Alexander Clark Mitchell (late a representative from Kansas)

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ALEXANDER CLARK MITCHELL

(Late a Representative from Kansas)

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES

DELIVERED IN THE

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE

OF THE UNITED STATES

SIXTY-SECOND CONGRESS

Proceedings in the House
April 21, 1912

Proceedings in the Senate
February 8, 1913

PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING

f^0>t,

WASHINGTON
1913

(y^Ai V

\

0. OF D.
OCT IG 1913

V.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page.

Proceedings in the House - 5

Prayer by Rev. N. H. Holmes, D. D 5

Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden, D.D 8

Memorial addresses by —

Mr. Campbell, of Kansas 10

Mr. Slcten, of Nebraska 13

Mr. Young, of Kansas 15

Mr. Murdoek, of Kansas 17

Mr. Rees, of Kansas 21

Mr. Lobeck, of Nebraska 24

Mr. Jackson, of Kansas 26

Mr. Martin, of South Dakota 32

Mr. Taggart, of Kansas 36

Proceedings in the Senate 45

Prayer by Rev. Ulysses G. B. Pierce, D. D 45, 47

Memorial addresses by —

Mr. Curtis, of Kansas 49

Mr. Bristow, of Kansas- .< 51

[3]

HON. ALEXANDER C.MITCHELL

DEATH OF HON. ALEXANDER CLARK MITCHELL

Proceedings in the House

Saturday, July 8, 1911.
The House met at 12 o'clock noon.

The Rev. N. H. Holmes, D. D., of Pittsburgh, Pa., offered
the following prayer:

O Lord, our God, Thou who art the same to-day, yes-
terday, and forever, help us to worship Thee. We de-
voutly pray for Thy blessing to rest upon every section
of our broad land, and upon these, its Representatives,
and upon him who guides and presides over their delib-
erations. Grant, we beseech of Thee, that they may all
have wisdom and strength from on high to discharge their
manifold duties — duties freighted with far-reaching re-
sponsibilities and consequences — as in the sight of God.
Let Thy fatherly goodness, we pray Thee, and Thy kind
providence be extended toward the friends and loved
ones of this House, and grant that such as are separated
one from another may be kept far from harm and danger
and sorrow. 0 Lord God Almighty, visit this morning
the stricken home in Kansas where has gone to his last
home one of the Members of this House. Our Father,
Thy word teaches us to pray for all in authority, and we
gladly pray for all those in authority in every State and
Territory in our Union, and for our President. God
bless him, and guide him in the Nation's affairs over
which he presides, and prosper his measures for univer-
sal peace. And now, O Lord, take us all and keep us by
Thy power through faith unto salvation, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.

[5]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

Mr. Prouty. Mr. Speaker, I rise to announce the death
of one of the Members of this House, Mr. Mitchell, from
the second district of Kansas, who died yesterday morn-
ing and whose funeral will take place to-morrow after-
noon at Lawrence, Kans. I desire, in the absence of any
member of the delegation from Kansas, all of whoin left
the city last night in order to be present at the funeral,
to offer the following resolution, which I send to the
Clerk's desk and ask to have read.

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the resolution.

The Clerk read as follows :

House resolution 236

Resolved, That the House has heard with regret and profound
sorrow of the death of Alexander Clark INIitchell, Representa-
tive in this House from the second congressional district of
Kansas.

Resolved, That a committee of 15 Members of the House, with
such Members of the Senate as may be joined, be appointed to
attend the funeral at Lawrence, Kans., and that the necessar)'
expenses attending the execution of this order be paid out of
the contingent fund of the House.

Resolved, That the Sergeant at Arms of the House be authorized
and directed to take such steps as maj^ be necessary for properlj'^
carrying out the provisions of this resolution.

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the
Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased.

The question being taken, the resolution was unani-
mously agreed to, and the Speaker appointed as the
committee on the part of the House Mr. Rucker of Mis-
souri, Mr. Russell, Mr. Rubey, Mr. Pepper, Mr. Tribble,
Mr. Booher, Mr. Murray, Mr. Lobeck, Mr. Campbell,
Mr. Murdock, Mr. Madison, Mr. Anthony, Mr. Rees, Mr.
Jackson, and Mr. Young of Kansas.

Mr. Prouty. Mr. Speaker, as a further mark of respect
to our deceased colleague, I move that the House do
now adjourn.

[6]

Proceedings in the House

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 12 o'clock
and 11 minutes p. m.) the House adjourned until
Wednesday, July 12, 1911, at 12 o'clock noon.

Thursday, February 29, i912.

Mr. Campbell. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that Sunday, April 14, be set apart under special order
for eulogies of the late Alexander C. Mitchell, of the
second district of Kansas, and of the late Edmond H.
Madison, of the seventh district of Kansas, late Members
of this House. I move that that day be set aside for that
purpose.

The Speaker. The gentleman from Kansas [Mr. Camp-
bell] asks unanimous consent that Sunday, April 14, be
set aside for eulogies of the late Mr. Mitchell and the
late Mr. Madison, both of Kansas. Is there objection?
[After a pause.] The Chair hears none, and it is so
ordered.

Tuesday, April 2, 1912.

Mr. Campbell. Mr. Speaker, an order was made some
days ago setting apart Sunda3% the 14th day of April, for
general memorial services on two late Representatives
of this House. I want to separate those services, and I
ask unanimous consent that the 14th of April be fixed
for memorial services for Edmond H. Madison, late a
Representative from the State of Kansas, and Sunday,
April 21, be fixed for the memorial services on the late
Representative Alexander C. Mitchell, of Kansas.

The Speaker. The gentleman from Kansas asks unani-
mous consent to modify the order of the House, to the
extent of having Sunday, April 14, set apart for the
memorial services on the late Representative Madison,
and Sunday, April 21, for memorial services on the late
Representative Mitchell. Is there objection?

There was no objection.

[7]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

Sunday, April 21, 1912.

The House met at 12 o'clock noon, and was called to
order by Mr. Neeley, as Speaker pro tempore.

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered
the following prayer:

O Thou God and Father of us all, in whose changeless,
boundless love we have our being, hold us close to Thee
that we may feel the warm life-giving currents ever
flowing out from Thee, that our faith, hope, and love may
be strengthened.

We bless Thy holy name for the words which fell
from the lips of the Master: "Let not your heart be
troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my
Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I
Avould have told you."

The sands of life run swiftly; we know not when the
silver chord shall be loosed, the golden bowl broken. But
so long as faith, hope, and love live, so long the
immortality of the soul is assured.

I know not where His islands lift

Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I can not drift

Beyond His love and care.

In this love our souls speed onward to the " Land of the
Leal," where we shall dwell with our loved ones forever.
Be this our comfort, the hope and comfort of the
bereaved wife and children of the deceased Member in
whose memory we are assembled, and paeans of praise we
will ever give to Thee through Him who died that we
might live. Amen.

[8]

Proceedings in the House

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will read the
Journal of the proceedings of yesterday.

Mr. Campbell. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that the further reading of the Journal be dispensed with.

The motion was agreed to.

Mr. Campbell. Mr. Speaker, I offer the resolution which
I send to the Clerk's desk and move its adoption.

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will report the
resolution.

The Clerk read as follows :

House resolution 503

Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended
that opportunity may be given for tributes to the memory of
Hon. Alexander C. Mitchell, late a Member of the House from
the State of Kansas.

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory
of the deceased and in recognition of his distinguished public
career the House, at the conclusion of these exercises, shall stand
adjourned.

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the
Senate.

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to
the family of the deceased.

The resolution was unanimously agreed to.

