Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 114, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 September 1904 — DIGNITY AND FORGE [ARTICLE]

DIGNITY AND FORGE

Are Marked Characteristics of Vice Presidential Candidate. FAIRBANKS McKINLEY’S FRIEND And Enjoyed the Close Confidence and High Esteem cf the Martyred President—His Training and Experience Will Enable Him to Preside Over the Senate With Credit to the Nation. [Washington Special.] Everyone here who is in any way connected with the government ’has’ a great amount of personal interest-in the nomination of Senator Fairbanks of Indiana for second place on the Republican ticket. The Indiana senator has a personality all his own, and his figure merely fr >m a physical point of view is so striking he has been a marked man in Washington ever since he came here. Straight as an arrow, thin, upUSually tall, with bright red cheeks, with a becoming amount oi senatorial dignity, and yet with a gen nine democracy which is seldom equaled by public men, the Republican candidate for the vice presidency is more than usually popular as public men go. Aside from this, however, the people who are on the inside of public affairs in Washington know, as people of the rest of the country may not-know, that Senator Fairbanks is one of the comparatively few men in public life who have actually made their Impress upon the affairs of the government, In every church, every club, every village debating society, in every congress and every parliament, there are always a select few who do the great bulk of the work, who are men of action, who are selected by their associates to perform the things which have to be done, who have the executive gift which makes them wise in council, and whose advice and-assist-ance are sought when great things are to be done. Some Personal Characteristics. Constantly courteous, invariably kindly, always reserved, consistently modest, never seeking to put himself in the front rank. Senator Fairbanks is not usually credited by the world at large with the extraordinary Influence he really possesses here in Washington. His associates in the senate, the members of the cabinet, and those whose duty it is to execute the law have learned, however, the quiet force of the senator from Indiana, and ever since he came here with McKinley in 1897 Senator Fairbanks has been one of the inner circle. He has grown stronger day by day until his nomination for the vice presidency was absolutely forced upon him because, in the opinion of his associates in the senate and the party leaders generally, he was the best equipped man for the position, and was by his training and by his political association of presidential size, so that he might be ready at any time to exercise the duties of chief executive if it should become necessary. -■& . '

Few people are aware of the unusual degree to which William McKinley gave his confidence to Senator Fairbanks. The two men were old friends, they represented much the same element in the party, and in the early months of 1897 following the bitter political battle of the previous autumn McKinley and Fairbanks were in constant touch and the president-efect began to lean upon the senator-elect. This trust in the wisdom of the statesman from Indiana was never lessened, but as month after rbonth went by the Indiana senator was more and more drawn into the deepest confidences of >tjie president.’’ There were trying times In Washington during the latter part of 1897 and in the early part of 1898. The United States and Spain were drifting inevitably toward war. The sentiment in this country was overwhelmingly in favor of interference in behalf of the suffering people of Cuba. The pressure for action grew daily stronger. In the public press, in congress, in the churches, on the streets, everywhere from the Atlantic to the Pacific there was a constantly growing sentiment' that the United States must put an end to the shocking conditions in Cuba. McKinley Knew Sentiment. When he was elected William McKinley well knew what this public sentiment was and where it was likely to lead. No man ever lived who was more skilled in feeling the pulse of the public than the president who laid down his life at Buffalo. When he came to the White House, ■ nevertheless, he was determined to exhaust every devldfc knowft 16 diplomacy, short of actual warfare, to bring Spain to terms and to bring peace to Cuba. Trained in the arts of war himself, William McKinley well knew that war was not to be entered upon lightly. He was for peace from the beginning. During the first six months of the McKinley administration the tension here in Washington was extraordinary. Public sentiment of itself might have forced a war because of the outrages continually committed by the Spaniards upon the poor people of Cuba. Then came the destruction of the Maine, which touched the spark in the magazine, and within a few weeks the people of the United States were rag Ing with the lust of blocn. Still William McKinley stood steadfast. He knew war was nearly Inevitable, but he was In a position to,know also that this country, rlclj though It

