policy of the United States with such lamentable results, the Democratic party now proposes to reverse the currency policy. It turns to the currency as the parent of our ills. Its effort to shift the responsibility will deceive no one. Its attacks upon the tariff, its record of inefficiency and insincerity, are a part of the unfortunate history of the Republic. "The present currency system is the fruit of Republican wisdom. It has been adequate to all our past necessities, and if uncorrupted, will meet our future requirements. Our greatest prosperity was attained when Republican currency laws were in full operation. When the Republican party was in power our currency was good; it was made as good as the best on the globe. We made sound money; and we also made an honest protective tariff to go with it. Sound money and an honest protective tariff go hand in hand together, not one before the other. "The very foundation of a sound currency system is a solvent Treasury. If the people doubt the integrity of the Treasury they will question the soundness of the currency. Recognizing this fundamental fact, the Republican party always provided ample revenue for the Treasury. When in the last half-century of our history did the Democratic party advocate a financial policy that was in the best interests of the American people? Look at its antebellum currency record, consider its hostility to the currency rendered necessary by the exigency of war, and later, its effort to inflate the currency in a time of peace by the issue of greenbacks. Witness its opposition to the efforts of the Republican party to resume specie payments. But four short years ago it declared for a return to the old discredited bank currency." On the second day of the Convention the Hon. John M. Thurston was chosen Permanent Chairman, with a Vice-President from each State. The address by the Permanent Chairman was one of the marked features of the Convention. He said: "Gentlemen of the Convention: The happy memory of your kindness and confidence will abide in my grateful heart forever. My sole ambition is to meet your expectations, and I pledge myself to exercise the important powers of this high office with absolute justice and impartiality. I bespeak your cordial co-operation and support, to the end that our proceedings may be orderly and dignified, as befits the deliberations of the supreme council of the Republican party. Eight years ago I had the distinguished honor to preside over the Convention which nominated the last Republican President of the United States. To-day I have the further distinguished honor to preside over the Convention which is to nominate the next President of the United States. This generation has had its object lesson, and the doom of the Democratic party is already pronounced. The American people will return the Republican party to power because they know that its administration will mean : "The supremacy of the Constitution of the United States. "The maintenance of law and order. "The protection of every American citizen in his right to live, to labor, and to vote. "A vigorous foreign policy. "The enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine. "The restoration of our merchant marine, |