Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 July 1896 — SOUNDS THE SLOGAN. [ARTICLE]

SOUNDS THE SLOGAN.

M’KINLEY IN RINGING WORDS ACCEPTS HIS NOMINATION. Takes a Square Position on the St. Louis Pla.tform—Tells the Rcpublican Notification Commitcc It Has His Unqualified Approval. Declares His Stand. [ i' Ta language too plain to be misunderstood and-too emphatic to be forgotten, Williaiu McKinley, at home in Canton, Ohio, expressed his unqualified approval of the platform adopted by the national [Republican convention. His words, ringing with the eloquencte of sincerity, fell upon the waiting ears of appreciative citizens from every commonwealth of the Union, ; the chosen messengers appointed to notify him of his nomination as the presidential candidate of the party. There was more in i his speech than a mere formal approval of the platform adopted at St. Louis. There was a demand for the restoration of the nation’s financial honor and commercial prosperity; for a money as good as the best in the world; for a revenue sufficient to protect the material interests of the people with the least drain upon their resources; for a aeopening of foreign trade that, he asserted, had been ruined by adverse national legislation, and for the encouragement once more of what was styled a

true American policy. These demands came as the notes of a bugle call come to soldiers about to enter a battle. They were the first formal utterances of Mr. McKinley since his nomination. Mr. McKinley received the message from the convention at his home, while his wife and his mother listened and friends and neighbors applauded. He heard the eloquent Thurston give him the assurance that his nomination Was the Indorsement of the purity and simplicity of his private life as much as it stood sos a protective tariff and honest finance; that his nomination had been in compliance with h popular demand and that his candidacy would be accepted by the country as a guarantee of Republican success. ‘‘‘God give you strength,” said Senator Thurston, as he concluded, “to bear the honors and meet the duties of that great office for which you are now nominated and to which you will be elected, that your administration will enhance the dignity and power and-glory-of the republic and secure the safety, welfare and happiness of its liberty-loving people.” The cheers that greeted these sentiments of Senator Thurston were eloquent in themselves. They came from the throats of women as well as the visiting committee, and were given with tremendous vigor/btit? there was a tribute far more eloquent that escaped general notice. It was a glistening tear that hung tremulously in Mrs. McKinley's eye and then fell unheeded down her smiling face. Keiponae of Major McKlnfay*. Mr. McKinley’s response to Mr. Thurston filled every member of the committee with delight over its outspoken and unequivocal declaration of Republican principles. When he turned to deliver his -speech of acceptance there was an OUtburst of cheering that prevented his making himself heard for several minutes. When the crowd became quiet he said: Senn tor Thurston and Gentlemen of the NoI ?!!k Coln !? ttee of the Republican Natlonal Cuhventfont To be selected Presidential candidate by a great party convention, representing so vast a nutnoer <rf the people of the United States, Is amost distinguished honor, for whleh I would not conceal my high appreciation, although deeply sensible of the great responsibilities of the trust and my Inability to bear them without the generous and constant support of my fellow countrymen. Great as Is the honor conferred, equally arduous and Important is the duty imposed, and In accepting the one I assume the other, relying upon the patriotic devotion of the people to the best interests of our beloved country and the sustaining care and aid of Him without whose nippport all we do Is empty and vain. Should the people ratify the choice of the great convention for which you speak my only alm will be to promote the public good, which in America la always the good of the greatest number, the honor of our country and the welfare of the people. The questions to be settled In the national tontest this year are as serious and Important as any of the great governmental problems that have confronted us In the last quarter of the century. They command our sober Judgment awl a settlement free from partisan prejudice and passion, beneficial to ourselves and befitting the honor and grandeur of the republic. They touch every Interest of our common country. Our industrial supremacy, our productive capacity, our business and commercial prosperity, our labor and Its rewards, our national credit and currency, our proud financial honor and our splendid free citizenship—the birthright of every American—are all involved in the pending campaign, and thus every home In the land is directly and intimately connected with their proper settlement. Great are the Issues Involved In the coming election, and eager and earnest the people for their right determination. Our domestic trade must be won back and our idle workingmen employed In gainful occupations at American wages. Our home market must be restored to its proud rank of first in the world, and our foreign trade, so precipitately cut off by adverse national legislation, reopened on fair and equitable terms for our surplus agricultural and manufacturing products. Protection and reciprocity, twin measures of a true American policy, should again command the earnest encouragement of the government at Washington. Public confidence must be resumed, and the skill, the energy and the capital of our country find ample employment at home, sustained, encouraged and defended against the unequal competition and serious disadvantage with which they are now contending. The government of the United States must raise enough money to meet both its current expenses and Increasing needs. Its revenues should bo so raised as to protect the material Interests of our people, with the lightest possible drain upon their resources, and maintain that high standard of civilization which has distinguished our country for more than a century of its existence. The Income of the government. I repeat, should equal its necessary and proper expenditures. A failure to pursue this policy has compelled the government to borrow money in a time of peace to sustain its credit and pay its dally expenses, This policy should be reversed, and that, too, as speedily as possible. It must be airparent to all regardless of past party tics or affiliations that it is onr paramount duty to provide adequate revenue for the expenditures of the government economically and prudently administered. The Republican party has heretofore done this and I confidently believe It will do it in the future when the party is again Intrusted with power in the executive and legislative branches of our government.

