an National
Committee for Senator Hanna than there were for any other campaign
speaker. Everywhere he went he made friends, not only for President
McKinley, the nominee of the party, but for himself as well. Mark
Hanna became one of the most popular leaders in the Republican
party, and I have never for a moment doubted that he could have
been the nominee of the party for the Presidency in 1904, had he
consented to accept it. He told me in a private conversation had
been gratified when he had seen his great personal friend, Mr.
McKinley, twice elected President of the United States, and now
that he had passed away he had no particular ambition on his own
account.

Mr. McKinley promptly proceeded to call a special session of
Congress, which convened March 15, 1897, and in which Mr. Reed was
elected Speaker of the House. This session was called for the
purpose of enacting a law for the raising of sufficient revenue to
carry on the Government; and on March 31 the Dingley Bill passed
the House. The bill was debated in the Senate for several weeks,
and after eight hundred and seventy-two amendments were incorporated,
it passed the Senate July 7, 1897. The conference report was agreed
to, and the act was approved July 24, 1897. The country was in
such condition then that we heard no complaint concerning the high
protective tariff. The Republicans were united in advocating such
a protective tariff as would enable the mills and factories to
open, thereby affording employment and restoring prosperity.

From the election of President McKinley and the enactment of the
Dingley Law I do not hesitate to say that we can date the greatest
era of prosperity, and the greatest material advancement, of any
period of like duration in our history.

Toward the close of the Cleveland Administration and all during
the first part of the McKinley Administration, conditions were
leading up inevitably to the Spanish-American War. The enthusiasm
of some Senators, especially Senator Proctor, of Vermont, and my
own colleague, Senator Mason, of Illinois, became so intense that
war was brought on before the country was really prepared for it.
Mr. McKinley held back. He knew the horrors of war and, if he
could avoid it, did not desire to see his country engage in
hostilities with any other country. He acted with great discretion,
holding things steadily until some degree of preparation was made;
and I have no doubt at all that the war woul