CONSECUTIVE ELECTIONS TO UNITED STATES SENATE
I was twice elected Governor of Illinois, and have been elected to
the United States Senate for five consecutive terms, and as I write
this narrative I have served in the Senate more than twenty-eight
years. I consider this a greater honor than an election to the
Presidency of the United States. I owe the deepest debt of gratitude
to the people of the State of Illinois, who have for so many years
continued me in the public service. To my many friends who have
so loyally supported me during all these years, I am profoundly
grateful.
I have already referred to my first election to the United States
Senate. At the conclusion of my first term, I was, on January 22,
1889, re-elected without opposition.
The country had turned the Republican party out of power and elected
Mr. Cleveland in 1892; and for the first time since 1856, the State
of Illinois went Democratic and elected Mr. Altgeld as Governor.
I returned to Illinois, from Washington, to enter the campaign in
1894, having little or no hope that I could be re-elected to the
Senate, as I supposed, of course, that the State would continue in
the control of the Democratic party. Having been twice elected to
the United States Senate, I deemed it my duty to make the best
fight I could for Republican success, regardless of my own personal
interest in the matter. The Democrats were confident they would
carry the Legislature, and Mr. Franklin MacVeagh, who is now
Secretary of the Treasury under a Republican President, was the
candidate of the Democratic party for the Senate to succeed me.
Mr. MacVeagh made a canvass of the State as a candidate for United
States Senator against me. Very much to his surprise, the State
went overwhelmingly Republican and elected a Republican Legislature,
insuring the election of a Republican to the Senate.
While I had made the canvass of the State, it was not until after
the election, when it became known that we had elected a Republican
Legislature, that opposition to my re-election developed in the
Republican party.
Mr. George E. Adams, and Mr. George R. Davis who had served in
Congress and been Director General of the World's Columbian Exposition
at Chicago, were candidates against me. Mr. Joseph E. Medill, the
owner of _The Chicago Tribune_, also considered the question whether
he would be a candidate. He advised with the late Hon. John R.
Tanner, asking him if he thought that he (Medill) could be elected
if he could secure the solid support of the Cook County delegation.
Mr. Tanner replied that he could not, that I had a sufficient number
of votes in the country outside of Cook to defeat every candidate;
whereupon he declined to consider the possibility of election at
all.
The Hon. John R. Tanner managed my campaign. He had served in the
Legislature, where he had been a very influential member, and was
then chairman of the State Central Committee. He was popular and
possessed shrewd political sagacity. Tanner was very loyal to me
then, and for many years I considered him my closest and most
devoted political friend. I have always had the firm conviction
that if he had remained loyal and had supported me for re-election
in 1900, he would have been re-elected Governor himself, and would
have succeeded the late John M. Palmer as my colleague in the
Senate.
The Legislature met in January, 1895. I secured the caucus nomination,
and on January 22, in the joint session of the Thirty-ninth General
Assembly, I was elected the third time to succeed myself in the
United States Senate.
There were a number of very complimentary speeches made on that
occasion. My old friend, the Hon. David T. Littler, who then
represented the Springfield District in the Senate, made the first
speech. He began by saying:
"Mr. President: Twelve years ago, from my seat as a member of the
Lower House of this General Assembly, I had the honor to place in
nomination as the candidate of the Republican party for the great
office of United States Senator, the Hon. Shelby M. Cullom. I took
occasion at that time to predict that in the office to which he
had been elected he would show his usefulness and increase his
reputation not only among the people of our own State, but the
whole people of this country. After the lapse of twelve years and
with his record perfectly familiar to the people of the whole
country, I ask you Senators whether my prediction has not been
fulfilled. His name has been connected with every important measure
introduced in the United States Senate; and his discussion of
important questions there on many occasions testified as to his
patriotism and as to his ability as a statesman. I take great
pleasure on this occasion to place in nomination for that high
office the same Shelby M. Cullom who has served the people of this
State so long and so creditably. In doing so I believe I state
but the truth when I say he has the longest and most distinguished
record in public life of any man who ever lived in the State of
Illinois."