Was in men and resources, was not ready for war. He was In a position to know that there were no rifles, no cannon, no clothes, no tents, no provisions of war for even the most moderate army. He had not exhausted diplomacy, and even then he knew that time was necessary to prepare the country for war. The great public which was ignorant of the real situation and vTiich did not realize that a mistaken public policy had allowed qur army to run down to a point where we were not fitted to fight even a little nation like Spain, still thundered for war and began to suspect the good faith and the bravery of a man like William McKinley. McKinley Consulted Fairbanks. All this is history, which the world knows and which need not be recapitulated in detail. What the world does not generally know is that in the small circle of men who were daily and nightly and sometimes even hourly called into council by William McKinley to advise him as to the best thing to be done to preserve the honor and the dignity of the nation. Charles Warren Fairbanks was alway foremost in the list. He was summoned to the White Hotise night after night, and during a time when the gravest matters were under consideration the most important of all the conferences were held in the Fairbanks home on Massachusetts avenue. There were gathered the senators and the cabinet officers who represented the inner council of the nation, the men who possessed the absolute confidence of President McKinley. It was in the upstairs library of the Fairbanks home that some of the most important decisions of these trying times were first formulated. Some Historic Conferences. There were scarcely half a dozen of the big men of the nation present at those historic conferences, and It Is a sufficient indication of the capacity for public service which Senator Fairbanks has manifested to refer to the fact that although he had been In public life less t]ian a year, his value as a constant adviser of the president in the face, of an Inflamed public sentiment and on the eve of almost inevitable war grew greater day by day. Other men who participated in those conferences remember and bear cheerful testimony to the extraordinary capacity of the Indiana senator for looking at all sides of a question of public policy and for giving his opinion dispassionately, without the slightest snspiclon of personal bias and with something like a sacred deference to the best interests of the nation.

The history of those momentous conferences will never b? written, as a matter of cofirse. McKinley has gone, Hobart has gone, Hanna has gone, and only a few are left of the men who actually shaped the destinies of the nation in the early months of 1898, who persisted in a wise conservatism when delay was necessary, and who provided the means for carrying the war to a successful and a glorious conclusion. That he was even Included in the brilliant list of the confidential advisers of William McKinley in the face of war is a sufficient honor for any man. An Honor for the Indianian. It Is an additional honor for the Indiana senator, who has been chosen as the Republican nominee for the vice presidency, that his associates in public life, in their private conversation, invariably refer to his broad-gauge ability to grasp public questions, to his personal integrity, and to his deep study of constitutional and international law. It is a fortunate thing for the republic that a man of this stamp should have been chosen for the nomination. The result is that in the event of the triumph of the Republican ticket, which now seems absolutely secured, the president inaugurated next March will have had the benefit of more than three years of actual experience in the duties of his ofllce, while the vice president who will take the oath of office at the same time will have beljlpd him not only the benefit of more than seven years in the United States senate, but also of his membership in the inner circle of public men who actually do things, and who in times of trial determine the policy of the nation.

“We are no more agait st organizations of capital than or t an izations of labor. We welcome both, demanding onlv t v at each shall do right and shall remember its duty to the Republic.” President Roosevelt at Mi’waukee, Wis. April 3, 1903. “The po >rest motto upon which an American can act is the motto of ■V “Some men down’’ and the safest to follow is that of “All. men up’’ Vice president Roo«evelt at opening of Pan American Exposition, May 20, 1901. “Our policy is one of fair and equal justice to all men. paying no no heed to whether he is rich or poor not heeding his race’ his creed or his birthplace.’’ From President Roosevelt’s speech of acceptance, “American wage-workers work with their beads as well as their bands. Moreover, they take a keen pride in what they are doing; so that, independent of the reward they wish to turn out a perfect job. This is the great secret of our success in competition with the labor of foreign countries.” President Roosevelt, in message to Congress, Dec, 3, 1901

“T;e hum of Industry has drowned the voice of calamity and the voice of despair is no longer heard in the United States, and the orators without occupation here are now looking to the Philippines for comfort. As we opposed them when they were standing against industrial progress at home, we oppose them now as they are standing against national duty in our island possessions in the Pacific.’’ President McKinley. ' vVe have received our axes, if you want one for early fall use, we can eu’t you. Lee & Poole, MoCoysburg. Call on B. O. Gardner and learn something about Oklahoma and Indian territory. Excursion first and third Tuesdays of each month When there are parties to go I will go along with them and make the trip an enjoyable one. B. O. Gardneb, Hedge-wood posts forsale —1,400 osage hedge posts for sale at 15 c apeice. On the old Parkison far m 8 miles east, 2 miles north, of Rensselaer. Apply to C. O. White, on the place. w3tf. Thomas Davis Dwelling houses and store rooms to rent. A. Leopold.