THE AMERICAN
C Voof to
VMOOM r
ERICAN.
BOO n. I. 1897.
THE AMERICAN
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Volvmb V . OMAHA. NEBRASKA, FRIDAY. APRIL 24, 1890. Nombib 17
fMM"' " 1 ' ' ' ' ' " " " " " ' " " " ----- - ----- - - -
Dispatches for and Against
the Advisory Board of
the A P. A.
Editorial Opinions Culled From
Papers In Various Parts of
the Country.
The dispatches and opinions which
fniinw in ntfrroA without anv com
ment, further than to poiLt out that
where Editor Thompson is mentioned
as a member of the National Ad vlsory
Board, Mr. H. A. Thompson of St
Louis is referred to:
Omaha, Neb., April 13. Members of
the A. P. A. in Nebraska refuse to en
dorse the alleged sentiment against
' McKinley that is claimed to have de
veloped in the organization.
Editor John Thompson, of the A. P.
A. organ here, discredits the interview
reported to have been had at Cincinnati
with Judge Stevens, and he is ably
seconded by J. H. Wlnspear, president
of the council for this division.
Tribune.
Wherever men are found who know
r ' ex Governor McKinley, or who are
well Informed as to his history and
record as a public man, the above re
sult will follow the wild talk which has
( been floating over the country for some
time. Our knowledge of Major Me
Klnlev leads us to say that we have the
utmost confidence in his patriotism and
his devotion to the highest principles
held by Our patriotic orders. If any
one knows of anything really damaging
to his standing as a patriot, let them
now declare It with proofs, else here
after forever hold their peace. The
Post of this city publishes an account of
a visit to our city by Editor Thompson,
a member of the National Advisory
Board, stating that he called a meeting
of the local order, A. P. A., and told
them that the Instructions from head
quarters were that McKinley must be
defeated. He did not get much com
fort In Cincinnati, however, the major
ity of those he saw being decided in
their preference for Wm. McKinley.
We have read of nothing and heard of
nothing against Major McKinley to
justify our advisory board in taking
,( suoh a position in opposition to him.
- We fear that our advisory board, or
' members of it, have become tools in
the hands of the unscrupulous field
which seems to be organized to defeat
McKinley at any cost. Again, we say,
11 tnose at neaaquaraers Know any wing
against him, they should give it out at
once. Cincinnati American Eagte.
Saginaw, Mich., April 18. Con
gressman W. S. Linton, who has been
urged by certain of the A. P. A. lead
ers as a possible candidate for presi
dent, is here. lie denies that he 1b or
has been a candidate and says that the
use of his name in connection with the
Republican nomination for president is
unauthorized, that it will not be pre
sented to the St. Louis convention with
his consent, and that he will not be a
candidate on an independent A. P. A.
ticket. Mr. Linton is a candidate for
renomlnation to congress from this dis
trict and is here fixing up his fences in
that direction.
Columbus, O., April 18. W. W.
Lanning declares that the chairman of
the National! AdvIsoryrBoard of the A.
P. A. made misstatement in his re
cent clrcular-lin stating that Governor
McKinleyhad turned Lanning down as
a candidate for oil inspector because of
his prominencetin the order. He says:
"I was a candidate, butnbecause of cer
tain political (-complications, I recog
nized at the time that the reappoint
ment of L. W. Buckmaster was right.
The complications'. have worked out to
my satisfaction. The statement sent
out from Boston was made without con
sultation with me."
Cincinnati, O., April 20. Judge J.
II. D. Stevens, 'chairman' of the Na
tional Advisory committee of the A. P.
A., is In Cincinnati, and It is said held
a conferencejwlthfthe Ohio members of
the organization to-day. a He has sent
the following 'statement to the United
Press:
So many canards and malicious false
hoods have beenj circulated by oppon
ents of the A. P. A. .regarding its atti
tude toward the political parties, the
candidates for the officeiof president of
the United iStates andthe plans to be
formulated atftthe respective national
conventions, that the oNational Ad
visory Board ofrthe A. P.'A., through
its executlve'and campaign committee
of the executive body, respectfully re
quests thefpress to publish in the inter
ests of fairness the following statement
of facts:
First. The'ijcontest which this or
ganization is 'making against the candi
dacy of William McKinley is not di-
If he does, the Jockey who
rectedjagalnst Mr. McKinley as a per
son, because the members of the ad
visory board have no grievance against
Mr. McKinley as a man, but fight him
and will continue to fight him at the
convention and at the polls because his
public record is not consistent with our
standard of official character, and the
basis of 'our action will be set forth in
Incontrovertible form at the proper
time; and further, regarding the vari
ous statements appearing in the news
papers fo the past week relative to the
attitude of the A. P. Al toward the
candidacy of Governor . William Mo
Kinley for the Republican nomination
at St. Louis, one of the Ohio state
officials of the order said to-d ay : "Most
of the charges in regard to Governor
McKinley's antipathy to the A. P. A.
