nence who could be trusted to work for McKinley. In New Jersey the coöperation of Garret A. Hobart, subsequently VicePresident, was assured. In Maryland Senator Wellington could be counted upon for good work. In Michigan General Alger was a friend of both the candidate and Mr. Hanna. In Minnesota ex-Governor W. R. Merriam was an effective ally. In Wisconsin Henry C. Payne eventually helped to capture the state for McKinley. West of the Mississippi, with the exception of Iowa and one or two other states, the McKinley sentiment was everywhere dominant. In all these localities the work was comparatively easy, and did not require very much time or cause much anxiety.

In no part of the country did the contest become fiercer than south of the Mason and Dixon line. Mr. Hanna had to fight very hard to prevent the McKinley organization in several important Southern states from being broken up. The most perplexing and troublesome crises occurred in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. The opposition was unscrupulous and was abundantly supplied with funds. It used all the tricks known to machine politicians, such as the calling of "snap" conventions in certain congressional districts. But the net results of a fight put by four of the ablest and most experienced politicians in the Republican party was comparatively small. There were finally secured for Reed two votes in Alabama, two in Georgia, four in Louisiana, two and a half in North Carolina, one in Virginia and five in Texas. Mr. Platt picked up for Morton one delegate from Alabama and two from Florida. Quay captured two in Georgia, one in Mississippi, and divided one in Louisiana with Allison. Mr. Clarkson, who had dispensed patronage during President Harrison's administration, obtained only three votes from Texas for the Iowan candidate. These were small pickings, considering the eminence of these gentlemen as the gatherers of political fruit. They had been beaten at their own game. As Mr. Thomas C. Platt, in his "Autobiography" (p. 331) says: "He (Mr. Hanna) had the South practically solid before some of us waked up." But it was not simply a matter of organization. A genuine preference for McKinley had been created among the Southern Republicans; and, of course, he was helped in the South by his success in the North.

Different methods were used in different doubtful Northern states. Indiana was one of the first among the waverers which it was possible to line up for McKinley. On February 4 ex-President Harrison announced that he was not a candidate. Mr. McKinley had some days before received confidential information of the announcement, and an emissary, Charles Dick, was despatched to Indiana to take immediate advantage of the withdrawal. He had a long secret interview with John K. Gowdy, chairman of the State Committee, which resulted in an understanding that the latter would work for Mr. McKinley. Before Mr. Dick returned the situation all over the state was thoroughly canvassed, and many consultations were held with local leaders, whose coöperation was necessary. Owing partly to the efficiency of Mr. Gowdy's work, and partly to the pro-McKinley popular sentiment, which was unusually strong in Indiana, the delegation from that state was obtained for McKinley.

Nebraska was another state in which a special situation confronted the McKinley managers. A somewhat feeble local movement had been started in favor of General Manderson as a "favorite son," which commanded the support of most of the local politicians. A special organization had, consequently, to be formed, which succeeded in having the delegates-at-large instructed for McKinley, in spite of the opposition of Senator Thurston. In California, almost the only other Western state which required special exertions, the McKinley interest was confided to Judge James A. Waymire and Mr. J. C. Spear; and they succeeded in bringing the state into line. When the Convention was finally held Mr. McKinley was supported by the delegations of all the states west of the Mississippi, except Iowa, the three votes from Utah and those of the seceding states.

Opinions were divided among the McKinley managers whether any contest at all should be made in those Northern states, which were completely dominated by the local "bosses." But Mr. Hanna had the courage of his cause; he insisted on fighting all along the line and in capturing local delegates wherever they could. Prominent Republicans both in New York and Pennsylvania were friendly to McKinley - far more so

than the votes of those states subsequently indicated. Even as it was, eight votes were secured in Pennsylvania and seventeen in New York. A great deal of very effective work was also accomplished in quietly favoring the election of delegates whose second choice would be McKinley. Mr. Hanna himself was far from objecting to the tactics pursued by their opponents. Thomas B. Reed was the only candidate he really feared, just as it was the only candidacy which was based upon genuine claims to recognition. If the opposition could have concentrated on Reed, it might have become formidable. As it was, the "favorite son" policy was a confession of weakness, which could offer no effective resistance to a candidacy like that of McKinley, which gathered volume as it rolled along.

