MARK 
 
 MANNA 
 
 HIS BOOK 
 
 ii 
 
 SOCIALISM 8c LABOR UNIONS 
 WM.MS KINLEY AS I KNEW HIM 
 
/^intuit 
 
 [ LIBRARY 
 
 1 UNIVERSITY OF 
 V CALIFORNIA 
 
MARK HANNA 
 
 HIS BOOK 
 
 With an Introduction by 
 
 JOE MITCHELL CH APPLE 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 The Chappie Publishing Co., Ltd. 
 1904 
 
Copyright, 1904 
 
 BY 
 
 THE CHAPPLE PUB. Co., LTD. 
 
 LOAN STACK 
 
 Che 
 
 SAMUEL USHER 
 
 176 TO 184 HIGH STREET 
 
 OSTON, MASS. 
 
Hi A 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SOCIALISM AND THE LABOR UNIONS . . 30 
 WILLIAM McKiNLEY AS I KNEW HIM: 
 
 I. His MASTERLY CAMPAIGNS . . .46 
 
 II. GLIMPSES OF His PERSONALITY . . 60 
 
 III. IN THE WHITE HOUSE ... 74 
 
 991 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 A SHORT time prior to his death, I sat at the 
 feet of one whom I consider the greatest giver 
 of power I have ever known among men. It 
 was during the early hours of Sunday, in his 
 room at the Arlington Hotel in Washington, 
 that I sat for three hours and heard a sermon 
 the like of which I never listened to before. 
 There was no text from Holy Writ, but rather 
 from the human heart was the lesson drawn. 
 It seemed as though in those serene moments, 
 in the quietude that always clings to the day 
 of rest, he spoke words that were almost super 
 natural. His great heart seemed to well up 
 in sympathy for humanity, as he outlined the 
 great culminating idea of his life-work. In that 
 hour he gave forth a message to the world that, 
 reduced to writing and published in the National 
 Magazine for February, 1904, won the appro 
 bation of the whole country. Those brown 
 and brilliant eyes glistened afresh with the 
 deep feeling that filled his breast. His words, 
 
 5 
 
6 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 listened to with rapt attention, were freighted 
 with wisdom, affection and kindliness, impress 
 ive of his greatness as a man and a statesman. 
 His serenity and gentleness emphasized the 
 grandeur of his character as husband, father, 
 brother, friend, statesman, philanthropist and 
 patriot. 
 
 As he sat there straight before his desk talk 
 ing, I looked at the kind features which I had 
 grown to love as dearly as those of my own 
 father, and was struck anew with his remark 
 able resemblance to William McKinley ; and 
 somehow the thought flashed over me as I 
 listened in almost breathless wonder, "Is 
 this to be the last message of our beloved chief 
 tain? Is all this to sum up in one utterance 
 his final counsel and admonition to his country 
 men, as did that memorable last speech of 
 William McKinley at Buffalo?" 
 
 I shuddered at the thought, but yet there 
 was in the Senator s face a pallor, and in his 
 frame a perceptible languor, that told how 
 freely and unselfishly he had given his vital 
 force as an offering to his country and his 
 fellowmen. 
 
Introduction 7 
 
 It was in this last talk that he told me many 
 details of his early life how at college he 
 " was a boy, and a real boy at that," he play 
 fully said. He told how he had joined in a 
 plot to break up the junior exhibition when 
 one of the president s sons was in the class. 
 A copy of the program was secured, and late 
 that night he drove into Cleveland, roused a 
 printer out of bed and had printed a satire on 
 11 The Ubiquitous Juniors." Returning at early 
 dawn, the problem was how to distribute the 
 programs. After canvassing the matter in secret 
 caucus, it was finally decided that " Mark " 
 would have to do it. So he marched boldly 
 into the chapel that morning with arms full of 
 satirical matter, which he scattered like the 
 leaves of Autumn, up one aisle and down the 
 other, with the distinguished faculty chasing him 
 even to his room. He was brought before the 
 august fathers of the college, and in manly 
 fashion told them he was the ringleader and 
 was willing to take the consequences; but he 
 protected his chums, who were in the mean 
 time carrying on the well-defined plan out 
 lined on the programs, which delightfully 
 
8 Mark Banna: His Book 
 
 mixed everything up. The junior exhibition 
 was as inglorious as even their hearts could 
 wish, but the future Senator left college. 
 
 Later, clad in overalls and rolling pork 
 barrels about for shipment, he was met by the 
 president of that college. There was a cordial 
 greeting, and young Hanna tried to impress upon 
 his former instructor just how much the college 
 had missed when it dispensed with his presence ; 
 but the president eyed him gravely from head 
 to foot and said, " Well, Mark, you have just 
 about reached your right place this time." 
 
 But those pork barrels were rolled and man 
 aged with the aggressive power and activity 
 that characterized the statesman of a later day. 
 
 It was on this last Sunday that the Senator 
 related to me one of the most touching and ten 
 der incidents of his earlier years. He prefaced 
 it by stating that he was past twenty-five 
 years of age before he ever tasted intoxica 
 ting liquor of any kind. During those early 
 days when he was associated in Cleveland with 
 high-spirited young men of ample means, 
 his father s heart was apprehensive, as the 
 
Introduction 9 
 
 heart of almost every father is apt to be for 
 sons of tender age. The elder Hanna was rigid 
 and uncompromising in his total abstinence 
 principles, and often said he would rather see 
 his boy brought home in a coffin than stagger 
 ing home drunk. For this reason Marcus 
 never had a latchkey, but every time he came 
 home late his father would get up and let him 
 in. And surely no father ever watched over a 
 son with more solicitude; but young Hanna 
 rebelled and even appealed to his mother 
 for a latchkey. 
 
 " Mother," said he, " you can trust me. 
 Whenever I touch a drop of liquor I will give 
 you back this key." 
 
 What a splendid proof of the confidence 
 between mother and son is here; and he 
 obtained not only the key to her home at that 
 time, but retained the key to her heart to her 
 dying day. Needless to say, he was true to 
 his word, and no incident in his whole life, it 
 seems to me, reveals the sterling worth in 
 the character of the man better than this. 
 
 When he related this story to Mr. Dover 
 and myself he especially requested that it 
 
io Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 should never be made public during his life 
 time. " Because," as he said, " these things 
 are apt to be misunderstood, and I prefer to 
 have the people appreciate me for my public 
 work and nothing else." 
 
 A contemporary of John D. Rockefeller, he 
 reached manhood in the dawn of the great 
 business era of the country, and the keen brown 
 eyes of Mark Hanna pierced the veil of the 
 future; his associates of those earlier days 
 always felt that he had a power that was 
 bound to win success sooner or later. As the 
 country evolved from the pioneer to the 
 developed stage, he became a business man 
 whose word was as good as his bond and 
 whose dealings were always marked by exact 
 justice and fairness. All these years of expe 
 rience accumulated and accentuated the keen 
 common sense and business capacity that he 
 gave to the country in later years. 
 
 A young lieutenant in the Union army, he 
 went to the front at Bull Run, and never wav 
 ered in his patriotic devotion to his country. 
 At Washington he saw for the first time a 
 
Introduction 1 1 
 
 President, the tall, gaunt figure wearing a 
 beaver hat and shawl wound about thin 
 shoulders. Little did he think that he would 
 some day name a friend as Lincoln s successor. 
 When the megaphone rang out in the soli 
 tary woods of the Adirondacks, it called 
 Theodore Roosevelt to be President of the 
 United States and pledged to him the friend 
 ship of McKinley s right-hand man. When, 
 later, in the parlor at Buffalo the oath of 
 office was administered to Roosevelt, one of 
 the first to pledge him unswerving loyalty 
 and friendship in carrying out the policy of 
 McKinley was Mark Hanna; and in all the 
 intrigue of political warfare, in all the tempta 
 tions of power and position, with the presi 
 dency itself within his grasp, I know, what 
 every friend of Mark Hanna knows, that he 
 stood firm and steadfast by his word. 
 
 It would be difficult in searching the history 
 of nations to find a man more simple in his 
 greatness and more honest and just in his 
 dealings a man so straightforward that he 
 almost lacked tact. Prevarication of any sort 
 was abhorrent to him; his great rugged hon- 
 
12 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 esty stands as an ideal for young American 
 citizens. Like Oliver Cromwell, he came late 
 in life into the political arena, but, unlike that 
 stern statesman, he retained his popularity 
 to the last moment. Senator Hanna passed 
 away only after he had given his supreme 
 effort to his country for peace and good will 
 between labor and capital. He died in the har 
 ness, as he often wished to do, and departed 
 with the well-earned laurels unwithered on his 
 brow. If there was any one thing that he es 
 pecially appreciated in his last days above all 
 else, it was the fact that the American people 
 had come at last to understand him. Car 
 tooned, maligned and abused as few public 
 men have ever been, he forgot and forgave it 
 all in the sweet, inspiring moment of his con 
 quest over prejudice and blind passion. 
 
 The great victory of 1903 in Ohio was a 
 personal tribute to Mark Hanna as a man 
 and a statesman. His popularity steadily in 
 creased since those days, as was shown by the 
 many messages of love and admiration that 
 were sent to him during the last few months of 
 his life from all parts of the country. And they 
 
Introduction 13 
 
 were a great source of gratification, not to his 
 vanity, for he had none of that, but rather 
 to his patriotism and his great human heart; 
 for it was sweet to know that the country that 
 he loved reciprocated that affection. From 
 the North and from all portions of the South, 
 from the Lone Star State especially, from the 
 great West and the calmer but not colder 
 East, came showers of tributes of love and 
 admiration, such words as have seldom been 
 as freely bestowed upon any statesman; 
 and yet through it all he remained the same, 
 simple, sweet, candid, but of positive opinions 
 and honest always. 
 
