£&$& Cornell University Library E664.M88 T34 Testimonial to Vice-President Levi P. Mo ©vK^Si^xi' Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030912962 ^A^i/L TESTIMONIAL Dice^Iprestoent %ex>\ p, flDorton, UPON HIS RETIREMENT FROM OFFICE ON MARCH 4, 1893. PROCEEDINGS AT THE BANQUET ©iven to tbe H)ice=]pre8ioent BY THE UNITED STATES SENATORS OF THE FIFTY-SECOND CONGRESS, AT THE ARLINGTON HOTEL, IN WASHINGTON, Monday, February 27, 1893. PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION. A. Gy 3 4^ MONITOR PRESS, CONCORD, N. H. PEEFACE. The retirement from office of Vice-President Morton was the occasion of a spontaneous and universal expression of friendship from the senators over whose deliberations he had for four years presided with impartiality, grace, and dignity. On the 16th of February, 1893, a letter was ad- dressed to him, signed by all the senators, eighty-eight in number, and by the secretary and sergeant-at-arms, ten- dering to him a banquet at the Arlington hotel in Wash- ington, on the evening of Monday, February 27, 1893; — which was attended by most of the senators who had sub- scribed to the testimonial, and by ex-Senator William M. Evarts, ex-Senator Thomas W. Palmer, and a few other invited guests. The floral ornaments and other decorations of the hall and table were appropriate in design and arrangement. The sentiments proposed, and the speeches made in re- sponse, have been printed as a permanent memorial of a tribute, alike gratifying to the senators who thus mani- fested their respect and good wishes, and to the vice-pres- ident whom they delighted to honor. The banquet was attended by the following gentlemen, besides the vice-president : Senators Allison, Bate, Berry, Blackburn, Blodgett, Brice, Butler, Call, Camden, Carey, Casey, Chandler, Cock- rell, Coke, Cullom, Daniel, Davis, Dawes, Dubois, Faulk- ner, Felton, Frye, Gallinger, Gibson, Gorman, Gray, Hale, Hansbrough, Harris, Hawley, Higgins, Hill, Hiscock, Hoar, Hunton, Jones of Arkansas, Jones of Nevada, Kyle, Lind- say, McMillan, McPherson, Manderson, Mills, Mitchell, Morrill, Pasco, Peffer, Perkins, Pettigrew, Piatt, Power, Proctor, Pugh, Sawyer, Sherman, Shoup, Squire, Stewart, Stockbridge, Teller, Vance, Vest, Vilas, Warren, White, Wilson, and Wolcott ; ex-Senator Evarts, ex-Senator Thomas W. Palmer, General Russell A. Alger, Messrs. Frank Hatton, H. C. Clarke, P. V. DeGraw, B. Durfee, M. W. Blumenberg, and Secretary McCook and Sergeant- at-Arms Valentine. LETTER TENDERING TESTIMONIAL. UNITED STATES SENATE, Washington, February 16, 1893. Hon. Levi P. Mokton, Yice-President : Sir — The discharge of the important duties incident to your great office as president of the senate of the United States for the last four years, has brought us in close asso- ciation with you. Your constant fairness and signal ability have command- ed our respect and confidence, and your uniform courtesy and unvarying kindness have won our regard and personal affection. Desiring to evidence our kindly feeling towards you, we take great pleasure in tendering you a banquet at the Arlington hotel, in this city, on the 27th instant, at eight o'clock. Very sincerely your friends, Charles F. Manderson. Isham G. Harris. Frank Hiscogk. Justin S. Morrill. John Sherman. G. G. Vest. J. C. S. Blackburn. David B. Hill. M. W. Ransom. W. B. Allison. Eugene Hale. LETTER TENDERING TESTIMONIAL. Nathan F. Dixon. D. W. Voorhees. M. C. Butler. Geo. F. Hoar. F. M. Cockrell. A. P. Gorman. Wm. M. Stewart. Chas. J. Faulkner. John H. Mitchell. H. M'. Teller. Jos. R. Hawley. B. W. Perkins. Philetus Sawyer. WiLLrAM Lindsay. Geo. Gray. J. R. McPherson. James L. Pugh. Wm. P. Frye. S. M. Cijllom. M. S. Quay. Wm. E. Chandler. Jno. W. Daniel. Wm. B. Bate. James H. Kyle. O. H. Platt. W. A. Peffer. Francis B. Stockbeidge. James McMillan. Redfield Proctor. J. N. Dolph. E. C. Walthall. Leland Stanford. C. N. Felton. Geo. L. Shoup. R. F. Pettigrew. H. C. Hansbrough. J. N. Camden. LETTER TENDERING TESTIMONIAL. vii S. Pasco. Calvin S. Brice. E. D. White. Chas. H. Gibson. J. B. Gordon. Wilkinson Call. D. Caefery. Francis E. Warren. Bichard Coke. J. D. Cameron. Eppa Htjnton. T. C. Power. R. Q. Mills. Wm. F. Vilas. John M. Palmer. J. H. Berry. W. D. Washburn. Watson C. Squire. Edward O. Wolcott. H. L. Dawes. Z. B. Vance. C. K. Davis. Jno. P. Jones. Algernon S. Paddock. John T. Morgan. Joseph M. Carey. Nelson W. Aldrich. Anthony Higgins. R. Blodgett. J. H. Gallixger. James K. Jones. Fred. T. Dubois. John L. M. Irby. James F. Wilson. David Turpie. J. Z. George. Lyman R. Casey. Vlll LETTER TENDERING TESTIMONIAL. A. H. Colquitt. W. F. Sanders. John B. Allen. Anson G. McCook, Secretary U. S. Senate. E. K. Valentine, Sergeant-at-Arms, U. S. Senate. TOASTS AND KESPONSES. Senator Manderson, president pro tempore of the senate, acted as presiding officer and toast-master, and the toasts were as follows : 1. The President of the United States. Response by Hon. William M. Evarts. 2. The Vice-President of the United States, Hon. Levi P. Morton. Responses by Senator Hale and Senator Cockrell. Acknowledgment by the Vice-President. 3. The Empire State. Response by Senator Hiscock. 4. The North— " Deep in the frozen regions of the North, A Goddess violated brought thee forth, Immortal Liberty." (Ode to Independence — Smollett.) Response by Senator Davis. 5. The South— " The sweet South That breathes upon a bank of violets Stealing and giving odour.'' {Twelfth Night, Act I, So. 1.) Response by Senator Butler. G. The East— " Here lies the East : Doth not the day break here ? " (Julius Caesar, Act II, Sc. 1.) Response by Senator Hoar. X TOASTS AND BESPONSES. 7. The West— " 'T is light translateth night ; 't is inspiration Expounds experience ; 't is the west explains The east." (Bailey's Festus.) Response by Senator Teller. 8. The Business Man in Politics. Response by Senator Cullom. 9. The Incoming Administration. " Variety 's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour." (Cowper— The Task.) Response by Senator Vilas. 10. Senator Harris proposed, a toast to the health of the presiding officer, Senator Manderson, president pro tempore of the senate. Response by Senator Manderson. REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS. REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS. The Presiding Officer, Senator Mandekson. — "While the position of toast-master operates as a bar to that which smacks of speech-making, I cannot refrain from congratulating you who surround this beautiful board, that this, the first occasion of the kind in the history of the country, has met with such hearty acclaim, has induced such large attendance, and bids fair to be so successful in every respect. I now ask you to pass from labor to refreshment; and who is there at this table who does not feel that there is a season of refreshment to come to him, when he knows that we are again to hear the familiar, charming voice, and the well rounded and delightful, not to say the elongated, sentences of the genial gentleman whom we all love so much, who sits at my left? [Mr. Evarts.J [Applause.] How glad we are to have him with us again! [Applause.] The first toast of the evening is that which is always and properly the first sentiment : it is, To the President of the United States. [Applause.] It is the custom to drink to this 2 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. toast standing, and in silence. Silence, it should be said, is golden. Mr. Pugh. — Silver. The Presiding Officer. — Do not, I beg of you, say anything about silver. [Cries of " Stewart ! "] Had my brother Stewart been near me, alert to all reference to the precious metals, I might have expected this, but I did not expect it from the sen- ator from Alabama. [Laughter.] We will drink to this toast standing, and after we are seated we , will hear from Senator Evarts in response to the sentiment, " To the President of the United States." I will not go through the formality of introducing our friend. "We all know him so well and love him so dearly that when he stands we simply greet him and wait in respectful attention and delighted anti- cipation. [Applause.] RESPONSE OF HON". WILLIAM M. EVARTS. Mr. President Manderson and Senators: I im- agine that all our friends around the table will allow me, before taking up the more serious topic of my toast, to thank you one and all from the bottom of my heart for the kindness, the cordiality, and the spontaneous prompting that led to the kind invitation you sent me and that has brought me here. You may imagine that nothing, also, could be more grateful to me than the principal matter of the invitation to make a part of this noble demon- stration of interest and respect, and fondness I will say, for the retiring vice-president of the United States [applause], an honorable tribute, equally RESPONSE OP HON. WILLIAM M. EVARTS. 3 grateful to him and to you, well calculated to arouse serious reflections and sincere sentiments of affection and homage on my part to the senate and to the vice-president who wields authority over it. I thank you again for this happiness, which I could not have anticipated or even prefigured to myself. [Applause.] And now, Mr. President, you will allow me to thank you personally for having, for the first time in my experience of the senate, arranged those all- concurrent, all-preponderant, all-irresistible motives which keep every senator in his seat while I am speaking. [Laughter and applause.] It has never happened to me before [laughter] , and while, per- haps, well filled stomachs are not the best listeners or the most cheerful in applause, I give you my word I would rather make a dozen speeches to full stomachs than one to empty chairs. [Laughter.] I have had my full share of the oratory of the sen- ate to empty chairs, which your memories will teach you. I should have made a very short speech but for a kind suggestion of my neighbor, the senator from Tennessee [Mr. Harris], who, being within ear- shot, when he was told that I was to be the first speaker, and the presiding officer soothed him with the notion that I was to be confined to one sen- tence, exclaimed, " That is the end of all the other speakers!" [Laughter.] But I have a good sensible answer for the senator from Tennessee and for all of you, for there is no sounder maxim of human nature than that which we learned at school and have remembered since — Tot homines, tot sententiae 4 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. (Every man has a right to one sentence) ; and if my sentence comes first, why should I not have that which belongs to every one man? [Applause.] I congratulate yon, the presiding officer, and the senators also, upon the immense advance in parlia- mentary arrangements that is shown by this festiv- ity. I am told that the seats are now occupied to the number of eighty- eight persons, and that but very few are occupied by those who are not actively and actually in possession of seats on the floor of the senate. What can be a more wonderful, what a more use- ful, what a more promising change in the scene of the senate two years ago as I left it, and that which is presented to me when I come back after only two years of absence? [Laughter.] Law-making, wrangling, silver and gold, and all the frumpery of parties and of struggles, melt away before a parliamentary assemblage like this, and this beginning will compass the greatest benefit if it is to prevail. This great good to humanity in parliamentary law, this subversion and submersion of differences among men and among sections must be opposed, this great good must be opposed if at all at the beginning, or it will continue and spread and predominate. What man is there here now who wishes to get up on his feet at the beginning and oppose this first parliamentary session that I am now alluding to? [A pause.] I pause not for a reply : I pause — and the odds are in my favor — I pause for any one who is either able or willing to rise from his seat with an objection. The toast of the evening assigned to me may RESPONSE OF HON. WILLIAM M. EVARTS. 