Speeches were made in the Senate by Senators Coon, Aspinwall, and
Mussett; and in the House of Representatives William J. Butler, of
Springfield, E. Callahan, George W. Miller, D. S. Berry, A. J.
Dougherty, J. E. Sharrock, and Charles E. Selby.
I was present in Springfield, and was invited before the joint
session of the General Assembly, after they had elected me, to
deliver an address. I appeared before the joint session and
expressed my obligations to the members of the Thirty-sixth General
Assembly for the high honor conferred upon me. I made a short
address, reviewing conditions in the State and the country generally,
and concluded by saying:
"The prosperity and happiness of the people depend upon wise and
just laws to be enacted both by the State and by the Nation. In
the discharge of the high duty which you have just imposed upon
me, it shall be my single aim to dy my part in so shaping the policy
of the country, that we shall soon stand upon the high ground of
permanent prosperity.
"Gentlemen, it should be our ambition so to legislate that the
freedom and rights of every citizen shall be secured and respected;
that all interests shall be protected; that one portion of our
people shall not oppress another, and so that ample remedies shall
be found and applied for every existing wrong. To this end an
enlarged humanity bids us look forward with renewed hope and trust."
My reference to the Hon. Joseph E. Medill in connection with this
contest reminds me that I should say something of Mr. Medill. I
regarded him as one of the three really great editors of his day--
Horace Greeley, Henry Watterson, and Joe Medill.
He made _The Chicago Tribune_ one of the most influential newspapers
of the United States. At time Medill and I were very friendly,
and he gave me his hearty support. At other times he was against
me, but we always remained on speaking terms at least, and I admired
and respected him very much.
He was one of the most indefatigable and inveterate letter-writers
within my experience. From the time I was Governor of Illinois,
and even before that, and almost to the time of his death, he wrote
me at great length upon every conceivable public question. His
letters were always interesting, but as he did not avail himself
of a stenographer, and as he wrote a very difficult hand to read,
they became at times a trifle tiresome. I have retained a large
number of his letters, and as they are so characteristic of the
man I venture to quote a few of them.
"The Chicago Tribune, Editorial Rooms.
"_Feb. 6, 1887_.
"Hon. S. M. Cullom,
"Dear Sir:--
"Well, he signed the bill, and it out of the woods. All right so
far. His signing it shows that he is a candidate for a second
term. That was the test. The next thing is the composition of
the Board of Commissioners. The successful working of the law
depends upon the action of the Board. There is an impression that
he will probably let you name one of the commissioners and Reagan
another. If that be so, let me suggest among other names Mr. C.
M. Wicker, manager Chicago Freight Bureau, for the position. You
probably know him. He has had large experience in freighting, and
is widely known to both shippers and railroad men, and is well
liked. He is a friend of the law, and supported it vigorously
while before Congress, writing some good letters in its explanation
and defence for _The Tribune_. He is a sound Republican though
not much of a politician. You may find other and better men to
recommend, but I don't think of any belonging to this State at this
moment. I hear Judge Cooley's name mentioned. He is of course a
first-class A No. 1 man, but I write on the hypothesis that your
preference will be for an Illinois man if you are allowed to have
a say in it.
"The passage of the bill is a great triumph for you, if the bill
works well. People always judge of measures by their effect; hence
the act should have fair play.
"Now that it is safely in the shape of a law, I thought _The Tribune_
might indulge in a little horn-blowing as per enclosed article,
"Yours truly,
"(Signed) J. Medill."
"Hotel Ponce de Leon,
"St. Augustine, Fla.,
"_March 13, 1888_.
"Hon. S. M. Cullom,
"My dear Sir:--
"I have just received your favor of 9 inst. and confess that I am
taken a little by surprise. I had got the impression from various
quarters that you did not desire to secure the Illinois delegation,
and did not want to be considered a candidate. Acting on this idea
_The Tribune_ has been leaning towards Gresham as an available
candidate, as you have noticed. However, you have lost no ground
by standing in the shade. If I was managing your boom I would keep
your name in the background and out of the newspapers as a candidate
seeking the nomination until the last. A few strong judicious
friends among the Illinois delegation is all you want to watch
events and move quickly at the opportune moment, if it arrives.