 I must here and now pay my personal trib 
 ute by saying that the success of the National 
 Magazine was made possible through Senator 
 Hanna. It was he who gave the first friendly 
 grasp of the hand and insisted that it could be 
 made a success. It was he who withstood all 
 other offers of larger and greater publications 
 to become a contributor, preferring rather to 
 give what he intended to write to those whom 
 he felt it would most help. And from the 
 
14 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 moment that his first article on " McKinley as 
 I Knew Him was published in the National 
 Magazine, the growth and prosperity of that 
 periodical seemed assured. His only protest 
 to me was, " Don t put so much Hanna in 
 the National!" And when I insisted that 
 that was what made the magazine popular, 
 he would blush like a boy and declare that if 
 I persisted he would sever all relations with 
 me. 
 
 Among the treasures that I possess are the 
 first pages of the article on " McKinley as I 
 Knew Him," written by Mark Hanna for the 
 National Magazine, and which was, in fact, 
 the first contribution he ever made to any 
 periodical. There is something pathetic in 
 these first pages, indicating the difficulty he 
 had in writing about his friend in such a man 
 ner as to do him such justice as may be done 
 by human judgment. These pages had been 
 torn up and cast aside in the waste-basket as 
 worthless when I rescued them ; but they serve, 
 to my mind, to show the courage and persist 
 ence of the man in accomplishing what he had 
 undertaken, and not only the accomplishment 
 
Introduction 1 5 
 
 but in not being satisfied with less than his 
 " level best." That all this work was done 
 as a labor of love there can be no doubt; and 
 this and all his writings show that, though he 
 entered this field late in life, he had sterling 
 natural gifts as a writer. The simplicity and 
 lucidity of his style make his writings more 
 valuable than many more ornate compositions ; 
 and in all he wrote there was the simplicity 
 and sincerity that wins the hearts of the great 
 American people for whom he wrote. 
 
 I can never forget the day following the death 
 of William McKinley, when, with tears stream 
 ing down his face, the Senator told me of the 
 keen sense of loss and loneliness that lay like a 
 pall upon him; nor how, in all he ever said 
 or wrote of his friend, he never took the slight 
 est credit to himself for any part of McKinley s 
 greatness. His own efforts were but as the 
 dust in the balance, compared with his friend s 
 excellence. Many a time as we traveled to 
 gether, as the train flew on its way, the time 
 to me flew even faster listening to such " tales 
 sublime " as might well grace the pages of the 
 greatest history. 
 
1 6 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 I recall also what an inspiration there was 
 in his cheering face in the moment of despair 
 or difficulty, and how that face lit up when 
 the hour of victory came for his friends. I well 
 remember his radiant face at the Philadelphia 
 Convention, in 1900, when, as chairman, he 
 waved the great plumes incessantly for ten or 
 fifteen minutes while the throng of people 
 cheered for William McKinley. And as I 
 climbed on the platform during a moment 
 of chaos, he turned to me and, with his eyes 
 glistening, cried: " You here, Joe? Isn t this 
 glorious? Take a plume and whoop er up! " 
 
 After the convention adjourned we held 
 converse in husky voices, and he brought forth 
 a box of trophies with the remark, " Now we 
 want to get right out for the campaign." 
 
 It was my good fortune to meet him fre 
 quently during the last years of his life; and 
 while he was admonishing me to ease the pace 
 at which I was going, there was he setting me 
 a pace, in his sixty-sixth year, that it was 
 impossible for me to keep up to, in the matter 
 of traveling. First he was at the Civic Fed 
 eration meeting in Chicago, spending hours in 
 
Introduction 1 7 
 
 earnest conference with the labor leaders; 
 within a day or two, perhaps, at a leading finan 
 cial meeting in New York; the day following, 
 taking his simple luncheon in his office in 
 Cleveland, because he had not time for a regu 
 lar midday meal; then at a directors meet 
 ing, and half a dozen other meetings, but never 
 for one moment losing his grasp on the chief 
 factors in his program. 
 
 In all the years in which he was engaged in 
 business, no word against him was ever uttered 
 by the real workingmen. The idlers, it is 
 true, did not admire him. Why was it that 
 the great factories were stopped during the 
 last illness of this man, and that thousands 
 of men would leave their work unfinished at 
 the desk or bench to get one word of possible 
 comfort or hope as to his welfare, or at least to 
 ask assurance that he was still living? Was 
 ever tribute paid to any American more touch 
 ing than this? And what more is needed to 
 indicate where the great mission of Senator 
 Hanna lay, or what his great lifework was? 
 His last, best efforts were given to the closing 
 
1 8 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 of the breach between labor and capital; this 
 work of his is not only fairly begun, but it is 
 well done and will last for all time as the 
 foundation stone on which the future edifice 
 may stand with safety. His influence it was 
 that brought broader ideas to both sides in the 
 conflict, and especially does his lifework stand 
 for humane and just treatment of employees. 
 As the scroll of history unfolds and shows how 
 this great problem has confronted our nation 
 in the dawn of the twentieth century, the 
 fruition of the hopes that Marcus A. Hanna 
 carried to his dying day will be realized in the 
 sound adjustment of this vexed question. 
 
 It was in the office of the Auditorium at 
 Chicago, after he had returned from a weari 
 some meeting of the Civic Federation, that 
 I sat down for a smoke and talk in an obscure 
 corner with Mr. Hanna. Presently a Salva 
 tion Army lass came along, rattling her tam 
 bourine for quarters, or pence, as the case 
 might be. The Senator glanced up and saw 
 who she was, then placed a contribution in the 
 
Introduction 19 
 
 tambourine that made mine look like thirty 
 cents. Pretty soon she came back. 
 
 " Why, sir, did you know that this was a 
 ten-dollar bill?" 
 
 " Yes," he said; " I knew it. You belong 
 to my church." 
 
 Then she looked a little closer. 
 
 " Why, it is Senator Hanna! " she cried, 
 and that explained it all. Nothing more was 
 necessary, for if the Salvation Army ever had 
 a true friend, it had one in Senator Hanna. 
 During the visit of General Booth to this coun 
 try it was the Senator who gave the famous 
 dinner at the Arlington, where the great leader 
 of the Salvation Army related such touching 
 incidents that he drew tears from the eyes of 
 the guests. It was Mark Hanna who had this 
 great leader offer a prayer and benediction in 
 the Senate that sent a thrill through all who 
 heard a distinguished circle of senators, 
 diplomats and statesmen. 
 
 The life of Senator Hanna, more than that 
 of any other prominent man, seemed to typify 
 the American life of to-day. He understood 
 
20 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 intimately and sympathetically all phases of the 
 varied needs of the people. It was an inspira 
 tion to have such a leader. He was a captain 
 of industry in the true sense of the term. He 
 was also a statesman in all that the modern 
 use of the word implies, showing equally broad 
 comprehension and versatility on political prob 
 lems and business propositions. He recognized 
 business as the genius of the age, and was not 
 blind to any of the salient points of a propo 
 sition, notwithstanding they might be offset by 
 sentimental side issues. It was a picture to be 
 remembered to see him enter the Senate with 
 his little cane, and limp to his seat, serene and 
 strong, " four square to every wind that blew." 
 To see his confreres gathered about him after a 
 great victory such as when, with a single brief 
 speech, he reversed the vote of the Senate on the 
 Isthmian Canal question, conquering through 
 the sheer force of his honesty and integrity, 
 acknowledged alike by partisans and opponents 
 was an inspiration indeed. 
 
 I liked to see him on a hot summer day in 
 his office at Cleveland, far above the seething, 
 
Introduction 2 1 
 
 smoking heat of the factory, working away in 
 his shirt sleeves with all the vigor and energy 
 of a man in his prime. I have often noticed 
 that he never sat sidewise at his desk, but 
 tackled his work square front, and erect. 
 
 A visit to his beautiful Cleveland home, " Lake 
 View," was a rare treat indeed. It was as a 
 host that Mark Hanna was at his very best; 
 it was to this home that President McKinley 
 loved to come during the trying days that pre 
 ceded his election to the presidency. That 
 home is the Mecca of all Hanna s admirers 
 rich, yet simple and tasteful, in harmony with 
 the spirit of its master. It was in the library 
 here that he gave me the soundest advice I 
 have ever received. He loved mankind, and 
 his every act bore witness to that sentiment. 
 I think that in the walks I had with him I came 
 to know him best, for he was capable of in 
 spiring and satisfying friendship in the highest 
 meaning of the word; and during these quiet 
 hours I heard from his lips words freighted 
 with deep thoughts, full of the tender solici 
 tude that a father might show a son or a man 
 younger than himself who had yet to live 
 
22 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 through the struggle that he had passed over 
 so successfully. In the briefest phrases, some 
 times, in disconnected sentences, the innate 
 feelings of the man were revealed, interspersed 
 with flashes of wit and humor. 
 
 I have not spoken of his keen insight into 
 character and his remarkable faculty for choos 
 ing the right men to help in his great undertak 
 ings. Notable among those so selected is his 
 private secretary, Elmer Dover, now secretary 
 of the Republican National Committee, than 
 whom a more loyal, faithful and capable secre 
 tary never lived. As the Senator s political 
 work increased, to say nothing of his business 
 enterprises, the tremendous load must have 
 swamped him but for the constant, careful at 
 tention of Mr. Dover, whose perfect knowledge 
 of all Mr. Hanna s affairs made it difficult to 
 distinguish the work of the one from the other. 
 In view of the hundreds of letters and tele 
 grams that came daily to him, it was often 
 necessary for Mr. Dover to use the signature 
 of his chief; and in one instance where this was 
 done a lady wrote back saying that she could 
 
Introduction 23 
 
 read the character of the Senator from his 
 signature; but Mr. Hanna laughingly insisted 
 that this noble character must belong, not to 
 himself, but to Mr. Dover, who had signed the 
 letter. There can be no doubt as to Mr. 
 Hanna s appreciation of his secretary. There 
 seemed to be a most perfect understanding 
 between the two men. 
 