Arrangements had been made to hold the Ohio State Convention in March, so as to place Mr. McKinley formally in nomination early in the final contest. It assembled on March 11 and was a most harmonious gathering-although the Foraker faction kept control of the state organization. James B. Foraker made the first of a long series of speeches nominating his former rival for the presidency. The delegates-at-large were divided between the two factions, and consisted of Mr. Foraker, Governor Bushnell, General Charles Grosvenor, and Mark Hanna. The platform emphasized the importance of protectionist legislation as essential to the revival of prosperity, but dodged the currency issue. It declared for sound money and the use of both metals, which were to be kept at a parity by international agreement or any other available means. In case a declaration in favor of a gold standard had been made at this time, the difficulties of the McKinley managers west of the Mississippi would have been very much increased. As it was, one State Convention after another began to instruct for McKinley. On March 19 Wisconsin was definitely placed on his list. On April 11 it was joined by Oregon. Four days later Nebraska and North Dakota fell into line, and on April 29 Vermont, under the leadership of Senator Proctor, showed that Mr. Reed could even hold all of the delegates from New England.

All this was encouraging, and together with the successes in the South it was almost convincing. But it was not entirely

So.

The McKinley candidacy needed the testimony of an em

phatic success in an important contested state. Illinois was selected both as a good point of resistance by the opponents of McKinley, and the best point of attack by his friends. The critical contest of the campaign occurred in that state. The local politicians, particularly in and about Chicago, had been pushing the candidacy of Senator Cullom. No basing-point for a McKinley organization could be found in the regular machine, and it was necessary to secure an independent leader, who would pull together the widespread sentiment in favor of McKinley. Such a leader was found in Mr. Charles G. Dawes, the son of General R. Dawes, once a Congressman from an Ohio district. Mr. Dawes, after interviews with both Mr. McKinley and Mr. Hanna, agreed to make the fight, and he was supported vigorously by Mr. Hanna himself. It was generally understood that while McKinley might be nominated without Illinois, the capture of that state would remove any possible doubt as to his triumph. Mr. McKinley himself went to Chicago in February and delivered a speech at the Marquette Club, which helped his candidacy.. Mr. Dawes proved to be a capable organizer. The results of the district conventions were favorable; but when the State Convention assembled late in April, the issue was still in doubt. A sharp struggle took place with the result dubious to the last. The margin was so narrow that an accident might tip the scales one way or the other. The fight continued for several days, on the last of which Mr. Hanna sat in his office in the Perry-Payne Building, telephone in hand, from noon until 10 P.M. He did not quit until he had learned that Senator Cullom had withdrawn and the delegates-at-large had been instructed for McKinley. He could go home assured that the project conceived eight years earlier for the nomination of his friend had been successfully accomplished.

Almost the whole cost of the campaign for Mr. McKinley's nomination was paid by Mr. Hanna. Apparently he expected in the beginning to obtain very much more assistance than that which he actually received. Early in 1896, when the demands upon him became very heavy, he cast about for some means of shifting the burden. He seriously considered the possibility of collecting a campaign fund, and had actually made prepara

tions to do so. But further reflection convinced him that to collect a fund for the purpose of nominating a candidate was a different thing from collecting an election fund. The appeal in the former case had to be made on personal rather than party grounds. So he made up his mind to pay the expenses himself. He did receive some help from Mr. McKinley's personal friends in Ohio and elsewhere, but its amount was small compared to the total expenses. First and last Mr. Hanna contributed something over $100,000 toward the expense of the canvass.

One hundred thousand dollars and over is a good deal of money; but it is not too much for the legitimate expenses of nominating a man for President under the convention system. Such a sum would not have gone very far in case corrupt methods had been used. As a matter of fact, corrupt methods were always expressly and absolutely forbidden by Mr. Hanna. Certain of his lieutenants, particularly in the South, would have been glad enough to have plenty of money to spend, but they did not get it. He was continually checking their zeal and refusing or pairing down their applications for funds. He carefully limited the purposes for which alone the money was to be spent. It was to pay the legitimate expenses of his assistants in organizing districts for McKinley in which a sentiment favorable to the candidacy existed. He expressly warns them against any attempt to obtain merely purchasable votes.

A few quotations will illustrate the kind of letters which he wrote to assistants, who were more preoccupied with the money they wanted to spend than they were scrupulous about the methods they used in spending it. On Nov. 5, 1895, he wrote to a correspondent in California: "I am in receipt of your favor of the 28th ult., and your draft for $500, which came to hand to-day, has been paid. The Governor's friends have not been called upon to contribute any money to his campaign, because he is very much averse to that method. Of course I appreciate that it will be necessary to do something towards the actual expenses of those who are willing to give time to his service, and that I am perfectly willing to do, but the use of money to influence votes is not a method that I favor at all. This campaign must not be one in which money is used for other than necessary expenses."