The Triumphant Life of Theodore Roosevelt edited by J. Martin Miller

314 BIOGRAPHY OF HON. CHARLES W. FAIRBANKS
nomination. As temporary chairman of tlie St. Louis
convention he made the keynote speech of the campaign,
declaring that the party was unequivocally against the free
coinage of silver. He was a prominent figure in the con-
vention and had much to do with the determination of the
party policies upon which the McKinley campaign was
fought. "Sound money and protection" were largely the
result of Senator Fairbanks' labors.
There were at that time two Democratic senators from
Indiana, and a Democrat was the chief executive of the
State. Mr. Fairbanks was the leader of the Republicans and
came back from St. Louis with a political prestige which
assisted him in securing the favor of his party for the
senatorship. It was on the wave of Republicanism which
that year tore the State out of the Democratic column that
Senator Fairbanks was carried into the Senate.
THE MARTYRED PRESIDENT'S FRIEND
As the friend of William McKinley, Mr. Fairbanks was a
big man in the Senate. The Republicans being restored to
power, and important measures pending, he took a prominent
part in the tariff and currency legislation. One of his widely
circulated speeches was on the subject of immigration, in
which he took great interest as chairman of the Immigration
Committee. In the days and months just preceding the
Spanish War nearly every twenty-four hours saw him at the
White House in consultation with President McKinley.
WISE AT A CRITICAL TIME
It would be hard to give Senator Fairbanks too much
credit for the part he took in the deliberations of the party
leaders and of the Senate in that critical period. He was