in Ohio while he. was governor, and
his persistent disregard for, or refusal
to comply with the express desires of
the organization, are matters that are
well known and will be substantiated
by indisputable evidence in due time,
as well as the fact that he, while gov
ernor, almost invariably gave prefer
ence in his appointments to known
enemies of the order.
"The'.evidence of this is now being
quietly gathered, and while care will
be taken not to do him any injustice,
enough has been already obtained to
warrant me in saying that the evidence
will show Governor McKinley to have
in the past pursued such a course that
no members of the A. P. A. or kindred
patriotic orders can support him and
be true to their principles."
Second. That we make no fight
against any man because of his re
ligion, and it makes no difference to
what religious belief Mr. McKinley or
any other candidate holds allegiance,
and that we are not opposing Mr. Mc
Kinley in the personal interest of any
other-Candidate.
' Third. That we made every effort
consistent with our manhood and our
dignity as members of an organization
of 4,000,000 voters to reach Mr. McKin
ley, but without success. '
FourtbTThat Congressman Gros
venor's statements that he did not re
fuse to see the committee, that he did
not virtually insult the committee in
the language of his refusal to meet It,
after requests made by Sergeant-at-Arms
Russell of Missouri and Con
gressman W. S. Linton; that the state
ment to the contrary are malicious
lies, are untrue; that Congressman
Grosvenor treated the committee in
precisely the manner as described by
the committee in the statement to
which Mr. Grosvenor so abusively
makes reply.
Fifth. That all statements regard
ing Congressman Linton's withdrawal
from the presidential contest were
sent out in the interests of certain
presidential candidates; that all such
statements were unauthorized and cir
culated by the opponents of this or
ganization to defeat its aims.
Sixth. That Mr. Linton is not a
candidate for president in any sense;
that he is not making a personal effort
in such direction, nor Is he directing
WILL LINTON ENTER THE rjACE?
stands ready to leap, into the saddle has never lost a race; both Linton and the A. F. A. have the
confidence of the people.
any such movement. On the contrary,
the movement in his behalf was a spon
taneous movement, having Its birth in
the love which the organization bears
the man who has so bravely stood
squarely upon the principles of this or
ganization. Mr. Linton is one of the
acknowledged leaders of the organiza
tion and Is and will be at St. Louis our
candidate for president, and as such we
know him to be too good an American
to refuse to do what the patriotic cltl
zens of this country request of b'm,
While the movement to honor him fcld
not find, directly or Indirectly, Its in
itiative with him, yet the organization
should pay no attention to the press
dispatches denying the candidacy of
Mr. Linton, as they are sent out in the
interests of certain presidential candi
dates and to confuse the members of
the A. P. A. and to deharmonize its
actions. For this reason the campaign
and propaganda committee has em'
bodied and will embody all public
statements regarding every act of it in
the form of special circulars: all public
statements not signed by the chairman
or the members of the committee or in
the form of an interview with them the
organization should consider to be un
authorized or else made out of whole
cloth.
Seventh. That every statement that
this board and committee make re
garding the records of the various can
didates will be Issued In the form of
affidavits. J. H. D Stevens,
Chairman of the National Advisory
Committee and Chairman of the
Propaganda and Campaign Com
mittee. C. P. Johnson,
Secretary.
The St. Louis, Mo., True American
says:
It is pretty definitely settled that the
next president is to be a Republican.
Whether A. P. A.s all like to think so
or not, is not the question now to be
considered. We are dealing with what
seems to be sure to come to pass. If
the next president is to be a Republi
can, the case is somewhat simplified.
The only remaining question is: Who
shall that Republican be? This is to
be decided at the convention which
meets in St. Louis, June 16. After
that convention adjourns it will be too
late to form conclusions and to make
up our minds. No true American who
is well informed and whose patriotism
rises above partisanship, can for a mo
ment accept Mr. McKinley. Facts
have come to light which dispose of
Mr. McKinley's candidacy, so far as we
are concerned. Mr. Reed, in the Massa
chusetts platform, made a bid for the
loyal American vote. Can Reed be im
plicitly trusted? The evidence is not
conclusive on this score. Reed is yonng
and ambitious. If elected, he will see
visions of second and perhaps third
terms ahead. To reach these, his ad
ministration will be shaped. Morton,
Allison, Quay, Cullom, etc., have no
expectation or chance of success. We
want a man who has passed the frisky
period of life, yet retaining the vigor
of his manhood. We want a man
whose statesmanship and administra
tive ability have been proven. Be
cause a man has rendered some good
service in a single direction, In a minor
position, does not argue him as a safe
man for chief executive of the nation.