 Those who were with him in the campaign 
 of 1896 will never forget the tireless vigor, the 
 alertness, the swift decision of the great 
 political captain. A conference with Senator 
 Hanna always meant business. He had the 
 art of bringing all the vital points into focus 
 in a short time. He seemed to sweep the 
 whole battle-field at a glance, and never ap 
 peared to overlook the smallest detail. The 
 same man who went among his employees with 
 " Hello, Pete," " Hello, Jack. How s the fam 
 ily? " and with his joke and laugh brought out 
 the best that was in them, inspired the same 
 personal and unflinching loyalty in his lieu 
 tenants. No hour too late, no day too hot, 
 no time too valuable to find the Senator pre- 
 
24 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 pared for the duty before him. He often 
 quoted to me the words of St. Paul: " This one 
 thing I do" which seemed to have especially 
 directed him, for he was preeminently a doer. 
 
 While occupying the historic Cameron House 
 on Lafayette Square in Washington, the former 
 home of Secretary Seward, there was a " con 
 tinuous performance," to quote from the 
 vaudeville, in the early days of the McKinley 
 administration, that was decidedly picturesque. 
 The Senator would come down from break 
 fast to find an assemblage awaiting him. Puff 
 ing his black cigar and switching the little 
 cane he always carried, he recognized every 
 man in the anteroom and had a cordial word 
 for each friend seated around on the old- 
 fashioned chairs with their covering of flowered 
 brocade. The same impartiality was in his 
 manner whether he spoke to the man of mil 
 lions or the workingman. 
 
 At eleven o clock he was always promptly 
 in the committee-room, usually reaching the 
 Capitol by means of the street cars. He seemed 
 never to lose a minute, but spent all his time 
 
Introduction 25 
 
 in holding conferences or grappling single- 
 handed with some problem. On returning 
 from the Senate in the afternoon he would 
 square around to his desk, and with his own 
 hand write such letters as he felt could not 
 be dictated. Among my treasures I cherish 
 several of these letters as priceless possessions. 
 He continued to work until dusk; interruptions 
 never seemed to trouble him, as he could at 
 once pick up the thread of his thoughts again. 
 
 It is a curious fact that in all these years of 
 public life he never kept a scrapbook, and no 
 public man could be more indifferent than he 
 was to adulation in print. Once he was read 
 ing an anecdote which had been published 
 about him, in which he was represented as 
 quoting from the classics. 
 
 11 Now, what do you think of that? " he 
 turned to me and asked. " Classics! I never 
 knew anything about classics, and that fellow 
 must have a mighty good imagination." A 
 few minutes later his old teacher came in, 
 Professor White, a venerable gentleman of 
 about four-score years. There was a hearty 
 hand grasp, and the old gentleman said : 
 
26 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 " The same irrepressible Mark! Why, Mark, 
 you were the most classical scholar I had in 
 the old schoolhouse, and I always felt you 
 had a classical genius for doing things." They 
 talked over old days until I could almost see 
 the old place and the girls and boys, and the 
 refrain of time -honored songs rang in my ears. 
 
 Once during the campaign of 1896, when 
 McKinley was speaking day after day to the 
 throngs who made pilgrimages to Canton and 
 days had passed since he had seen the captain 
 of his forces he decided to call him up on 
 the telephone. His first inquiry was: 
 
 " Is that you, Mark? " 
 
 " Yes, Mr. President-to-be," was the an 
 swer in a confident voice. 
 
 " Well, Mark, am I doing all right?" came 
 the query. 
 
 " Doing all right! " came the exclamation. 
 " Why, Major, you have set the pace that will 
 lead us to the greatest victory the party has ever 
 had. Doing all right? Why, I find that I will 
 not have to write any more of your speeches 
 that the newspapers give me credit for." 
 
Introduction . 27 
 
 " How do you like your pictures in the 
 papers? " asked McKinley. 
 
 " I haven t looked for my picture," was 
 the answer; "it is your picture that we want 
 the people to see." 
 
 Almost every one who talked with the Sena 
 tor for a half hour remembers some flash of 
 humor, some joke. How well I recall finding 
 him in his office last summer wearing a hand 
 some bouquet in his buttonhole. He saw us 
 glancing at it, and smilingly remarked that 
 these were the laurels he had won the night 
 before, and went on to relate how he had just 
 made an address to college girls and had told 
 them that he always preferred women for 
 office work. " And I meant it, too," he added. 
 
 There was a pathetic interest in one of the 
 latest callers the Senator received at the Arling 
 ton, an old German who came to bring the 
 greetings and love of his German commu 
 nity; and the good man in his broken speech 
 insisted that the Senator would some day 
 dwell in the White House. 
 
 " Why, Peter," answered Mr. Hanna, " that 
 
28 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 would kill me. I could never stand the cam 
 paign, much less the duties of the office." 
 
 " Veil," said Peter, " Zenator, you might 
 die in the White House." 
 
 " Well, Peter," replied the Senator, " I have 
 no wish to die either at the White House or 
 elsewhere just yet. I have too much to do, 
 and I would rather live to see the problem 
 settled between labor and capital than be 
 President or anything else." 
 
 * Veil," was the answer, " if you won t be 
 President, we vant you to lif long as our Zena 
 tor. We luf you in our hearts." 
 
 Death has called another friend, but some 
 how, even in the depth and keenness of first 
 grief, in the sense of loss of that warm hand 
 grasp, in the obliterated light of those bright 
 eyes, we see some hope gleaming and take 
 courage to place upon the bier a chaplet of 
 immortelles that will symbolize the undying 
 memory of the great man, the wise statesman, 
 the devoted husband, father and brother, the 
 true friend, the brilliant financier, the noble 
 philanthropist, the business man of unim- 
 
Introduction 29 
 
 peachable integrity, and, finally, that greatest 
 tribute that can be paid to an American, the 
 great Citizen, truly a citizen in the perfect 
 meaning of the word, Marcus Alonzo Hanna. 
 JOE MITCHELL CHAPPLE. 
 
SOCIALISM AND THE LABOR 
 UNIONS 
 
 I HAVE always been a firm, believer in the 
 power of education, whether in politics, reli 
 gion or business, and there has never been a 
 people more susceptible to the power and in 
 fluence of education than the American people. 
 Although I came upon the political field rather 
 late in life, I was deeply impressed by the won 
 derful manner in which the people of this 
 country can be made to understand a direct, 
 logical proposition. The campaign of 1896 
 was to me an education, and brought home 
 the belief that human nature is pretty much 
 the same all the world over; that the funda 
 mental basis of right success, as it appears to me, 
 is fairness and justice ; and that the simpler the 
 proposition can be made, the more effective 
 it is going to be with the people at large. 
 
 There is no more engrossing question than 
 that of the relation between labor and capital, 
 which seems the paramount issue to-day. In 
 
Socialism ana the Labor Unions 31 
 
 the dawn of a new century, looking back over 
 our history, we are almost bewildered by the 
 great and wonderful progress of the country; 
 and no matter how we may demur against 
 the changes that are thrusting themselves 
 upon us, we must, sooner or later, grapple with 
 the question the serious problem of the 
 adjustment of these matters, instead of try 
 ing to turn back to conditions that have passed. 
 Is it not better courageously and manfully to 
 face the proposition of the future, and make 
 an united effort to settle it? With our beloved 
 country possessed of greater physical advan 
 tages than any other portion of the globe, 
 possessed of the benefits of a cosmopolitan 
 population, standing foremost in the ranks 
 of social industry and advancement, we have 
 a heavy responsibility in proportion to the 
 blessings we enjoy. The tendency has been 
 to study economics purely from a political 
 standpoint, and my experience has led me to 
 believe that there are social and moral phases 
 of the relations between labor and capital often 
 lost sight of in the eager pursuit of gain. My 
 attention was called to these things after the 
 
32 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 great strike in the coal mines of Ohio, in which 
 I was indirectly interested, and it was then that 
 I concluded that the first thing to be done was 
 to adjust conditions in a straightforward man 
 ner. 
 
 It cannot be denied that there was a popular 
 prejudice against union labor as an imported 
 article. It came to us with the tide of im 
 migration from the Old World, where it was 
 bred among conditions which do not and can 
 not exist in America, where the mighty ad 
 vantages of popular education are free to all. 
 
 It must never be forgotten that organized 
 labor is an older institution than organized 
 capital. The instinct of workingmen to band 
 together to protect themselves is no more to 
 be wondered at than the same instinct when 
 
 M 
 
 shown on the part of capital. * Now, my plan 
 is to have organized union labor Americanized 
 in the best sense and thoroughly educated to 
 an understanding of its responsibilities, and in 
 this way to make it the ally of the capitalist, 
 rather than a foe with which to grapple v 
 
 It is often asked what is to become of the 
 non-organized consumer if an amicable alliance 
 
Socialism and the Labor Unions 33 
 
 is made between labor and capital. But there 
 is no such middle group as this question im 
 plies. There is no other group than that of 
 either labor or capital every man belongs 
 either to the one or the other, when you stop 
 to think of it; for that matter, he is likely to 
 belong to both. 
 
 The systematic work of education was be 
 gun during the past five years by the Civic 
 Federation. I took some time to consider the 
 work of the Federation, and am firmly con 
 vinced that it is the object to which I desire 
 to consecrate the remaining years of my life. 
 I fully appreciate that it is a long struggle, but 
 the progress already made under the motto 
 of the Civic Federation the Golden Rule 
 has surpassed even my most sanguine expec 
 tations; and I am sure that the American 
 people will sustain a policy, based upon the 
 highest moral and social impulse, which will 
 eliminate the passionate prejudices that now 
 exist between capital and labor. 
 