The national credit, which haa than far fortunately resisted every assault upon It, must and will be upheld and atrengthened. If sufficient revenues are provided for the support of the government there will be no, necessity for borrowing money and Increasing the public debt. The complaint of the people Is not against the administration for borrowing money and Issuing bonds to preserve the credit of the country, but against the ruinous policy which has made this necessary. It Is but an Incident and a necessary one to the policy which has been inaugurated. The Inevitable-effect of such a policy la seen Id the dcflclency of the United States Treasury, except as It is replenished by loans and In the distress of the people who are suffering because of the. scant demand for cither tnelr labor or the products of their labor. Here la the fundamental trouble, the remedy for which la Republican opportunity ind duty. During all the years of Bepnbllcpn control following resumption there was a steady reduction of the public' debt, while the gold reserve was sacredly maintained and our currency and credit preserved without depreciation, taint or suspicion. If we would restore this policy that brought us unexampled prosperity for more than thirty years, under the most trying conditions ever known In this country, the policy by which we made and bought more goods at home and sold more abroad, the* trade balance would be quickly turned In our filvor- and the gold would come to us and not go from us In the settlement of all suCh balances In the future. The party that supplied by legislation the vast revenues for the conduct of our greatest war and promptly restored the credit of the country rg Jta close and that from Its abundant revenues paid off a large share of the debt Incurred In this war, and that resumed specie payments and placed gar paper currency upon a sound and sa-

during basis, can be safely trusted to preserve both dur credit and currency ; with honor, stability and Inviolability. The American speople hold the financial honor of our government as saertd as our flag and ran be relied upon to guard It with the same sleepless vigilance. They hold it» preservation above party fealty and have often demonstrated that party ties avail nothing when the spotless credit of our country is threatened. The money of the UnitedStates, and every kind or form of It, whether of paper, silver or gold, must be aw good a» the best In the world. It must not only bo current at its full face value art home, but It must be counted at par In any and every commercial center of tlie globe. The sagacious and far-seeing policy of the great men who founded onr government, the teachings and acts of the wisest financier at every stage In our history, the steadfast faith and splendid achievemehts of the great party to which we belong and the genius and Integrity of our people have always demanded this' and will ever maintain it. The dollar paid to the farmer, the wage-earner and the pensioner must continue forever equal in purchasing and debt-paying power to the dollar paid to any government creditor. The contest thia year will not be waged upon lines of theory and speculation, but In the right of severe practical experience an,d new and dearly acquired knowledge. The great body of our citizens know what they want, and that they Intend to have. They know for what the Republican party stands, and what its return to power means to them. They realize that the Republican party believes that our shopwork should be done at home, and notabroad. ' and everywhere proclaim their devotion to the principles.of a protective tariff, Whtek» while supplying adequate revenues for the government, will restore American production and serve the best Interests, of American labor and development. Our appeal, therefore, Is not to a false philosophy or vain theorists, but to the masses of the American people—the p.laln, practical people, whom Lincoln loved aud trusted and whom the Republican party has always faithfully, striven to serie. The platform adopted by the. Republican national convention has received my careful consideration, and has my unqualified approval. It Is a matter of gratification to me, as I am sure It must be to you and Republicans everywhere and to all our people, that the expressions of Its declaration of principles are so direct, clear and emphatic. They are too plain and positive to leave any chance for doubt or as to their purport and meaning. Bqt you will not expect me to discuss its provisions at length or In any detail at this time. It will, however, be my duty and pleasure at some future day to make to you, and through you to the great party you represent, a more formal acceptance of the nomination tendered me. No one could be more profoundly grateful than I fee manifestations of public confidence, of .which you have so eloquently spoken. It shall be my alm to attest this appreciation by an unsparing devotion to what I esteem the best Interests of the people, and In this work I ask the counsel and support of you, gentlemen, and of every other friend of the country. The generous expressions with which you, sir, convey- the official notice of my nomination are highly appreciated and has fully reciprocated, and I thank you and your associates of the Notification Committee and the great party and convention, at whose Instance you come, fer the high and exceptional distinction bestowed upon me. ■When he had finished Mr- H. H. Smith,— of Michigan, with n few well-chosen words, presented him the gavel of the convention, made of wood taken from a. cabin in which Abraham Lincoln once lived at Salem, 111. The words of acceptance having been spoken, Gov. McKinley bowed in acknowledgment of the applause, and, offering his arm to his mother, led the way into the parlor; Gen. Osborne following with Mrs.'McKinley. Gen. Osborne then returned and announced that the committee would be received indoors. Mr. Hanna led them in and presented them, one after another, to the presidential candidate, who in turn introduced them to, his mother and his wife, who occupied seats beside him. When this pleasant little "ceremony was over the committee sat—down with their host at a long table spread under a tent on the lawn. There a typical American lunch was served, sandwiches, salad, coffee, ice cream and. cake, in the same simple fashion that characterized all the proceedings.