re; and, on the other hand, McKinley's frank
and sincere trust and confidence in Congress were repaid by prompt and
loyal support and cooeperation. During his entire term of office this
mutual trust and regard--so essential to the public welfare--was never
shadowed by a single cloud.

When he came to the presidency he confronted a situation of the utmost
difficulty, which might well have appalled a man of less serene and
tranquil self-confidence. There had been a state of profound commercial
and industrial depression from which his friends had said his election
would relieve the country. Our relations with the outside world left
much to be desired. The feeling between the Northern and Southern
sections of the Union was lacking in the cordiality which was necessary
to the welfare of both. Hawaii had asked for annexation and had been
rejected by the preceding administration. There was a state of things in
the Caribbean which could not permanently endure. Our neighbor's house
was on fire, and there were grave doubts as to our rights and duties in
the premises. A man either weak or rash, either irresolute or
headstrong, might have brought ruin on himself and incalculable harm to
the country.

The least desirable form of glory to a man of his habitual mood and
temper--that of successful war--was nevertheless conferred upon him by
uncontrollable events. He felt it must come; he deplored its necessity;
he strained almost to breaking his relations with his friends, in order,
first to prevent and then to postpone it to the latest possible moment.
But when the die was cast, he labored with the utmost energy and ardor,
and with an intelligence in military matters which showed how much of
the soldier still survived in the mature statesman, to push forward the
war to a decisive close. War was an anguish to him; he wanted it short
and conclusive. His merciful zeal communicated itself to his
subordinates, and the war, so long dreaded, whose consequences were so
momentous, ended in a hundred days.

Mr. McKinley was reelected by an overwhelming majority. There had been
little doubt of the result among well-informed people, but when it was
known, a profound feeling of relief and renewal of trust were evident
among the leaders of capital and industry, not only in this country, but
everywhere. They felt that the immediate future was secure, and that
trade and commerce might safely push forward in every field of effort
and enterprise.