 We oppose the sympathetic strike, and this 
 view was most heroically endorsed by the 
 action of the Mine Workers Association at 
 
34 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 Indianapolis during the great coal-mine strike 
 in Pennsylvania ; we oppose also the boy 
 cott ; we disapprove of the restriction of pro 
 duction to enhance values and all these be 
 liefs are being gradually adopted, not only by 
 union labor, but by cool-headed and far-seeing 
 representatives of capital. The decayed code 
 of principles and policy that has no true har 
 mony with the spirit of the age which is 
 Business is passing away. It is so easy on 
 the floor of a convention for one or two inflam 
 matory speakers to set on fire the passions of 
 their hearers, whereas the mature deliberations 
 of the committee will hold in check such 
 feelings as might otherwise be fanned into revo 
 lution. It must be considered that hereto 
 fore big capitalists, or the employing interests, 
 have had the advantage, because there were 
 
 M 
 
 more workmen than there was work. But 
 conditions have changed, and for every work 
 man, on an average, there are two jobs now 
 in the heyday of our prosperity; and it is ex^ 
 pecting too much of human nature to suppose 
 that workingmen shall not desire a larger share 
 of the profits. Has not this motive been the 
 
Socialism and the Labor Unions 35 
 
 stimulating incentive of the men who are man 
 aging business affairs? We cannot justly ex 
 pect more from the man who has not been 
 educated on the side of capital than we do 
 from those who are thinkers and scholars, and 
 have inherited these qualities for generations; 
 and no one who is acquainted with union labor 
 for the past five years can fail to recognize the 
 wonderful advancement that has been made 
 in conservative, cool-headed and thoroughly 
 practical management of these matters by the 
 workingmen themselves. This is coming to 
 be more and more realized as the one great 
 purpose in union labor, and when the men in 
 that great mine-workers convention decided 
 to adopt the report of the committee, after 
 it had struggled through an all-night session, 
 and then manfully stood by their word unani 
 mously, it cast a ray of light on a difficult 
 problem, and also enlisted the interest and 
 sympathy of the American people in the wel 
 fare of these toilers in the dark. 
 
 Every man is vulnerable in some part, and 
 it is a rare thing to find any man proof against 
 methods of kindness and justice. Labor or- 
 
36 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 ganizations may be open to sharp criticism 
 at times, but it cannot be fairly stated that 
 they are always wrong. If every man is 
 treated as a man, and an appeal made to his 
 heart, as well as to his reason, it will establish 
 a bond of confidence as a sure foundation to 
 build upon. This is the condition that is 
 aimed at by the Civic Federation absolute 
 confidence on both sides. Many of the ills 
 that have crept into labor organizations are 
 importations from older countries and will not 
 live here because they are not fitted to our 
 conditions. While labor unions may have 
 been a curse to England, I believe that they 
 will prove a boon to our own country, when 
 a proper basis of confidence and respect is es 
 tablished. We have, perhaps, been too busy 
 and too engrossed in our rapid expansion to 
 
 look upon the ethical side of this question, and 
 
 # 
 
 forgot that two factors contributed to the pros 
 perity of our nation, the man who works 
 with his hands and the man who works with 
 his head, partners in toil who ought to be 
 partners also in the profits of that toil. 
 
 All strikes do not originate in a demand 
 
Socialism and the Labor Unions 37 
 
 for higher wages. There are other grievances. 
 With the great army of employees necessary to 
 our industrial institutions it is quite impossi 
 ble for each individual to receive such close 
 consideration at the hands of his employer as 
 in earlier days might have been accorded, and 
 it is to meet this condition that we have to 
 adopt the propositions of union labor, and 
 press forward the campaign of education, which 
 means reason on both sides, though it is too 
 much to expect altogether to change the great 
 current of selfishness on both sides. If there_ 
 are enough people actuated by the right mo 
 tives it can be done in a great measure, and 
 a feeling of fellowship established that will! 
 obviate to a large extent the disastrous effects I 
 
 of the strike. A 
 
 We must make the hundreds of thousands"! 
 coming from a lower social condition in the \ 
 Old World feel that prejudice against the \ 
 government is futile and unnecessary, and 
 that they have a large share of the responsi- 1 
 bility for the wise ordering of business con- \ 
 ditions. All this takes time. Coming to us I 
 
 unlettered and untaught, it remains for us to 1 
 
 -^.^ 
 
38 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 show what we can do for the next generation, 
 and it is to them we must look to properly 
 assimilate and carry out the American ideals 
 of trade and industry. 
 
 It is truly astonishing to consider what 
 trivial disagreements have occasioned some 
 of the most serious strikes. I have seen two 
 parties stand apart, each with a chip on his 
 shoulder, defying his opponent to knock it off, 
 and moved by emotions and considerations 
 that were very far from promoting the wel 
 fare of either party. There is more to over 
 come in the way of feeling on the part of 
 capital than on the part of labor. Capital has 
 been for many generations entrenched behind 
 its power to dictate conditions, whether right 
 or wrong, and the abrogation of this power is 
 not going to weaken, in the least degree, the 
 strength ot the hitherto dominant party, for 
 no better investment exists for a manufactur 
 ing institution or a corporation than the hearty 
 cooperation and good feeling of the employees. 
 If we go upon this hypothesis, it seems to me 
 quite possible that all differences may be 
 obviated in the future by the proverbial ounce 
 
Socialism and the Labor Unions 39 
 
 of prevention which is worth a pound of cure. 
 As in our national legislation, and in successful 
 business corporations, a large part of the best 
 initiative comes from the careful deliberations 
 of the committee- room and the conference, so 
 may this national and almost universal ques 
 tion be met and successfully settled in the same 
 way. 
 
 The menace of today, as I view it, is the 
 spread of a spirit of socialism, one of those 
 things which is only half understood and is 
 more or less used to inflame the popular mind 
 against all individual initiative and personal 
 energy, which has been the very essence of 
 American progress. While this spirit of social 
 ism has caused apprehension in some quarters, 
 it has been joyfully received by a certain class 
 of people who do not desire to acquire com 
 petence in the ordinary and honest manner, 
 and gladly seize any excuse for agitating the 
 public mind, on the chance of putting money 
 in their own pockets, the men who are de 
 scribed as having " no stake in the country." 
 
 My own impression is confirmed by infor 
 mation from laboring men, that socialism, in the 
 
40 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 JEuropean sense of the word, will never find a 
 jfirrn footing in America. There is a spirit of 
 /cooperation or community of interests which 
 I some people may confound with socialism 
 i that is making headway with us; but when 
 any one attempts, for political or financial 
 ; reasons, to advocate the whole program of 
 European socialism, he will find little prospect 
 of the seed taking root in American soil. 
 This, I think, was demonstrated very conclu 
 sively in the Ohio campaign, where higher 
 socialism was brought forth as an issue. When 
 the people understand this subject in its full 
 est sense and some of the mysteries and the 
 fascinating glamor connected with the myste 
 rious that now shroud the subject are torn 
 away, and it is seen plainly, it will be found 
 to be repellent to American ideas of integrity 
 and honesty. Its objects will be seen to be 
 the very opposite of those desired both by 
 labor and capital, since it gives no aid toward 
 the building up and development of the 
 country, nor does it guarantee each man a 
 chance to make a home for himself. Fairness 
 and justice will never agree to the confiscation 
 
Socialism and the Labor Unions 41 
 
 of the products of one man s toil in order to \ 
 insure comfort to the idle and worthless. The 
 old law of compensation is operative now as 
 ever. No " ism " is wanted by the American 
 people that will take from any citizen the just 
 and equitable reward of his labor. There is 
 always a likelihood of movements of this kind 
 fascinating people who have met with a degree 
 of failure in their own efforts ; but it is a short 
 sighted policy to destroy the fabric of national 
 union in order to promulgate a doctrine the 
 very essence of which is selfishness. I believe 
 a single vigorous campaign of agitation would 
 quickly show what support these doctrines 
 may expect from the American people, as has 
 been proven over and over along these lines,, 
 As a general rule, the American people are 
 pretty level-headed. 
 
 Now, I do not mean that those who have 
 taken up socialism should be roundly scored 
 and abused, for a great many of these are 
 honest and sincere in their belief, which belief 
 arises from not really understanding the mat 
 ter, having been misled by misrepresentation. 
 It is usually said that there are only two sides 
 
42 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 to a question, but in this matter there are two 
 sides and two ends, and by the time our social 
 ist has surveyed the two sides and the big end 
 and the little one, he will not find that social 
 ism is going to benefit him much in America. 
 
 It seems to me more reasonable to take up 
 the difficulties of labor and capital case by 
 case, and situation after situation, as they come 
 up, and try to adjust them in a manner at 
 once permanent and peaceful; in this way the 
 inherent rights of the individual will be better 
 served than by an attempt to demolish a sys 
 tem of government which is so well suited to 
 the needs of the American people and which 
 has so well withstood the attacks of the dreamer 
 and the agitator in the years that are past. 
 
 If there is* any one superb virtue that the 
 American people possess it is courage in grap 
 pling with the issues of the future, and I do 
 not think there will ever be a faltering note 
 in this respect, no matter what the obstacle, 
 no matter what the difficulty may be. But 
 we must get right down to the belief that life 
 is a matter of mutual interest between labor 
 and capital; we cannot separate the two great 
 
Socialism and the Labor Unions 43 
 
 factors which underlie our development; it is 
 not possible for one to prosper permanently 
 unless the other shares in that prosperity. 
 There must be a common ground where all 
 can meet with the honest determination to do 
 what is right, meeting bravely the conditions 
 as they change and seizing the opportunity as 
 it offers for the betterment of all the people. 
 The movement already inaugurated among 
 large employers looking toward the utmost 
 comfort and convenience of their employees is 
 not carried out altogether from philanthropic 
 motives but is a matter of business also, and 
 it is one of the most hopeful signs of the times. 
 This is essentially a great economic age - 
 an age when energy, materials and purposes 
 are all being utilized for the best. When a 
 man loses his day s work, and is compelled to 
 spend that time in absolute idleness, the whole 
 community suffers a loss as well as he, and it 
 is something that is lost forever to the com 
 monwealth; this would be found entirely 
 unnecessary were the honest motives of both 
 sides given proper consideration. And we 
 feel convinced that we have a very great duty 
 
44 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 to perform in resisting the onslaught of the 
 socialistic tendency which helps to bring this 
 state of affairs into being. Both capital and 
 labor must yield in time to the great law of 
 fair dealing, man to man. In proportion to 
 a man s ambitions and his ability to earn for 
 himself a betterment of his condition, there 
 will be a striving on his part to attain his ideals, 
 and this, in itself, is the germ of progress; and 
 just as far as that encroaches on others who 
 are working for the same object there will be 
 a natural resistance. But there are few citi 
 zens in this country who would condone any 
 interference with the personal rights of a neigh 
 bor. There always will be a neutral ground 
 where conflicting interests can meet and con 
 fer and adjust themselves a sort of Hague 
 tribunal, if you please, in the everyday affairs 
 of life. 
 