[9]

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES

Address of Mr. Campbell, of Kansas

Mr. Speaker: If any other evidences were w^anting to
show the tragedies there are in life, that evidence could
be supplied in the oft repeated meetings of this House
to honor the memory of departed Members. Yesterday
a Member was in his seat; to-day his desk is covered with
a wreath of flowers; to-morrow his seat will be occupied
by another. And in the rapid succession of these events
ambition is gratified, hope is deferred, and men are for-
gotten. Alexander Clark Mitchell, in whose memory
we are met to-day, was a poor boy. He was one of a
family that earned their bread according to the decree
entered in the Garden. He knew none of the luxuries
of life in his earlier days. His was a life of constant
labor, mingled with anxiety as to the future, but always
filled with ambition and hope. He was not content to
remain a metal worker. After he had reached mature
manhood he acquired that education that fitted him for
the law and for a useful public career. Mitchell was a
good la\^yer. He prepared his cases carefully and tried
them exceptionally well. He entered public life as a
student of men and events. He served four terms in the
Legislature of the State of Kansas and rapidly rose to
leadership in that body, a leadership that naturally sug-
gested him for a higher and more useful position. He
had an ambition for a seat in this House. Men of ability,
of leadership in their community and of ambition, some-
how look to the National House of Representatives as a

[10]

Address of Mr. Campbell, of Kansas

place in which to take a part in their countrj'^'s work.
I violate no confidence when I say that Alex. Mitchell
had an ambition for many years to occupy a seat in this
House and to become one of the leading Representatives
in this great bodj'. He was destined to serve here but a
few days. That life that he had so trained and directed
for usefulness, that ambition that he had at last seen
gratified, was to be of but few days' service here.

I think he cast but one vote on an important measure
in the House. He appeared upon the floor but a few
times. Then he yielded to an illness that had seized him
during his campaign for election. That illness grew
upon him until finally, on the 7th day of Julj- last, he
jielded up the last there was of his life. There was
something more than ordinary- in his death. He died a
death similar to those that we read of in the j^ears that
are gone. I can remember as a child that the first ques-
tion asked of one who died was whether or not he died
in the faith, whether he died in the hope of immortality
and of heaven. It was rare in mj^ early daj^s that one
ever heard the query asked as to how much life insurance
a man had or how much property he left. Those were
questions that were of minor importance. The question
of supreme importance in the hour of a man's death was
whether or not he had died fit for the Master's kingdom.
During the lingering months of Alexander Mitchell's
illness he meditated much on the hour that was fast ap-
proaching when he should bid farewell to everything that
was dear in life — family, ambition, place, and all. When
the final hour came, Mitchell called his friends about
him and took them by the hand and talked to them of his
hope of immortality. He talked to them in the old way
in which those who departed this life in the hope of
blessed immortality used to talk to their friends. And
one after another his friends gathered about him, and

[11]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

he took his last words to bid them lead upright, Chris-
tian lives and fit themselves for the hour that he was so
nearly approaching. He took his farewell of his chil-
dren and finally of his wife. Death to him was the portal
to everlasting life. In his death the community in which
he lived had a new baptism in the faith of the fathers.
The entire community in which he lived felt a revival of
the old-time religious sentiment that taught people to live
well that they might die prepared for heaven.

Mitchell performed well his part in life. It comes to
but few men to acquire the distinction that he acquired;
and but few men have left the community in which they
lived with a more profound esteem of their fellow men
than did Alexander C. Mitchell.

[12]

* Address of Mr. Sloan, of Nebraska

Mr. Speaker: A Member from Kansas suggested the
propriety of a brief tribute from me as a neighbor. Kan-
sas and Nebraska, with contiguous territory, a common
history, similar resources, hke industries, having much
in common pohtically, their Representatives well may
deem themselves neighbors.

As a neighbor, I remember Alexander C. Mitchell but
a few days in the House. We took our seats together.
Individual design made us neighbors in the great West.
A common ambition brought us here. Chance made us
neighbors in the House.

Upon similar solemn occasions Members recite the
achievements and extol the ability and character of the
deceased. I can not speak of his congressional achieve-
ments, because in the morning of his career death
claimed him. Against that claim how powerless are
friendship, wealth, and position. Obedience must be
prompt and implicit. In this it matters not whether the
call comes when he is on his couch at home and among
friends or out upon the trackless ocean where the high
product of naval genius clashes with a harsh fact of
nature in the form of a deadly iceberg. His work will be
left unfinished and his brethern mourn.

Years ago I read — let me confess with some effort —
some of the essays of Emerson. One, in its choice expres-
sion, practical philosophy, and subtle human touch, im-
pressed me more perhaps than all the other writings of
the transcendental sage. That was " Compensation."
The nice balancing of the phenomena of nature and
human experiences, charminglj^ told, furnishes a source
to which many could turn for solace and comfort.

If our deceased brother was denied a long and honor-
able career, which his years seemed to warrant and his

[13]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

own ability jfit him, there are still compensations for his
untimely taking off. He came to this House with the high
ideals of a new Member. His ideals of the individual and
collective membership have suffered no rude shock. An
exalted estimate of legislation proposed received no rude
awakening, to be followed by a downward revision. Men
and measures probably both appeared in the glamour of
ideality. The belief that there was little for the party but
all to be for the State received no harsh contradiction.

If there was aught in store for disillusions; if selfish-
ness was to appear when altruism was expected; if the
demands of the country were to be subordinated to the
claims of party; if the great names on the rolls of the
House, giants of State, were to be proved as standing on
feet of clay, and if in the grind of caucus and committee
the idealistic surface should give way to the " seamy
side"; if practical legislation was to receive the impress
of the force, will, and influence of selfish interests or
selfish men, then these disillusions were not for him.

Nor was he, after 3'ears of faithful devotion to his dis-
trict and Nation, in the fullness of years and the ripeness
of experience, for some real or fancied error in judgment,
denied a new vote of confidence by the people for whom
he labored.

That he was selected from a great district, having many
great men, to sit in this historic Hall and mingle with the
mighty; that his ability warranted, his achievements de-
served, and character justified this distinction are proud
facts bequeathed by him to his family and posterity. Had
his life been spared for the usual span his services in this
body would have marked him for its honors and distinc-
tions is the belief of his friends and the conviction of
impartial acquaintances. This is a rich heritage in this
country, where excellence and character are the unfail-
ing insignia of rank and worth.

[14]

Address of Mr. Young, of Kansas

Mr. Speaker : We assemble to-day on a sad and extraor-
dinary occasion. On last Lord's day we met in this Cham-
ber and lifted up our feeble voices in paying a tribute
to the memory of a noble son of Kansas, our colleague;
we are here again to-day to say the farewell words as
best we may to the earthly career of another of her
honored sons — our colleague — Alexander C. Mitchell,
and strive to cherish his memory in the years to come.

O, not in cruelty, not in wrath.

The reaper came that day;
'Twas an angel visited the green earth

And took the flowers away.

Let us not be unmindful that while we are mourning
our loss, that at this very hour there are being spoken,
from almost every pulpit in the land, words of grief for
the victims of the greatest disaster of the century.

We are here still, but forcibly feel the transitory nature
of human life. We are shadows pursuing one another,
and soon there is an end.

Be ye ready; the summons cometh quickly.

Alexander C. Mitchell had but a brief service in this
House, yet on other fields of usefulness he served long
and well, ever active, clean, true, and honored wherever
known. He at all times had the courage of his con-
victions, which was so well illustrated during his illness
in this city, when, against the advice of his physician,
he insisted on being brought to this Chamber, where he
cast his first vote on a measure he regarded as vital to
the best interest of the country, and which proved to
be his last in this Chamber.

[15]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

As a lawyer he was ever strong and trustworthy. As
a member of another legislative body, where I knew him
best, he stood in the forefront advocating measures for
the betterment of society. As a citizen he did much for
his city, State, and country, and seemed ever to realize
that in life's voyage life's struggles are all failures if
they do not from day to day produce something done,
something said, that makes the lives of others better,
sweeter, and nobler.

Who God doth late and early pray,
More of His grace than fights to lend.

And walks with man from day to day
As with a brother and a friend.

