VOL. XXII.

NO. 1.

The

If Vice-President Hobart had not Philadelphia died in office, the National Republican Convention. Convention at Philadelphia last month would have been by far the most unanimous and most uneventful in the history of either great party since the Republicans nominated their first President at Philadelphia in 1856. The entire party had acquiesced in the opinion that the McKinley administration ought to be given another four years' lease of power. If Mr. Hobart had lived, his renomination for the Vice-Presidency would have been as unquestioned as Mr. McKinley's for the first place on the ticket. As for the platform, it was not really necessary to go through the form of adopting one. This we say, not because the Republican party at the present time has no principles or policies, but rather because its recent record has made its principles unmistakable, while its policies for the immediate future are of necessity fixed inexorably by exist. ing conditions and by its committal to the furtherance of programmes already initiated. platform, as adopted, does not attempt to be brilliant, ringing, or incisive. It has no catchphrases. It is rather a review and a statement that somewhat informally, but nevertheless guardedly-expresses the claims and general intentions of a party sobered by the consciousness that it is likely to remain in power and to be held responsible for all that it ventures to promise.

Republican

in 1900.

The

Its real platform as to money, taxaPrinciples tion, public indebtedness, and those kindred subjects which relate to the internal business welfare of the country, is best found in the record of its recent actions. It is now a gold-standard party. It is rather vaguely committed to a consideration of some plan for a more flexible currency; and its indirect allusion to bimetallism by concurrence of other powers is a mere touch of politeness, and nothing else. Upon no new topic had the Republican party any deliverance to make, in its grand quadrennial

No

gathering, that involved either discussion or difference of opinion. Not a voice was lifted against the Philippine policy of the administration. one had anything to say in advocacy of the doctrine that the Constitution, of its own force, foilows the flag and covers all territorial acquisitions. If any one of the more than two thousand delegates, alternates, and other prominent Republicans who were in the assembly had by chance a passing word to say about the Porto Rico tariff, there was certainly not even the hint of two opinions on that subject.

Harmony Unprecedented.

Four years ago, at St. Louis, there was the utmost intensity of feeling upon great public questions, as well as upon candidates. This year, at Philadelphia, there was a pleasant air of harmony and confidence that was disturbed only by the gentlest ripples of excitement due to the question of a choice for the Vice-Presidential nomination. The placidity of the whole affair seemed to partake of the characteristics of Philadelphia itself. The prosperous "City of Brotherly Love," with its population of contented people who own their · own homes, its manufacturing industries, its shipbuilding and its foreign and domestic commerce, has always been the most Republican of the large American communities, and seems in many respects to embody very fairly those Republican ideals with which Mr. McKinley's name is especially identified. It was a typical gathering of able and well-behaved American citizens. The great audiences of some fifteen thousand people in the convention hall were worth going a long distance to see. The occasion, from beginning to end, was altogether a model of its kind. Since, however, men had not come there to contend about anything, neither to strive greatly for any principle that they thought to be in danger, nor yet to press with fierce zeal the claims of any idolized leader as against those of his rivals, it was not to be expected that the

We

convention would show much excitement. have never before had so calm a convention, and the next quarter-century is not likely to see another. It was a repetition of the Era of Good Feeling." Mr. McKinley's acceptability at Philadelphia reminded one of the historical accounts of the atmosphere in which James Monroe received his nomination in 1820. Of course, there were in those days no great popular conventions, and the comparison may only apply to the prevalent tone of the political community. What this unprecedented harmony within the Republican party may foreshadow, as to the coming contest between the two parties, we will not at this moment try to discuss.

Addicks, of Delaware, who triumphantly seated his contesting delegation, seemed to be in every way as acceptable and popular as such timehonored and distinguished members of the Republican party as Senator Allison, of Iowa, or Senator Depew, of New York. Senator Hanna, as chairman of the national committee, opened the

SENATOR HANNA, OF OHIO.

(Chairman of the Republican National Committee.) convention with a brief address which added distinctly to the new reputation he is making as an effective public speaker; and his immense prestige was as tangible a fact as the very bunting that draped the convention hall. Mr. Platt, of New York, who has not infrequently found national conventions to be places of bitter controversy, was treated by every one with marked consideration, as due to recognized authority, power, and senatorial dignity. Everybody complimented all the speeches that were made, and every one carefully avoided saying anything upon the floor or the platform of the convention that could possibly wound the feelings of any Republican who was present. Senator Wolcott, of Colorado, was temporary chairman, and Senator Lodge, of Massachusetts, was permanent chairman. It is true that both these gentlemen, in their elaborate orations-these being the two principal oratorical efforts of the conventionwere severe enough in their diatribes against "anti-imperialists." But as none of them seemed to be present, there was no evidence of any offended susceptibilities. It was reported, in the early stages of the convention, that Mr. Platt and Mr. Hanna were not in entire accord as tc

the selection of a Vice-Presidential candidate. But if any differences existed, they were held in a mildness and good-fellowship that would hardly have been found in the preliminary canvass for the vicemoderatorship of a Presbyterian General Assembly. The politeness of this convention would have done credit to the National Congress of Mothers." It is not by way of idle or trivial comment that we allude in this way to the harmony that marked the entire proceedings at Philadelphia. It is the one important thing that stands out for mention and comment, as one looks back upon the convention. When one remembers the fierce strife of nearly all preceding conventions, whether Republican or Democratic, for half a century, the good-humor and the readiness to make everything unanimous that marked this Philadelphia gathering are in such notable contrast as to merit bold record in the history of American politics.

What Is the

SENATOR PLATT, OF NEW YORK.

What was the meaning of all this True appearance of acquiescence, contentInterpretation?ment, and good will? Whatever might be said of delegations from individual States, it is certainly true that the convention as a whole was not brought into its mood of harmony through any extraneous pressure. It was not boss-ridden; it was not cowed by the so-called

money power" or the great corporate influ ences; nor was it in any sense under the pressure of the lash of President McKinley's administration. The condition to which we refer was due, undoubtedly, in the main to a clear party conscience; in other words, to a genuine convic

SENATOR LODGE, OF MASSACHUSETTS.

tion that the past four years had made history for the Republican party in a most creditable manner. The so-called Silver Republicans had either entirely left the party or else had acqui esced in the achieved policy of the gold standard. The tariff issue had lived itself down, and had for the time being disappeared as a topic of political controversy. Our national credit had been vindicated in those vast refunding operations which had placed our public debt on a far lower interest basis than that of any other country, either now or at any past time. Business prosperity had come upon the country in such volume and with such wide diffusion as at no previous time in our history. The enormous agricultural prosperity of the West had done away with the sectional feeling toward the East that was so marked and disturbing a factor only a few years ago, while the war with Spain had seemed to wipe away the last vestige of unpleasant feeling between the North and the South. Certainly there was a great deal in these circumstances, and others that might be recited, to warrant the Republicans in self-congratulation at Philadelphia.