5 readily be treated as a formal homage to the great place and the great incumbent, or have reference to the president now to retire from it, or to the presi- dency in its great relation to the fabric of our gov- ernment and the predominance of the great powers of mind and of will lodged in one man, but there deposited by the suffrage which millions of men exert in the control of our great and always grow- ing affairs. The president retires now in the deep affliction of domestic suffering, in which all have sympathized and felt as heightened by the great- ness and glory of his station. We are to contemplate for a moment the admir- able rule of the well equipped and well trained and well tried American citizen, who, after a fit prepa- ration in peace and in war, in the discipline of the great profession to which he belongs, and in the senate of which he was an ornament, assumed his place four years ago. Whatever differences may have shown themselves of either personal or party criticism, of this or that attitude, of this or that cir- cumstance, or this or that incident in the four years, all must agree that his illustrious conduct of our af- fairs has written a famous page in the annals of our government. Of whom can it be more worthily said, Magistratus ostendit virum. Great office shows forth the man. As he retires under the blazing light of all the bending eyes that watched him when he entered upon his office, his countrymen all feel that, with his public qualities better understood and better appreciated, he is even a greater patriot and a greater man than when he entered upon it. [Ap- plause.] Nor is this a trivial circumstance to 6 THE MOJR.TON TESTIMONIAL. attend the course of a chief magistrate of a people, educated, free, and fearless as we are. Look for a moment honestly, quietly, as individ- uals, at the circumstance of a man being taken from the mass of our great population, and stand- ing for four years to be criticised, to be applauded, to be inveighed against, to be ridiculed, to be ban- tered, to be flattered in this fierce light. If under this stern ordeal it shall appear at the close that he has served the country to the highest point of ability and authority, and that the country feels that no detriment has come to the Republic dur- ing his administration, we need not restrain our applause. "With this, as I think, entirely honest and simple encomium upon the retiring president of the United States, let me say a word about the presidency and its immense importance in our scheme of govern- ment. All who have looked at our politics, what- ever they may think of the great orators, of the great editors, of the great senators, of the great popular representatives of this great people, of their impor- tance, of the interest of the whole community in them — all, I think, understand, that to the people of the United States the presidency is the favorite office. It is the one that is nearest to them, and the office to which they wish and intend to be the near- est. It is only in that abundant and collective force that the will of the people is to be demonstrated. Here and there they must enforce the change of their feeling for this or that representative, this or that senator, but the people feel when the four years come around, that is their year, that is their day, RESPONSE OE HON. WILLIAM M. EVARTS. 7 and that the stroke of their will prevails by the pre- dominance of judgment for the four years that are to continue. None can talk against it, none can feel that it is not or should not be so. For myself, I affirm and believe in the dignity and the magnitude and the value of that place in our constitution. It is by that will that this country is more held to- gether than by any other form of the will of the people or the power of suffrage. It is by the imme- diate and universal concession that the minority, however great, however near to the majority, ac- cepts the president as the chief magistrate of the whole nation and not of a majority alone. It is this which confers that all-prevalent authority by which we intend that when questions are settled by predominance in the actual, practical, and essential conduct of affairs, the people shall obey all exercise of power within the constitution and the laws, whether they like or dislike this or that measure or policy. [Applause.] If this be so, then how natural, also, in a great body of senators like this, when there comes to be an occasion, especially interesting to them to be sure, that they should exhibit the cordial, real, and spontaneous esteem towards the second officer in the administration of the government of the United States — the vice-president, and show to him and his office the same honor and homage within his sphere which we pay to the president of the United States. Now let me hope that as I cannot participate in the ordinary parliamentary sessions of the senate, I may in the future be permitted to share as now in 8 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. the great extra and superior parliamentary sessions that may be held hereafter [applause] , and let me once more thank you most heartily for the great courtesy of the senators by which I have been invited to enjoy with you this notable celebration. The Presiding Officer. — I have looked in vain through the parliamentary records and social remi- niscences of the senate to find a precedent for the event of this evening. I think that in the history of the country this is the first instance where the vice-president about to retire to private life has been thus complimented by those who have been his associates in the senate of the United States. Our tribute to the genial gentleman who has for four years presided over the senate is not an empty compliment. It is given to him out of the fulness of our affection for him. I do not know whether it shall establish a precedent for coming time; I hope that it may, for this will be a fortunate and happy country if in its future it shall find in all its vice- presidents gentlemen whom we will delight to honor as we now do the man whose health I pro- pose, The Vice-President of the United States, Honorable Levi P. Morton. [Great applause.] I ask the senator from Maine [Mr. Hale] to express more fully our feelings on this occasion. RESPONSE OP SENATOR HALE. 9 RESPONSE OE SENATOR HALE. Mr. President: This room is so large that I have never felt so far away from the majority of the senate as I do to-night, and my consolation about it is, that if I am not heard nobody will miss much. [Laughter.] A little more than ninety years ago, Aaron Burr, in the first year of his term as vice-president of the United States, and before the clouds had gath- ered about his head as they did afterwards, in one of those charming letters which have been preserved for us, and which go so far to redeem his memory from the wreck of his after years, in writing of this great office, said, — " The situation is one of great dignity. Its rank and consideration are questioned by no one; its duties are pleasant, and the association that it gives with senators is most delightful. " In the years that have passed since Colonel Burr so well sketched the scope of the vice-presidency, New York, out of ninety-one years, has filled the office for thirty-four years, and has given eight vice-presidents — Burr and Clinton, Tompkins and Van Buren, Fillmore and "Wheeler, Arthur, and now, last and best, Morton. [Applause.] I do not think, Mr. President, that, in the range of the duties and services that the vice-president engages in, as described by Mr. Burr, the Repub- lican convention in 1888, whose action was ratified afterwards by the vote of the people, could have made a more happy selection than that of our friend and presiding officer whom we meet to-night to 10 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. honor. In all of the duties which have fallen upon him, not only has he given satisfaction but the highest form of approval has followed his course. A Republican, earnest always, I venture to say there is not a Democrat at this board who will say that either in decision, or in conduct or manner, the vice-president has failed to give him fair, per- sonal consideration. [Applause.] He belongs not to either party, but to all of us. [Applause.] In the regard and respect and affection that is felt for Vice-President Morton, there is no dividing alley between the two parties. But in viewing the role that the vice-president has played so much to our satisfaction, I have always been in the habit of thinking that his chief performance is in being an audience. [Applause.] For us there is relief, but for the vice-president, with the exception of the brief time when he sum- mons some senator to the chair that he may take a hurried luncheon, there is nothing to do but to sit and take it. To how many of us has he been floor and gallery and press? [Laughter.] A friend of mine from Maine described the situation in a letter which I received from him only a day or two ago, after he had returned home from a visit in Wash- ington. I turned him loose in the gallery, and after listening for something more than an hour to an eloquent speech from the senator from Florida [Mr. Call] , he wrote to me that he considered the senate the greatest arena for oratory in all the world, for he said, " There was not a member of the audience who was below the rank of vice-president." [Laughter and applause.] When my friend from Colorado RESPONSE OF SENATOR HALE. ' 11 [Mr. Wolcott], who is enjoying my joke upon the senator from Florida, in that modest and hesitating way that characterizes his oratory [laughter] , rises in his seat to defend the administration [laughter] and the president of the United States, you, Mr. Vice-President, cannot get away. "We may go to the committee rooms and the lunch-room and out- side, or wherever we will, but you have to stay. When my friend over there [Mr. Allison], who is enjoying these jokes at the expense of other sen- ators, our great leader of appropriations, in his habitual way bulldozes the senate on appropriations, and shouts out his yea and nay on the roll-call, it is mainly done, Mr. Vice-President, for your bene- fit. [Laughter.] When my friend opposite, the senator from Missouri [Mr. Cockrell], rises in his place to aid the clerks in passing bills on the calen- dar [laughter], you must feel, Mr. Vice-President, that the close corporation that consists of you and him and the clerks, has its own way. [Laughter.] When the senator from Nevada [Mr. Stewart] makes that last, very last, speech on silver, there is nobody who follows him to the close so com- pletely and so happily as you, Mr. Vice-President. [Laughter.] When my friend from ISTew Hamp- shire [Mr. Chandler], who thinks, as I do not, that there is some fun in this, overcomes the char- acteristic reluctance he has to get on his feet, and announces to the senate that there is no branch of the government that he has not taken under his charge, you will never miss him, Mr. Vice-Presi- dent, not once. [Laughter.] Everything is for the benefit of the audience, which is made up of 12 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. the vice-president. The gentle and propitiatory remarks of my friend from Kentucky [Mr. Black- burn] , and the still, small voice of my friend from Texas [Mr. Coke], are all for your benefit, Mr. Vice-President. I do not speak without personal experience: I know how it is myself. When I have, in a nervous way, before the senate, seen the seats all rapidly emptying, and when I have hammered away about more ships for the navy, or have been smelling out a possible electric railway in the District of Col- umbia, and everybody has left, and I have heard behind me the muttered malediction of General Hawley, as he escapes to the cloak-room, then I turn with great satisfaction to your chair, and I know I have got you, and I know that in great overabundance you have got me. [Laughter.] And when, beyond all this, I reflect that the vice-president has listened to something more than four hundred and seventy-five morning prayers [laughter] and to the unpremeditated art of sev- enty odd funeral eulogies, then I feel, as I have no doubt we all feel, that the vice-president is the worst practised-upon man in the United States ; and, moreover, as my friend [Mr. Gray] says, he cannot be paired. Our presiding officer, Mr. President, carries with him the warm regard, the respect, the affection, I believe, of every senator. I think in this there is no exception. "Whatever may happen to him we shall all turn to the day of his presidency over our body with a sense of satisfaction, and of regret that we parted with him. [Applause.] In all the quali- RESPONSE OF SENATOR COCKRELL. 