your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms, and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in this country."

"If they say bimetallism is good, but that we cannot have it until other nations help us, we reply that, instead of having a gold standard because England has, we will restore bimetallism, and then let England have bimetallism because the United States has it. If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we will fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them; You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."

These extracts give an idea of the subject matter of the speech, but they can give no idea of the speech itself. Bryan was a genuine orator, the sort of man who can hypnotize almost any audience, an orator with a pleasing voice and a perfect delivery. As he approached the climax of his appeal, the crowd broke out into roar after roar of applause. When he finished, the whole twenty thousand were frenzied with enthusiasm. Had the nominations started then, Bryan would have won on the first ballot.

The silver delegates, strong in numbers, had been groping around for a leader. They found one in Bryan, much to the disgust of some Democrats from the East. "Lunacy having dictated the platform," the New York World said, "it was perhaps natural that hysteria should evolve the candidate." On the following day the balloting began, and after the usual complimentary votes for the "favorite sons," Bryan received the nomination on the fifth ballot. In the East, over the offices of some Democratic newspapers, flags were hung at half mast, and many former Democrats proclaimed their intention of voting for McKinley. Other "gold Democrats" started a party of their own, with Palmer and Buckner for their candidates. The enthusiastic adoption of silver by the Democrats left the Populists in an embarrassing dilemma. The Democrats had run away with their big issue; if they fused with the Democrats, they would lose their identity as a party; if they did not fuse, the Republicans were certain to win.

The Populist Convention met at St. Louis in July. Among the delegates were heroes of the twenty-five-year campaign for agrarian

reform, Ignatius Donnelly, champion of the Baconian acrostics and of the Lost Atlantis, "Sockless Jerry" Simpson, and Mrs. Mary Lease. After a canvass of the situation, they decided to nominate Bryan for President, but for the second place on their ticket they selected Thomas Watson of Georgia.

THE CAMPAIGN

With the nomination out of the way, Bryan plunged into a whirlwind campaign which thoroughly alarmed the Republicans. He traveled thirteen thousand miles, visiting twenty-nine states, and he made six hundred speeches in fourteen weeks. The Democrats found it hard to raise funds, because nearly all the business interests were solidly against them. Bryan fought his "first battle" almost single handed. On the whole the Democratic candidate showed remarkable tact and courtesy during the trying contest.

The Republicans gave him very different treatment. The Reverend Thomas Dixon of New York characterized Bryan as a “mouthing . . . demagogue whose patriotism is all in his jaw-bone." He was generally represented as the personification of "riot, revolution, and ruin." Some of the gold Democrats were as bitter as the Republicans. Henry Watterson of the Louisville Courier-Journal declared: "He is a boy orator. He is a dishonest dodger. He is a daring adventurer. He is a political fakir. He is not of the material of which the people of the United States have ever made a President, nor is he even of the material of which any party has ever before made a candidate." A typical example of the Republican attitude toward Bryan was published after the election in the New York Tribune.

"Its nominal head was worthy of the cause. Nominal, because the wretched, rattle-pated boy, posing in vapid vanity and mouthing resounding rottenness, was not the real leader of that league of hell. He was only a puppet in the blood-imbued hands of Altgeld, the anarchist [the governor of Illinois!] and Debs, the revolutionist, and other desperados of that stripe. But he was a willing puppet, Bryan was, willing and eager. Not one of his masters was more apt than he at lies and forgeries and blasphemies and all the nameless iniquities of that campaign against the Ten Commandments. He goes down with the cause, and must abide with it in the history of infamy. He had less provocation than Benedict Arnold, less intellectual force than Aaron Burr, less manliness and courage than Jefferson Davis. He was the rival of them all in deliberate wickedness, and treason to the Republic. His name belongs with theirs, neither the most brilliant nor the most hated on

the list. Good riddance to it all, to conspiracy and conspirators, and to the foul menace of repudiation and anarchy against the honour and life of the Republic."

While Bryan was carrying his gospel to his hearers in all parts of the country, "Mark" Hanna, now the chairman of the Republican national committee, was directing the Republican campaign. To offset Bryan's speaking tour, he planned to bring the people to McKinley, and for that purpose he evolved the "front porch" method of campaigning. Several times each week large delegations from all parts of the country came to McKinley's home town, Canton, Ohio. Every detail of these gatherings was worked out beforehand. If the chairman of the delegation could not come to Canton for a preliminary interview, he was directed to send on a careful statement of the speech he intended to make. That gave McKinley and Hanna an opportunity to go over it, and to suggest changes, but above all else it gave McKinley an opportunity to work out a careful reply. The newspapers published both speeches and replies, thus keeping the public informed on the progress of the "cause."