Alexander C. Mitchell's Christian life was so earnest,
strong, and steadfast that when the inevitable messenger
with the inverted torch beckoned him to depart he
obeyed the summons and approached the journey.

Sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust,

founded upon an unwavering faith in Him who said " I
will never leave thee nor forsake thee," and went down
through the valley of the shadow of death over into the
realm where " Nearer, My God, to Thee " is no longer a
song, but is an everlasting reality.

[16]

Address of Mr. Murdock, of Kansas

Mr. Speaker: Within my memory I have record of no
one who surpassed in earnest desire to be of service in
this world the late Alexander C. Mitchell.

As I look back to-day upon his brief career in Congress,
the thought of him which rises singly and persists with
emphasis, above all others in connection with my
knoAvledge of him, is that of his pathetically determined
devotion to duty.

Six months before he came here as a Member of
Congress he was the embodiment of vitality, vigor,
health; the splendors of sturdiness, breadth of shoulder,
strength of limb, clearness of eye, certainty of movement
with all the marvels of physical confidence, the confidence
that paints the cheek of j^outh with the flush of daring,
these were his at fifty as they had been at sixteen.

And then came dissolution — certain, unmistakable,
swift — remorselessly swift. I saw the man who had
been physically perfect in the fall of 1910, the man who
had been iron under the stress of a long campaign, bend
beneath disease. I saw him creep into this Chamber,
sick, worn with pain, pallid under the pitiless levy upon
his vitality. I saw him grope with shaking white hands
among the red desks here, sink into his seat, and await
the roll call, and, with a momentary alertness, cast his
vote, with that which seemed unmistakable interest, then
lapse back again into his lonely, weary, hopeless battle.

And yet I have thought often, it was not interest that
brought him here. He was too ill for that. He came at
the call of duty. This was paramount with him — to
render a full measure of service. Many another, close

92842° — 13 2 [17]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

to the grave as he, the issue of a campaign flaring its
legislative hour here, the hue and cry of faction, the noisy
joust of partisans would have summoned in vain.

There was a strong, firm foundation, deeply laid, for
this characteristic in our friend. Nature gave him in
equal proportions the qualities of kindliness and earnest-
ness. It was never in him to be unkind, and he could not
be purposeless. He could be candid without being cruel,
and he could be uncompromising without being intol-
erant. 1 believe it was possible for Alexander Mitchell
to win a victory without a sense of triumph to a greater
degree than any man 1 have ever known in political life.
If he were ambitious, and 1 doubt that he ever was, he
wore but little of ambition's livery. Of plot and dubious
plan, of sleight and equivocation, he had but little
knowledge, and he made no use.

But he stood ready to obey the command of the day's
work, and through his life the call was incessant. He
was out of the university in 1889. After that he served
as county attorney at Lawrence, Kans.; many years as a
regent of the Kansas University; many years, also, as a
member of the legislature. Eventually he was elected
to Congress.

He came here in the short session of the Sixty-first
Congress, the session which followed the election of 1910.
He was intensely interested in the vast administrative
forces of the Government as they are found in Wash-
ington.

As a young man his activities had revealed to him the
governmental processes as they exist in county seats.
Later he had opportunity to know thoroughly the larger
mechanism of the State, and the tremendous machinery
of the National Government fascinated him, as it must
fascinate most men when they approach it closely to
study it. The magnitude of the great departments of this

[18]

Address of Mr. Murdock, of Kansas

Government, their seemingly endless divisions and sub-
divisions, the inertia of precedent, which sometimes make
them appear helpless in a leash of tape— the mightiness
often of rule and regulation and frequent futility of law—
the complexities of expenditure and collection, the ad-
justment, renewal, and evolution of Congress and court,
of Na\'y, Army, Post Office— these instruments of the
democracy at once invite the student and resist him; by
their very intricacy they beckon him to investigation and
understanding and defy him.

This challenge the late Alex. Mitchell accepted with
spirit. Industrious, discriminating, thorough, executive,
he set about the business of his new life. The old Con-
gress which he visited in its closing session passed away.
The new Congress convened in extraordinary session.
Mr. Mitchell came with the others. It was evident to all
from the first that he was ill. During the spring he at-
tended the more important sessions. One day he went
back to Kansas, and in midsummer, before the close of
the special session, he died.

Somewhere I have read or heard — I do not know if it
be true — that when Horace Greeley was dying he mur-
mured to those about him, "Fame is a vapor, popu-
larity an accident; riches take wings; those who bless
to-day will curse to-morrow. Only one thing endures —
character."

This must be the thought, in part at least, of everyone
who knows that death is upon him. When the stage is
set for the last scene this thought must for an instant
stand before a man stark, detached, solitar>% dominant.
When the tinseled vanities are shoved back and away,
when the glittering aspirations of a lifetime flicker and
go out, when those things which long we thought were
substance are fading into shadows, then through the gray
light which I fancy falls upon the world as the dying see

[19]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

it, that in a man which is the product of conscience —
character — must glow deep, vital, eternal, out of the drab
midst of things.

Alex. Mitchell knew the moment of his dissolution.
Of that moment's alternatives — hope and despair — he
chose hope. To those who loved him, at his bedside, he
spoke of death calmly, with a sweet certainty of the
future. There came to him, as there came to William
McKinley, the soothing echo of an old-time hymn, the
mighty comfort of a line from the Sermon on the Mount.
And as he passed on he went as gently as he had lived,
mighty in his faith — that death is not — that life is — ,
primal, absolute, eternal.

[20]

Address of Mr. Rees, of Kansas

Mr. Speaker: Alexander Clark Mitchell was not a
Member of this House long enough to become familiar
to the majority of the body, but he inspired a sincere
respect in all who met with him. The fatal malady, from
which he died, fastened itself upon him during his cam-
paign, but he did not realize that there was anything
seriously the matter with him until after he had been
elected. He came on to Washington and took up his
duties here, but the marks of patient suffering were
already upon his strong, kind face. He came to the
House daily for a short time during the extra session, but
was soon confined to his room, and his last appearance
in the House was when he came over to vote for reci-
procity. He smiled upon his friends when he entered
the room, but as soon as his features were at rest, while
he was listening to the discussion, we could see all too
plainly the shadow of his approaching end.

His life will not be measured by his achievements here,
but by his record at Lawrence, Kans., where he came with
his father earlj^ in life and commenced his struggle as a
blacksmith. And it was in his sturdy calling, perhaps,
while j'et in his youth, that his strong character was
formed. At this toilsome occupation he earned enough
to carry him through the law department of the uni-
versity. He afterwards opened an office in Lawrence,
in competition with some of the ablest lawyers of this
country, and soon succeeded in sufficiently impressing
himself upon the favorable consideration of this scholarly
community to be elected county attorney. He afterwards
served for six years in the Kansas Legislature, and was

[21]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

for four years a regent of the State University, and was
finally elected a Member of this body. He was an able
lawyer, and, had he lived, he would have made his mark
in Congress.

He was a strong, clean, manly man. If you still retain
the little booklet containing the pictures of those who
served in the first session of the Sixty-second Congress,
turn to his picture and note the strong, clear-cut features.
It is a splendid likeness of one who was in every way
a splendid man. He was sincere, honest, and loyal, as
well as a fearless advocate of every cause he believed
was right.

It can be truly said of him that he did not seek distinc-
tion and political preferment for ambition's sake, but in
the hope that he might serve the people and the country
he loved. He was a good la\\yer, and had a good prac-
tice, but never became rich or even well to do, because
he gave too generously of his time and service to the
poor.

Alexander Mitchell was devoted to his wife and chil-
dren, and they repaid him with an affection and tender
solicitude for his welfare that assuaged the anguish of
our departed colleague during the long days and nights
of his silent, patient suffering, until at last the Angel of
Death in pity released his soul from his weary pain-
racked body.