13 ties of a presiding officer that go to make an agree- able and an easy and smooth-running body, none can surpass him. As the years go by and as other actors come upon the scene, as we sit under others who preside, whoever they may be, we shall turn affectionately to his memory. We see that calm and stately head that never has made a mistake, and down below we know that the warm and gen- erous heart lies which ever beats responsive to the best sentiments of human nature. [Applause.] The Presiding Officer. — I do not think the bill under consideration can proceed to third read- ing and passage until we have had the report read. We all know who generally insists upon it. [Laughter.] I therefore call upon the senator from Missouri [Mr. Cockrell], who is ever alert and ready. RESPONSE OF SENATOR COCKRELL. Mr. President: In the drafting of our national constitution the office of vice-president first appears in the partial report of the committee of eleven, sub- mitted to the convention on the 4th day of Septem- ber, 1787. The third section of that draft contains these words : " The vice-president shall be ex officio president of the senate." This language led to a very animated discussion. Mr. Gerry said, — " We might as well put the president himself at the head of the legislature. The close intimacy that must subsist between the president and vice-president makes it absolutely improper." To this Mr. Morris replied, " The vice-president, then, will be the first 14 THE MOBTON TESTIMONIAL. heir-apparent that ever loved his father." We leave the facts of history to reveal which of these two predictions has proved true. In the one hundred and four years of our con- stitutional existence as a nation, we have had twen- ty-six vice-presidential terms, filled by twenty-two distinguished statesmen, whose lives form an at- tractive and unbroken chain in our nation's history and whose names will be honored and revered for generations to come. Of this number, three were elected vice-president for a second term — John Adams, George Clinton, and John C. Calhoun. Of all. those, only one failed of an election by the electoral college and was elected by the senate — Richard M. Johnson. Three became president by election — John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Van Buren. Four of them — John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, and Chester A. Arthur — became president by the death of the presi- dent. Five of these distinguished citizens — George Clinton, Elbridge Gerry, William R. King, Henry Wilson, and Thomas A. Hendricks — died while in office. Only one, John C. Calhoun, resigned his high office. Of these twenty-two vice-presidents, there is to-night surviving one, only one, our hon- ored and distinguished guest, Honorable Levi P. Morton. [Applause.] It is no disparagement of any of the twenty-one distinguished vice-presidents who have preceded our worthy guest, for us to inscribe his name in indelible letters upon the pages of our nation's history as their able, worthy, and honorable peer. [Applause.] ACKNOWLEDGMENT OP THE VICE-PRESIDENT. 15 Mr. Tice-President Morton, you were chosen by the votes of the sovereign citizens of the greatest nation in the world to preside for four years over the deliberations of the most important and distin- guished legislative assembly on earth. You have been placed in trying and critical positions; you have discharged your onerous and delicate duties ably, honestly, faithfully, and impartially. [Ap- plause.] We, the senators over whose deliberations you have so kindly and ably presided, have chosen this occasion to show to you a distinguished mark of our sincere esteem and personal friendship. When our official relations shall close at twelve o'clock meridian on March 4, 1893, and we shall separate to meet no more on earth as we meet to- night, we and each of us, irrespective of all party and political feelings, desire you to realize con- sciously, that wherever you may go or your lot be cast, our sincerest and warmest wishes will accom- pany you for the health, the long life, the happi- ness, and the prosperity of yourself, your noble wife, and your beautiful daughters. [Applause.] The Presiding- Officer. — Gentlemen, I now surrender the chair to the vice-president of the United States, and ask you with me to greet the Honorable Levi P. Morton. [Great applause.] ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT. Mr. President and Gentlemen: There are events in the life of every man that stand out with such prominence, and make such imprint upon him, that an indelible impression remains while "memory 16 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. holds its seat." This occasion, so flattering to me, the speeches so complimentary, your cordial greet- ing, and the hearty good-will expressed in such pleasing form, shall " ever live within the book and volume of my brain, unmixed with baser mat- ter." Four years ago I came, through the suffrages of the citizens of this great Republic, to the high place, the main duty of which is to preside over the delib- erative body recognized as the highest in the world, of which you, the representatives of forty- four sovereign states forming one powerful nation, are members. I brought to the position very limit- ed experience and but little knowledge of parlia- mentary law, for the lines of my life had been cast in places where such knowledge is not acquired. I felt the full force of my shortcomings, but relied with trusting confidence upon that gentle forbear- ance that has ever characterized the senate of the United States. Experience has shown that my trust had abun- dant foundation. That I have served the senate acceptably — and I am fain to believe so from the earnest recognition you have given me here and elsewhere — has been because of the generous aid and unselfish support received by me from all mem- bers of the body, without distinction of party and without bias from political affiliations. I would be lacking in the common sensibilities did I not feel overwhelmed with gratitude, and yet express, in the strongest words that my tongue, too feeble to speak the full emotions of my heart, is capable of forming, the thanks, the sincere and hearty thanks, with ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT. 17 which I acknowledge the compliment so generously paid me. I am greatly beholden, also, to the effi- cient officers and employes of the senate, who, smoothing my way, have been the guides along many a parliamentary path by me unexplored, and over many a rugged road to me unknown. The distinguished gentleman who will in a very few days succeed me has cause for congratulation, and at the end of his service will have like occasion for satisfaction, that the support and countenance ever accorded to its presiding officer by the senate will be his, rendering the performance of a grave and important duty a pleasant and attractive func- tion. It is with great pleasure that I have listened to the eloquent tribute by my long-time friend, the revered and honored ex-senator from the Empire state and ex-secretary of state, Mr. Evarts, to the president of the United States. The theme is well worthy of the rich jewels of speech that drop so bountifully from his lips, for it is in very deed the greatest position on the earth. The man who sat- isfactorily performs its duties for four years has well won a place upon fame's roll of the immortals. In a few days there will pass to private life the man who won distinction as a soldier in the period of war, and lasting renown as a civilian in time of peace. A patriotic citizen, a safe counsellor, a thorough statesman, a wise ruler, the name of Benvtamest Harrison will shine brighter with the light that comes with every passing year. But I must not detain you from the feast that I feel assured the president pro tempore has in store 18 THE M0BT0N TESTIMONIAL. for the delectation of his fellow-senators, and I end as I began, by simply saying I thank you every one. [Applause.] The Presiding Officer. — It is the most natural thing in the world that we should drink to that great state which is such an important, and is sometimes so unsatisfactory, a factor in our political fortunes or misfortunes, and I propose to you the sentiment, The Empire State. I call upon the gentleman who sits directly opposite me, Senator Hiscock, a most distinguished son of New York, to respond to this toast. RESPONSE OE SENATOR HISCOCK. Mr. President: New York is not more nearly " finished " as a state than she was a hundred years ago, when her undeveloped agricultural resources invited the immigration of the adventurous sons of Northern Europe and New England. From Europe and her sister states there has been a con- stant, continually increasing stream of immigration of their best men and women. In her broad domain are found the grown intellects of the East, the West, the North, and the South — I am speaking of our own geographical divisions — and of North- ern Europe. New Englanders, Northerners, West- erners, and Southerners, Irishmen, Englishmen, Scotchmen, Germans, Frenchmen, Norwegians, and Hebrews meet in the Empire state and contend RESPONSE OF SENATOR HISCOCK. 