Hanna was first of all a business man, and he applied his business methods to the conduct of campaigns. He established two headquarters, one in Chicago, and one in New York. From these offices political "literature" was distributed by the carload. Over a hundred million pamphlets were sent out from Chicago, twenty million from New York. The publicity agents furnished material to the country newspapers, political "stories," anywhere from a column a week up, in the form known to newspaper men as "boiler plate." Cartoons, posters, and buttons were manufactured and spread broadcast, in almost limitless quantities. Finally Hanna hired a force of fourteen hundred campaign speakers, and sent them where their services were needed. They went into the doubtful districts, held meetings, organized torchlight processions, and resorted to every known device to arouse McKinley enthusiasm.

No one knew better than Hanna that all these methods were efficient, and no one knew better than he that they were expensive, for he had to raise the money for them. Because the dominant issue was finance, and because he was upholding the principles of the business man, he called upon that element for heavy contributions. They responded liberally, once he convinced them of the need. Banks were assessed at the rate of one fourth of one per cent of their capital,

and most of them paid. Life insurance companies made heavy contributions. The Standard Oil Company gave $250,000. More money was raised than in any previous campaign, nearly $3,500,000. Over $3,000,000 of this came from New York City and its immediate vicinity. How some of the money was spent may be seen in the statement given below.1

In addition to this money, which Hanna's national committee raised, various sums, of unknown size, were raised by local committees. Just how much it cost to secure McKinley's election will never be known.

Pressure was applied to the voters in various ways, to compel them to vote the Republican ticket. Dealers placed orders, with the understanding that delivery was conditional upon a Republican victory. Reports of these dealings were circulated among employees, still suffering from the effects of the "hard times." Manufacturers notified their employees that factories would be closed in the event of a Democratic victory. The Republicans promised a "full dinner pail" if they won, and many workingmen were induced to vote for McKinley who would under normal circumstances have voted some other ticket. It seems probable that many of the Eastern Democratic leaders made no effort to help Bryan to win. Their interests were connected with the business world. Furthermore Bryan had been nominated without any help of theirs, probably in spite of them; they had no claims upon him, and no hope of reward in case he should win.

The popular vote was the heaviest ever cast, 7,111,607 for McKinley, 6,509,052 for Bryan. Of the electoral votes McKinley had 271, Bryan 176. Republican newspapers heralded the outcome as a victory over the combined forces of evil, and on the Sunday following the election Republican clergymen gave thanks in their prayers that the country had been saved from disaster. The success was full of significance for the business interests, for at least they knew where they stood.

1 General office, salaries and miscellaneous... Bureau of Printing:

Printing.

.$ 13,000

472,000

CHAPTER LIX

"BIG BUSINESS" TRIUMPHANT

In the minds of "Mark" Hanna and his associates, the election of McKinley was a vindication of the business interests, and a striking example of the inherent common sense of a majority of the voters. The Republican leaders were impressed as well as elated. In order to impress the country, and to make the incident live, Hanna planned a very elaborate inaugural ceremony. He worked out the various arrangements beforehand, and on March 4, 1897, everything moved with precision. The streets were carefully policed, the crowds handled most effectively and the military display was peculiarly elaborate. The country had been "saved" and it was well for the people to know it.

THE NEW ADMINISTRATION

McKinley himself was a quiet, kindly man, courteous in his bearing toward the public, gentle in his consideration for his invalid wife. He had many loyal friends both in politics and out. In his political activities caution and tact were his most noticeable characteristics. He moved slowly, if at all, when new problems had to be considered, and he never moved in such a way as to disturb the majority of his followers. The new President was not a reformer. He found the Interstate Commerce Act and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act on the statute books when he entered office. He had not been particularly interested in putting them there and he soon made it known that he would do nothing to enforce them. Trusts and railroads were to be free to pursue their ends in their own ways as long as he was in office. Even if he personally had desired reform in this field, he could have made no headway, because his friend Hanna was in the Senate, and Hanna was well supported by the representatives of "Big Business."

McKinley was eminently "safe," the very personification of Hanna's adage that it was well to "stand pat" in politics. He was likewise thoroughly in sympathy with the majority of his party. By temperament and by training he was well fitted to work with Con