 The American labor unions are becoming 
 more and more conservative and careful in 
 their management, and are not likely to be 
 led away from the straight road by hot-headed 
 members. 
 
 Business men, too, have found that righting 
 
Socialism and the Labor Unions 45 
 
 does not pay in trade. There is an old saying 
 that the best lawyer is he who keeps his 
 client out of lawsuits, and the best leader is 
 he who can avoid difficulties; but the greater 
 experience and intelligence which necessarily 
 exist among employers, owing to the fact of 
 their longer training in the forum of business, 
 places upon them an important responsibility. 
 I wish I could impress upon every American 
 the individual responsibility that rests upon 
 each one of us. Every year of experience, 
 every dollar of accumulated capital, every 
 talent we possess should be regarded as a 
 sacred charge for the good of the nation, to 
 help in uniting the interests of rich and poor, 
 learned and unlearned. 
 
WILLIAM McKINLEY AS I 
 KNEW HIM 
 
 I. His MASTERLY CAMPAIGNS 
 
 IT is something over thirty years ago that 
 I first knew William McKinley, a young prac 
 ticing attorney at Canton, Ohio. Strange as 
 it may seem, I cannot recall the exact time or 
 place when I first met him. I know that it 
 was early in the seventies, and I have a recol 
 lection of being strangely attracted to the quiet 
 and methodical lawyer. Our acquaintance 
 was somewhat closer after his election to Con 
 gress and in some way I always felt a personal 
 interest in his contests from time to time. Our 
 acquaintanceship was a simple growth of 
 friendship. His splendid work in the cause 
 of Protection as a congressman further at 
 tracted me. This was even before he had 
 reached prominence in Congress as a member 
 of the Ways and Means Committee. I never 
 thought of the possibility at that time of his 
 becoming a candidate for the presidency, and 
 
 46 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 47 
 
 was not especially active in politics except in 
 so far as exercising my influence in the inter 
 ests of the Republican party. Our first asso 
 ciation politically was in 1880, when Ohio took 
 a prominent part in the campaign in which 
 Garfield was elected. In 1884 William Mc 
 Kinley was elected delegate at large to the 
 Republican National Convention, and I was 
 also a delegate. McKinley was an enthusi 
 astic supporter of Elaine, and I was for John 
 Sherman, and we contested the delegation 
 vigorously for our men. In the national con 
 vention of 1888 we were present again as dele 
 gates, but this time we were both pledged for 
 John Sherman, and it was at this time McKin 
 ley made the famous speech which I felt des 
 tined him as a marked man for President. 
 
 Even before this our friendship had seemed 
 to grow into something more than that of 
 ordinary personal or political associates. Some 
 how I felt for him an affection that cannot be 
 explained, and it was at this convention that 
 I gained an insight into the unselfish, unfalter 
 ing loyalty which William McKinley gave to 
 every cause he espoused. 
 
48 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 During that convention we occupied the 
 same rooms, and were in conference day and 
 night as to the best ways and means to bring 
 about the nomination of John Sherman, Ohio s 
 Grand Old Man. 
 
 I sat by McKinley s side when he eloquently 
 demanded that his name be withdrawn for his 
 own honor s sake, and history records that he 
 did withdraw it. 
 
 It was in the convention of 1888 that Wil 
 liam McKinley developed into a positive na 
 tional force. Elaine and Sherman had been 
 in their full vigor in 1884, and I had the clear 
 impression from that time that every turn of 
 the wheel brought McKinley into a fuller 
 measure of merited prominence. It was 
 after a very hot day during the Chicago 
 convention that General Ben Butterworth, 
 Major McKinley and myself sat at a table 
 talking over the events of the day. The dele 
 gates had brought forward his name. McKin 
 ley took a telegraph blank from the table, 
 and during the moments of silence wrote 
 down some memorable words. He passed it 
 to me with the remark, " If this thing is 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 49 
 
 repeated tomorrow, that is what I am going 
 to say": 
 
 "I am here as one of the chosen representatives 
 from my state. I am here by resolution of the 
 Republican convention, cast without one dissenting 
 vote, commanding me to vote for John Sherman 
 and use every worthy endeavor for his nomination. 
 I accepted the trust because my heart and judgment 
 were in accord with the letter, spirit and purpose of 
 that resolution. It has pleased certain delegates to 
 cast their vote for me. I am not insensible to the 
 honor they would do me, but in the presence of the 
 duty resting upon me I cannot remain silent with 
 honor. I cannot consistently with the credit of the 
 state whose credentials I bear and which has trusted 
 me, I cannot with honorable fidelity to John Sher 
 man, who has trusted me in his cause and with his 
 confidence, I cannot consistently with my own views 
 of my persona] integrity, consent or seem to consent 
 to permit my name to be used as a candidate before 
 this convention. I would not respect myself if I 
 could find it in my heart to do, to say or to per 
 mit to be done that which could ever be ground for 
 any one to suspect that I wavered in my loyalty to 
 Ohio, or my devotion to the chief of her choice and 
 the chief of mine. I do request, I demand, that 
 no delegate who would not cast reflections on me 
 should cast a ballot for me." 
 
50 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 His name was brought forward the follow 
 ing day. Pleading loyal allegiance to John 
 Sherman, he uttered with all the deep sincerity 
 of the man a declaration that will live in all 
 political history. It revealed the true loyalty 
 and unselfishness of the man, and won for him 
 friends and supporters who afterward joined 
 their hands in making him President. 
 
 He was always, from his earliest political 
 career, such a willing worker that when I re 
 monstrated with him he would laughingly 
 remark, " A good soldier must always be ready 
 for duty." 
 
 His utterances in that convention are the 
 best index to his character that I know of, and 
 displayed in him those rare qualities of man 
 hood which convinced me that he was destined 
 to become a great power in national politics. 
 And here, for the first time, it occurred to me 
 that he was a logical candidate for the presi 
 dency in years to come. I was with him in 
 1892 at Minneapolis, and, as it will be re 
 membered, the demand from the people for 
 McKinley as a candidate was even more out 
 spoken and seemingly irresistible than at the 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 51 
 
 previous convention. The situation was such 
 that it would have been an easy matter for 
 him to have spoken and won the entire sup 
 port of the Elaine men, to say nothing of his 
 many admirers among those pledged for Har 
 rison. At this time it was evident to even the 
 most casual observer that sooner or later he 
 would be placed in that high position for which 
 his talent and particular abilities qualified him. 
 The demonstration at Minneapolis con 
 vinced me that, although it was an impolitic 
 thing for his interests to nominate him there, 
 in the next national convention the popular 
 demand for his candidacy would override all 
 opposition. 
 
 The condition of the country that followed 
 the election of 1892 so clearly defined him as 
 the one man of all others in public life to lead 
 the Republican party that I felt that his nomi 
 nation was assured. 
 
 As early as 1894 I began to feel the pulse of 
 the people, that is, the rank and file, busi 
 ness men, laboring men, traveling men and 
 manufacturers, to learn how far the sentiment 
 
52 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 for McKinley had taken hold. It required 
 only the opportunity for the people of the 
 Northern states to express their sentiment on 
 the subject, and the result at St. Louis justi 
 fied the expectations of his friends and ad 
 mirers, and gave proof of the correctness of 
 their judgment in believing him to be the one 
 man who fitted the situation and insured the 
 the success of the party. 
 
 In the management of the campaign which 
 followed I was made to appreciate how much 
 McKinley s strong and noble personality con 
 tributed to its success. How eminently serv 
 iceable was the part which he took in meeting 
 on his porch at Canton the people who came 
 in throngs and thousands to greet him, no one 
 can estimate. He not only impressed them by 
 the earnestness and sincerity of his speeches 
 and the wisdom of his words, but there was 
 always present the genial personality of the 
 man that quickly won admiration and respect 
 from everyone with whom he came into con 
 tact. No committee organization could have 
 furnished this great attribute of personal 
 strength which was so necessary to the sue- 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 53 
 
 cess of the ticket, and none other than such a 
 personality could have inspired individuals in 
 all parts of the country to do their utmost in 
 every way to secure his election. His entire 
 and complete confidence in those who were 
 conducting the affairs of the campaign stimu 
 lated them to their utmost efforts, inspiring 
 in them a desire to show their appreciation of 
 this confidence and trust in them. I don t 
 believe that k any other political campaign in 
 the history of the Republican party ever 
 demonstrated such a growing interest and en 
 thusiasm, and above all, confidence, in the per 
 sonality of the candidate, which continued to 
 grow and increase from the opening of the 
 campaign to the great climax of Flag Day, 
 which marked an epoch in the campaign of 
 1896. 
 
 It must also be remembered that his sup 
 porters were not confined to those who had 
 hitherto always been identified with the Re 
 publican party. The others who joined us in 
 the contest for the principles on which Mc 
 Kinley stood were equally enthusiastic in their 
 admiration of the man. 
 