I should say that on general principles you would be the second
choice of any set of Illinois delegates and the chances are all in
the direction of some second-choice candidate. Harrison is likely
to have a pledged delegation from Indiana, but what good will it
do him? Logan had a pledged delegation from Illinois; Sherman,
from Ohio; Windom, from Minn.; and Hawley, from Conn. The convention
will be largely chiefly actuated and governed by the stability
idea. Personal friendship won't count for much in that search for
the most available candidate. This you see as clearly as I do.
Whatever Western man the New York delegates (or a majority of them)
favor will stand a good chance of getting it. It is almost impossible
to figure out a victory without the electoral vote of New York.
Indiana and Connecticut would be absolutely indispensable in the
absence of New York. But even then we have doubtful States that
voted for Blaine. Michigan, for instance, and the three Pacific
Coast States, in case any such man as Sherman, Harrison, or Hawley,
who voted against restricting Chinese immigration, should be
nominated. And then it remains to be seen what sort of action will
be had in Congress on tariff reduction. If we are obliged to go
before the people defending the present tariff, that is breeding
trust monopolies all over the country, a nomination will not be
worth having. High protection is a nice thing for those who pocket
it, but not so fascinating to the unprotected classes who have to
pay the big bounties out of their pockets sold at free trade prices.
All those things must be taken into consideration. I am about
leaving Florida for home, either via Atlantic or Washington. If
the latter, I shall see you when I get there, when we can talk over
the whole matter more fully than on paper. All I can really say
is, I am peering about in the dark for the strongest candidate,
the most available man on an available platform, and even then we
shall have desperate hard work to win in the face of the immense
losses our party is suffering from the ravages in the rank and
file, committed by the prohibitionists. We shall have to face a
loss of fifty thousand in New York. How is that to be made good?
and twenty-five to thirty thousand in Illinois and five to seven
thousand in Indiana, and thirty thousand in Michigan. How can we
stand this loss of blood and men?
"(Signed) J. Medill."
"Niagara Falls, N. Y.,
"_Aug. 5, 1888_.
"My dear Sir:--
"Searching for a cool place I found it here, where I shall remain
a few days and then proceed to Kaetershill Mountain top, which is
the best hot-weather place I found last year.
"I take it for granted that none of your friends keep you posted
about the secret negotiations going on between Palmer and the
Socialistic Labor element for a fusion. You have seen by _The
Tribune_ that all the labor element is not disposed to support
Palmer, in consideration of his pardoning the imprisoned anarchists.
You may rely on _The Tribune_ ventilating this unholy alliance.
At the same time there are ten thousand to twelve thousand of these
socialists who will vote for Palmer and the Democratic ticket in
Cook County; and this fusion may with the aid of the prohibitionists
cost the Republicans second seats in the Legislature, which is the
phase of the matter in which you are specially interested. There
is considerable coldness among the Irish Catholics toward Cleveland,
but whether it will continue until election night remains to be
seen. They think he is too pro-English, but they dislike Harrison.
Blaine was their ideal.
"I have spent a good deal of spare time to point out flaws and
tricks in the sugar and whiskey sections of the Mills bill. The
latter really opens and invites universal evasion of taxes and the
multiplication of small moonshine distilleries; and the former
perpetuates the sugar trust profits and affords the public no
relief.
"The Republican members of the House did not expose these defects
enough. Cannon did well on sugar, but nobody dissected the whiskey
section which bored gimlet holes into the bottom of every barrel
of high wine to let it out without paying a cent of tax. The
Democrats are therefore the real free whiskeyites. This ought to
be shown up thoroughly in the Senate. Our miserable platform places
us on the defensive. The Mills bill places the Democrats on the
defensive if it is rightly handled. I do not mean attacking the
free wool part of it, for that portion if enacted would do your
constituents certainly ten or twenty times more good than harm,
nor the free lumber or free salt or free soap, etc., etc., which
would benefit all Illinois; but I mean fraud free sugar, and fraud
free whiskey, and a hundred per cent tax on rice--these are the
things to hit. On these the Democrats are placed with their noses
on the grindstone.
