Fifty Years of Public Service Part 18

Senator Edmunds is still living, and he has been for many years regarded as one of the foremost lawyers of the American bar. I know that in the Senate when I entered it, he was ranked as its leading lawyer. He was chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and, with Senator Thurman, of Ohio, dominated that committee. I became very intimately acquainted with him. He was dignified in his conversation and deportment, and I never knew him to say a vicious thing in debate.

I believe I had considerable influence with Senator Edmunds. He always seemed to have a prejudice against appropriations for the Rock Island (Illinois) a.r.s.enal. He had never visited Rock Island, but he seemed to think that the money spent there was more or less wasted, and he was disposed to oppose appropriations for its maintenance. One day we were considering an appropriation bill carrying several items in favor of Rock Island, and I antic.i.p.ated Senator Edmunds' objections. Sitting beside him, I asked him not to oppose these items. I told him that I did not think he was doing right by such a course. He asked me where they were in the bill and I showed them to him without saying a word. Just before we reached them I observed him rising from his seat and leaving the chamber. He remained away until the items were pa.s.sed, then he returned, and the subject was never mentioned between us afterwards.

Senator Edmunds resigned before his last term expired. There were two reasons for his resignation, the princ.i.p.al one being the illness of his only daughter; but in addition, he had come to feel that the Senate was becoming less and less desirable each year, and began to lose interest in it. He did not like the rough-and-tumble methods of debate of a number of Western Senators who were coming to take a more prominent place in the Senate. On one occasion Senator Plumb, of Kansas, attacked Senator Edmunds most violently, and without any particular reason.

During his service in the Senate, Senator Edmunds seemed to be frequently arguing cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. His ability as a lawyer made him in constant demand in important litigation before that court. Personally, I do not approve of Senators of the United States engaging in the active practice of the law or any other business, but his practice before the Supreme Court did not cause him to neglect his Senatorial duties.

Justice Miller, one of the ablest members of the court, was talking with me one day about Senator Edmunds, and he asked me why I did not come into the Supreme Court to practise, remarking that Edmunds was there a good deal. I replied that I did not know enough law, to begin with; and in addition it did not seem to me proper for a Senator of the United States to engage in that kind of business.

Justice Miller replied that Senators did do so, and that there seemed to be no complaint about it, and he urged me to come along, saying that he would take care of me. But needless for me to say, I never appeared in any case before the Supreme Court of the United States during my service as Senator.

Senator Edmunds' colleague, Justin S. Morrill, was one of the most lovable characters I ever met. I served with him in the House.

Later he was a very prominent member of the Senate, when I entered it, and was Chairman of the Committee on Finance. He was a wonderfully capable man in legislation. He had extraordinary power in originating measures and carrying them through. He was not a lawyer, but was a man of exceptional common sense. His judgment was good on any proposition. I do not believe he had an enemy in the Senate. Every one felt kindly toward him, and for this reason it was very easy for him to secure the pa.s.sage of any bill he was interested in.

While Senator Morrill was chairman of the Committee on Finance, owing to his advanced age and the feeble condition of his health the real burden of the committee for years before his death fell on Nelson W. Aldrich, of Rhode Island. He was prominent as far back as the Forty-eighth Congress, and was a dominant unit even then. His recent retirement is newspaper history and need not be aired here.

Senator Aldrich has had a potent influence in framing all tariff and financial legislation almost from the time he entered the Senate. Personally, I have great admiration for him and for his great ability and capacity to frame legislation, and it is a matter of sincere regret with me that he has determined to retire to private life. His absence is seriously felt, especially in the Finance Committee.

The Hon. John Sherman, of Ohio, was one of the most valuable statesmen of his day and one of the ablest men. He was exceedingly industrious, and well posted on all financial questions. Toward the close of his Senatorial term, he failed rapidly, but he was just as clear on any financial question as he was at any time in his career. He was Secretary of the Treasury when in his prime, and I believe his record in the office stands second only to Hamilton's. He was of the Hamilton school of financiers, and his judgment was always reliable and trustworthy. He was a very serious man and could never see through a joke. He was one of the very best men in Ohio, and would have made a splendid President. For years he was quite ambitious to be President, and the business interests of the country seemed to be for him. His name was before the National Convention of the Republican party many times, but circ.u.mstances always intervened to prevent his nomination when it was almost within his grasp.

I have always thought that one reason was that his own State had so many ambitious men in it who sought the honor themselves, that they were never sincerely in good faith for Sherman. At least twice he went to National Conventions, apparently with his own State behind him, but he was unfortunate in the selection of his managers, and, really, when the time came to support him they seemed only too ready to sacrifice him in their own interests.