54 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 The country knows today how well he filled 
 the expectations of all those who supported 
 him. In the earlier days of 1896, con 
 fronted as we were by unexpected develop 
 ments in the silver question, four years of 
 depression and an industrial paralysis which 
 resulted disastrously to all classes, when those 
 who were suffering were looking for relief, and 
 the proposition was made for free and un 
 limited coinage of silver, on the plea that the 
 expansion of the circulating medium would 
 make better times under such conditions it 
 is not strange that we found in the Republi 
 can ranks an uncertainty as to what course 
 to pursue. It became evident that the work 
 before us was a campaign of education of great 
 magnitude, the results of which must neces 
 sarily be slow to accomplish. 
 
 If there were any dark days in the cam 
 paign, it was during the earlier weeks of the 
 work. It was at that time that William Mc- 
 Kinley in his conversation with us showed his 
 buoyant spirit and his strong faith in the com 
 mon people of the country, believing that they 
 would meet and solve the question right and 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 55 
 
 endorse the principles which were to bring 
 relief to all. He insisted that all that was 
 necessary was to make them understand the 
 cause and effect of the principles advocated 
 by both parties. 
 
 It was during the middle stage of the cam 
 paign that the results coming in indicated that 
 the people were reading, thinking and deter 
 mining conclusions for themselves. They 
 were beginning to see where their interests 
 were at stake. All this was the confirmation 
 of William McKinley s faith in the people, 
 and it was the joy of his heart to feel that he 
 could read aright the signs of the times and 
 that the end would justify his faith in the final 
 judgment of the people. 
 
 His victory was greater in its proof of the 
 faith of the people in him than merely in the 
 choice of him as President of the United 
 States. This was the subject that in after 
 years we often talked about, and it was a 
 beautiful thing to me to see how much he 
 realized and appreciated the confidence which 
 had come to him as a result of his abiding 
 faith in the people. If there had been no other 
 
56 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 motive, this was the great incentive for him 
 to use all the power and talent with which he 
 had been endowed to give the people in return 
 for their confidence his best life-work. And 
 he consecrated the best efforts of his life to 
 fulfill their expectations. 
 
 My associations with him during the years 
 of executive life gave me further opportunity 
 to appreciate as I never had before the great 
 reserve force which he possessed. He seems 
 to have met every emergency and the un 
 usual problems and annoying complications 
 of the times in a masterful way. These con 
 ditions furnished the opportunity for him to 
 demonstrate his enormous talent and ability 
 successfully to solve every problem, rising to 
 the full measure of every situation and over 
 coming all obstacles. 
 
 And then the summing of it all in that beau 
 tiful death, which was so characteristic of his 
 career, is one almost unequaled in history. He 
 had won the admiration, love and respect of all 
 classes of his own people, and of all nations. 
 
 There was one phrase used when we first 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 57 
 
 opened the campaign for him that seemed 
 to fit the situation, and that was the claim 
 that he was the " logical candidate." In 
 the first place, he marked out for himself a 
 distinctive political career. He had spent 
 every energy and used every effort in all his 
 public service for the highest and best inter 
 ests of his people, inspired always by patriotic 
 impulse, with a sincerity never questioned. 
 His election to an office always meant more 
 than the mere gratification of a selfish political 
 ambition. He said to me once and I cite 
 it here to show that his ambitions never sprang 
 from selfish motives in speaking about some 
 of the methods adopted in contests for the 
 nomination, " There are some things, Mark, 
 I would not do and cannot do, even to become 
 President of the United States," and it was 
 my impression at that time that he himself 
 had little thought or idea that he would ever 
 be nominated for President. 
 
 A great deal has been said about his pro 
 verbial good nature. He had that, and in 
 addition to that an unequaled equipoise in 
 
58 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 every emergency. In all my career, in busi 
 ness and in politics, I have never known a 
 man so self-contained. He always acted de 
 liberately, and his judgments were always 
 weighed carefully, although there were times 
 when his heart impulses would respond quickly, 
 without apparently the slightest delay. In all 
 those thirty years of close relations, I never 
 saw him in a passion, never heard him utter 
 one word of what I would call resentment, 
 tinged with bitterness, toward a living person. 
 This was again reflected in the story of the 
 assassination told by Mr. Milburn, who said 
 that he could never forget the picture in the 
 expression of his countenance as he glanced 
 toward the dastard assassin. In his eyes were 
 the words as plain as language could express 
 it, " Why should you do this? " And then 
 when the assassin was hurled to the ground, 
 when the fury and indignation of the people 
 had begun to assert itself, he said with almost 
 saintly compassion, " Don t let them hurt 
 him." 
 
 I know of nothing in all history that can 
 compare with the splendid climax and ending 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 59 
 
 of this noble life. One of the sweetest conso 
 lations that come to me is the memory that on 
 Tuesday, preceding his death, he asked to see 
 a newspaper, and when he was told, " Not 
 today," he asked, " Is Mark here? " 
 
 1 Yes, Mr. President," was the response, 
 and in that one sweet last remembrance was a 
 rich reward for the years of devotion which it 
 had always been my pleasure to give him. 
 
 It is difficult for me to express the extent 
 of the love and respect which I, in common 
 with many others, felt for him personally. The 
 feeling was the outgrowth of an appreciation 
 of his noble, self-sacrificing nature. My affec 
 tion for him and faith and confidence in him 
 always seemed to be reciprocated, to the ex 
 tent that there was never an unpleasant word 
 passed between us, and the history of his ad 
 ministration, his cabinet and his associations 
 with public men, so entirely free from intrigue 
 or base selfishness, I think will be a splendid 
 example to the youth of the coming genera 
 tions. There was nothing in the expression of 
 his face or manner denoting exultation over 
 
60 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 his victory when it was announced that he was 
 elected President. He seemed to realize fully 
 the sacred responsibilities placed upon him, 
 and the quiet dignity and self-possession which 
 marked the man then and in days after were 
 just what his personal friends expected of him. 
 The first day I greeted him after he was in 
 augurated at the White House, in the course 
 of our conversation, I inadvertently called 
 him " Major " and " Governor," and when I 
 stopped to correct myself, he would say, " Each 
 one is fitting; I m not particular which." 
 
 We were both of Scotch-Irish descent, but 
 opposites in disposition. He was of a more 
 direct descent than I, but it is thought from 
 our dispositions that he had the Scotch and I 
 had the Irish of the combination. 
 
 II. GLIMPSES OF His PERSONALITY 
 
 The one absorbing purpose in William 
 McKinley s political career was to keep 
 closely in touch with the people, so that 
 he might promote their material and moral 
 welfare. 
 
 He seemed to study and watch current 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 61 
 
 events as a barometer, gauging the growth of 
 public sentiment keenly, and particularly 
 watching the development of the new indus 
 tries and new resources. He accentuated the 
 American idea in everything he undertook. 
 
 There was something sublime in the way in 
 which he viewed his defeat in the tariff reform 
 cyclone of 1892. I often discussed the situ 
 ation with him and then we talked of the 
 " McKinley Bill." I remember how his eyes 
 sparkled when it was suggested that his bill 
 was the sole cause of Republican defeat, and 
 how he delivered a statement to me with an 
 air of prophecy: 
 
 " That may have been so, but the bill was 
 passed so short a time prior to election that it 
 was easy for our opponents to make charges 
 and there was no time for us to combat them; 
 but wait and see, Mark wait and see. The 
 principles and policies of that bill will yet win 
 a greater victory for our party than we have 
 ever had before. This misunderstanding will 
 yet contribute to overwhelming Republican 
 success." 
 
 The general conditions were such, however, 
 
62 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 that the party s reverse could not be attributed 
 entirely to the McKinley Bill. There were 
 other factors in the landslide of 92. 
 
 During the early part of the campaign of 1896 
 the charge was made that McKinley voted for 
 the free coinage of silver. And with his usual 
 candor he admitted that, in the earlier stages 
 of the agitation of the money question, it was 
 to him then a proposition he had not fully in 
 vestigated; he did not pretend to be a doctor 
 of finance and had followed the popular trend 
 of that time. After fuller discussion and 
 practical demonstration of facts; after ob 
 serving the changing conditions of the country, 
 and weighing the question in its various rela 
 tions to the fundamental laws of practical 
 finance and the true policy best for the coun 
 try, his conclusions were voiced in the St. 
 Louis platform of 1896. 
 
 The last discussion that I had with him upon 
 the money question before he was nominated 
 was a few days before I left for St. Louis, at 
 my office in Cleveland. 
 
 He turned to my desk, sat down and wrote 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 63 
 
 in lead pencil an article which he handed me 
 when finished, saying: 
 
 " There, Mark, are my ideas of what our 
 platform should be on the money question." 
 
 I carried the paper in my pocket to St. Louis 
 some days before the convention, and that 
 declaration of William McKinley contained in 
 substance what was afterward drafted into 
 the plank in the platform on that question. I 
 mention this because in subsequent discussion 
 a great deal has been said about the construc 
 tion of that plank in the St. Louis platform on 
 the tariff and money question. 
 
 This absolute declaration was given me by 
 Major McKinley as embracing his ideas, and 
 while the language may have been changed 
 somewhat, the meaning of the article he wrote 
 weeks before the convention was absolutely 
 followed in the platform of 1896. 
 
 As to the quality of his courage, I never 
 knew a man more fearless. In the dark days 
 of the Ohio gerrymander, when, as author of 
 the McKinley Bill, he lost his seat in congress, 
 he was cheerful in a defeat that had cut a 
 Democratic majority of 2 ,000 down to 300. He 
 
64 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 had fought an uphill fight, and although de 
 feated was elated over the confidence which 
 his home people expressed in the principles 
 which he represented. The defeat had no de 
 pressing effect on his mind and energies, but 
 spurred him to greater effort. And in every 
 serious emergency that confronted him he 
 was prepared for the event always calm 
 and courageous. Even amidst the onslaughts 
 of campaign abuse he never uttered in my 
 presence one retaliatory word, but always 
 referred to the enemy as " our opponents," 
 while I must confess I used stronger adjectives 
 at times. 
 