"I have been reading the discussion in the Senate over your resolution
in regard to the competition of the Canadian railways with our
transcontinental railway freight charges. It is well enough perhaps
to inquire into the matter, but I have a notion that the sharp
competition is of great benefit to the masses. I know that I am
a little heterodox in looking at the interest of the consumers
instead of railroad plutocrats, of the millions instead of the
millionaires, but I can't help it. Senator Gorman had much to say
in his speech about the undue advantage the Canadian roads had over
ours by reason of Government subsidies received in constructing
the Canadian railways, and to a line of steamers from Victoria to
Japan and Hongkong. But his memory failed in the most astonishing
manner to recall and perceive the fact that all the American roads
west of the Mississippi to the Pacific have been enormously subsidized
by our Government. In fact the subsidies amount to a good deal
more than the actual total cost of the construction of the whole
of them. For twenty years some of these roads have been plundering
the American people by the most outrageous charges, and Congress,
the people's representatives, have not lifted a finger to stop the
rapacious robbery. And now, when the Canadian road, built by
Government subsidies, begins to compete with the American roads
built with Government subsidies, the latter who have pocketed
hundreds of millions of subsidy spoils and overcharge plunder,
appeal to the Senate to protect the scoundrels against a little
healthy competition, and Senator Gorman pleads for the robbers on
the floor of the Senate with tears in his eyes! So whatever extent
the competing Canadian roads cause our contiguous roads to lower
their freights so much the better for the public. They act just
the same as competing waterways. The Grand Trunk, beginning at
Chicago and running through Michigan to Sarma; crossing at Niagara
Falls and feeding the Lackawanna and Erie to New York; running to
Boston through Vermont, etc., and also to Montreal; and the Alden
line of steamers carrying cattle to England, as a healthy competition
with our pooling trunk lines east from Chicago, is of enormous
value to Chicago and all the shippers, cattle-dealers, grain-raises,
farmers, and merchants of half a dozen States in the Northwest.
Any interference with its competitive activity will harm millions
of Western people, tending as it will to increase cost of transportation
and re-establish trunk line pooling monopoly.
"So the competition of the Canadian transcontinental at the Red
River and at the '500' ensures cheaper freights for all Minnesota
and Dakota, and the effect extends clear down into Nebraska and
Iowa. So, too, the Canadian road's rates at its Pacific terminal
--Victoria--are exercising a most beneficent and ameliorating
influence on the charges of the enormously subsidized Northern
Pacific, forcing down to a reasonable rate Pacific Coast; and as
it climbs down from its extortionate schedule of charges the Union
and Central and Southern and Santa Fe Pacifics will be forced to
do likewise. I'd give something handsome to have had the opportunity
to reply for thirty minutes to Senator Gorman, to present the other
side of the question from the American standpoint. On one point
I am in agreement with you, viz.: that the British flag should be
removed from this continent. This territory along our northern
border should be incorporated into the American Union. It is
ridiculous that Uncle Sam should allow a foreign power to hold it.
We have as much need for it and right to it as England has for
Scotland. If we had a respectable navy and a supply of fortification
guns the problem would be easy of solution, and won't be until then.
"Each day convinces me more and stronger that if we lose this
election McKinley--will be the cause. They make the party say in
its platform 'Rather than surrender any part of our protective
system, the whiskey, tobacco, and oleomargarine excises shall be
repealed.' The Democrats are making much capital out of this.
The tax on lumber and on salt are parts of our 'protective system.'
Now the Mc. plank discloses that rather than reduce the tax on
lumber, the Rep. party will repeal the tax on oleo butter. How
many farmers' votes will that give us? Rather than allow any
lowering of the high taxes on clothes, or salt, or lumber or
crockery, etc., the tax on whiskey must be repealed, and the old
evil era of cheap rotgut and still-houses everywhere shall be
restored! Do you really think that position will make votes for
us this fall among the farmers? The final outcome will probably
turn on the character of the Senate bill, of which I am not sanguine.