19 for supremacy in commerce, manufacturing, and finance, in the sciences, in literature, and in politics, and, sir, always as citizens of their adopted state and of a great nationality, of which ISTew York is so important a part. [Applause.] Cosmopolitan as her population is, it is homogeneous. The struggles and strifes there are rarely of a race or sectional character, and are productive of state growth and progress. ISTew York has drawn largely from the Old "World, and the residents of her sister states were attracted to her in their efforts to achieve for them- selves larger profits, higher advancement, and greater distinction in those ways of life they pur- posed to pursue. This was true in the early settle- ment of the state. Her forests were not invaded by traditional pot-hunters, trappers, and Indian fighters. The legends of her early settlement, now treasured, are not a story of skill with rifle or knife against animal or savage foe, but of the early trials of brave and hardy fathers and mothers, who cut away the forests and built homes for themselves, erected school-houses, academies, and churches, and created civilized society. The descendants of those early pioneers have been able to impress the spirit of their ancestors upon the new-comers, of whom it is but just to say that they were sympa- thetic rather than antagonistic. Mr. President, I have already mentioned the pursuits that invite people to New York, and the promises of reward are as unfailing a cause of state growth and greatness as her rich valleys and water- ways have been. I am led to ask, What would be the 20 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. condition of the world if the foreign population that has been domiciled in New York in a recent period — " recent " is the proper word when one is speak- ing of the growth of a state — had remained at home? To illustrate : If the immigration to New York had been as scant a stream as it has been to other states we might mention — but I am warned that the cloture you have imposed, contrary to the cus- tom of the senate, where it is the rule that the oc- cupant of the floor shall hold it as long as he has voice if any one desires to speak after him, will not permit me to discuss what the effect would have been upon Germany and Ireland, as well as upon New York, and that I must confine myself to New York and her sister states. But what would be the condition of New York and the eastern states if those distinguished gentlemen, the members of various New England societies now in New York, had remained in those favored states they so glow- ingly speak of annually? Once a year is often enough to thus tax their natures with so great and exhaustive a pleasure. To illustrate again: Im- agine that they and the distinguished gentleman whom we have with us to-night, Mr. Bvarts, had remained in Massachusetts and contributed to her state progress their great powers and resources, aiding those of her distinguished sons who did re- main at home : Massachusetts would have surely become a bright particular star in our, or some other, planetary system. Imagine that the guest of the evening, the vice-president, had remained all his life in Vermont, — and we recall the names of the great statesmen she has contributed to our RESPONSE OP SENATOR HISCOCK. 21 country: what of Vermont, if he and they had joined forces? There is a tradition that New York once claimed dominion over Vermont, but abandoned the claim, not because it was an unjust one but because it was unprofitable. If Mr. Mor- ton had remained in the state of his birth, it doubt- less would have resulted, not in the absorption of Vermont by New York, but of New York by Ver- mont, and the Empire state would now be blotted off the map of the Republic. Mr. President, I will carry the illustration to but one other group of states, the Southern states. Imagine that the Southern colony in New York had not immigrated there, to add lustre and re- nown to the state of their adoption and make their contributions to her public virtue and patriotism — we see here those who did remain at home, and if the New York colony are the equals (they are, sir) of those we meet to-night, in statesmanship, eloquence, political sagacity, and, above all, in busi- ness capacity, it is apparent that the New South would have mounted to a place in the starry heavens next to the orbit that would have been occupied by Massachusetts, provided Mr. Evarts had not abandoned her for New York. [Applause.] The Presiding Officer. — In the senate at the conclusion of morning business, the hour of two o'clock having arrived, the calendar under Rule 8 is in order. This means that no man shall speak more than once, and that he shall speak well; that one objection shall carry the bill and the speaker over, and that he shall not exceed five minutes. In 22 THE MOKTON TESTIMONIAL. the absence of objection I declare that we are pro- ceeding tinder Rule 8. The next toast I find upon the paper in front of me is, — The North — " Beep in the frozen regions of the North, A Goddess violated brought thee forth, Immortal Liberty."" I call upon the senator from Minnesota [Mr. Davis] , whom we always delight to hear, to respond. RESPONSE OE SENATOR DAVIS. I felt exceedingly complimented by the assign- ment to the duty imposed upon me, but when I came to contemplate it I found it a very difficult one. To speak in terms of laudation of a great geographical division is very difficult. I think I could, like the man whom Sydney Smith knew, speak disrespectfully of the equator. [Laughter.] I could lampoon the tropic of Capricorn, and ap- proach the North Pole with the highest irreverence. But after all, Mr. President, it was exceedingly appropriate to make the sectional divisions of our country the topics of response on an occasion which has been created to honor a guest whom every sec- tion would put forward as its conception of the highest type of the American citizen and gentle- man. [Applause.] With such a harmonious re- lationship, responses can take a range which can- not be perilous to good feeling. All men love the region from whence they come with an exaggerated affection, prompt alike of RESPONSE OP SENATOR DAVIS. 23 assertion and resentment. But here, upon this occa- sion, with such a personal element of tolerance of opinions, expression can be made without reserve. The North has existed from the earliest times as the compendious definition of' a political element. Then, as now, it was a compound body. It was founded by the Puritan, the Dutchman, the Ger- man, the Scandinavian, and the Scotch-Irish. Free- dom of person, of thought, of conscience, was com- mon to them all. Most of them were refugees from persecution, and in the early history of this country may be found the cause of many of the characteris- tics of the Northern man. These finally consoli- dated into the American of the North as he was thirty years ago. But thirty years ago is not to- day. We know well what North and South were then. What is the North of to-day? Is it the North- eastern states? Surely not. Is it the North-west- ern states? No. Do the Mountain and Pacific states compose it? Not at all. Most of these taken together are the North in a loose and indis- tinct sense. The North, however, exists. We can perceive it, but cannot, as we once could, accurate- ly define it. It is the region of great enterprise, great wealth, of marvellous progress, of strange and sudden changes of conditions, of independence of thought and action, of loose political discipline [laughter] , of sects, combinations, factions, cliques, yet all of which are merely incidentally discordant, casually warring with each other as they move along together with joint purpose and in general harmony towards the achievement of- the greatest social, 24 THE MOBTON TESTIMONIAL. political, and material results ever seen in prophet's vision or bodied forth in poet's dream. During the last thirty years immigrants from many foreign lands have swarmed into the North. They have been welcomed. They have built our railroads, worked our mines, opened hundreds of thousands of farms, subdued nature in every way; but they have profoundly changed preexisting conditions. In some states they have overbalanced the native population. The North has thus ceased to be that unit of sentiment that it was thirty years ago, though it has become unquestionably a unit of greater power. "We hear a Babel of many tongues, yet lapsing audibly into English speech. We see the confluence of many races coalescing into a new type of humanity, the ultimate American. It is thus that great nations have been made. It took centuries for the .Roman, the Scandinavian, the Saxon, and the Norman to produce the English- man. Within fifty years the North has experienced peaceful invasions, exceeding in number and power all that England underwent in twenty generations. No human foresight can adequately estimate the result. That it will be beneficial, no one can doubt. The absorption has been peaceful, and will continue to be so. It is a great process, and such operations are always attended by some disturbance of sta- bility. It is well on such occasions as this to see the fact and to speak plainly about it. The typical Ameri- can of thirty years ago, preponderates to-day with unquestioned authority south of the Potomac and the Ohio. He is beset with great problems. Many RESPONSE OF SENATOR DAVIS. 25 of us think that he has not attempted wisely to solve them. This conviction makes one of the political issues of the present day. These questions will in time be settled, and settled wisely. But, speaking from a large view of the future, and in contemplation of a greater North than that of which I have spoken, in the certainty of a perfect Union, rising far above the fleeting yet important political differences of the hour, it is there that a great American conservatism potentially exists. It will be the strangest of political paradoxes, the most beau- tiful retribution ever worked by " Time the Aven- ger," if, in the course of events — when the bitter memories and rumors of past wars will be as foreign to our existence and happiness as the dull murmurs of another world, heard faintly through space on our own — the true conservative forces shall there be found to guard and perhaps to save this nation. I have spoken of the North as limited by the assignment of topics. But what is the North after all? Let us cancel all these cardinal points of the political compass from the chart of our thoughts, and make answer to this question from the lar- gest scope of view. We have reached our limit of Southern extension. We are there in contact with another race, with Spanish-American civilization. But to the north of us is a region nearly as large as the United States. A great portion of it can sustain a teeming population. Its people and in- stitutions are homogeneous with our own. Coales- cence will be the certain result. [Applause.] Any prediction of this is not a threat. It is merely the expression of a friendly desire, a recognition 26 THE M0BT0N TESTIMONIAL. of elective tendencies towards merger that are stronger than national policies enforced by armies and navies. This will be the North, but only part of it. In a great sense the United States is the ]S"orth. To the world it is the great Northern Republic; to all the republics from our southern line to Cape Horn, it is the great Northern Republic. It is canopied by northern skies. There is not a spot in all our territory on which the North Star does not shine, not one from which the Southern Cross is visible. The great Northern Republic was the founder, by example, of the Mexican, the Central American, and the South American republics. It sustains them. Its commercial relations with them are be- coming most intimate, and in time they will nourish us. In these respects, this nation, all throughout — North, South, East, and West, — is the North, great, indivisible, unconquerable, perpetual. [Ap- plause.] The Presiding Officer. — Our next toast is, — The South — " The sweet South That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour" and on whom can I better call than on that favorite son of the South, who, while proving himself true to all her interests, is all the same a patriotic citizen of this great Republic, giving her most loyal sup- port, Senator Butler of South Carolina. RESPONSE OF SENATOR BUTLER. 27 RESPONSE OP SENATOR BUTLER. Unlike my friend who has just taken his seat after having delivered a most beautiful and finished address, I do not feel complimented by being called upon to respond to the toast which you, Mr. Presi- dent, have just aimounced; and I say this for the reason that on my right my distinguished friend, the senator from Florida [Mr. Call] , has intimated that he thought he ought to have been called upon [laughter] Mr. Call.