“The truth is, the party which would stand up under the odium of human slavery, opposed to the war for the preservation of the Union, to emancipation, to enfranchisement, to reconstruction and to specie resumption, is at last to be overmatched and undone by itself. It is writhing in the throes and agonies of final dissolution. No human agency can prevent its absolute overthrow at the next election, except only this Convention. If we make no mistake here, the Democratic party will go out of power on the 4th day of March, 1897 (applause), to remain out of power until God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy and goodness, shall see fit once more to chastise His people. (Loud laughter and applause.)
“So far we have not made any mistake. We have adopted a platform which, notwithstanding the scene witnessed in this hall this morning, meets the demands and expectations of the American people.
“It remains for us now, as the last crowning act of our work, to meet again that same expectation in the nomination of our candidates. What is that expectation? What is it that the people want? They want as their candidate something more than ‘a good business man’ (an allusion to Mr. Depew’s characterization of Governor Morton). They want something more than a popular leader. They want something more than a wise and patriotic statesman. They want a man who embodies in himself not only all these essential qualifications, but those, in addition, which, in the highest possible degree, typify in name, in character, in record, in ambition, in purpose, the exact opposite of all that is signified and represented by that free trade, deficit-making, bond-issuing, labor-assassinating, Democratic Administration. (Cheers.) I stand here to present to this Convention such a man. His name is William McKinley.”
At this point pandemonium was let loose, and the Convention gave up to unrestrained yelling, cheering, horn-blowing, whistling, cat-calling and all the other devices common to such occasions. A number of red, white and blue plumes, which (carefully wrapped up) had been brought into the Convention earlier in the proceedings, were uncovered and waved, while almost every delegate seemed to be wildly gesticulating with either a fan or a flag in the air. The band tried in vain to compete with the ear-splitting clamor, but at last the strains of “Marching Through Georgia” caught the ears of the crowd, and they joined in the chorus and gradually quieted down.