About two thousand millionaires run the policies of the Rep. party
and make its tariffs. What modifications will they permit the Rep.
Senators to support? We other thirty million of Republicans will
have precious little voice in the matter. Turn this over in your
mind, and you will see that I am right. Whatever duties protect
the two thousand plutocrats is protection to American industries.
Whatever don't is free trade.
"(Signed) J. Medill."
"The Windsor, N. Y.,
"_Nov. 25, 1890_.
"Senator Cullom.
"Dear Sir:
"I did not think the blow would be a cyclone when I saw you just
before the election. I knew that a storm was coming, but did not
dream that its severity would be so dreadful.
"The thing to do this Winter is to repeal the McKinley bill, and
strengthen the reciprocity scheme by giving Blaine the sugar duties
to work on--freeing no sugar before reciprocal equivalents are
secured from respective cane-sugar tropical countries; or (2) fail
to pass the chief appropriation bills, so that an extra session of
the Dem. Congress would be called, and that party must deal with
the tariff and be responsible for their action or failure to act;
or (3) pass the apn. bills; adjourn; next year, have the Senate
defeat the Dem. tariff bill, or the President veto it, and go before
the people in 1892 on the issue of standing by the McKinley bill
till overwhelmed and wiped out in Nov. of that year, as the Whigs
were in '52 when standing by the Forsythe-Stone Law of Fillmore
and Clay.
"The last course I presume is the one that will be pursued. When
men who are statesmen of the Quay-Reid-McKinley calibre start in
wrong their pride keeps them in the same downward path till they
tumble the whole outfit into the bottomless pit.
"I do not consider a Presidential nomination for any man worth a
nickel on the issue of standing by the McKinley bill. The fate of
Gen. Scott in '52 surely awaits him.
"Either of the other mentioned courses might give our party a
fighting chance. But it won't get it, if the perverse members who
have landed us in the ditch have their way.
"Read the suggestions from the article in _The N. Y. Times_ for
Republicans.
"Yours truly,
"(Signed) J. Medill."
I was elected to the Senate, the fourth time, in January, 1901.
This time I had a very serious contest. More opposition had
developed, and there were more strong men against me, than at any
previous election. This was largely the outgrowth of the opposition
of the late Governor Tanner, who had just completed his term as
Governor of Illinois, and who had announced he would not be a
candidate for renomination, but would be a candidate to succeed
me. I believe it was mainly through the efforts of Governor Tanner
and his friends that the Hon. Robert R. Hitt, the Hon. Joseph G.
Cannon, and the Hon. George W. Prince were induced to become
candidates, in the hope of weakening me in their respective districts.
I do not believe that either Mr. Hitt or Mr. Cannon was a party to
any particular scheme to defeat me. They were candidates in good
faith, and aspired to the office of United States Senator, but
neither of them had any desire to defeat me unless he could get
the office himself.
The campaign continued for a year or more. My friends were active,
as were the friends of Governor Tanner. He had a horde of office-
holders whom he had given places while Governor, who had been more
or less actively working for him as my successor almost from the
very time that the Governor entered that office. The bitter personal
attacks made on me by the Governor and his friends did not help
him, but tended rather to help me.
The preliminary contest was in the State Convention held at Peoria
in 1900. There were a number of candidates for Governor before
that convention. The Hon. Walter Reeves, the Hon. O. H. Carter,
and Judge Elbridge Hanecy were the leading aspirants. My friends
had insisted that I should be endorsed for re-election by the State
Convention, and my friends controlled the organization of the
convention and elected the Hon. Charles G. Dawes temporary chairman
and the Hon. Joseph W. Fifer permanent chairman.
Governor Fifer has always been my friend, as I have always been
his. He was a brave, gallant soldier in the Civil War, in which
he served as a private until he was so badly wounded that his life
was despaired of. He has been forced to go through life under
exceptionally difficult circumstances, never fully recovering from
his wound. He is entitled to far more than ordinary credit for
the success which he achieved in life. He is an able lawyer, and
as State's Attorney he was one of the most vigorous of prosecutors.