— Oh, no! Mr. Butler. — In order that he might submit a few unfinished remarks on the subject of land grants in the state of Florida. [Laughter.] I know he will say what he said when the sena- tor from Maine [Mr. Hale] was making his obser- vations, — that he thought he ought to be allowed to do this, and I have no doubt from the murmurs on my right that he thinks so now. Mr. President, I have always entertained the kindest personal feeling for you, and until to-night had supposed that my personal relations with every member of the senate were kindly and pleasant. I was assigned this toast by the kindness of the distinguished gentleman who is acting as toast- master to-night, and I was placed at the table by the side of my distinguished friend, the senator from Minnesota, on my left, who has had three chills since he has been sitting here. [Laughter.] He has been suffering the agonies — I will not say of the damned. On his left is the senator from New York [Mr. Hiscock], who has also been 28 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. suffering, and on his left is the senator from Wis- consin [Mr. Vilas] , who is to follow me, and then there is my friend from Florida on the right. Why I should have been put in this position and ex- pected to make a speech, I cannot explain, for, as my friend General Alger will readily under- stand, a man who is going into battle does not like to be flanked on both sides by people who are demoralizing, and who will have a demoralizing effect on him. [Laughter.] Here I am, expected to make a speech under these circumstances ! I tell you frankly, Mr. President, that I came here with a very elaborate speech prepared, but when my friend from Maine went back ninety years, I believe, in our history and brought the narrative down to the present time, and my friend from Missouri went back a hundred years and brought the history down to the present time, I concluded I should abandon chronology and not attempt to give a historical narrative of the section of country from which I come. I will, therefore, Mr. President, conform, I believe, to the rule which you have laid down, that we shall be limited to five minutes, and say what I can say with absolute verity and sincerity, that all the peo- ple of my section, without regard to caste or politi- cal bias or social condition, entertain for the distin- guished guest of the evening the profoundest sen- timents of respect and regard. [Applause.] They entertain these feelings, Mr. President, because he is a just, fair, honorable man, and because he takes within the range of his action, political and per- sonal, the entire country; because, over and above RESPONSE OF SENATOR HOAR. 29 all else, he is always, under all circumstances, a gentleman. [Applause.] ISTo man is entitled to a higher encomium than this, and no man deserves it more than he. [Applause.] The Presiding Officer. — In going around the cardinal points of the compass, we naturally look to the East for the next sentiment, and I give you, — The East— '■'■Here lies the East: Doth not the day break here?" I call on Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts. RESPONSE OE SENATOR HOAR. Mr. President: Certainly there is no east wind blowing this evening to temper our greeting to Mr. Morton. In our expression of honor and good- will to him, as in our love of country, we know no North, no South, no East, no West, no lines of latitude or points of the compass. I have had some opportunity in my public life, which is not now a short one, of observing the con- duct of parliamentary bodies. Since I came here, the other house has been presided over by great parliamentary leaders, by Colfax and Blaine, Reed and Kerr, Randall and Carlisle, and the senate by Wilson, Colfax, Arthur. Edmunds, Sherman, Ingalls, and Hendricks; and yet I think every member of the senate will agree that there has been no period of four years when our business has been conducted so harmoniously, so agreeably, 30 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. without a friction or a jar, as during the period of Mr. Morton's presidency. [Applause.] I do not know exactly how he has done it. I sup- pose he had not — he says, at any rate, he had not — been called upon in his life to give any special study to parliamentary law. Whether it is because he has understood that secret, which some of us do not understand until pretty late in life, and some of us never understand — the secret of government by good nature; or whether it is because the gen- tleman in the senator has responded to the gentle- man in the chair; or whether it is because he has possessed that art which our great Massachusetts philosopher says is the only credential and passport to success — tact, which " Clinches the bargain, Sails out of the bay, Gets the vote in the senate, Spite of Webster and Clay," I will not undertake to determine or even to speculate. But we all know, and have delighted in the result, that we have certainly had four years under his administration when nothing has hap- pened in the senate which would have been out of place in a lady's drawing-room. I do not believe there has been such a period in the history of the two hundred and fifty parliaments of England or the fifty houses of congress of America. It is true that it is an era of good will. There are angry passions enough, and great political con- tests enough, and differences of opinion enough to-day, as there always will be. But I do not RESPONSE OF SENATOR. HOAR. 31 believe there has been a time since the organiza- tion of this government when there was such ab- solute harmony and good-will between parties and sections and different political opinions, as now. I remember a few years ago, when Mr. Phelps, then our minister to England, was over here, and I sat next to him at a dinner where gentlemen of different parties were gathered, that Mr. Phelps said that it was not possible to have such a dinner in England. I suppose it has been only very recent- ly that it has been possible to have such a dinner as this in the United States. Why, we are leaders of great parties with an- tagonistic opinions. "We represent them. We be- lieve in them from the bottom of our souls. It is our duty to marshal their hosts, carry their ban- ners, to represent them in the fierce conflict of de- bate. We deal with questions affecting the interests of great political parties, on which the fate of the nation and of states is dependent. Yet the men who sit about this table to-night are friends. They are friends without an exception. [Applause.] When the eulogies have been delivered in the last few years upon those of different political faith Avho have gone from us — of the generous, vigor- ous combatant, Beck; of the youthful and strenu- ous Kenna; of the varied accomplishments of Gib- son; of the matchless directing energy of Barbour; of the profound philosophic intellect, of the deep, tender, affectionate, simple heart, of the brave and chivalrous soul of Lamar; — they have come as warmly from the hearts of Republicans as from the hearts of Democrats. [Applause.] 32 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. However we may differ or however we may strive, however angrily the blood may rush to the cheeks and the fire of the heart may penetrate the brain, still American senators from every sec- tion, from every state, bred in every way of think- ing, are still, above all, American senators, and in that capacity are brethren and are friends. [Ap- plause.] jSTow, I do not pretend that I like to see an ad- ministration of my own way of thinking give way to an administration of a different way of thinking. I suppose if I were to live a thousand years the process would never be a pleasant one for me to undergo. But at the same time, I believe from the bottom of my soul that it is a healthy thing for the Republic that this thing should come to pass. I do not be- lieve that it is a good thing — important as I think are the questions about which we differ, and con- fident as I am that I and those who think with me are right, and that you and those who think with you are wrong, — I say I do not think it is a good thing for the Republic, that for more than thirty years one half of the American people should be- lieve that they are excluded from all share in the administration of the government; that one half of the American people should contemplate those things which make its glory, its history, as critics, as opponents, — as transactions in which they have no part. I believe, too, while this occasional change in administration is well for the Republic, that there never has been a better time for it to take place than the present. One thing is fortunate, and that is, that the great RESPONSE OP SENATOR HOAR. 33 political questions which are to divide this people for the next four years, are not the political ques- tions about which the political parties are divided. You can not draw a line in finance, in currency, in protection, in the construction of the supreme court, in the division between national and state powers, in foreign relations, between men of dif- ferent ways of thinMng, and find all or a very large part of one party upon one side, and the other party upon the other. And I hail that condition of things as a good omen for the Republic. We are to learn, and I hope to discharge well and faith- fully, the duties of a patriotic opposition. We purpose, those of us who think with me, to do what we can and what in us lies, as representing nearly if not quite a majority of the American people, to make it hard for you to do the things which we think are wrong, and to make it easy for you to do the things which are right. We purpose, if we can, if human nature will permit, to stand by you when you are doing, what I believe you will do in the main, what is for the honor and the glory and the welfare of the country which we all love alike. [Applause.] You are to have critics, but friendly critics; you are to have opponents, but manly opponents. However we may differ, that difference is to be slight as compared with the supreme agree- ment of men who love with a common and equal love a country which is the mother of us all and the Republic which is alike our honor, our safety, and our glory. [Applause.] Mr. President, I have nothing else to say except to utter the sentiment which I am sure rises to-night 4 34 THE MOBTON TESTIMONIAL. to every lip, — Long life and health to Mr. Morton. May his successor be like unto him, and may the senate of 1897, when he goes out of office, come together to pay him as cordial, as hearty, as affec- tionate, a tribute as we pay to Mr. Morton. [Applause.] The Presiding Officer. — Our next toast is, — The West— " Ti's light translateth night ; 'tis inspiration Expounds experience. ; '£ is the west explains The east" No man can comment better on this toast than the senator from Colorado [Mr. Teller] . i RESPONSE OF SENATOR TELLER. Mr. President: The senator from Minnesota inquired, " "Where is the North? " I may properly inquire, Where is the West? I have submitted that inquiry to some of my associates, and no one can tell me. Forty years ago, all west of the Alleghanies was the " West." Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois were "Far West." I asked the senator from Illinois [Mr. Cullom] , who sits at my right, if Illi- nois were in the West, and he said, " No ; Illinois is in the great centre." I asked the senator from Wisconsin to-day if Wisconsin were in the West, and he said, " No." It, too, was " in the centre." When I discovered that Wisconsin was represented in the senate by two "Vermont men, I made up my mind that it would hardly do to insist upon Wis- consin being in the West. RESPONSE OF SENATOR TELLER. 