Ten years more, and the policy he had supported, defended and glorified with his genius had accomplished its work. And with the transition into another era, this great man laid down his life. There is something approaching the sacred in that view of the case which marks him as the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the prophet and the champion of “the American system.” CHAPTER XIV. McKINLEY AS GOVERNOR OF OHIO. Major McKinley’s defeat for Congress in 1890 resulted in his nomination and triumphant election as governor of the State of Ohio. The passage of the “McKinley Bill” made the major the target for the vilest abuse from the free traders of the country, and from those whose mental range would never qualify them to judge of statecraft. But at the same time it stimulated his friends in his own State, and they determined not to lose his valuable services. The Republican press of the State clamored for his election as governor, and the Republican papers of other States agreed that no more fitting reward could be bestowed on Major McKinley than to make him chief executive of his State. When the matter was broached to Major McKinley he expressed his willingness to accept the nomination for the office if it came spontaneously, but declared he would not enter into a contest for the honor. Though Ohio had numerous distinguished sons, many of whom were deserving of reward at the hands of the electors, there was really only one candidate for governor before the Republican convention, which was held in June, 1891. Major McKinley was nominated by acclamation, and he began a campaign that was typical of the man. He proposed that everybody should be informed on the economic questions of the day, and that every argument in opposition to the expediency and justice of the McKinley bill should be fairly met. With this object in view he started on a campaign of education, and during the canvass spoke in 86 out of 88 counties in the State. He made 130 speeches and won the admiration of Democrats as well as the heartiest support of his party-followers. In one of his speeches, while discussing the McKinley bill, he said: “The law of 1890 was enacted for the American people and the American home. Whatever mistakes were made in it were all made in favor of the occupations and the firesides of the American people. It didn’t take away a single day’s work from a solitary American workingman. It gave work and wages to all such as they had never had before. It did it by establishing new and great industries in this country, which increased the demand for the skill and handiwork of our laborers everywhere. It had no friends in Europe. It gave their industries no stimulus. It gave no employment to their labor at the expense of our own.