Life itself is an impenetrable mystery, and before death
we bow our heads in silent awe. Its unsounded depths
we know not. We cry out for a light that will satisfy
our reason and our judgment, but it comes not; yet some-
how there steals into our inner consciousness an intuitive
feeling that all is well. The calm beauty of the dead,
the benediction of tears, the feeling that takes possession
of us that there is something sacred in the presence of
death itself, as though we knew through some unconscious

[22]

Address of Mr. Rees, of Kansas

process of the mind that a divine visitant had touched
the dying eyes — these and other intangible things calm
our spirits as the cooing half-audible words of a young
mother that can not be understood soothes and lulls to
sleep the newborn babe.

To Alexander Mitchell, however, there was a surer
guide. He grounded his unwavering faith upon the old
Bible, that has, in all the generations since the Gospels
were written, helped to sustain men in their darker hours.
Let us believe that what we poor mortals lament as the
death — the last sad end of him we loved^ — was but the
dawning of the eternal morning for Alexander Mitchell.

[23]

Address of Mr. Lobeck, of Nebraska

Mr. Speaker: We meet to-day to pay our tribute to
Alexander Clark Mitchell.

My acquaintance with him was but slight. Like myself,
he was just entering upon the duties of a Congressman,
so that I had seen him only occasionally, but I knew of
the high esteem in which he was held by those who
knew him well.

On account of his malady he was unable to be present
at the daily sessions as often as he would have liked to,
but when it was necessary for him to perform some public
dutj' he came and bore his pain and sufferings quietlj^ and
made no complaint, and his voice was heard for what
he believed was right.

I was one of the Congressmen, Mr. Speaker, designated
to go to his home and attend the funeral, and there I
learned of the love and respect given him by his fellow
neighbors. I also learned of the high esteem in which he
was held by his townsmen, and to me no higher tribute
of esteem can be paid than to know that all his neighbors
loved him. The great men of the State were there to
pay their respects, and beside them stood the humblest
citizen to pay his last tribute to his beloved friend who
had gone to the great beyond. I learned from his neigh-
bors about his character. He was a strong man, a loving
man, a man who walked erect among his fellow men
and was counted a manly man. It seems strange that
Providence should take away from the activities of life
this man of strong character, who was able to do so much
good, be of so much service, and do so much kindness
to his fellow man. We do not understand it, but God

[24]

Address of Mr. Lobeck, of Nebraska

in his mysterious way knows what is best. We love to
think of strong men of noble character, whether they
are in the humble pursuits of life or if they attain
eminence. We judge a man by what he does, and Con-
gressman Mitchell was a man upright in his actions and
always ready to help mankind.

I saw the love in the home; I saw the gentle wife, the
loving daughter, and the son. By the surroundings I
knew that it had been a happy home and one that all
might love to enter, and my sympathy went out to that
wife, to that son and daughter, who had lost a loving
husband and a respected father.

The loving tribute by his pastor, the crowded edifice
where the neighbors and friends came to pay their last
respects, the hundreds that stood outside, showed to me
the love and respect in which he was held.

We laid him away under the big trees in a beautiful
cemeterj^ near the city in which he had given a long life
of usefulness to his neighbors and to his State.

I am conscious, Mr. Speaker, of having done scant
justice to the many excellent traits of character of our
departed friend and colleague. Whatever is spoken here
is but the gratification we have in paying tribute to our
departed brother. His life was his most eloquent eulog>%
and to us it is only left to regret that he should have been
cut off in the \ery prime of life, when he could have
been of great service to his State, his country, and his
fellow men.

[251

Address of Mr. Jackson, of Kansas

Mr. Speaker: Some one has said, "When, after a long
acquaintance, you feel that the more you know of a man
the better you like him, you may safely call that man a
loyal and worthy friend." Measured by this rule,
Alexander C. Mitchell was called friend by more inti-
mate associates than any man who has lived in Kansas.
His strongest personal characteristic was the light that
shone from his strong face and honest eyes, attracting
with invitation of honesty and helpfulness, and never
disappointing the faith imposed in him.

His death, in the midst of achievement of a well-trained,
fruitful middle age, was by him bravely and calmly met.
To these numerous intimate friends, and the citizens of
a great State, who have come to know his value as a
public servant, his death was a tragedy.

And no one who knew him doubts that had he been
spared, to have served here even a few months, his asso-
ciates here and the people of our great Nation would
have said, " Knowing him better, we see his great worth."

And this, indeed, was the tragedy, that he who could
have helped us so much; he, whose strong hand had been
so faithfully trained to work for the people he loved, just
as it was about to reap the fruitage of a strenuous life of
toil, should be striken at his post of duty. So far as man
is concerned, there is naught to reason why? There is
but one answer, and that is, " It was God's will."

As was so eloquently said of him by his pastor in the
beautiful funeral oration, " Mr. Mitchell was a toiler."
His fellow man will never know, his country can never
know, what it cost him, from youth to middle age, to

[26]

Address of Mr. Jackson, of Kansas

answer " Here " at the call of duty in the Nation's great
Congress a few weeks before his untimely death.

It is a long road from the machinist's bench in Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, by way of a turning lathe in Kansas, finally
a legal education in the university and a drudging law-
yer's office, and public service to a seat in the National
Congress — all marked by honest, strenuous toil that left
its furrows in the strong lines of his kindly face.

Modern history, tradition, and song and story are full
of incidents of the great achievements of a Lincoln edu-
cated by the light of pine knots, and a Garfield toiling on
a towpath, to higher mental attainments. But in the
modern times, when the pine knots have disappeared
from our civilization and the laborer of the towpath and
the " man with the hoe " have almost been erased from
our American industrial life, and their places taken by
the skilled mechanic of greater power and wider experi-
ence, are there not among these, surrounded by endowed
colleges, great universities, and well-filled libraries, Lin-
colns and Garfields wdth little assistance from any of these
great institutions, courageously earning their daily bread
by honest toil and slowly mounting the steeps of higher
training, to the end that they may serve their fellow
men?

Shall they deserve less credit because their pine knots,
lighted by their own hands, are brighter than those of
another age and their towpaths of service broader and
longer?

So, too, the circles of their lives must be broader and
achievements stronger than when men and our national
life existed in the pine knot and the towpath age. And
this man of toil, our friend, prepared himself for his
work by close touch with the real things of modern life
for the great opportunities it affords for real, unselfish
service.

[27]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

" He was a workman who needed not to be ashamed."
As in earlier life he wrought with his hands things worth
while, he saw in life things worth while and attained
them for others and for himself.

Thomas Carlyle's father was a stonemason, and the son
was always proud of the father's bridges. They stood the
test of time and strain.

So the children and dear ones of our departed friend
shall find in his work in every place the bridges that span
great deeds and that endure the test of time.

It is no small tribute to the earnestness, industry, and
power of achievement of a man of the culture and power
of intellect of Representative Mitchell to be able to say
that at one time in his life with his own hands he toiled
in the greatest machine shops of the West, or that his
hands held the instruments which put the last fine touch
on the strongly formed and highly polished machinery
that brought service and safety and happiness to the
members of the human family. And yet this same brain
and these same strong hands a short time later framed
legal briefs that settled the interests of the same great
company in whose mills he worked, in the courts, guided
the destiny of his State and held the attention of this
Nation.

Mr. Mitchell was really a great lawyer. As nearly as
any man I ever knew he carried out the lesson of Lin-
coln's advice to the young man —

If you can't be a good man and a good lawyer, leave off trying
to be a lawyer at all.

Mr. Mitchell endeavored in his innermost soul to be
a good lawyer and a good man, and he succeeded; as his
broad, strong intellect strove for real things of Hfe, it
sought and found the things worth while in the problems
of his profession. He dealt neither in trickery nor sub-

[28]

Address of Mr. Jackson, of Kansas

lerfuge, and lived and worked to defend right by the
law and not to smother right with the law.

He would not have stooped to have offended justice
and public rights by seeking the release of criminals by
invoking the jury's sympathy for the criminal's wife and
children.

