At the opening of the national election campaign of 1894 it was evident to all that McKinley was the leader whom people in all parts of the country most desired to see and hear. From every State in the Union calls poured in for him, and he finally consented to enter the campaign outside of Ohio, agreeing to make forty-six speeches. The result was a tour which has never been equaled in the political history of the country. The people refused to be so easily satisfied as the orator hoped. State after State called for him with a persistence that would not be denied, and, instead of forty-six speeches, he actually made 371. His route extended through the States of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, West Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, through which he journeyed in all over 10,000 miles.

MCKINLEY A POPULAR FAVORITE

During eight weeks' time he averaged seven speeches a day, extending from ten minutes to an hour in length. In all he addressed over two million people. Wherever he went he was received with an ovation, people gathering in thousands and clamoring to hear him at all the railroad stations on his line of travel. Everywhere his fame spread in advance, and the people flocked in numbers, coming hundreds of miles to see him at the larger cities where he was engaged to speak.

On September 26th, he faced at Indianapolis the largest audience ever gathered in the Hoosier State. At Chicago over 9,000 gathered to hear him, and over 7,000 in St. Louis. In the State. of Kansas he addressed at Hutchison a meeting of over 40,000 people, the largest ever held in that State, many of them coming from adjoining States and Territories. At Topeka it was estimated that 24,000 people were present. Altogether he spoke to over 150,000 people at various points in Kansas. At Omaha, Nebraska, an audience of 12,000 listened to his explanation of the

protection policy. In Iowa the multitudes in all aggregated 50,000. The same popular enthusiasm was manifested in Minnesota, he speaking to 10,000 in St. Paul and 15,000 in Duluth. At Springfield, Illinois, more than 20,000 people came to hear him.

MCKINLEY SPEAKS TO THE SOUTH

Subsequently, turning south towards New Orleans, he met with the same gratifying experience; 3,000 people gathered to hear him as he passed through Lexington, Kentucky. There was a tremendous gathering at Chattanooga, and at New Orleans he was received with an ovation, addressing over 8,000 people. He subsequently journeyed north through Alabama and other States, reaching the North at Pittsburg, where he addressed a large audience. At Philadelphia he spoke three times in one evening to enormous gatherings of people. In New York his campaign began at Buffalo, where it was necessary to call three meetings to accommodate the number who wished to see him. Passing eastward through the State, he was greeted by 10,000 people at Albany, whence he made his way down the Hudson valley, speaking at various points, and finally addressing a great multitude at Weehawken, New Jersey. On his way home to Ohio he stopped at Erie, Pennsylvania, speaking there to a gathering of 10,000 people.

Daily hundreds of columns of the newspapers were devoted to his remarks during this extended tour. His first formal nomination for President of the United States was made at the Ohio State Convention at Zanesville, May 29, 1895. This convention had met to nominate his successor as Governor. During the gubernatorial campaign McKinley entered the field as a speaker in favor of his successor, who was elected by a very large majority. With the opening of the year 1896 the question of the Presidential election became prominent in all men's minds, and the Republican conventions in the several States began to select their delegates and declare, their choice. The first State convention to endorse the Ohio candidate was Oregon, and other States followed

in rapid succession. Important opposition was made in only a few States, those in New England being Massachusetts and Rhode Island, whose favorite was Thomas B. Reed. New Hampshire, while declaring for Reed, named McKinley as second choice. Vermont selected him as first choice, and Connecticut evaded the issue. Maine, as was to be expected, spoke for its favorite son.

NUMEROUS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

The candidate of New York was Governor Levi P. Morton, whose political record had won for him the affection of the people. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania named Matthew Stanley Quay, then the most prominent name in the ranks of the Republican party of that State. Iowa chose for its candidate the veteran Senator Allison. The remaining States of the Union unanimously declared for McKinley. Such were the encouraging preliminaries to the opening of the St. Louis Convention.

The result of the coming nomination seemed so evident in advance that the opposition press made a vigorous assault upon McKinley, attacking his financial record, and endeavoring to divert attention from the industrial issue to that of the currency. Such was the state of affairs in the country at large when the time for the assembling of the convention arrived.

The remarkable popularity of William McKinley, in view of the fact that he was but one of numerous prominent Congressmen, deserving for their services and available as candidates, seems to demand some explanation. He was not in the position of several of his predecessors, whose fame as military leaders had carried them to a position for which they were poorly fitted by nature or experience. He was not a "new man," borne suddenly upward on a billow of public favor like his coming competitor. He was in no sense a "dark horse," to be sprung suddenly upon a convention weary of a long and hopeless contest. He had made his way slowly and surely into public favor by the force of his character and the merit of his services, by his long and able record as a Congressman, and especially by his persistent labors in advocacy