to
be the first function of government to protect property, and that
property should organize for this purpose. Without malevolence, he
conducted business for the sake of its profits, and regarded government
as an adjunct to it. He possessed great capacity for winning popularity,
and after his entry into public life in 1897 gained reputation as an
effective speaker. He destroyed, before his death, much of the offensive
notoriety that had been thrust upon him during the campaign of 1896, but
he remained the best representative of the generation that believed
government to be only a business asset. He did not enter the Cabinet of
McKinley, but was appointed Senator from Ohio when John Sherman vacated
his seat.

The pledge of the Republicans for international bimetallism created a
need for a financial Secretary of State, and John Sherman, though old
and infirm, was persuaded to undertake the office. The routine of the
department was assigned to an assistant secretary, William R. Day, an
old friend of the President. A magnate of the match trust, Russell A.
Alger, of Michigan, received the War Department. The president of the
First National Bank of Chicago, Lyman J. Gage, received the Treasury.
The other secretaries, too, were men of solidity, generally self-made,
and likely to inspire confidence in the world of business.

The new Senators who appeared at this time represented the same alliance
of trade and politics. Hanna, in Ohio, and Thomas C. Platt, president of
the United States Express Company, in New York, were the most striking
instances. In Pennsylvania Quay was able to nominate his colleague in
spite of the opposition of his old associate, John Wanamaker, and
selected Boies Penrose. Only with the aid of the silver Senators could a
Republican majority be procured in the Senate. This made currency
legislation impossible, but the managers hoped that there would be a
majority for a protective tariff when Congress met in special session,
two weeks after the inauguration.

Preparations for a revision of the tariff had been made long before
Cleveland left office. Reed was certain to be reelected as Speaker by a
large majority. Nelson Dingley, of Maine, was equally certain to be
chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and began to hold tariff
hearings early in 1897. A rampant spirit for protection was revealed as
the manufacturers stated their wishes to the committee. It was often
told how the low rates of the Wil