General Harrison has the ability, the
sound sense, the statesmanship and the
experience. He has been tried. No
other man la the White House has
ever so courageously and openly defied
the dictation and threats of Rome. He
did this la face of the more than proba
bility of hit renomlnation. Ia execu
tion of Its threat, Rome officered the
National Republican committee for the
purpose of leading him to defeat. The
lethargy of Americanism permitted
Rome to succeed, and Harrison was de
feated. In our opinion, Harrison it
the hope of patriots In 1896. It is true,
he has said he does not crave the office,
but he will not refuse to serve if his
countrymen demand his services. There
will be no third term visions. He will
have passed the age for that. His ad
ministration will be for the country's
interest, and for history.
Columbus, O., April 6, 1896 T. S.
Givan Sir: McKinley Is a Methodist,
a Mason, and belongs to the Knights of
Pythias. I was reared as a Protestant
and my family has always attended the
Presbyterian church. Respectfully,
M. A. Hanna
The Body Mountain News, of April
17, 1896, says:
If the American Protective Aseocia'
tion were anxious to assure the nomina
tion of William McKinley, it could
scarcely adopt a course better adapted
to that end than the one its advisory
board is pursuing. In both the east
and west there are many members of
the Catholic church who belong to the
Republican party, and it will not be
denied that the onslaught on McKinley
is likely to cause them to throw them
selves into the fight In his behalf with
all the vigor of which they are capable,
though they may have been quite in
different up to this time as to the choice
which the party might make from
among the numerous aspirants for
recognition at its hands. However lax
as a church member a man may be,
there ia nothing better calculated to
stir him into aggressive activity than
attacks upon the religious body to
which he owes at least nominal allegi
ance. There is no question of McKinley's
Protestantism, he being a member and
a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal
church in Canton, Ohio. No one will
question that he is a patriotic Ameri
can. His four years' service in the
army, which he entered as a private
soldier, is evidence on that score if
other testimony were lacking. No one
will deny that he is a statesman and
man of affairs of more than ordinary
ability, or that his private character is
high. All of these things being ad
mitted, it is a phase of American poli
tics worthy of consideration to observe
upon what grounds ho is rejected as
unworthy. The official statement of
the advisory board says that after
months of quiet, persistent and pains
taking investigation, it has been found
that a Catholic was given an appoint
ment in preference to a member of the
A. P. A., that one S. W. Lanning of
Franklin, Ohio, a member of the order,
was refused an appointment as district
oil inspector, and that Richard C.
Kerens of Missouri, an outspoken op
ponent of the order, and S. B. Elklns
are supporting McKinley. These are
the only instances cited. In view of
Mr. McKinley's church affiliation and
personal,. character! It is extremely
probable that the matter of religion
had nothing to do with his selection
for the two appointments. The sup
port of Kerens and Elklns is being
given to him, we presume, just as the
support of several prominent Catholics
of New York and Boston is being given
to Morton and Reed.
Were the advisory board determined
to disrupt the order and destroy its
strength, it would not act otherwise
than it Is doing. Among its member
ship are thousands of intelligent men
attracted by the declarations in its
public enunciation of principles, or
who, perhaps, have joined it without
serious thought and with no intention
of engaging in religious strife. Very
many of these will be surprised and
pained by the revelation of prescriptive
bitterness made by the advisory board
before the whole nation, demanded to
be put into operation againBt such a
man as McKinley and upon such
grounds as those alleged in the circu
lar. A pronunciamento of this charac
ter will do more injury to the order
than any assault from without, because
it will at once produce division among
its own members. This has already
become apparent in Omaha, where the
newspaper and leaders of the A. P. A.
persist in support of McKinley in spite
of the charges levelled against him by
the advisory board.