35 Mr. President, we of the West do not intend to be driven clear to the Pacific coast. All west of the Mississippi we will claim as ours ; that is certainly the "West. At least that you must con- cede to us, and then we will have from the head- waters of the Mississippi to the Grulf eighteen sovereign states, and with four more certainly to be added within the next two years. If the five-minute rule were not in force, I might tell you something of that great and growing country. "We who have lived in the West many years, and who have taken an active part in build- ing up these empires, are attached to the West. We love it, Mr. President, because we have helped to make it. We have seen the states grow from disorganized communities, with but little wealth and with no organized society, into great, rich, and influential states. It seems to me that it is glory enough for any man to have participated in shap- ing the laws and the character of these great com- monwealths. We in the West are sometimes charged with being boastful. We may be, when we have west of the Mississippi river three fifths of all of the terri- tory of the United States, excluding Alaska. We may boast somewhat of what we have done for commerce and trade, when in forty-four years we poured into the lap of commerce more than three thousand millions of the precious metals. We may boast somewhat, when we stand on the floor with thirty-six representatives of sovereign states. But notwithstanding we are attached to the West, not- withstanding we are sometimes boastful of our 36 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. / growth and of our future, we are not unmindful of the fact that we are a part and parcel of this great country. I believe I can say here, and my asso- ciates from that section of the country on the floor of the senate will bear me out when I say, that while we are proud of the West, we have no sec- tional animosities, no sectional partialisms, and that we have endeavored in every way in our legislation to legislate for the interests, not simply of the West, but of the whole country at large. [Ap- plause.] If sometimes we are restive under what we think is the domination of a section of the coun- try with interests somewhat different from ours, if sometimes we are impatient of control, and impa- tient of policies and principles that do not entirely meet our convictions, it is simply, not that we desire that there shall be legislation for our section of the country that is not proper for all, but because in our judgment the legislation that we endeavor to secure is the legislation that will bring prosperity to all parts of the country alike. Mr. President, the West is a theme that no man can speak of on the occasion of a banquet like this and do justice. The great commonwealths of which I have spoken, west of the Mississippi river, extending from the lake region of the north to the tropics of the south, have no interests that are not common to all the people of the United States. We have in the West, I think, as much American- ism as can be found in any other section of the country. I believe the commonwealths beyond the Mississippi are dominated and controlled by Amer- icans to a greater extent than almost any other RESPONSE OP SENATOR TELLER. 37 part of the country. The senator from New York [Mr. Hiscock] spoke of different nationalities in the state of New York. "West of that great river you have on the floor of the senate no less than eight senators born and reared in the state of New York. "We are cosmopolitan in our feelings, in all our sentiments. "Why should we not be? Of the thirty-six senators representing those states, only four of them were born within the boundaries of those states; all the rest were born east of the Lakes, or in the wonderful state of Kentucky, or in the still more wonderful state of Ohio. Now, I wish to say, leaving the West, that we of the West subscribe to everything that has been said in reference to our presiding officer. We have felt, as it has been said here, that during his whole term of service there have been ability and kindness displayed, and we part with him with regret. Although he is not of us, yet he has en- deared himself to us to such a degree that we shall never forget his service over our great body. [Applause.] We, as Western men, join you as American citizens, in wishing him all good, and endorsing all the good things that have been said of him to-night. [Applause.] The Presiding Officer. — The hour fixed for adjournment has not yet arrived, and we have some time before us until midnight. I offer you now a sentiment that I think will be agreeable to all, The Business Man in Politics. I tried to have several of those in the senate who 38 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. are business men respond to this toast, but with the wisdom that usually characterizes the business man, they preferred to select an attorney to make the argument, and they selected a good advocate in Senator Cullom of Illinois. I call upon him to reply to this sentiment. RESPONSE OE SENATOR CULLOM. Mr. President: When the presiding officer of this assembly, the president pro tempore, came and sat down by my side in the senate a day or two ago, he asked me if I were a business man. I said, !No. He followed that inquiry by another, saying, " Do you know anything about business?" I said, !N"o. Then he said, " You are just the man I am hunting for." [Laughter.] I said, Why? He said, " I want a man who will be entirely impartial to respond to the toast, 'The Business Man in Politics.'" Mr. President, politics, in its proper interpreta- tion, is the science of government. Government is a subject that has been considered and discussed by all classes of men in all the ages. The aim of government should be to secure to its citizens pro- tection in their personal, civil, and political rights, and to maintain the national security. These objects are best attained by the encouragement of individual effort, the obliteration of sectional differ- ences, the unification of interests, and the advance- ment of commerce. Power at home, respect abroad, prosperity to all classes, can come only from a homogeneous and harmonious citizenship. I shall not follow up that line of thought, further than to RESPONSE OF SENATOR CULLOM. 39 say that the United States looks for its government directly to the people; and from the body of the people men are chosen to guide its course and to shape its destiny. In this country the business man is not overlooked in the selection of public officers. The wisdom of this course has been amply proved, for none are more competent to par- ticipate in the conduct of the affairs of government than those who, waging war against contending forces, succeed in commercial enterprises and be- come recognized as leaders among men. As I stand here this evening and look around this table, I find that many of the very best members of the United States senate are from the walks of busi- ness life. I may with propriety refer to some of them for a minute. Take, for instance, my distinguished friend on my left, Senator Sawyer [applause] , who, as is well known, is interested in large business enterprises : I speak of him, because when I entered the house in 1864 I found him there, and I soon learned that if there was any one man in the house of representa- tives who could come nearer getting all the money out of the treasury for his state than anybody else, it was the representative from Wisconsin; and that power as a legislator he acquired from the well recognized fact that he never asked for a penny that was not absolutely necessary for some great public purpose in which his constituents were interested and by which the people of the entire country would be benefited. Then I may refer to another gentleman who is now at the table, the senator from Michigan [Mr. 40 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. McMillan]. We all know that he is engaged in extensive business operations; and I think I can appeal to the senator from Maryland [Mr. Gorman] and to the senator from Maine [Mr. Hale] to bear me witness that they feel almost compelled to re- main in the senate every hour of the day, lest Sena- tor McMillan, with an eye single to the advance- ment and the growth of this beautiful city, pass a bill chartering another railroad through the Dis- trict of Columbia. [Applause.] The senator from Ohio [Mr. Brice] is another business man — able, capable, carrying on vast busi- ness undertakings, and well worthy the honor of representing in part the great state of Ohio. There sits my distinguished friend Senator Gorman, a business man, vigilant, energetic, able; a brilliant success in business, politics, and statesmanship. But I will not speak further of the members of the senate. Let me refer to one or two illustrious persons, formerly occupants of senatorial seats, but now numbered among the countless dead. There was Senator Chandler of Michigan, a great busi- ness man and with it all a great senator. He made his impress upon the legislation and the character of the nation which we to-day in part represent, and his memory is an undying heritage. I may refer to another — the lamented senator from New York, Mr. Edwin D. Morgan; gentle, dignified, quiet, yet a man of great power and of great influence. I shall never forget the scene in the memorable struggle in the senate of the United States over the civil rights bill, when that distin- guished senator, true to his business training, keep- RESPONSE OF SENATOR CULLOM. 41 ing his own counsels, no one knowing how he was going to cast his vote, rose in his place, and, not- withstanding the veto of the president of the United States, voted aye in favor of the bill. The fate of the measure was dependent upon his vote, and cast in the affirmative, the bill was passed and became a law. Mr. President and gentlemen, I might allude to hundreds of the most able and distinguished men in our national history who were business men. I will mention another who has passed away. He may not perhaps have been considered a business man in the narrower sense of the word. I refer to the late James G. Blaine [applause], who was not a lawyer but a business man in the broadest sense, who, when he parted from us and passed to the other world, left a history that is the pride of the country, and the record of a career that is worthy of emulation. The senator from Massachusetts has stated prop- erly that the past four years in the senate have been characterized as a period of unusual dignity and propriety, for which much is due to the distin- guished gentleman who has presided over its delib- erations as vice-president. He was a poor boy, the son of a minister, forging his way forward as a business man until two continents have become familiar with his name and regard it to-day as the synonym of integrity and fair dealing among men in business transactions. [Applause.] Our distin- guished guest has not only achieved a name as a business man, but he was twice elected by his con- stituents a member of the house of representatives 42 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. of the national congress, once sent as a representa- tive of the government to the court of France, and finally by the votes of the people elected vice-president. It is as vice-president of the United States that we, the senators surrounding this festive board, know him better than in any other capacity. It is not necessary for me to say what has been oft re- peated, that he has brought to his support ability and a determination to always decide absolutely fairly, and that he has been uniformly courteous to all with whom he has come in contact. Mr. President, let me say a word in relation to his suc- cessor. We come from the same state. I have known Mr. Stevenson, the vice-president-elect, for very many years, and I can say to the members of the senate that I apprehend and feel sure that he, too, will bring to that chair the same courtesy, the same fairness, and the same ability that have char- acterized the term of our distinguished guest. [Ap- plause.] Our honored guest has occupied these various positions : he has shown himself able as a business man, able as a politician, and he retires from us in a few days as a most fitting representative of the business man in politics. [Applause.] The Presiding Officer. — There is an old-time saying, " "Welcome the coming, speed the going guest." That naturally leads me to propose The Incoming Administration, as the next and final sentiment: and I do not want RESPONSE OF SENATOR VILAS. 