$200,000,000 of gold while we have foolishly parted with that amount. But we are richer and stronger, more self-sustaining and more powerful in resources than the greatest of your nations; and if you are not prepared for bimetallism and if it is to be a contest for the accumulation of gold, then we give notice that we are going into the markets of the world to buy $100,000,000 or $500,000,000 if necessary, in order to take care of ourselves. Such a notice would settle the question inside of six months. Europe would seek a conference and international agreement would follow. That is the solution of the question. Independent free coinage is the pathway to the single silver basis and to untold calamity. The restoration of bimetallism through international agreement is the pathway to honor, safety, and prosperity.

A DANGEROUS HERESY.

I am not wishing to raise any personal issue; but I desire from a profound sense of public duty, to resist a false and dangerous policy, and to sound a solemn warning against any attempt to commit our own people to a course of dishonor and disaster. It is not the first time there has been a proposal that we should falter in our devotion to honest money and true public faith. There was an hour when the delusion of inflated and depreciated paper seized upon some minds, as the delusion of inflated and depreciated silver seizes upon them now. It was

kindred in motive and inspiration and peril. There were men then as now who were disposed to palter with it. But a distinguished leader of Republicanism boldly met the heresy on the platform and the integrity and rectitude of our people were preserved. Let us confront and confound the present heresy and danger with the same determination and fidelity. Let us stand inflexibly for the honest money which lies at the foundation of all business security and in which every dollar, whether of gold or silver or paper, shall have full exchangeable equality with every other dollar.

The admirable historical summary and argument of Mr. Smith may be fitly supplemented by the statement that the statistics of gold production emphasize all that he has said respecting the influences that affect the value of precious metals, and the difficulties and limitations of bimetallism. The production of gold has reached the enormous and unprecedented sum of $200,000,000 a year. The truth is the increased demand for gold in the richest and most advanced nations has, according to the ancient irrefutable precepts and irrepealable laws of political economy, augmented the supply, so that it is only not improbable, but almost certain, that there will be of new gold added to the money of the world during the McKinley administration of four years one thousand million dollars. The peculiarity of the golden. inflation, as was seen in California good times, is that it harms no one and helps everybody. It cheers, but

does not inebriate. It is wholesome inspiration and advancement, and there is no depression, no reaction. While we maintain the existing standard, resisting all extremists, disregarding factions, supporting with the credit of the nation the parity of the white and yellow money metals at the ratio familiar in our affairs, we shall follow the example of bimetallic France and close the mints firmly to the coinage of legal tender silver. We have all of that sort of money we can make good. There is to be no more free coinage of silver-that is fundamental. The tendency of the gold production is to the settlement of the silver questions according to the operation of the laws and economics of nature, leaving less and less to be determined by the legislative wisdom found in the government. We have only to stand solidly, as we are, for honesty and economy, to find the very soil of controversy removed, and our feet on the rocks that have resisted the billows of the oceans and the stormy skies for all the millenniums of which there are records of men.

CHAPTER XI.

WILLIAM MCKINLEY AS A CAMPAIGNER.

Speaking to fifteen millions of people - Making one thousand speeches-Constitution of iron-Wondrous vitality-Magnetic power-Excellent memory-Good listener-Making convertsPolicy of Protection the hope of America.

N the past six years William McKinley has been constantly in battle. There has been no rest

IN

for him. It has been a continued campaign, in which he was the central figure. Beginning with the impossible contest for re-election to Congress in the gerrymandered district and continuing through the gubernatorial canvass of 1891, the Congressional campaign of 1892, the second fight for the governorship in 1893, the great Congressional contest of 1894, the Ohio campaign of 1895, and the preliminary struggle of 1896, Major McKinley has been under an increasing strain.

In that period he has probably spoken to more than fifteen millions of people, and shaken hands with a million and a half more, and made a thousand speeches, averaging an hour in length. Such was a task to make any man shrink, to test the nerve,

the physical endurance, and the vocal powers; but Major McKinley went through it all without the least symptom of illness, though he was often wearied and worn. The ex-Governor has a constitution of iron, great recuperative powers, the ability to sleep under uncomfortable conditions, to eat without care all sorts of food at all hours, and to digest it well, to drink waters that are ordinarily unhealthy without disastrous results. He has a surprising power, that comes to his rescue when it would seem as if he could

do nothing more. He has a wondrous vitality, excellent lungs, and great vocal power. Instead of breaking from constant use his voice seems to gain in strength and volume.

It is interesting to note the way he begins a speech. The hall is always filled when he is booked to talk. It usually happens that it is difficult to get him into the hall, because of the crowds on the outside. The moment he appears on a platform is a signal for prolonged and vehement cheering. His face flushes a little and his eyes flash. He breathes quickly and compresses his lips, the lines around the mouth taking promiHe brushes the hair back from his forehead with a nervous hand. Though outwardly composed, it appears to those who know him that he is a little anxious and a bit apprehensive, possibly almost alarmed. It is worthy of note when he steps on a platform and is greeted with enthusiasm, he bows low and waves his hands from side to side. The silk hat is always in the right hand, the brim firmly gripped.

nence.