I have always regretted that he closed his career by accepting the office of Secretary of State under President McKinley. It was unfortunate for him that it was at a most trying and difficult time that he entered that department. The Spanish-American War was coming on, and there was necessity for exercising the most careful and skillful diplomacy. Senator Sherman's training and experience lay along other lines. He was not in any sense a diplomat, and his age unfitted him for the place. He retired from office very soon, and shortly thereafter pa.s.sed away. His brief service as Secretary of State will be forgotten, and he will be remembered as the great Secretary of the Treasury, and one of the most celebrated of Ohio Senators.

Senator George F. h.o.a.r, of Ma.s.sachusetts, was quite prominent at the beginning of the Forty-eighth Congress. He was jealous of New England's interests, and was always prejudiced in its favor, and in favor of New England men and men with New England ancestry, or affiliations. He opposed the Interstate Commerce Act because he thought it would injuriously affect his locality, although he knew very well it would be of inestimable benefit to the country as a whole. Senator h.o.a.r was a scholarly man. Indeed, I would say he was the most cultivated man in the Senate. He was highly educated, had travelled extensively, was a student all his life, and in debate was very fond of Latin or Greek quotations, and especially so when he wanted to make a point perfectly clear to the Senate. He opposed imperialism and the acquisition of foreign territory. He opposed the ratification of the treaty of peace with Spain. When the Philippine question was up in the Senate, I made a speech in which I compared Senator h.o.a.r with his colleague, Senator Lodge, said that Senator Lodge had no such fear as did Senator h.o.a.r on account of the acquirement of non-contiguous territory, and made the remark that Senator h.o.a.r was far behind the times. He was not present when I made the speech, but afterwards read it in the _Record_.

He came down to my seat greatly out of humor one day and stated that if three-fourths of the people of his State were not in harmony with his position he would resign.

He was one of the most kindly of men, but during this period he was so deadly in earnest in opposition to the so-called imperialism that he became very ill-natured with his Republican colleagues who differed from him. I do not know but the pa.s.sing of time has demonstrated that Senator h.o.a.r was right in his opposition to acquirement of the Philippines; but at the time it seemed that the burden was thrust upon us and we could not s.h.i.+rk it.

Senator h.o.a.r was disposed to be against the recognition of the Republic of Panama, and it has been intimated that he was of the opinion that the Roosevelt Administration had something to do with the bloodless revolution that resulted in the uniting with the United States of that part of Colombia which now forms the Ca.n.a.l Zone.

President Roosevelt entertained a very high regard for Senator h.o.a.r, and he wanted to disabuse his mind of that impression. He asked him to call at his office one morning. I was waiting to see the President and when he came in he told me that he had an engagement with Senator h.o.a.r, and asked me if I would wait until he had seen the Senator first. I promptly answered that he should see the Senator first at any rate, as he was an older man than I, and was older in the service. Senator h.o.a.r and the President entered the room together. Just as they went in, the President turned to me.

"You might as well come in at the same time," said he. I accompanied them. And this is what took place:

The President wanted the Senator to read a message which he had already prepared, in reference to Colombia's action in rejecting the treaty and the ca.n.a.l in general; which message showed very clearly that the President had never contemplated the secession of Panama, and was considering different methods in order to obtain the right of way across the Isthmus from Colombia, fully expecting to deal only with the Colombian Government on the subject. The President was sitting on the table, first at one side of Senator h.o.a.r, and then on the other, talking in his usual vigorous fas.h.i.+on, trying to get the Senator's attention to the message. Senator h.o.a.r seemed adverse to reading it, but finally sat down, and without seeming to pay any particular attention to what he was perusing, he remained for a minute or two, then arose and said: "I hope I may never live to see the day when the interests of my country are placed above its honor." He at once retired from the room without uttering another word, proceeding to the Capitol.

Later in the morning he came to me with a typewritten paper containing the conversation between the President and himself, and asked me to certify to its correctness. I took the paper and read it over, and as it seemed to be correct, as I remembered the conversation, I wrote my name on the bottom of it. I have never seen or heard of the paper since.

Senator h.o.a.r was very much interested in changing the date of the inauguration of the President of the United States. March, in Was.h.i.+ngton, is one of the very worst months of the year, and it frequently happens that the weather is so cold and stormy as to make any demonstration almost impossible. Inaugurations have cost the lives of very many men. I was looking into the subject myself, and I took occasion to write Senator h.o.a.r a letter, asking his views. He replied to me very courteously and promptly. I was so pleased with the letter that I retained it, and give it here.

"Worcester, Ma.s.s., _August 26, 1901_.