43 to be understood as referring to the complexion of the incoming cabinet when I quote as an appropri- ate saying, that " Variety 's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour." [Laughter.] I ask the senator from "Wisconsin [Mr. Yilas] to respond to that sentiment, as he is very largely responsible for the result. RESPONSE OF SENATOR VILAS. Mr. President: Our evening draws obviously to its close, and in your toast at this hour I recog- nize your respectful obeisance to fate. "We have all observed that you have come lingeringly to it, first turning to the north and then to the south, then to the east and to the west, still appealingly, but in the end you face forward and bow graciously to the inevitable. !Now at this very time, the fact which you have mentioned concerning the new administration is the most notable, the most interesting to thousands who are gathering in this city, — that it is incoming. [Laughter.] It is the transcendent thought. Va- riety, spice, flavor, life even, seem for the moment to inhere in that expectation. That certainly at this late hour of the evening ought to be enough for us, for regret or for joy, by whatever variety of opinion it may be received, without attempt of mine to spice it more by words. The theme, too, if opened up, is fruitful and suggestive, peculiarly so in a body like the senate, wherein no rule of 44 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. relevancy obtains. It is easy to begin upon it, but who can tell where it will end? As if, perchance, in some unguarded, unsophisticated moment of reckless abandon, mention slip of silver and its struggles. [Laughter.] I perceive your shudder, I feel it, and am sufficiently repressed. I know this company has not gathered to hear prophecy of the time to come, nor, by anticipation, the praises of its actors. It is not for anxious fore- cast that we for a brief moment rein in the fleeting hours, but in pleasant retrospect to pass the cup of kindness among them whom separation denounces with its pains, as it dooms every association here below. Let me, too, drop the anxious future and share with you the glowing hour. We grasp one of those happy intervals, all too rare, when the weight of care and duty that sinks the man in the senator is lifted off, and generous humanity has its way in the genial flow of feeling, the elbow-touch of fellowship, which bless life. with fragrant mem- ories and reasons why it is worth the living. In scenes like this we learn how true it is, that among those who strive in civic controversies, not less than on the tented field of arms, " The bravest are the tenderest, — The loving' are the daring." And since you give my voice a license here, I beg also with it to reecho the common senti- ment that rules us all, of respect and affection for the honored gentleman who is our special guest to-night. [Applause.] Though my time with you has been short, it has been amply long to wit- RESPONSE OP SENATOR VILAS. 45 ness in him the attributes which win them both. To have presided four years acceptably over the American senate, gaining honestly the encomiums we have heard to-night, for wisdom, impartiality, and dignity, secures his place of honor among our illustrious names. It is our right and pleasure to add for others and for later times the knowledge — which the official record saith naught concerning — of that pleasing personality which, though unex- celled in cultured urbanity, has given charm to our intercourse the more because his simple graces of demeanor have but reflected, and been sweetened by, the genuine kindness of a good heart. [Ap- plause.] We shall bid him a cheerful farewell when he withdraws to the retirement of his home, because he will go as one who in his high office has borne himself as becomes an American citizen, and who will carry out from it a greater measure of the esteem and honor of his fellow-countrymen than was shown even by his choice to enter into it; and more need no man crave. [Applause.] Mr. President, I know it will be a satisfaction to him, as it is to all of us, that in the person of his successor the people have chosen one, — as I may avouch iipon years of familiar friendship with him — who will worthily exact the consideration and the decent homage which ought ever to be won by, and so ever be rendered to, the second officer of the American Republic. More, as his friend, I will not say, except to bespeak for him also, when his official day shall be done, the abundant testimony of impartial witnesses. [Applause.] 46 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. Mr. President, others of this goodly company here present will also soon withdraw, some seeking the repose justly theirs by long and faithful service to their country; others yielding, temporarily no doubt, to the vicissitudes of political fortune which mark the freedom our countrymen enjoy. This, it may be, is the last time we shall all so meet to- gether. ]S"o shame is it, if in the parting hour the heart swell and the eye moisten among men who have carried together great trusts and duties. There will be borne from us laurels which worthily crown the long career of public usefulness ; splendid talents, worn and spent by years of anxious labors for the country's welfare; lives of unsullied integ- rity and civic lustre. There will go from us those who have the gifts of eloquence, of character and power. Others will come indeed, and the senate, in unbroken continuity, will show no outward sign of loss; as none will be seen, God grant it, to the Republic, when all now living shall have passed away. Yet none the less we shall mark their going - with the sense of personal loss, and reach out the hand of friendship with the hearty cheer of a fer- vent good-by. And now, while we yet have them with us, let us pledge them once again, in the true friendship which kindles warmer when its joys are threatened, as the fragrance of the flower is richest just ere its petals begin to fall. "Well, sir, after the calends of March shall have come, the incoming administration will come in. "Without the least warrant to represent it, I assume to accept for it, in the spirit of your courtesy, the compliment you would pay by the toast proposed RESPONSE OF SENATOR VILAS. 47 on behalf of all this senatorial company. I trust, sir, that it signifies the universal recognition of what is most surely true, that that administration will enter upon its heavy labors with a purpose as sincere, a zeal as fervent, to render them signally useful to the whole country as ever moved a patri- otic breast. It signifies also, I hope, that among all classes of political opinion will prevail a pre- dominating patriotism, which shall rather choose the beneficence to our people of the success of that administration in government than the partisan gain of its failure in any particular. It is obvious to every eye that the coming years will be beset by problems severe and exacting, the solution of which without serious injury to our affairs will be fortunate indeed; while possibilities which we are not quite willing to contemplate freely, are only too open to occurrence. These conditions ought to secure a consideration as patriotic as just, and a contribution of forbearance, not less than of assistance, on every hand. I will not, sir, presume to enter further upon the future, for it is not com- mitted to me to speak as one having authority. I shall only venture to add my expectant hope — as one who has some knowledge of the president who has been and who is to be — that the variety we shall have, and to which you have alluded in the toast, whatever may be its spice, will add far more to the bread of life for the enjoyment of our countrymen. [Applause.] 48 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. REMARKS OP SENATOR HARRIS. I assume the duties of the chair without being regularly called to them, and I do so for the pur- pose of saying that while I have participated with pleasure in doing honor to our distinguished guest, to our retiring presiding officer of the past four years, and have joined in paying fitting tribute to the North, South, East, and West, yet to the latter four propositions I did not cordially respond, for the reason that I think the time has come when we, as senators and citizens, should forget that there is a North, a South, an East, or a West. [Great applause.] We should remember that we are citizens of forty-four sovereign states, united for certain spe- cific purposes looking to the well-being and the pro- tection of all. I think it would have been more fitting to have treated that general subject as one pertaining to the forty-four states united, as we are, and ignoring sections. But I did not rise for the purpose of that suggestion alone, but for the pur- pose of saying that I detract nothing from the com- pliment that we are paying to our distinguished re- tiring vice-president when I propose, in view of the ability, the dignity, the impartiality, and the fair- ness, with which he has, when occasion required it, presided over the deliberations of our body, the health of our distinguished president pro tempore. [Applause.] [There were cries of " Manderson ! "] RESPONSE OF SENATOR MANDERSON. 49 RESPONSE OF SENATOR MANDERSON. I fear, gentlemen, that this usurpation by the sen- ator from Tennessee of the duties of the president pro tempore, is merely the establishment of a prec- edent that he proposes shall be followed very shortly by an actual fact that will not be so pleas- ant to some of us who have been complimented by him. [Laughter and applause.] I thank you very heartily for your cordial greeting and the warmth of welcome with which you have responded to this unexpected volunteer toast. When this honor of election as president pro tempore came to me nearly two years ago in such unexpected, and 1 may say undeserved, fashion, I was greatly overwhelmed and disconcerted. I felt that I was hardly competent to preside, with the dignity and ability which befits the office, over the senate of the United States during the absence of its constitutional presiding officer, and if I have suc- ceeded to your satisfaction, it has simply been be- cause of your constant forbearance and ever gen- erous courtesy. I think myself extremely fortunate that the duties that have devolved upon me have been so few, because of that unprecedented devotion to duty that has characterized the honored guest we have with us to-night. [Applause.] I can simply extend to you my thanks for your kindness and for your warmth of greeting, and as we have reached an hour past midnight I think it is time we should adjourn. I do not know that I ever heard of a senatorial glee club, and the only time I have heard senators sing was when, under the leadership 50 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. of the then Senator Palmer, Senators Edmunds and Sherman joined with that generous host in the chorus to the song, " The Son of a Gambolier." But why should we not close this friendly gather- ing about this beautiful table by having General Hawley lead for us while we sing " Should auld acquaintance be forgot"? Senator Hawley. — We will sing two verses of "Auld Lang Syne." The company rose and joined in singing "Auld Lang Syne." At the conclusion of the song the gathering dissolved. i^PPENDIX. APPENDIX. ADDITIONAL SENATORIAL TRIBUTES TO VICE- PRESIDENT MORTON. [Proceedings of the Senate, 50th Congress, 2d Session, Monday, March 4, 1889-2 At 11 o'clock and 58 minutes a. m., the Vice-President-elect of the United States, escorted by Mr. Cullom, of the Committee of Arrange- ments, entered the Senate chamber. