The Republicans made their fight on the money stringency and the tariff. When the confusion subsided and the electoral votes were counted, they gave the election to McKinley with a vote of 271; Bryan received 176. A Republican majority prevailed in both Houses of Congress, and “free silver” was thus proved not so alluring as a national measure. Where McKinley went, Mrs. McKinley usually accompanied him, and from the time he was nominated she had little peace of mind. At his home, when the news of his election was read, she was greatly distressed. “Oh, Major, they will kill you, they will kill you!” she exclaimed. He put his arm about her and turned to his guests and, smiling, remarked, “This little woman is always afraid someone is going to harm her husband.” His calm, loving touch reassured her in a measure, but some of her friends have declared that she never really knew peace of mind when he was out of her sight, for they were satisfied she had a premonition of his fate. Immediately upon his induction into office, President McKinley called an extra session of Congress to revise the tariff. The passage of the Dingley bill, levying higher taxes on some exports, bade fare to cover the revenue situation. The trouble with Spain became the centre of attention and soon reached a point where action was necessary, as the island of Cuba was in a chronic state of revolt, and rebellion had broken forth over the failure of Spain to redeem her promises of self-government. President McKinley strove to keep out of participation, but the hostility of the Spanish on the island was so intense that all his advisers urged the dispatch of a warship as a protective measure for American citizens. He demanded that: “In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American interests, which give us the right and duty to speak and to act, the war in Cuba must stop.” Endeavouring to give every opportunity to Spain in her promises of reform, the President held Congress in temporary control, while reams of diplomatic correspondence were interchanged. In the midst of these communications--characterized on the part of the President by insistence upon new conditions and on the part of Spain by plausible evasions and constant seeking for delay--the American battleship _Maine_ was blown up in Havana Harbour and 266 men were murdered. From that moment, a war with Spain was certain. The President found the country unprepared for a conflict. He temporized Congress and dallied with Spain, while the armouries worked day and night and warships were gathered in American waters from all parts of the world. Meanwhile, a month and seventeen days before war was declared, Congress placed in the hands of the President, without restriction or condition, the sum of $50,000,000. It was voted to him unanimously by both Houses, a mark of personal confidence and an evidence of the patriotic extinction of party lines in the face of a great emergency.