But when widowed mothers and defenseless orphans
were in trouble no day was too long or night too dark
for him to find a way for their relief. No man ever
consulted his pocketbook before he sought his advice
or felt himself robbed after he had done so.

It was not strange, therefore, that much of this man's
professional time was given for causes that brought him
little or no remuneration. When it was determined a
few j'^ears ago that the standard of the profession of law
in the State should be raised and the examinations for
admission to the bar taken control of by the supreme
court, it was but natural that such a man should be
chosen as a member of the commission to conduct these
examinations. He held the place with honor to the State
and its great court until his election to Congress. So,
frequently, came these calls for great public duties.

His legal services were sought in times of public strife
by the governor, the State officers, and the legislature.

As chairman of the judiciary committee of the house of
representatives for several terms he gave honest and
efficient service. His committee was neither a morgue
for just measures nor a fanfare of trumpets for dema-
gogues. It was a workshop where the people's laws were
molded with jealous care and brought into light, and
measures of avarice and viciousness promptly and firmly
strangled. His greatest single cases were, perhaps, the
Perkins insurance case and the Kansas bank-guaranty
case. Each of these ran through the State and numerous
Federal courts, and will be precedents of importance in

[29]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

future litigation in their respective branches of law.
The latter case was conducted simultaneously with simi-
lar cases in Oklahoma and Nebraska, and was followed
in the State courts and, in some form, in all the Federal
courts, ending in the Supreme Court of the United States,
where Mr. Mitchell appeared only a few months before
his death to assist in its argument. His services in the
case, in maintaining the cause of the State, was invalu-
able and, as has been noted, was of far more than State
importance.

This is not the time or place to speak in detail of his
legal achievements. In the last weeks of his life he was
brave and unselfish, as he has always been. He bore with
greatest fortitude severest pain in silence or with the
smile of his healthful days rather than give alarm to the
members of his family and his friends.

A weaker man would never have come to Washington,
but the same call to duty that had marked his entire life
caused him to respond from a bed of pain to the call of
the President, and with palHd cheek and unsteady step
mount the steps of the National Capitol at Washington at
the special session.

His mind was still clear and forceful. He entered into
the spirit of all the contests over public questions with
his old-time vigor and enthusiasm. But one day there
came the words, " Oh, there is nothing worth while but
health." Then came the hurried trip home and the end
of a useful life.

And so, in sight of the great university which had taught
him and which he had served as adviser and regent, and
in view of the beautiful little city which sheltered his
home and friends, we built the grassy mound and heaped
it o'er with flowers from the hands of those who loved
him. We left him in the swelling bosom of the great Kan-

[3U]

Address of Mr, Jackson, of K\nsas

sas plain, bold and boundless as the ocean, like the spirit
of him who had gone away.

He has lived successfully in the highest sense if those
he leaves in this world, when in doubt and indecision over
the affairs of life listen for his voice, and in the silence
seem to hear it, and strive to do as he would have them
do were he yet with them.

And in tliis sense the life spirit of our departed friend
shall live upon this earth as the spirit which God gave,
loved, and took away again lives in Paradise.

In the home circle, in the affairs of the community, city
and State, his voice shall be heard, and all shall feel the
influence of his guiding hand. And so, the good men do
lives after them.

[31]

Address of Mr. Martin, of South Dakota

Mr. Speaker: The career of Alexander Mitchell in
this legislative body was, indeed, a brief one. But it
was long enough to impress upon his fellow Members
the quality and character of the man. His seat was
almost within an arm's reach of my own desk. He
appeared in this House but a few brief days. I think
that we were all impressed with his personality. We also
were impressed with the conviction that the hand of
death had already taken hold of what, when he appeared
here, was a frail body.

From this brief observation of the man I feel absolutely
certain of certain traits of his character. I am sure that
he was a sincere man. 1 am certain he was possessed and
controlled by a very deep sense of public duty. I am
certain that such ambition as he may have possessed
was an ambition to devote all of his inherited and
developed powers in contributing to the public welfare.
Mr. Mitchell was a good example of what I shall call the
" Kansas type of American citizenship." It is no fulsome
praise of the able and distinguished sons of Kansas in
both Houses of Congress at the present time to say that
there is a Kansas type and quality of citizenship, and that
for now more than half a centui-y it has performed a
most useful and important part in shaping and deter-
mining great national problems with which we, as a
people, have had to contend.

The character and quality of that citizenship were
determined more than half a century ago in the mighty
struggles that were grouped about the settlement of the
national problems leading up to and culminating in the

[32]

Address of Mr. Martin, of South Dakota

Civil War. Gladstone said of the American Constitution
that it was the greatest instrument ever evolved from the
intellect of man. And yet that great Constitution, which
was a charter of human liberty, had placed in it, doubtless
by virtue of the compromise of necessity, one provision
absolutely out of harmony with all the balance of that
immortal document.

I refer to the provisions which permitted the impor-
tation of slaves for a period of 20 years and recognized
the right of the continuation of slavery in certain
particular States indefinitely. In the very nature of the
case those opposing principles must have developed— as
they did develop eventually— into a mortal combat.
Kansas, a border State, if not the seat of the material
phases of that struggle, was, in a sense which perhaps
can not be said of any other State, the arena and forum
in which there was the mighty battling of the ideas upon
which that struggle turned and by which it was eventually
solved. And so we are not surprised that Kansas citizen-
ship is always earnest, aggressive, if not controversial.
The Kansas spirit is sincere, militant, patriotic.

It is an interesting study which we as public men have
forced upon us from time to time — to ascertain the differ-
ent contributions from the different States of the Union
to the composite character of American citizenship. We
expect from New England conservatism, and w^e are
rarely disappointed. From Kansas we expect a clear
definition and an aggressive presentation of the two sides
of every great national question. The middle of the
road in Kansas is used for automobiles and for carrying
to the market the bountiful harvests from her fertile
fields. A public man in Kansas may be on the wrong
side of a great public question and still retain his self-
respect and the respect of his fellow citizens, but he must
be on one side of the question. The middle of the road

P2842°— 13 3 [33]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

is not an arena for the solution of public questions in that
young, virile, and vigorous Commonwealth.

We now have another period of the testing out of the
fundamental questions of the American Constitution.
This decade is trying again the justness and the correct-
ness of the elemental principles upon which this Govern-
ment rests, and in the loss of a representative Member of
the State of Kansas a gap is created which will be felt
not only by the Commonwealth of Kansas, but by the
entire Nation.

We have had forced upon us recently again the per-
petual lesson of the uncertainty of human life. One week
ago to-night, plying its way from Great Britain to the
port of New York, what was supposed to be the greatest
triumph in maritime construction was under full speed.
It was a scene of brilliancy, of feasting, and of quiet con-
fidence in the complete mastery of modern invention over
the perils of the sea; and yet within less than two hours
1,500 men lost their lives, their souls summoned into the
presence of their Maker. Fifteen hundred men, the very
flower of Anglo-Saxon civilization, perished. Their
bodies were entombed in old ocean's gray and melan-
choly waste.

Within the year we have lost some of the most promi-
nent Members of this House of Representatives. Gen.
Bingham, " the father of the House," has but recently
disappeared from our midst. David J. Foster, one of
nature's noblemen, has gone, and, as one of his close
friends, I can scarcely yet realize that he has gone for-
ever. I find myself almost involuntarily expecting to
meet his manly form and to greet his noble spirit here
again on the floor.

Within the year we have lost Judge Madison, another of
the noble sons of Kansas, a man who, for the period of
his service, I believe, impressed himself and his strong

[34]

Address of Mr. Martin, of South Dakota

individuality and convictions upon us as forcefully and
with as enduring an effect as any man who has been a
member of this body during my term of service. Almost
in an instant he passed from his home here to the home
beyond.

Mr. Mitchell had scarcely become familiar to us, his
co-Members, when for him the golden bowl was broken,
the silver cord was loosed, and he, another traveler, went
on to his long home —

That bourne from which no traveler returns.