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Vice-President-elect of the United States will come forward and receive the oath of office. Hon. Levi P. Morton, of the state of New York, the Vice-President-elect, advanced to the desk of the President pro tempore, and the oath of office was administered to him. [Proceedings of the Senate, 51st Congress, Special Session, Monday, March 4, 1889.] Hon. Levi P. Morton, Vice-President of the United States, having taken the oath of office at the close of the Fiftieth Congress, took the chair. The VICE-PRESIDENT. Senators, I shall enter upon the dis- charge of the delicate and high and important duties of the office to which I have been called by the people of the United States without experience as a presiding officer. I therefore bespeak in advance the indulgent consideration which you have always been ready to extend to the occupant of this chair. As presiding officer of the Senate, it will be my earnest desire to administer the rules of procedure with entire fairness, and to treat each Senator with the courtesy and consideration due at all times to the representatives of great states in a legislative body. I hope that our relations officially and personally will prove mutu- ally agreeable. May I add my confident hope that our duties will be discharged in a manner that will maintain the dignity of the Senate and add to the prosperity and happiness of the people of this great nation ? 5* 54 THE MOBTON TESTIMONIAL. [Proceedings of the Senate, 51st Congress, 1st Session, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 1890 THANKS TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT. Mr. HARRIS. I offer the following resolution, and ask the unani- mous consent of the Senate that it be now considered : Resolved, That the thanks of the Senate are hereby tendered to Hon. Levi P. Morton, Vice-President, for the dignified, impartial, and courteous manner with which he has presided over its deliberations during the present session. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Dolph in the chair). Is there objection to the present consideration of the resolution? The resolution was agreed to unanimously. ******** FINAL ADJOURNMENT. The hour of 6 o'clock haying arrived, The VICE-PRESIDENT. Senators, before making the announce- ment that will leave you at liberty to return to your homes, I beg to express my most grateful appreciation of the resolution of approval and confidence with which you have honored me. Assuming, as I did,, the responsibilities of the chair without previous experience as a pre- siding officer, it is not necessary for me to say that if I have discharged the delicate and important duties of the position in a satisfactory manner, it is due to the indulgent consideration and cordial coopera- tion which I have received from every Senator on this floor. I indulge in the earnest hope that I may be permitted, upon the reassembling of Congress, to see every member of this body in his seat in renewed health and strength after a season of rest from the arduous labors of this, the longest continuing session, with one excep- tion, in the history of the government. I feel that I may, with good warrant, congratulate the Senate and the country upon the large number of important measures which have received the careful con- sideration of this body and become laws. It only remains for me to declare, as I now do, that the Senate stands adjourned without day. [Proceedings of the Senate, 51st Congress, 2d Session, Wednesday, Mar. 4, 1891 .], THANKS TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT. Mr. Ransom submitted the following resolution, which was con- sidered by unanimous consent : Resolved, That the thanks of the Senate are hereby tendered to Hon. Levi P. Morton, Vice-President, for the courteous, dignified, APPENDIX. 55 and able manner with which he has presided over its deliberations during the present session. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the resolution. The resolution was agreed to unanimously. ***** * * * FINAL ADJOURNMENT. The VICE-PRESIDENT (at 12 o'clock m., Wednesday, March 4). I am admonished by yonder dial that the life of the Fifty-first Congress is ended, and that the hour of separation and farewell has again arrived. The record is made up and has gone into history. No one of us can be unmindful, as we part, of the fact that all are not with us who answered to the first roll-call of this Congress. Three members of this body, all taken from one side of this Chamber, have answered the last summons, and gone out forever from the haunts of men. They were well worthy of the love we bore them, and will be cherished in the hearts of the people as able and honorable and patriotic public servants. Without previous experience as a presiding officer, I came with dis- trust to the discharge of the duty imposed by the Constitution upon the Vice-President in his relation to the Senate, certain, only, of an unfaltering purpose to do right, and of the patience and forbearance of this great body. I acknowledge with grateful sensibility the courtesy and kindness which, even in critical and complicated situa- tions, the members of the Senate have been accustomed to accord to me, and the honor conferred by the resolution just adopted in my absence from the chair. With the earnest hope that each member of this body may be blessed in every relation of life, I now declare that, the constitutional period of the Fifty-first Congress having been com- pleted, the Senate stands adjourned without day. [Proceedings of the Senate, 52d Congress, 1st Session, Friday, August 6, 1892.] THANKS TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT. Mr. HARRIS. Mr. President, I submit a resolution for which I ask the present consideration of the Senate. The resolution was read as follows : Resolved, That the thanks of the Senate are hereby tendered to Hon. Levi P. Morton, Vice-President, for the dignified, impartial, and courteous manner with which he has presided over its deliberations during the present session. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the- resolution. The resolution was agreed to unanimously. 56 THE MOJRTON TESTIMONIAL. FINAL ADJOURNMENT. The hour of 11 o'clock having arrived, The VICE-PRESIDENT said,— Before making the announcement that will terminate the present session, the Chair desires to pay a personal tribute of respect and affection to the memory of the two distinguished members of this body who were present at the first roll- call, but have since passed from the busy walks of earth to the realities of eternal life. They will no longer occupy their accustomed places on this floor, but will long be remembered, not only in the Senate, but in other fields of human activity, as conspicuous leaders, as illustrious citizens, and as able, honorable, and patriotic public servants. It is my agreeable duty to express my most grateful appreciation of the honor conferred upon me by the resolution unanimously adopted by the Senate during my absence from the chair. If I am entitled to the highly commendatory words of the resolution, it is owing to the uniform courtesy and kindness accorded to me by every Senator on this floor. With the earnest hope that, upon the reassembling of Congress, every member of this body may be found in his seat, in renewed health and strength, I now declare that the Senate stands adjourned without day. [Proceedings of the Senate, 62d Congress, 2d Session, Friday, March 3, 1893.] PRESENTATION TO VICE-PRESIDENT. Mr. McPHERSON. I submit a resolution, and ask to have it con- sidered now. The resolution was read as follows : Resolved, That the Vice-President is hereby authorized to retain for his personal use the writing set and appendages used by him during- his term of office. Mr. McPHERSON. I ask for the immediate consideration of the resolution. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to the present consideration of the resolution ? The resolution was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to [Saturday, March 4, 1893.] THANKS TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT. Mr. HARRIS. I offer a resolution for which 1 ask present consid- eration. The resolution was read, as follows : APPEXDIX. 57 Resolved, That the thanks of the Senate are hereby tendered to Hon. Levi P. Morton, Vice-President, for the dignified, impartial, and courteous manner with which he has presided over its deliberations •during the present session. The resolution was unanimously agreed to. THANKS TO THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE. Mr. GORMAN. Mr. President, I submit a resolution which I ask may be at once considered, and I trust it will be adopted unanimously. In presenting the resolution, I desire to say that I think I voice the sentiment of every member of this body when I state that both our presiding officers, the Vice-President and the President pro tempore of the Senate, whose services are about to terminate, have the kindest wishes and the best feeling of every member of the Senate. Mr. President, during your term many important questions have been considered by this body, and at times we have had excitements growing out of political questions ; but I am happy to say that in the deliberations of the body your kindly, earnest, and fair action has endeared you to every Senator, and we all feel that no presiding officer Jias ever discharged the duties of the high office more impartially. I ask that the resolution be read. The VICE-PRESIDENT. The Senator from Maryland asks for the present consideration of a resolution, which will be read. The resolution was read and unanimously agreed to, as follows : Resolved, That the thanks of the Senate are due and are hereby tendered to Hon. Charles F. Manderson, President pro tempore of the Senate, for the uniformly able, courteous, and impartial manner in which he has presided over its deliberations. SWEARING IN OP VICE-PRESIDENT. The Vice-President-elect (Hon. Adlai E. Stevenson, of Illinois) ■entered the Chamber, accompanied by Mr. Teller, Mr. Ransom, and Mr. McPherson, members of the Committee of Arrangements for the inauguration. The VICE-PRESIDENT. Senators, the time fixed by the Consti- tution for the termination of the Fifty-second Congress has arrived, and I shall soon resign the gavel of the President of the Senate to the honored son of Illinois who has been chosen as my successor. I cannot, however, take my leave of this distinguished body without offering my most grateful acknowledgments for the honor conferred by the resolution just adopted, declaring your approval of the manner in -which I have discharged the duties of the chair, and expressing my 58 THE MORTON TESTIMONIAL. deep sense of the uniform courtesy and kindness, even in critical and complicated situations, extended to me as the presiding officer by every member of this body. If I have committed errors, you have refrained from rebuking them, and I have never appealed in vain to your sense of justice, and have ever received your support. My association with the representatives of the forty-four States of this great nation in this Chamber will be among the most cherished memories of my life, and I can express no better wish for my successor than that he may enjoy the same relations of mutual regard, and that the same courtesy and kindness that have never been limited by party lines or controlled by political affiliations, and which have so happily marked my intercourse with Senators, may be extended to him. And now. Senators and officers of the Senate, from whom I have received so many good offices in the discharge of my duties, accept a feeble expression of my grateful appreciation of your kindness, with my heartfelt wishes for your future welfare and happiness in life. The Vice-President-elect is ready to take and subscribe to the oath of office. Thereupon Mr. Stevenson took and subscribed the oath prescribed by law, and was conducted to a seat at the right of the Vice-Presi- dent. The VICE-PRESIDENT. The Chair declares the Senate adjourned ^without day.