Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 3.djvu/263

 bereavement; notice of the death of President McKinley was officially communicated by the Secretary of State to foreign nations.

Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest man who had ever been elevated to the highest executive office of the Nation, being but forty-two years of age. All of the members of McKinley’s Cabinet were invited to remain in their positions, and President Roosevelt announced that there would be no change in the policy of the McKinley administration.

This was the third assassination of the Chief Magistrate of the Republic since Iowa became a State. In each case swift punishment overtook the perpetrators of the cowardly crime, and although the whole civilized world held the crimes in horror, the peaceful succession of the lawful successor in each case demonstrated the solidity and perpetuity of our republican government.

Albert B. Cummins and the entire Republican ticket were elected by a plurality of more than 83,000 over the Democratic candidates, in a vote of more than 390,000. The Democrats polled over 143,000 votes; the Prohibition candidate for Governor received 15,659; the Socialist 3,463, and the People’s party candidate seven hundred eighty-two.

The Twenty-ninth General Assembly convened at Des Moines on the 13th of January and Willard L. Eaton of Mitchell County was chosen Speaker. Lieutenant-Governor John Herriott presided over the Senate. In Governor Cummins inaugural address to the General Assembly were declarations which fearlessly and scathingly arraigned some of the attempts which, for years, have prevailed among a class of people who have sought by disreputable methods to control legislation in the interest of corporations. He said:

“Wealth gives to him who owns or controls it power for great good and for great evil; it gives him power to endow schools, found libraries and relieve want; but it also gives him power to seduce and coerce his