Seeing what I did of his personality in the few brief
days of his service, I am not surprised, but much gratified,
to hear the account of his manly passing on to the Eternal
Beyond that has been given to us by members of his
home delegation. Knowing that the summons was upon
him, facing the realities of the great and unlimited future,
he indeed went —

Not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust —

He approached his grave —

Like one that wraps the drapery of his coucli
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.

[35]

Address of Mr. Taggart, of Kansas

Mr. Speaker: I confess the difficulty of the task of
undertaking to pronounce a eulogy upon the life and
character of my predecessor, Alexander Clark Mitchell,
whose untimely death made it possible for me to render
the lesser and humbler service that I may be able to give
to the people of his district.

I was not well or intimately acquainted with him; we
met but a few times. But, perhaps, we can have a more
just estimate of a man if we are not on terms of intimacy
with him. The common rumor, the opinion of others
who knew him, his reputation in the city and the State in
which he lived, his public service and the well-known
facts of his life, afford, perhaps, a basis for a more accu-
rate judgment of the real value of the man. Our admira-
tion or affection for a man might warp our judgment, or
perhaps on account of that indefinable and subtle weak-
ness in human character whereby our likes and dislikes
arise out of "trivial matters, it may be if we were inti-
mately acquainted with one that our estimate of him
might be unjust on account of the very intimacy of the
acquaintance. Therefore I can say that I am free to men-
tion here the estimate of the people of the second district
of Kansas of the services and the character of Alexander
Clark Mitchell. It has been mentioned here that he
began life as a mechanic. Do we realize that the future
ages will estimate the first and perhaps the second and
possibly the third century of the life of this Republic not
so much by what was said or written or sung as by the
work of the hands of the American citizen?

[36]

Address of Mr. Taggart, of Kansas

Surely the early centuries and generations of our coun-
try will live in history as the age of mechanical genius,
and their fame will finally rest on the marvelous achieve-
ments of the mechanic. It was therefore fitting and
proper that the young man should have developed his
intelligence by coming in touch with the greatest of all
American enterprises. Having come to Kansas in 1867,
when he was but a child, and having had the privilege
and advantage of growing up upon a Kansas farm sur-
rounded by neighbors who were sturdj^ honest, earnest,
and filled with hope for the future, he grew up, as other
Kansas boys grew, conscious of his strength and eager for
the battle of life. He went back to Cincinnati, where he
was born, and learned his trade, and then returned to
Kansas and began work in the machine shops in Topeka.
Then realizing that he had capacity for the acquirement
of great learning, and having been urged by his friends,
he took the law course in the Kansas University and grad-
uated, in 1889, with honor and distinction. You will
notice that he was not an early graduate, that he was then
29 years of age, that he had waited until his mind had
matured and until he was fully able to grasp the real pur-
pose and meaning of the law. He had passed beyond that
enthusiastic age of the young law student wherein he
thinks that the triumph of the court room or before the
jury is the final and greatest achievement of the lawyer.

Alexander Clark Mitchell was a success as a law^^er.
He was born of a people who were formed for success.
No well-informed person can read the name Alexander
Mitchell without knowing at once that it originated in
one of the least favored naturally of all the countries of
the world, but one of the most distinguished spots
beneath all the stars — the old Kingdom of Scotland. He
was descended, evidently, of that virile, purposeful, and
masterful race of people who have left their mark and

[37]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

their monuments throughout the English-speaking world.
He came of a Scotch family that had emigrated to
Ireland and later came to the United States. He rep-
resented a citizenship somewhat different from either
one of the two original civilizations that were founded on
this shore. We have the New England civilization and
that other civilization that was founded at the mouth of
the James River. The northern civilization was com-
mitted to the great purpose of promoting intelligence. It
worshiped books as if they were idols, relying upon the
diffusion of general knowledge for the welfare of the
Nation; and, above all things, it cherished the pride and
strength of conscious intellectual supremacy. The other
civilization was founded on the beautiful ideals of
medieval chivalry, the exaltation of honor above all
earthly treasure, and the glory of courage and of achieve-
ments in arms.

Each of these two civilizations was wedded to the past,
the one at the North going back to those thoughts that
culminated in the expression so wonderfully wrought out
by Milton; the other drawing its inspiration from the
traditions of Anglo-Saxon pride and glory.

Separate and apart from these has come the western
citizenship, that has unconsciously adopted the phi-
losophy of Epictetus, who taught that —

With respect to those things over which we have no power let
us have no concern whatsoever nor trouble our minds therewith;
but let us address ourselves to those things over wliich we have
power, and with those matters let us with all our might perform
our daily task.

The western people have disregarded the prejudices
and the hatreds of the past and have turned their faces
toward the future. There are few monuments on the
plains of Kansas or the western prairie erected to cele-
brate the past; but nearly all that greets the eye was built

[38]

Address of Mr. Taggart, of Kansas

to provide for the necessities and the welfare of the
future.

Alexander Clark Mitchell was one of those who
grasped fully that western philosophy. He was not
wedded to the past. He acted in the living present. He
hoped for the future. His whole career is proof that it is
of value to the individual and to society to toil up from
the bottom to the top, from the lowest round of the ladder
to the highest. No one ever boasted of having ridden in
a comfortable seat in a railway car to the top of Pike's
Peak, but whoever has toiled up those nine miles of
inclined plane and finally stood upon its summit never
ceased to remember it.

There is no achievement in being lifted; the real
achievement is climbing. Alexander Mitchell's life was
devoted to the present and the future, not to realize un-
warranted ambitions; for, as a Member said, he was not
one who was cursed with unwarrantable ambitions. He
was one whose life and whose character was so fortunate
that those about him who realized his worth took notice
of it and urged him forward among the people as a man
who could be trusted by them. He served in many
capacities, as it was said here. He was a county attorney,
and that office is a difficult one in the State in which he
lived. He was a member of the board of regents of the
State University, an office the services of which are gratui-
tously given, but which is an honor in itself, and which
manifested his desire to promote the greatest institution
in the State. He served in the legislature.

He took part in framing some of the wisest and some
of the best laws on the statute books of Kansas, and I
believe that among his greatest public services was the
part he took in establishing firmly the bank guaranty
law of that State. Perhaps he was deeply impressed by
those who lost their money in banks that had failed.

[39]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

Possibly he saw the sufferings and the calamities that
had come to the poor in times past, when the savings of
a lifetime were swept away in a night; and he devoted
his talents most earnestly in support of a law that would
make it sure that whoever deposited his money would
not only have the good faith of the bank in which he
placed it, but the united strength of all of the banks that
were associated together under the law for mutual pro-
tection. If he had done no other public service, this alone
would have entitled him to a lasting place in the history
of Kansas. We are told that the greatest characteristic
of his life was his just estimate of public service. The
time has passed when a man in public life can regard
himself simply as one who is enjoying an honor.

The intelligent public now requires that he must con-
duct himself as one who is performing a service. He will
not be permitted to claim any excellence on account of
the honor he has enjoyed, but he must rest his claim for
public esteem upon the service that he has rendered.
Alexander Clark Mitchell regarded public office as a
service and the incumbent of a public office as a public
servant whose duty it was to render an account of his
stewardship.

And in that light he discharged every public duty that
was thrust upon him. In this spirit he performed his duty
as county attorney; he performed his duty as a member of
the State Legislature of Kansas; he performed his duty
as a member of the board of regents of the university, in
each and every case not onl}^ to the public satisfaction,
but with that active and energetic interest in the matter
in hand which transcends the mere requirements of
statute or custom.

He came to this House, as has been said, with the
shadow of death upon him. He was afQicted with a
cancer in his stomach. That is, perhaps, the most dreaded

[40]

Address of Mr. Taggart, of Kansas

and terrible malady that can afflict the human race.
Believing that he might have some hope of recoverj^ from
a surgical operation, he went as far as Kansas City, Mo.,
and on the 30th day of April submitted to the surgeon's
knife. Having discovered that his stomach was in the
grip of a cancer, the surgeon was obliged to close the
incision and inform him that he was without hope of
recovery.