"My dear Senator:--

"I do not think the proposed change of time of inauguration can be made without change in the Const.i.tution. I prepared an article for so changing the Const.i.tution. It has pa.s.sed the Senate twice certainly, and I think three times. It was reported once or twice from the Committee on Privileges and Elections, and once from the Committee on the Judiciary. It received general favor in the Senate, and as I now remember there was no vote against it at any time. The only serious question was whether the four years should terminate on a certain Wednesday in April or should terminate as now on a fixed day of the month. The former is liable to the objection that one Presidential term should be in some cases slightly longer than another. The other is liable to the objection that if the thirtieth of April were Sunday or Sat.u.r.day or Monday, nearly all persons from a distance who come to the inauguration would have to be away from home over Sunday.

"The matter would, I think, have pa.s.sed the House, if it could have been reached for action. But it had the earnest opposition of Speaker Reed. It was, as you know, very hard to get him to approve anything that was a change.

"I have prepared an amendment to be introduced at the beginning of the next section, and have got some very carefully prepared tables from the Coast Survey, to show the exact length of an administration under the different plans. The advantage of the change seems to me very clear indeed. In the first place, you prolong the second session of Congress until the last of April; you add six or seven weeks, which are very much needed, to that session. And you can further increase that session a little by special statute, which should have Congress meet immediately after the November election, a little earlier than now. In that case, you can probably without disadvantage shorten the first session of Congress so as to get away by the middle of May or the first of June and get rid of the very disagreeable Was.h.i.+ngton heat.

"I wish you would throw your great influence, so much increased by the renewed expression of the confidence of your State, against what seems to me the most dangerous single proposition now pending before the people, a plan to elect Senators of the United States by popular vote.

"I am, with high regard, faithfully yours, "Geo. F. h.o.a.r.

"Hon. S. M. Cullom, "Chicago, Ills."

Senator Dawes, of Ma.s.sachusetts, Senator h.o.a.r's colleague, was not the cultivated man that Senator h.o.a.r was, and neither would I say he was a man of strong and independent character. He was very popular in the Senate, probably far more popular with Senators than his colleague, and it was much easier for him to pa.s.s bills in which he was interested. He was influential as a legislator and a man of great probity of character.

For some reason or other--why, I never knew--he was one of the very few Eastern Senators of my time who gave special attention to Indian affairs. He was chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs for years, and was the acknowledged authority on that subject in the Senate. When he retired he was placed at the head of the so-called Dawes Commission, having in charge the interests of the tribes of Indians in Oklahoma and the Indian territory. He was an honest man, and having inherited no fortune, he consequently retired from the Senate a poor man. The appointment was very agreeable to him on that account, but it was given to him more especially because he knew more about Indian matters than any other man.

As I have been writing these recollections of the men with whom I have been a.s.sociated in public life for the last half-century, I have had occasion to mention a number of times, Senator Orville H.

Platt, of Connecticut, who was two years older than I, and who took his seat in the Senate in 1879, serving there until his death in 1905.

We became very friendly almost immediately after I entered the Senate. One bond of friends.h.i.+p between us from the beginning was, we each had a senior colleague a celebrated General of Civil War fame--Hawley, of Connecticut and Logan, of Illinois. Senator Platt and I necessarily were compelled to take what might be termed a back seat, our colleagues being almost always in the lime-light.

As a member of the select committee on Interstate Commerce, Senator Platt rendered much valuable a.s.sistance in the investigation and in the pa.s.sage of the Act of 1887, although he was almost induced finally to oppose it on account of the anti-pooling and the long- and-short-haul sections.

He was a modest man, and it was some years before Senators that were not intimate with him really appreciated his worth. Had he not yielded to the late Senator h.o.a.r, he would have been made chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary instead of Senator h.o.a.r, a position for which there was no Senator more thoroughly qualified than Senator Platt. It seems strange that he never did succeed to an important chairmans.h.i.+p until he was made chairman of the Committee on Cuban Relations during the war with Spain, and he really made that an important committee. Not only in name but in fact was he the author of those very wise pieces of legislation known as the Platt Amendments. I was a member of the Committee on Cuban Relations, and know whereof I speak in saying that it was Senator Platt who drafted these so-called amendments and secured their pa.s.sage in the Senate. They were finally embodied in the Cuban Const.i.tution, and also in the treaty between Cuba and the United States.

After the late Senator Dawes retired, Senator Platt was an authority on all matters pertaining to Indian affairs.

As the years pa.s.sed by he became more and more influential in the Senate. Every Senator on both sides of the chamber had confidence in him and in his judgment. As an orator he was not to be compared with Senator Spooner, but he did deliver some very able speeches, especially during the debates preceding the Spanish-American War.