He was nominated and elected Governor, and gave the State an honest
and capable administration. He was renominated, but local questions
in the State, combined with the Democratic landslide of 1892,
resulted in his defeat. President McKinley, on my recommendation,
appointed Governor Fifer a member of the Interstate Commerce
Commission, in which position he served with credit for some years.
He resigned voluntarily and returned to his home in Bloomington to
resume the practice of law. I have always liked Governor Fifer,
and consider him one of the foremost citizens of the State living
to-day.
Returning to the Peoria Convention, over which Governor Fifer
presided, I will only say that Mr. Reeves had the votes in that
convention to be nominated; but for reasons I do not have to discuss,
he did not secure the nomination, and the Hon. Richard Yates became
the nominee. I was endorsed by the convention as the candidate of
the Republican party to succeed myself as United States Senator.
The opposition to me in the convention was by Governor Tanner and
his friends, he being the only avowed candidate against me. I
thought that the endorsement of that convention should have settled
the matter; but the contest went on, and Messrs. Hitt, Cannon, and
Prince entered it actively. Several others were standing around
waiting for a chance, and this continued to be the situation until
the Legislature met in January. A sufficient number of the members
of the Legislature to elect me had pledged themselves in writing
to stand by me as long as I was a candidate. The other candidates,
probably aside from Governor Tanner, did not believe I had these
written pledges. I told them so, but they did not believe me.
Governor Tanner and his friends realized that I would have a majority
of the caucus, and they then began scheming for the purpose of
having a secret ballot in the caucus, hoping that if certain members
who had been pledged to me would not have to vote openly, they
would go back on the pledges and vote secretly for one of the other
candidates, thus defeating me. I had enough votes to defeat the
secret ballot proposition, as many of the supporters of Tanner were
really in favor of my re-election. Hon. Fred A. Busse, one of the
most influential members of the State Senate at that time, and more
recently Mayor of Chicago--one of the best the city ever had--and
who has long been my personal friend, was pledged to vote for the
Governor, but at heart was strongly for me. With many others,
Busse would not consent to a secret caucus, and this really ended
the contest. Tanner, after trying to induce the other candidates
to unite on him, or on some one else to defeat me (which proposition
Mr. Cannon and Mr. Hitt rejected), announced that he would withdraw.
Friends of the Governor in the Legislature came to me and announced
that Tanner had quit the race, and later Mr. Cannon and Mr. Hitt
came to my room and announced their withdrawal.
This ended the contest; my name was the only one presented to the
caucus, and I was the only Republican voted for in the joint session
of the Legislature. It was an interesting fight, and as it may
well be supposed, the result was very satisfactory to my friends
and to me.
When I returned to Washington after having been re-elected, I was
warmly greeted by my colleagues in the Senate who had been watching
the contest; and I recollect that Senator Hanna was particularly
warm in his congratulations, and remarked that it was the prettiest
political fight he had witnessed in a long time.
I want to say something in reference to the Hon. Joseph G. Cannon,
who was a candidate against me at this time, and who is now, as he
has been for years past, the leading member of the Illinois
delegation.
I regard him as my personal friend, and was very glad indeed to
support his candidacy for the Presidency in 1908, I being chairman
of the Illinois delegation to the Chicago convention that year.
At the time he entered the contest against me, he had long been
one of the leaders of the House of Representatives in Congress.
After refusing to enter the scheme of Governor Tanner to defeat
me, as I have stated, he retired from the contest, was soon re-
elected to Congress, and almost immediately elected as Speaker, in
which position he continued for a larger number of consecutive
terms than any statesman in our history. He is a strong, courageous
man, and a man of splendid ability. He had rather a stormy career
as Speaker, but he controlled the situation all the time. During
his last term as Speaker he might have gotten along with the House
a little more smoothly, and at the same time just as satisfactorily
to himself, if he had yielded a little to his colleagues in his
party who differed from him. If he had been disposed to do so,
much friction could have been avoided, and at the same time he
would have had his own way in caring for the interests of the
country. I have believed in him and have stood by him through
thick and thin, and I know he has done nothing but what he himself
believed right.