Looking at the matter from an im
partial standpoint and from the dis
tance of Colorado, the conclusion can
not be avoided that the advisory board
is standing in with the political bosses
of the far east, who give not three
straws for religion of any kind, but who
would like very well to use the order as
an engine to help their own ends and
to weaken the candidate who appears
to be stronger than the whole of them
together. It will be found, we fancy,
before the convention is over, that
Piatt, Quay and the rest of them will
be supporting Thomas B. Reed of
Maine, if they can make as satisfactory
arrangements with him as have evi
dently been made with the advisory
board. To think that those machine
manipulators have any religion in
their souls except their own success
requires an extraordinary imagination.
The members of the advisory board
seem to have driven a bargain with
them or Reed, which will be for the
personal benefit of those concerned
rather than for the good of the order
or the advancement of sny variety of
religious belief.
The Lowell, Mass., Herald, published I
the following interview with Congress
man Lin too, April IS:
Congi-emmao Lis too is rather averse
to talking about hlmsslf at present,
but he oonaentod to give his views to
the representative of the Lowell Herald,
imply initiating that he spoke as an
individual rather than as the oniclal
representative of the association. He
said, In reply to a question, that the
nomination of a preiiidentlal ticket by
the American Protective Association
was highly probable under certain con
ditions. "In what event will It bo probable?"
asked the correspondent.
"In the event that neither of the old
parties place a plank in their platforms
which menu the views of the associa
tion. It is demanded that no public
moneys shall be appropriated for sec
tarian purposes. The association de
mands, also, more rigid immigration
laws, the effect of which will be to ex
clude from our shores undesirable im
migrants from abroad. The party
which meets these demands will secure
its support without regard to the in
dividual political preferences of mem
bers." "Suppose that neither party meets
your wishes in this respect, what
then?"
"In that case, In my judgment, an
American party will be organized to
nominate a candidate for the presi
dency." "How many votes can you poll?"
"The patriotlo orders represent a
voting strength of 4,000,000, Including
A. P. A.s, the Junior Order of Ameri
can Mechanics, Patriotlo Sens of
America and kindred organizations a
very Important political factor, as you
will see, when it is remembered that at
the last presidential election the ag
gregate popular vote was only 12,
000,000." "Is the order growing?"
"It is growing very fast, everywhere.
Just at present its development is very
rapid In the south, and It is becoming
very strong In Kentucky, Tennesseo,
Arkansas, Alabama and Virginia. It
is not confined to any section. In some
localities where the organization has
effected its purpose and perhaps died
out, its Influence is still felt, and peo
ple In sympathy with its principles
continue to cast their votes along the
old lines."
"It Is charged that the A. P. A. Is a
non-Cathpllo order. Is that true?"
"The A. P. 'A. Is not a noo-Cathollo
order in so far as the religion of that
church is concerned. It opposes the
appropriation of publlo money for sec
tarian purposes, and as the Catholics
are the only church organization now
seeking those benefits they choose to
regard the order as their enemy. We
are just as strongly opposed to Protes
tant societies receiving this publlo aid
as any Catholic society, believing abso
lutely in the separation of church and
state. The Protestant churches, how
ever, have gradually ceased to secure
aid from the government to support
their schools, and I notice in the dis
patches to-day that the Methodist con
ference, which is now in session In New
York, cordially endorses the action of
the House a of few weeks ago in refus
ing to vote money for the support of In
dian sectarian schools."
Says the Denver Amcrir.an: "On the
first page of this Issue will be found
the circular Issued by the Supreme Ad
visory Board of the American Protec
tive Association. After Investigation
the board opposes McKinley as a presi
dential candidate, but expresses satis
faction with Allison, Cullom, Reed and
others, and especially with Reed. Pos
sibly some of these candidates may be
satisfactory to Protestant-Americans in
the east, but neither Allison nor Reed
will get many A. P. A. votes In the
silver states. Reed once denounced the
order, and Allison has a Romanist for
private secretary, and has had for
years. And in addition to sound Amer
icanism, the presidential candidate
who will get the A. P. A. vote or any
Other respectable vote in the silver
states this year will be a friend of the
people not a gold-bug. Republicans,
Democrats, Populists and Independents
in Colorado and the other silver states
will this year repudiate un-American
and gold-bug candidates alike Linton
or Teller or Harrison! Linton because of
all-around Americanism, Teller because
the record of his votes in the senate
establishes his great ability and loyalty
to the people, and Harrison because he
stood by T. J. Morgan when the pope
of Rome thundered at the doors of the
White House. These be good men and
true. But Allison, McKinley and Reed!
Go to! The sight of the papal tiara
would bring the trio to their kneesl
The Houtzdale, Pa., Observer. April
9, says:
We notice of late that several of our
American exchanges seem to have a
(Contained on page 5.)