Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/198

164 And he went to work the next day, much to the satisfaction of the manufacturer, who afterward declared that McKinley was by no means as one-sided a man as he had formerly imagined.

The young congressman's first speech was on the tariff and on protection, and it may be as well to add here that his last speeches in the hall of Congress were on the same subjects. He was a firm believer in protection to American industries, and he had no patience with anything which smacked of free trade, although he was at times willing to grant his opponents more ground than were some of his colleagues.

How eloquent McKinley could become at times is well illustrated by an anecdote told by one of the famous judges of that time. A bill was pending, and several speakers were to talk on either side before the measure was put to a vote. McKinley was put on the list as next to the last speaker on his side. When it came time for the young congressman to address his fellow-members, everybody seemed tired out and unwilling to listen to more. But as McKinley went on, one after another turned to listen