Joseph G. Cannon has his own notions of what is right and what is
wrong, and fearlessly follows what he thinks is right, without
reference to what anybody else may think or say. The apparently
determined effort on the part of the masses of the people, and
especially the newspapers, to discredit the Payne-Aldrich Tariff
Bill resulted in the Democrats carrying the House in the campaign
of 1910 with the result that in the Sixty-second Congress the
Democratic party has a substantial majority, causing the retirement
of Mr. Cannon from the Speakership.
For a time Mr. Cannon was apparently very unpopular and the people
seemed disposed to hold him responsible for much they did not
approve of in legislation; but his feeling is passing away, and
Mr. Cannon will be regarded as an able legislator, an able Speaker,
a man who has during his service in Congress saved the Government
untold millions. His honesty and devotion to duty cannot be doubted,
and he will go down in history as one of the foremost leaders in
Congress of his day, when those who are now criticising him are
forgotten.
On January 16, 1907, I was by the Forty-fifth General Assembly
elected for the fifth time as United States Senator from the State
of Illinois. This was an entirely different contest from any
previous one I had ever had, as the State had enacted a primary
law which contained a proviso that the names of candidates for
United States Senator could be placed on the ballot and voted for
at the primaries, but that such vote was advisory merely. This is
as far as the primary law can go on the question of the election
of United States Senators. I had not the slightest objection to
having my name go before the people, the individual voters, as a
candidate for the Senate. The first primary law was declared
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the State, and as soon as
I heard the decision I promptly wired the Governor, commending him
for his announcement that he would call a special session of the
Legislature to enact a new primary law, and I took occasion to add
that I hoped by friends would work with him in the passage of the
law, and that it would provide for a vote on United States Senator.
The Legislature did enact a new law, providing that the primaries
be held in August, 1906. Former Governor Richard Yates was the
only candidate against me. He made a canvass of the State, and a
very thorough one. He had a considerable advantage in that he had
almost all the politicians in the State who were holding State
offices actively working for him. I made no canvass and personally
did very little about it at all. I was willing to leave the matter
to the people, and determined, if it was a fair vote, to abide by
the result of the primaries, and if defeated at the primaries to
support Governor Yates. I believe that Governor Yates had the same
determination,--at least his conduct after the primaries, in
withdrawing from the contest, would indicate that he had. I am
glad to be able to say that throughout the contest and at its close,
he acted very fairly. He made a straight, fair fight, and lost,
then abided by the result, just as I would have done had I lost.
My friends in different parts of the State took an active interest
in my behalf, for which I want to avail myself of this opportunity
to express to them my appreciation. I might add here that all
during my public career it has been my good fortune to have the
support and friendship of a very high class of men, men whose honor
and integrity were beyond question, and who were capable of filling
any office. I cannot undertake to name them, but I know that they
will understand the deep debt of gratitude that I owe to them.
It was very flattering to me that I carried the primaries by a
substantial majority, having carried the popular vote, a majority
of the Senatorial districts, and a majority of the Congressional
districts. It demonstrated to me that the people had confidence
in me and were satisfied with my record as a Senator. It was the
first time that I had been voted for directly by the people for
any office since my re-election as Governor in 1880. The result
could not but be gratifying.
Every one in the State accepted the result of the primaries, and
the question was regarded as settled. When the Legislature convened,
I was the unanimous choice of the Republican caucus and was voted
for by every Republican in the Legislature on joint ballot. There
seemed to be no bitterness or hard feeling on the part of any one.
After the general election in November, I returned to Washington
to prepare for the session of Congress, and there was so much
important work before my committee and in the Senate generally,
that it seemed impossible for me to leave there in order to thank
the members of the Legislature for the high honor they had conferred
upon me.