Something was said here of that beautiful essay on
" Compensation," written by Emerson, perhaps the finest
effort of that gentle and pure-minded philosopher. But
can we reason that nature will compensate us? Is nature
all we have? Is not nature rather the puzzle and the task
that is set before men, that they might unravel her
mysteries, that they might conquer her forces, and that
they might develop their intelligence by avoiding the
wrath and the destruction of her elements? Nature has
no respect for persons. She has no refuge for innocence.
She has no regard for pain. In her mysterious processes
she recks not of death or suffering, but performs the
mandates of an irresistible power, even though all that
was dear and all that was beloved met with destruction.

Men have said that nature has taught another life; that
the coming and going of the flowers are a prophecy of
resurrection; that nature is an open book, out of which
the mystery of the future might be read, and that our final
destiny can be ascertained by consulting the panorama
that she spreads before us in this earthly life. I can not
understand that philosophy. Some one wrote asking the
question —

Is it true, O God in Heaven, that the strongest suffer most;
That the wisest wander farthest and most hopelessly are lost?
That the mark of rank in nature is capacity for pain;
That the anguish of the singer makes the sweetness of the strain?

[41]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

When we think it over it seems as though we must
answer, " It is true." The hope of immortality was not
bred by flowers or foliage. I would imagine rather that
in the utter desolation of some desert, where there was
nothing but sand and sky, men held up their hands and
said, " Where shall we retreat? How shall we escape
from this solitude?" And it was in those solitudes and
wildernesses that the message came which has comforted
mankind in this life.

No; I would not say that the coming and going of the
seasons or the lesson of the leaves or the flowers can
teach that there is another life. If there is anything in
this earthly scene or in this experience outside of revela-
tion that would teach the mighty mystery of immortality,
il would seem to be the love that exists among mortals.

This was one of the early thoughts of men. Perhaps
30 centuries ago it was written — and it is one of the most
beautiful stories that was ever told— that a certain young
king was about to be sacrificed to appease the wrath of
the gods. She who loved him came and asked him if
they should ever meet again, and answering, he said:

I have asked that dreadful question of the hills that look eternal,

Of the flowing streams that lucid flow forever,

Of the stars, amid whose field of azure.

My raised spirit hath trod in glory, and they all were dumb,

But, now, as I thus gaze upon thy living face,

I feel that the love that kindles through its beauty

Can never wholly perish, and we shall meet again.

The pure and unselfish devotion, given without thought
of reward or recompense, argues the final working out of
justice, and would seem to be the most convincing earthly
proof of immortality.

Mr. Mitchell, when about to go under the surgeon's
knife, and that very evening before he submitted to the

[42]

Address of Mr. Taggart, of Kansas

dreadful ordeal, sent a message of sympathy to an
attorney who lives in my city, whose son had been killed
on that day by accident, it being the second child that he
had lost within a year or two, and even though Mr.
Mitchell might reasonably expect that he would never
revive, he did not forget his brother attorney who was
suffering the agony of bereavement at that hour. He was
taken to his home in Lawrence.

The hot summer came and yet it was stated in the local
papers, several friends have said, that he faced the end
with the undaunted fortitude and the unwavering
purpose of that heroic race from which he was descended.
Day by day, conscious that death was approaching, suffer-
ing from the incision that was healing slowly, the martyr
w^aited patiently, and through it all he comforted himself
that this life may not bring us justice, but if there is a
future life that is not nature's work, but transcends
nature, in that life we will have exact justice. He was a
man who loved justice and who wished everyone to
succeed. He wished everyone to have hope. I do not
believe he ever said a word in his life or did an act that
would destroy the hope of a human mortal, and it was
with a sublime hope he was sustained until the end. He
gave up his life in the very midst of a great career, just
when he was passing the half century mark, when his
mind and his faculties had ripened, when his public
services would have been of the greatest value, yet he
surrendered it all as calmly as if it were a mere matter
of duty. And thus ended the life of Alexander Mitchell.
No one will ever read or know of his life, his character,
or his work who will not profit by having studied it, and
no young man who has a noble ambition can fail to
profit by his example.

[43]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

The Speaker pro tempore. In accordance with the
resolution previously adopted, and as a further mark of
respect to the memory of the late Alexander C. Mitchell,
the House will now stand adjourned.

Accordingly (at 1 o'clock and 55 minutes p. m.) the
House adjourned to meet to-morrow, Monday, April 22,
1912, at 12 o'clock noon.

[44]

Proceedings in the Senate

Saturday, July 8, 1911.
The Senate met at 11 o'clock a. m.

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. Ulysses G. B. Pierce, D. D.,
as follows :

0 Thou who art the God of all comfort, as again the
muffled voice of heavenly death is heard in our midst, we
bow our heads in submission to Thy holy will. Yet are
we not affrighted, seeing that whether living or dying we
are Thine. Therefore though we walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, we fear no evil; knowing that if
the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have
a building from Thee, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. And unto Thee, with whom is
the fountain of life, and in whose light we shall see light,
be glory on earth and in heaven, now and for evermore.
Amen.

A message from the House of Representatives, by J. C.
South, its Chief Clerk, communicated to the Senate the
intelligence of the death of Hon. Alexander Clark
Mitchell, late a Representative from the State of Kansas,
and transmitted resolutions of the House thereon.

The Presiding Officer. The Chair lays before the
Senate resolutions of the House of Representatives, which
will be read.

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows:

In the House of Representatives,

July 8, 1911.
Resolved, That the House has heard with regret and profound
sorrow of the death of Alexander Clark Mitchell, Representa-
tive in this House from the second congressional district of
Kansas.

[45]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

Resolved, That a committee of 15 Members of the House, with
such Members of the Senate as may be joined, be appointed to
attend the funeral, at Lawrence, Kans., and tliat the necessary
expenses attending tlie execution of this order be paid out of the
contingent fund of the House.

Resolved, That the Sergeant at Arms of the House be authorized
and directed to take sucli steps as may be necessary for properly
carrying out the provisions of this resolution.

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the
Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased.

Mr. Curtis. Mr. President, I offer the resolutions which
I send to the desk.

The Presiding Officer. The resolutions offered by the
Senator from Kansas will be read.

The Secretary read the resolutions (S. Res. 99), as
follows :

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep sensibility the
announcement of the death of the Hon. Alexander Clark
Mitchell, late a Representative from the State of Kansas.

Resolved, That the Secretary be directed to communicate a
copy of these resolutions to the House of Representatives.

The resolutions were considered by unanimous con-
sent, and unanimously agreed to.

Mr. Curtis. Mr. President, as a further mark of respect
to the memory of the deceased, I move that the Senate
adjourn.

The motion was unanimously agreed to, and (at 1
o'clock and 56 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until
Monday, July 10, 1911, at 11 o'clock a. m.

Saturday, January it, 1913.
Mr. Curtis. I desire to give notice that on Saturday,
February 8, 1913, I will ask the Senate to consider resolu-
tions commemorative of the life, high character, and pub-
lic services of Hon. Edmond H. Madison and Hon. A. C.
Mitchell, late Members of the House of Representatives
from the State of Kansas.

[46]

Proceedings in the Senate

Saturday, February 8, 1913.
The Chaplain, Rev. Ulysses G. B. Pierce, D. D., offered
the following prayer:

Eternal God, our heavenly Father, as we stand before
Thee on this day of precious memory we thank Thee that
life is not so short that we can not for a time lay aside
our customary labors and yield ourselves to the tender
and holy influences of this hour. As here we stand in
Thy presence, we would take the shoes from off our feet,
knowing that where Th}^ servants have faithfully and truly
sought to do Thy will there indeed is holy ground. Here
manifest Thyself unto our waiting spirits, we pray Thee,
and fulfill unto us Thy promise that where Thy children
are gathered together in Thy name there Thou wilt be
in their midst.