 There was nothing that he enjoyed more 
 than a social time with friends at dinner. He 
 always entered into the spirit of the occasion 
 and contributed his full share of merriment. 
 And once aroused he showed a side of his char 
 acter that few were acquainted with. He en 
 joyed jokes to the full measure, and was a pleas 
 ant tease. When he once had a joke on me he 
 rang all the changes; and no one enjoyed a 
 joke on himself more thoroughly than he did. 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 65 
 
 In 1897, when I was a tenderfoot, recently 
 arrived in Washington, he asked me to give 
 up a dinner engagement with some gentle 
 men to fill up the table as an emergency man 
 at a dinner to be given at the White House 
 that night. I declined, saying I had a better 
 thing not knowing that an invitation to 
 the White House was equivalent to a com 
 mand. This joke on me was a delight to him. 
 
 When he was a guest at my house for several 
 days, or a member of a house party, his flow 
 of genial spirits began at the breakfast table 
 and continued uninterrupted all day. He 
 seemed to feel as if he were on a vacation, and 
 had the joyous spirit of a big boy home from 
 school, always looking after the comfort of 
 others, with never, apparently, a thought for 
 himself. An ideal home-body was William 
 McKinley, and the American fireside was a 
 shrine of worship with him. 
 
 At one of our house parties we had a flash 
 light photograph taken of the dinner guests. 
 He was particularly fond of this dinner pic 
 ture because it contained a splendid likeness 
 of Mrs. McKinley. 
 
66 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 When McKinley laughed, he laughed heartily 
 all over, and was a perfect boy in his enjoy 
 ment. In all the social visits to my home, it 
 was an inspiration to me to see the way he 
 could throw off the cares of the day. It al 
 ways made me feel twenty years younger to 
 spend a social evening with him, and I can 
 not begin to measure the depth and value of 
 this friendship to me entirely aside from his 
 public career. 
 
 He was never much inclined, I believe, to 
 take an active part in athletics, though his 
 simple, normal habits of life kept him always 
 in excellent condition physically and mentally. 
 He proved the enduring sturdiness of his 
 frame by his hard service in the Civil War, 
 and by the tremendous amount of labor which 
 he afterward put into the study and presen 
 tation of public questions. He was, of course, 
 interested in the notable athletic contests that 
 the college boys held, but it was as late as 1894 
 that he and I witnessed together our first game 
 of football a Princeton- Yale game at New 
 York. 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 67 
 
 It was a drizzling, cold day, but he watched 
 every movement of the game from the club 
 house with as keen interest as he gave to a 
 debate in congress. 
 
 When some mysterious movement in a " pile- 
 up was made he would turn and ask me about 
 it, but I had to shake my head and confess it 
 was my first game and that it was all Greek 
 to me. 
 
 He told me how he felt like the country boy 
 who went to a college football game for the 
 first time, to see the "real thing." When 
 asked how he liked it, the country boy naively 
 replied : 
 
 "They didn t have no game; they got into a 
 scrap and kept fightin all the time when they 
 ought to have been playing ball." 
 
 At this football game there was little to 
 foreshadow what was written in the political 
 horizon two years later, but I do recall that he 
 seemed to be especially popular with the sturdy 
 young collegians, one of whom remarked to 
 his companion as they passed by us: 
 
 "Who is that distinguished looking man 
 the one that looks like Napoleon?" 
 
68 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 The late President was particularly fond of 
 a good play, and when he would come to stay 
 with me at Cleveland over night, he would al 
 ways inquire : " Is there anything good at your 
 opera house tonight, Mark?" 
 
 We enjoyed many pleasant evenings to 
 gether. He delighted in meeting the promi 
 nent actors, and was very fond of Joseph 
 Jefferson. Many an hour have they chatted 
 together, and Jefferson never failed to call 
 and see him when in Washington. Sol Smith 
 Russell was another friend. The drama of 
 high standard was to him a relief from worri- 
 ments of the day and thoroughly enjoyed as 
 a relaxation. He delighted to discuss with 
 these play-folks their art, and how actors, like 
 men in public life, had to cater to public wishes 
 and how much their influence meant in pro 
 ducing plays of healthful purpose and moral 
 teaching. Mrs. McKinley was also very fond 
 of the theater; he always delighted to indulge 
 her, and they spent many happy evenings to 
 gether witnessing the best plays that were on 
 the boards. 
 
 He never tired of seeing Jefferson in Rip 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 69 
 
 Van Winkle" and " The Cricket on the Hearth," 
 which were undoubtedly his favorite plays. 
 
 " Mark, you meet as many distinguished 
 men as owner of an opera house as you do as 
 Senator," he would jokingly remark after a 
 chat with an actor. He always seemed to 
 have a keen scent for talent in any profession 
 and was quick to recognize genius. The psy 
 chological study the actor made in portray 
 ing human nature before the footlights was to 
 him fascinating. The personality of these 
 men on the stage he believed had a potent in 
 fluence on the public mind. He never tired of 
 high-class dramas; he was especially fond of 
 Shakespeare s plays, and always attended 
 thoroughly " read up." He would often chide 
 me for not being more carefully posted on the 
 original Shakespearean text, but I was most 
 concerned in the play as staged. 
 
 How well I remember how he enjoyed wit 
 nessing the play entitled "The Politician," 
 during his second campaign for governor of 
 Ohio. We sat together in a box. Roland Reed, 
 who played the "Politician" and who is now 
 dead, directed his remarks straight at us, and 
 
70 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 McKinley enjoyed his hits immensely. The 
 actor brought in impromptu points and so gen 
 erously improvised the speaking part that it 
 seemed as if the actors and audience were hav 
 ing an " aside" all to themselves at our expense. 
 
 A man of more generous impulses than 
 William McKinley never lived. When cases 
 were presented to him for relief that were 
 beyond his ability to meet, he would apply 
 to me or some of his friends for assistance in 
 aiding worthy persons, and his friends were 
 always glad to respond to these appeals. He 
 was liberal without stint. It gave him actual 
 physical pain to see anyone suffering or in dis 
 tress, and on such occasions he showed his great 
 faith in friendship, never hesitating to go to 
 any bounds in an appeal for others. What 
 ever he had in his pocket, whether it was ten 
 cents or ten dollars, he was always ready to 
 give it to relieve distress. If the applicant 
 only required fifty cents and the Major had 
 ten dollars in his pocket, the applicant would 
 get the ten. He did not know such a thing 
 as taking change from charity. 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 71 
 
 Though he had no especial training in music, 
 no person was more partial to it than William 
 McKinley. And his tastes were as catholic as 
 a child s. Anything from a hurdygurdy to 
 grand opera pleased him. He would keep his 
 hands or feet beating time whenever there was 
 music about him. I recall many Sunday even 
 ing home concerts. Every one was singing, 
 and he would call for " Nearer, my God, to 
 Thee" and "Lead, Kindly Light." The 
 radiance on his face when he sang those old 
 favorite hymns, as if his whole soul was in it, 
 is to me a sacred memory picture of William 
 McKinley. 
 
 He would urge me to try to sing and insisted 
 I had a sweet tenor voice, but the pleasant 
 charm of the happy occasions was never 
 marred by my vocal efforts. 
 
 I knew I could not sing, but I listened; the 
 echoes of those happy hours will linger with 
 me as long as I live. The little singing parties 
 in our home after dinner were always his 
 delight. 
 
 I had the closest revelations of William 
 
72 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 McKinley s character, I think, in our quiet 
 hours of smoking and chatting, when all the 
 rest had retired. Far past midnight we have 
 sat many times talking over those matters 
 which friends always discuss and the closer 
 I came to the man, the more lovable his char 
 acter appeared. Every time we met there 
 was revealed the gentle, growing greatness of 
 a man who knew men, respected them and 
 loved them. Never was it the personal inter 
 ests of William McKinley that he discussed, 
 but those of friends, or his party, and above 
 all, of the people. His clear-cut conscientious 
 ness was pronounced. In these heart-to-heart 
 talks friend to friend in the calm serenity 
 of the night s quiet hours, we felt the ties of our 
 life s friendship growing stronger as we simply 
 sat and puffed and looked in each other s faces. 
 These home smoke-chats are the treasured 
 memories of a man who loved mankind much 
 more than he did himself and who had conse 
 crated his career to the people. He always 
 was interested in business and industrial af 
 fairs and understood them as few men did in 
 their relation to the home comforts and happi- 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 73 
 
 ness of the American people. It was in these 
 quiet hours together that the splendid devo 
 tion of the man to high and noble ideals showed 
 clearest. I think that a reminiscent glance 
 at our smoke-chat meetings night after night, 
 wherever we chanced to be, reveals to me 
 most freely the great qualities in the man 
 whom the world has so profoundly honored. 
 I can see that kindly, quizzical look in his 
 deep blue eyes under his bushy eyebrows, when 
 he broke the silence after meditating: 
 
 " Mark, this seems to be right and fair and 
 just. I think so, don t you?" His " don t 
 you?" or "did you?" always had a tone that 
 invited candid confidence, and this is a pecu 
 liarity that brings back to my memory some 
 incidents of our acquaintanceship in early 
 years that seemed to foreshadow his future. 
 
 Looking back over the long years of asso 
 ciation with William McKinley, nothing seems 
 to stand out more prominently than the hearty 
 and sunny way in which he always enjoyed 
 the friendly hours of recreation. These pleas 
 ant episodes of a purely personal nature are 
 emphasized more and more as I think of him, 
 
74 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 and it is these that I most cherish in the memory 
 of the man. His greatness as a statesman was 
 but the reflection of his greatness as a man. 
 William McKinley was faultless in his 
 friendships. 
 
