McKinley did not publicly address events in Wilmington, but the killings had commanded the attention of one member of his cabinet. On the evening of November 10, a correspondent for the Charlotte Observer had interviewed Secretary of War Russell A. Alger as he emerged from a meeting with the president. Asked about the Wilmington killings, Alger called them “a disgrace to the State and to the Country.” McKinley was “much exercised over the startling reports” from Wilmington, the Observer correspondent reported, citing his conversation with Alger. But Alger emphasized that federal troops could
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