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OF WILLIAM McKINLEY
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CHAPTER XVII
McKinley in Congress—His Kindness to a Political Opponent—The Farmer and his Creek—A Defeat almost Equal to a Victory
As a congressman William McKinley represented the state of Ohio at Washington for nearly fourteen years. This is a long period of time, and to review all the work done would be very much like reviewing all the doings of our nation for that period.
That he served so long and continuously was a constant surprise to both his friends and his enemies. Only once was he defeated when he ran for the office, and that was because the lines of his district had been changed, so that the voting was overwhelmingly in favor of the Democratic party. Yet, even then, he came close to winning and gave his opponent a good deal of a fright in consequence.
The young congressman's attention was early drawn to the tariff, as it is called,
