Mr. SPEAKER: During the fifty-nine years of Wisconsin's
statehood she has sent eighty-eight different individuals to
represent her in this body. Of this number six have died
in office, Luther Hanchett, Benjamin F. Hopkins, Joseph Rankin,
William T. Price, George B. Shaw, and, last, HENRY CULLEN ADAMS,
whose life and services we this day commemorate.
It is a sad duty to speak a final world for those who leave
us filled with years and honors, but sadder still is it to voice
our sorrow for the friend and colleague the sands of whose
life have but half run. Memorial exercises such as these are
proper in that they afford us an opportunity, in the midst of
our public cares and labors, to give our estimate of the life
and services of the dead. Through our words we may inspire those
who read to emulate that which we find to be true and just and
of good report.
In the death of Mr. ADAMS, Wisconsin lost a most capable
and experienced Representative. With a broad know-
ledge of public affairs and thorough understanding of men
and measures, he entered the Fifty-eighth Congress well equipped
to win for himself a successful legislative career. As a practical
farmer, as State dairy and food commissioner, he acquired a reputation
as an expert on agricultural subjects which extended far beyond
the borders of our State. From the very beginning he took an
active part in shaping legislation affecting the agricultural
interests of the country. His arguments in favor of the oleomargarine
bill in the public prints and before committees of Congress were
largely instrumental in securing its passage. His appointment
as a member of the Committee on Agriculture by the present Speaker
of the House was a fitting recognition of his peculiar fitness.
He did not disappoint the expectations of his friends. Realizing
the valuable work of the various agricultural experiment stations
of the United States, and that with an increase of funds at their
disposal this work could be largely increased, he at once introduced
a bill with this end in view. Nothing more finely illustrated
a distinctive trait of Mr. ADAMS's character as to fixity of
purpose and indomitable will than the patient, courageous, and
splendid fight he made for his bill. After the lapse of many
weeks and months he won. He deserved to win, and as a result
his memory lives in the chief seats of learning of almost every
State in the Union.
Loyalty to duty was another trait of character which Mr.
ADAMS possessed in large measure. All of us were impressed
by it during the hearings and consideration of the meat-inspection
legislation in the closing days of the last session. No man in
either house had, on questions pertaining to inspection and the
packing interests, greater practical or scientific knowledge.
He entered heart and soul into the whole subject-matter, he spared
not himself, his opinions were sought, he was called into counsel
by the President, and when obstacles arose he helped to smooth
the way. All this he did, but at what a sacrifice!
Nature in the disposal of her favors had endowed him with
a feeble body, but vouchsafed to him a clear, strong, and
active mind. A mind so strong as to enable him to sustain
for years an enfeebled frame through the sheer power of will.
However, those sultry, never-racking laborous days which marked
the close of the last session slowly sapped the small reserve
of Mr. ADAMS's vitality, and day by day his feeling of exhaustion
increased. Two week before the adjournment we advised him to
leave Washington for the mountains or the seashore. With characteristic
spirit he replied, "I can not go away. I must stay here
until the pure-food and meat-inspection bills have passed."
And so he stayed, and early in July proceeded on his homeward
journey, only to die on the way.
Mr. ADAMS's loyalty to duty found a counterpart in his loyalty
to his friends. During stress of recent political storms he
always stood steadfast. With frankness and courage he proclaimed
his faith and stoically abided the consequences. He faithfully
followed the poet's injunction:
To thine own self be true,
And it must follow as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
His friends he numbered by the score in all parts of our
State. He bound them to him as with hoops of steel through the
warmth and generosity of his nature. To the needy and helpless
his heart and hand were ever open.
The citizen with decision of character, generosity, broad-mindedness,
and high ideals is sure to be a man of influence and
public spirit in his city, district, and State. Such was
our deceased colleague. In matters economic, political, and educational
he played a leading part, and the force and effect of his example
will long abide.
In his domestic relations Mr. ADAMS was singularly happy.
The mecca of all his pilgrimages was his own hearthstone.
The love of wife and children helped him to forget his bodily
suffering and to inspire him to greater achievements. In him
the spirit seemed ever to be willing. Now his life work ended,
for "God's finger touched him and he slept."