I addressed a letter to the members of the Forty-fifth General
Assembly, which was read, and from which I will quote:
"I desire to express to the Republican members of the Forty-fifth
General Assembly my profound gratitude for your action in unanimously
declaring in favor of my re-election to again represent Illinois
in the United States Senate.
"In electing me to the United States Senate for five consecutive
terms, a greater distinction will be conferred by the State than
has been conferred upon any other man in the history of Illinois.
"I shall appreciate this election the more, because for the first
time the question of the selection of a United States Senator was
submitted to the people, and without any active campaign on my
part, the great majority of the voters declared me to be their
preference.
"Until the recent primaries, my name had not been submitted directly
to the voters of the State since I was re-elected Governor in 1880,
and it was no small gratification to me, after twenty-six years
had come and gone, to have this expression of continued confidence
and approval of my record as a Senator.
"I wish now to return my most sincere thanks to the people of the
State who have thus signally honored me.
"During the twenty-four years I have represented the State in the
Senate, I have endeavored to the best of my ability to perform my
whole duty to the country and the State, and the only pledge I can
make is, that I shall continue in the performance of my duty in
the future as in the past.
"I would prefer to have the pleasure of being present when a
Senatorial election takes place, in order to express personally to
the Legislature my appreciation; but there are so many important
questions to settle, and so much important legislation to enact
during the short session of Congress, ending as it does on March
4, that it has seemed to me to be more in accord with my duty to
remain in Washington in the performance of my official business.
"Your Legislature assembles this year in the midst of the greatest
era of prosperity that has ever prevailed in this country. There
has never been a time in our history that we have had so long an
uninterrupted period of prosperity. This prosperous and happy
condition has come as the result, in a large part, of Republican
rule and Republican policy.
"For nearly forty-five years the history of the United States has
been the history of the Republican party, because, with the exception
of two short periods, Republican administration has guided the
destinies of the Nation; and the achievements of Republican
administrations during those forty-five years constitute the greatest
record in our history, and that record is a complete defence of
the party against assaults from whatever quarter.
"We stand to-day at the head of all the Nations in the value of
imports and exports, and these maintain the prosperity our country
has enjoyed since the American people declared in favor of a
protective tariff and a sound-money standard.
"The people do not prosper under vicious government. Good government
is essential to real prosperity, to properly develop and to advance
it. The Republican party has always secured for the Nation stability,
confidence and prosperity at home, and respect and prestige abroad.
"We are to-day at peace with all the Nations of the world. Perhaps
never before in our history have we had such intimate and friendly
relations with all the great Nations as we have to-day. Our country
has the respect of all the Governments of the world, great and
small. We are gradually assuming the first place among the naval
powers; but, unlike the older Nations, we are acquiring a great
navy in the interest of peace. Under the policy of this Government,
such a navy is one of the surest assurances against war. The
Nations know that the United States stands for peace, and under
Roosevelt's Republican administration, greater progress has been
made in the direction of international arbitration as a means of
settling disputes among nations than under any other previous
administration in our history.
"While the nations know that we stand for peace, they also know
that we will not tamely submit to the imposition of wrong, or to
offenses against our own honor and dignity, or to the oppression
of our sister republics in this Western world. We have no desire
to rob these republics of their independence, or a single foot of
their territory. Our recent action in Cuba has been an object
lesson to these republics, and to the world at large, of our
disinterested friendship. As we have repeatedly assured them, our
only desire is that they shall follow us in peace and prosperity.
"The construction of the great canal across the isthmus of Panama
will bind them closer to us, and at the same time will almost double
our strength as a naval power.
"Too much credit cannot be given to President Roosevelt for the
great and wonderful results which he has accomplished in the interest
of the country, but the legislative branch of the Government has
done its full share.
"The record made during the last session of Congress in the enactment
of wise laws for the direct benefit of the people has not been
equalled since the Civil War--if at all, since the adoption of the
Constitution.
"I will not detain the caucus longer than to repeat my sincere
obligations to you and to express through you my thanks to the
people of the State, whose representatives you are, for the signal
honor that has been conferred upon me."