 III. IN THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 I came to Washington a few days in advance 
 of the inauguration in 1897 to make the final 
 arrangements as chairman of the National 
 Committee. How well I remember the morn 
 ing of McKinley s arrival, as I went to the 
 Ebbitt House to meet him. He had stopped 
 at this hotel for many years as a Congressman, 
 and was now a guest as President. I was 
 particularly impressed on meeting the same 
 McKinley that I had seen so often before in 
 his room at the hotel while a member of Con 
 gress. There was nothing in his manner or 
 appearance to denote that any change what 
 ever had come over him ; there was nothing in 
 his expression of the exultation of success or 
 political victory or personal prestige. If there 
 was any difference it was that he appeared to 
 me more serious, more warmly sympathetic, 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 75 
 
 in the gentle dignity that came upon him under 
 the weight of the great responsibilities before 
 him. It would have taken a close observer to 
 discover that he was other than the old mem 
 ber of Congress from Ohio quietly assuming 
 the duties and responsibilities of an everyday 
 routine in the work which he loved. He 
 greeted me with the same sweet smile and 
 hearty handshake which I had known so well 
 for thirty years past, and I could scarcely 
 realize that he had become the ruler of the 
 greatest nation on earth and that he was still 
 to remain the same confidential and loving 
 friend as in the old days. 
 
 After the pomp and ceremony of the in 
 auguration was over he appeared to slip into 
 his place with an ease and grace that told the 
 story to every one over again that had been 
 proclaimed so effectively during the campaign 
 just closed, that William McKinley, of all 
 men, at this time exactly "fitted the situa 
 tion." 
 
 Immediately after Congress was called in 
 extraordinary session in 1897, to begin the 
 
76 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 business in hand, to fulfill the promises made 
 by the Republican party. The changed con 
 ditions of the country seemed to engross his 
 concentrated attention day after day, hour 
 after hour, morning, noon and night. In all 
 his talk and conversation with me there was 
 one supreme purpose, and that was to bring 
 the nation back to the old anchorage of sound 
 money and a protective policy. His work 
 from day to day was laid out with the system 
 and care of an architect or an artisan who had 
 specific duties before him. The Dingley Bill 
 was almost ready for the House, and in shap 
 ing and advising along this policy, keeping in 
 mind prosperity for the people as the one great 
 desired object, he was always at his best and 
 always enthusiastic. For the first few months 
 of his administration his whole time was taken 
 up in dealing with a proposition concerning 
 which he was an acknowledged expert, and 
 more than that, involving a labor of love which 
 seemed to be more apparent in his work than 
 a sense of perfunctorily performing executive 
 duties. He was, in fact, enthusiastic in this 
 work and had a happy, cheery way of meeting 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 77 
 
 old friends as well as new acquaintances that 
 had always stood by him in so many fights for 
 the principles of protection; happy especially 
 because in every outstretched hand that came 
 to greet him there was a pledge of loyalty and 
 support which made him feel strong and fixed 
 in his determination to do his utmost for his 
 country s good. It was not merely a general 
 ized or theorized purpose of patriotism that 
 inspired him; he appeared always to have the 
 specific and concrete interest of the people as 
 individuals in mind when he undertook to 
 solve the great questions of public welfare. 
 
 In those days his social life was a happy one 
 because his dear wife caught the inspiration of 
 the work in hand and in the new environment 
 her own life had been brightened. She was 
 personally interested in those things which 
 have made the White House a bright reflection 
 of ideal American home life. Her interest in 
 those matters was especially appreciated by 
 the devoted husband, who seemed to feel that 
 the great purpose of all American policies 
 should concentrate in the betterment of con 
 ditions of the American home and fireside. 
 
78 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 After the adjournment of Congress, about 
 the first of August, 1897, the President took a 
 much-needed vacation of a few weeks, but 
 during all that time was constantly engrossed 
 with work. He never seemed to quite throw 
 off the serious purpose that had been inter 
 woven in all the acts of his public career. Im 
 mediately after his return to Washington he 
 began the preparation of outlining in written 
 data and notes the fixed ideas expressing his 
 own line of policy which was destined to be of 
 so great benefit to his country and to human 
 ity as well. When Congress reassembled in 
 December, 1897, he had fully made his fore 
 cast and was prepared to meet in a masterful 
 way the questions of the hour. 
 
 The country knows only too well how 
 quickly he grasped the serious situation that 
 came up later in the island of Cuba and led 
 to the outbreak of the Spanish war. It was 
 during these trying days that I saw President 
 McKinley in a new light. As difficulties mul 
 tiplied and responsibilities increased he seemed 
 to grow even more masterful and self-reliant. 
 As close as we had been as personal friends, each 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 79 
 
 day seemed to unfold some hitherto unobserved 
 strength of character and nobility of purpose. 
 Under these conditions, I was forcibly re 
 minded of the criticisms that had been made 
 at an earlier time when his candidacy for the 
 presidency was discussed. It was claimed 
 that McKinley was a man of a single idea ; that 
 he was an expert on tariff matters only and 
 that his claims to statesmanship were con 
 fined to his advocacy of the policies and prin 
 ciples of protection. Later developments 
 proved this to be far from the truth. There 
 was not a detail or a situation in any branch 
 of the government with which he came into 
 contact that he did not fully fathom and mas 
 ter. The intricate and unprecedented ques 
 tions growing out of the war situation he met 
 in much the same way that he did as a young 
 lawyer in solving the intricacies of the case 
 before him. While he had a loyal and efficient 
 cabinet, he always led in the newer proposi 
 tions presented. His judgment never faltered, 
 nor did he fail to awaken enthusiastic support 
 in all with whom he came into contact. In 
 fact, his influence with men grew so strong 
 
8o Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 that the whole Congress of the United States 
 was ready to follow his leadership in all matters 
 pertaining to the conduct of the war, having 
 perfect faith in his patriotism, tried and true, 
 and his ability, which had time and again with 
 stood the crucial test. 
 
 One of the remarkable things concerning 
 his whole administration was this personal 
 confidence and esteem which he universally 
 inspired and so well earned from every man of 
 both political parties in the Congress of the 
 United States. In all the upheavals brought 
 about by the conditions and new questions grow 
 ing out of the war, the problem of insular 
 possessions and our relations with Cuba, the 
 influence of his personality never changed or 
 relaxed while his life lasted, and in the closing 
 days of his public career was reached the 
 climax of a pure and noble life. 
 
 During the hot, sultry days of August in 
 1898, William McKinley continued unceas 
 ingly his long hours of labor at the White 
 House. Night after night found him at work 
 if there were pressing matters at hand, and 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 81 
 
 usually there were problems of the gravest 
 importance demanding his attention as com- 
 mander-in-chief. Often I would go over to 
 the White House and sit with him on the south 
 porch when he had finished his work, with 
 various members of Congress or cabinet mem 
 bers, and in the long Summer evenings we would 
 enjoy those little friendly gatherings far past 
 midnight. He seemed to consider these brief 
 hours of recreation as well worth the arduous 
 labors of the long day. During these meetings 
 he had little to say of the serious and sad 
 things of life, but was always an optimist and 
 his enthusiasm was infectious. He was par 
 ticularly fond of telling and listening to stories 
 and cracking jokes, always in that good- 
 humored and gentle way which never pos 
 sessed the rapier touch of satire or temper. 
 
 Perhaps the greatest strain upon William 
 McKinley during his whole life was the few 
 months prior to the declaration of war. The 
 suspense of the situation in getting at all the 
 facts wore upon him, and his patience under 
 distressing circumstances always appeared to 
 
82 Mark Hanna : His Book 
 
 me saintly. But when war was finally de 
 clared, and the inevitable came upon us, his 
 whole manner changed. Everything else was 
 cast aside to do with all his might what had to 
 be done in pushing the war. He settled down 
 in that quiet, serious and determined way 
 which emphasized his mastery of the prob 
 lems before him. How often I have watched 
 him in those thoughtful moods. He would 
 remain silent for some time and seeming to 
 commune with himself " think it out," as 
 he would jokingly remark. And when he had 
 settled the matter fully in his own mind, his 
 old natural manner would come back with a 
 rebound and he was again the same smiling, 
 sweet and gentle companion. 
 
 His unvarying habit was, when advising 
 with any one in matters of state or serious 
 import, to first find out what the other fellow 
 thought. On this situation he always seemed 
 to build his premises, and he had a faculty of 
 getting it out of you somehow or other; some 
 times he would approve and sometimes he 
 would say nothing, but he was always an earnest 
 seeker after the truth and the facts, seeming 
 
William McKinley as I Knew Him 83 
 
 entirely to obliterate his personal prejudices 
 in his eagerness to arrive at a just and equi 
 table conclusion. 
 
 I have often observed how he never with 
 held his sympathy in any case, no matter how 
 small or inconsequential it might be. There 
 was a particularly interesting incident in his 
 desiring to appoint an old school friend to a 
 small postoffice in one of the western states. 
 The lady was a widow and needed the income 
 toward the support of herself and family, but 
 the Congressman had previously recommended 
 for the position a man who had been of some 
 service to him in his congressional campaign. 
 For a time there was an indication of feeling 
 growing out of the matter and it appeared like 
 a curious commentary upon the power of the 
 President of the United States, when he was 
 unable to control the appointment to a fourth- 
 class postoffice, under the inexorable un 
 written law of precedent. But the situation 
 was soon solved when the Congressman held 
 a conference with William McKinley. The 
 President had made an effective plea with the 
 
84 Mark Hanna: His Book 
 
 irritated and annoyed member, who had 
 resented interference with his absolute pre 
 rogative when fanned into temper by out 
 siders ; but the President won his point for the 
 old school friend and none were more cheerful 
 parties to the plan than the Congressman and 
 disappointed candidate for the postoffice. 
 They had felt the touch of human sympathy 
 such as William McKinley could always in 
 spire. 
 
 William McKinley was the incarnation of 
 the best and purest statesmanship, which, I 
 believe, exists in every American. His quali 
 ties that inspired in me a close personal friend 
 ship were given with the same unstinted grace 
 and generosity to every individual that came 
 within the influence of his personality, no 
 matter how remote or how humble that in 
 dividual might be. His career is a treasured 
 heritage of the human race, and marks the 
 beginning of a new epoch in the history of 
 the United States. 
 
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