0 Thou who art God, not of the dead but of the living,
seeing that all souls live unto Thee, we thank Thee, not
as we would but as we are able, for the blessed privilege
of having known and labored with him whom we this
day commemorate. Inspire our hearts, quicken our
memories, and direct our thoughts, that the life which
we would now honor may stand before us with all its
power and in all its beauty. That life was Thine, our
Father, and Thine it is. We yield Thee all praise, O Holy
One, for the priceless heritage of the memory of him
whose life is now hid with Christ in Thee.

We pray Thee to be near to those to whoin this life
was most dear and to comfort those whose tender sorrow
is too great for words and too deep for tears. Uphold
them with Thy heavenly power and let Thy grace be suffi-
cient for them until we, too, stand in Th}^ nearer pres-
ence, where we shall know even as we have been known.

And unto Thee, our God, who hast loved us with an
everlasting love and hast called us into Thine eternal

[47]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

kingdom in Christ, unto Thee who hast given us eternal
comfort and good hope through the Gospel, be all glory
and praise on earth and in heaven, now and forevermore.
Amen.

The Presiding Officer (Mr. Marline of New Jersey in
the chair). The Chair lays before the Senate resolutions
from the House of Representatives, which will be read.

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows:

In the House of Representatives,

April 21, 1912.

Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended
that opportunity may be given for tributes to the memory of
Hon. Alexander C. Mitchell, late a Member of the House from
the State of Kansas.

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory
of the deceased and in recognition of his distinguished public
career the House, at the conclusion of these exercises, shall stand
adjourned.

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the
Senate.

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to
the family of the deceased.

Mr. Curtis. Mr. President, I offer the resolutions which
I send to the desk.

The Presiding Officer. The resolutions will be read.

The resolutions (S. Res. 460) were read, considered
by unanimous consent, and unanimously agreed to, as
follows :

Resolved, That the Senate expresses its profound sorrow on
account of the death of Hon. Alexander C. Mitchell, late a Mem-
ber of the House of Representatives from the State of Kansas.

Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended
in order that fitting tribute may be paid his high character and
distinguished public services.

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these
resolutions to the House of Representatives and to the family of
the deceased.

[48]

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES

Address of Mr. Curtis, of Kansas

Mr. President : We are met here at this hour in respect
to the memory of the late Hon. Alexander C. Mitchell,
of the second district of Kansas, whose death occurred
soon after he entered upon his duties as a Member of the
Sixty-second Congress. In fact, his health was such that
inany of his friends thought it unwise for him to come to
Washington to assume his office, but he had been elected
and felt that his place was here, and came to do his part,
and he did it faithfully to the end.

He was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, October 11, 1860; was
educated in the common schools and the University of
Kansas, graduating in June, 1889, with the degree of
LL. B.; engaged in the practice of law at Lawrence, Kans.;
was county attorney of Douglas County, Kans,, for four
j-^ears; member of the Kansas Legislature for four years
and of the State board of law examiners three years;
married Miss Helen M. Baldwin July, 1890.

His service in the House was too brief to give those who
did not know him a view of his talents and his abilities.
The earnest study which he gave to the great subjects
of national legislation, the independence of view with
which he survej^ed the entire field, and the wisdom of
his conclusions evidenced that with experience he would
have been a valuable servant for the people who had so
recently honored him at the polls. He was an able lawyer
and had won an enviable position at the bar of Kansas.

92842° — 13 i [49]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

He had been a member of the legislature and had forged
to the front as a leader, and it can be justly said that his
public service previous to his entrance into the sphere
of national legislation had been most useful and dis-
tinguished.

He of whom I speak was ever ready to battle strenu-
ously for the things he thought to be right, yet always
ready and willing to meet more than halfway those who
disagreed with him and to settle questions for the best
interest of all concerned. Mr. Mitchell's private life
was clean, wholesome, honorable. His home life
was ideal, happy, and pleasant, and with his death there
has passed from his family, his friends, and the public
a man of unblemished and noble character, a man of
varied and marked abilities. He accomplished a great
work in less than the full span of human life. In the
State of Kansas, where his honors were won, his demise
is universally regretted and deplored.

[50]

Address of Mr. Bristow, of Kansas

Mr^ President: An able law'j^er, an experienced and
useful legislator, successful in the administration of im-
portant and varied public duties, frugal and generous in
business affairs, spotless in private character, a citizen of
high standing and commanding influence in his commu-
nity; at the age of 50 chosen to represent his congres-
sional district in the National House of Representatives,
and at the very threshold of a promising congressional
career, stricken with a fatal disease, he passed away.

This briefly tells the story of the attainments of Alex-
ander Clark Mitchell. Why one so well equipped to
serve, possessing character, industr>% intelligence of a
high order, and superb moral worth should be taken,
while millions who do not possess such a combination of
noble attributes are left, is one of the inexplicable mys-
teries of human existence.

Mr. Mitchell was elected to represent the second Kan-
sas district in Congress in November, 1910. He received
a large majority for that district, much larger than was
usually given to the Republican candidate. He enjoyed
in a high degree the confidence of the people. They be-
lieved in his integrity and had faith in his ability. They
loved him and trusted him. He was permitted to serve
them but a short time, yet those of us w^ho knew him well
can fully realize the great loss they sustained in his death.

He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in October, 1860, came
to Kansas when a young man, and began life in his
adopted State as a farm hand. By his own efforts he
acquired a good education, graduating from our State
university in June, 1889. He began the practice of law

[51]

Memorial Addresses: Representative Mitchell

in Lawrence the same year and soon l)ecame one of the
leaders at the bar and continued to hold a high position
in his profession until his death. He was honored by the
people of his county by being elected as their county
attorney for t\YO terms, was chosen twice to represent his
district in the State legislature, served as regent of the
State university for six years, and was a member of the
State board of law examiners for three years. In 1890
he was married to Miss Helen M. Baldwin, and she and
three children mourn the lost of a devoted husband and
a kind father. While no plummet line of sympathy can
fathom the depths of their grief, yet thousands of friends
yearn to help them bear their burden. With a deep and
abiding sorrow 1 bow with them in their great affliction,
for the death of "Alec " Mitchell was to me a personal
bereavement. He was my intimate friend. We were
about the same age and started our political life together
in the same community. When I was elected to a seat
in this body he presented my name to the Kansas Legis-
lature. The mutual joy which that day brought us both
no fitting phrase can properly express. I knew him well
for 25 years. For a quarter of a century we worked side
by side in the fierce political conflict that was waged in
Kansas for better government. In that struggle he was
always on the firing line. Able in counsel, cool in judg-
ment, and vigorous in action, he bore well his part in
every battle.

I feel his death more deeply than words can express.
When he passed away I lost a beloved friend and a wise
counselor whose place can not be filled. But not only
was his death a great loss to his intimate personal friends,
but a disaster to his district, from which it will not re-
cover for years to come. We loved him, we mourn his
loss, and with fortitude submit to the inexorable decree
of an all-wise Providence whose judgments are good, and

[52]

Address of Mr. Bristow, of Kansas

though we can not now understand them we know that
they are wise, and we patiently wait for the unfolding of
the years to reveal His 'purpose in visiting upon us this
great affliction.

Mr. Curtis. Mr. President, I offer the resolution which
I send to the desk.

The Presiding Officer. The resolution will be read.
The Secretary' read the resolution, as follows:

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of
the deceased Senators Robert Love Taylor and George S. Nixon
and deceased Representatives Edmoxd H. Madison and Alexander
C. Mitchell the Senate do now adjourn.

The resolution was unanimously agreed to; and (at 2
o'clock and 47 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until
Monday, Februaiy 10, 1913, at 12 o'clock meridian.

[53]

LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS

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