I have often said that Senator Platt was capable in more ways than any other man in the Senate of doing what the exigencies of the day from time to time put upon him. He was always at his post of duty, always watchful in caring for the interests of the country, always just and fair to all alike, and ever careful and conservative in determining what his duty should be in the disposition of any public question; and I regarded his judgment as a little more exactly right than that of any other Senator.

General Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut, was quite a figure in the Senate when I entered it, and was regarded as one of the leaders, especially on military matters. He was a man of fine ability and address, brave as a lion and enjoyed an enviable Civil War record.

He was president of the Centennial at Philadelphia and permanent President of the Republican Convention of 1868, which nominated General Grant. He was a very ambitious man, and wanted to be President; several times the delegation from his State presented his name to national conventions. He had no mean idea of his own merits; and his colleague, Senator Platt, told me once in a jocular way that if the Queen of England should announce her purpose of giving a banquet to one of the most distinguished citizens from each nation, and General Hawley should be invited as the most distinguished citizen of the United States, he would take it as a matter of course.

Senator F. M. c.o.c.krell and Senator George Vest represented Missouri in the United States Senate for very many years.

Senator c.o.c.krell was one of the most faithful and useful legislators I ever knew. I served with him for years on the Committee on Appropriations. That committee never had a better member. He kept close track of the business of the Senate, and when the calendar was called, no measure was pa.s.sed without his close scrutiny, especially any measure carrying an appropriation. He was a Democrat all his life, but never allowed partisans.h.i.+p to enter into his action on legislation. It was said of him that he used to make one fiery Democratic speech at each Congress, and then not think of partisans.h.i.+p again. He was not given much to talking about violating the Const.i.tution, because he knew he had been in the Confederate Army himself and that he had violated it.

One day Senator George, who was, by the way, a very able Senator from the South, was making a long const.i.tutional argument against a bill, extending over two or three days. I happened to be conversing with c.o.c.krell at the time, and he remarked: "Just listen to George talk. He don't seem to realize that for four years he was violating the Const.i.tution himself." Senator c.o.c.krell retired from the Senate in 1905, his State for the first time in its history having elected a Republican Legislature.

President Roosevelt had the very highest regard for him, and as soon as it was known he could not be re-elected, he wired Senator c.o.c.krell, tendering him a place on either the Interstate Commerce Commission or the Panama Ca.n.a.l Commission. He accepted the former, serving thereon for one term. He gave the duties of this position the same attention and study that he did when a member of the Senate.

Senator Vest was an entirely different style of man. He did not pay the close attention to the routine work of the Senate that Senator c.o.c.krell did, but he was honest and faithful to his duty, and an able man as well. He was a great orator, and I have heard him make on occasion as beautiful speeches as were ever delivered in the Senate. At the time of his death he was the last surviving member of the Confederate Senate.

He told me a rather interesting story once about how he came to quit drinking whiskey. He said he came home to Missouri after the war, found little to do, and being almost without means, took to drinking whiskey pretty hard. He awoke one night and thought he saw a cat sitting on the end of his bed. He reached down, took up his boot-jack and threw it at the cat, as he supposed. Instead, a pitcher was smashed to atoms. Needless to add there was no cat at all, which he realized, and he never took another drink of liquor.

Senator Vest was not a very old man, but he was in poor health and feeble for his years. One day he looked particularly forlorn, sitting at his desk and leaning his head on his hands. I noticed his dejected att.i.tude, and said to Senator Morrill, who was then eighty-five or eighty-six years old: "Go over and cheer up Vest."

Morrill did so in these words: "Vest, what is the matter? Cheer up! Why, you are nothing but a boy."

Senator Vest retired from the Senate, and shortly thereafter died at his home in Was.h.i.+ngton.

Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio, was another very prominent Democrat in this Congress. He was one of the leading lawyers of the Senate, ranking, probably, with Edmunds in this respect. He was chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary for a brief period, was later nominated for Vice-President of the United States, but was defeated with the rest of the Democratic ticket.

Senator Eugene Hale, who retired from the Senate on his own motion, March 4, 1911, was elected in 1881, and was always regarded as a very strong man. It was unfortunate for the Senate and country that Senator Hale determined to leave this body. He was chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and chairman of the Republican caucus, in which latter capacity I succeeded him in April, 1911.

He was for years chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs; and there is no man in the country, in my judgment, who knows more about the work and condition of the Navy and the Navy Department than does Senator Hale. Hence it has been for years past, that when legislation affecting the Navy came up to be acted upon by Congress, generally we have looked to Senator Hale to direct and influence our legislative action.