Memorial addresses in honor of Governors Austin and McGill

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MEMOEIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF GOVERNORS
AUSTIN AND McGILL.*

Horace Austin was born in Canterbury, Conn., October 15, 1831;
and died in Minneapolis, November 7, 1905. He came to Minnesota
in 1856, settling at St. Peter; was judge of the Sixth Judicial Dis-
trict, 1865-69; and was governor of this state, 1870-74.

Andrew Ryan McGill was born in Saegerstown, Pa., February 19,
1840; and died in St. Paul, October 31, 1905. He came to Minnesota
and settled at St. Peter, in 1861; was private secretary to Governor
Austin, 1870-73; and was governor, 1887-89.

Biographies of these and each of the other governors of Minnesota,
by General James H. Baker, are published, with their portraits, in Vol-
ume Xin of this Society's Historical Collections, issued at the same
time with the present volume.

The first of these Memorial Addresses was mainly written before
the death of Governor Austin, which occurred a week after that of
Governor McGill and less than a week before this Memorial Meeting.

General Henry W. Childs spoke as follows :

The death of so distinguished a member of this Society as the
late Andrew R3^an McGill calls for more than a formal obituary
notice. It presents an occasion where a due regard for the mem-
ory of one who has taken a prominent part in public affairs
prompts a review, however brief, of his life and public services.

Governor McGill represented the best ideals of civic life. He
fulfilled, in a marked degree, the obligations of a citizen. In all
his relations with his fellow men, whether in public or private sta-
tion, he was always the courteous gentleman, useful citizen,

♦Presented at the monthly meeting of the Executive Council, November
13. 1905.

714 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

thoughtful and helpful friend. Calm in temperament, sound in
judgment, of quick intelligence, well informed, courageous in de-
fense of the right, moved alwa3^s by a spirit of the utmost candor,
he lived among men a wholesome force.

Although not great in the sense of being endowed with those
extraordinary natural gifts possessed only by the few, he yet rose
far above mediocrity and was in truth an able man. That bodily
infirmity which terminated his career with appalling suddenness,
began its destructive work in the very bloom of his manhood. For
more than twenty years he had performed his part upon life's stage
admonished by a silent monitor that he must wisely conserve his
energies. He was, therefore, seriously handicapped in any field
which exacts prolonged and wearying Labor, either of brain or
muscle. He was thus compelled to halt on the hither side of that
intense application without which none may gather the richest
rewards of intellectual effort. And yet he surpassed in the race
many a stalwart competitor. They who enjoyed his intimacy and
listened to his d^iscourse upon men and measures, know best of all
with what clearness and fullness he had formed his opinions. Nor
is there dearth of competent witnesses. A long public career had
brought him in contact with men of note, aroused his interest in
public questions, stimulated him to study and reflection, and fur-
nished frequent occasion for an interchange of views. Fond of his
friends, delighting in social converse, and sought out because of the
quiet enjoyment of his companionship, he created a crowd of wit-
nesses who can testify to the playfulness of his mirth and the
breadth and solidity of his knowledge.

A brief glimpse at the chief events in his life is requisite to a
fair estimate of his character.

It is no doubt a laudable desire and much witnessed of late at
American firesides, to trace one's ancestry, if haply it may be done,
to some great character who left a deep impress upon the times in
which he moved. It betrays a deep seated belief that the qualities
of greatness are inheritable. Edwin Eeed. in a passage of striking
originality, has voiced this truth. "Intellectual energy," he says,
''is the product of antecedents. A great genius never comes by
chance. It always bursts upon the Avorld, as the new star in

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF AUSTIN AND MCGILL. 715

Auriga burst upon us, unexpectedly, but only because we have not
explored the depths out of which it has come. Every man at birth
is an epitome of his progenitors. He starts out with the elements
of his character drawn from the widest sources, but so mixed in
him that he differs necessarily from every other individual of his
raoe. Here is the problem of life. Not the dome of St. Peter's,
but how the hand that rounded it acquired its skill; not the play
of Hamlet, but how the mind that gave it its wondrous birth was
developed, — these are our chief concerns."

It may not be without profit to trace out to some extent, slight
though it must be, the antecedents of our subject, and to ascertain
a glimpse of the progenitors of which he was the epitome. What
were the strains of blood that coursed in his veins?

That bigoted and oppressive English policy which denied Ire-
land religious liberty under Charles I. and ruined her industries
under William of Orange, was nowhere more severely felt than in
the province of Ulster. Antrim, an Ulster county and the most
northeasterly territory of Ireland, was more Scotch than Irish, and
more Protestant than Catholic, It had become under James I. a
Presbyterian stronghold and a bee-hive of industrial activity. Op-
pression might exterminate, but it could not subdue the stern fol-
lowers of John Knox. William Penn had, by friendly interven-
tion, greatly endeared himself to Irish hearts, to many of whom
Pennsylvania became an attractive name. There, during the eight-
eenth century, large numbers sought relief from the oppression of
English misrule. WTiat the Old World lost and the New World
gained is witnessed in the splendid manhood displayed on many
a battlefield and in many a forum. Among those who forsook old
Antrim for the new colony was Patrick McGill, who arrived in
1774 and located at first in Northumberland county. When the
Eevolution rallied the sons of liberty in military ranks, he was
among them and did his share of fighting against the mother coun-
try. In 1800 he removed to the western part of Pennsylvania,
where he settled upon a tract of land in what afterward became
Crawford county. The family residence seems to have been the
first house erected on the site of the village of Saegerstown.

716 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

Patrick McGill had a family of several children, one of whom,
named Charles Dillon McGill, married Angeline Martin, a lady
of English descent. Her grandfather, Charles Martin, was ap-
pointed by Washington an officer in the Second United States
Infantry, which oflBce was subsequently resigned by him, and he
thereafter received a commission as major general of Pennsylvania
troops.

Of the marriage of Charles Dillon McGill and Angeline Mar-
tin was born the subject of these remarks. The mother is said to
have been a lady of great force of character and Christian virtues.
We may safely assume that Governor McGill began life not only
as the inheritor of good blood, but also under excellent home in-
fluences. It was his misfortune to lose his mother by death when
he was only eight years of age, an irreparable misfortune. His
boyhood was passed upon his father's farm. He received such edu-
cation as the public schools and the Saegerstown Academy could
give him. That he was a studious youth appears from the fact
that at the age of nineteen he removed to the state of Kentucky,
where he found employment as a teacher in a public school, a
pursuit which engaged him there for upwards of two years; but
Kentucky was not in 1861 a congenial abode for a northern youth
indoctrinated with a love for free institutions.

In his quest for a new field, young McGill came to Minnesota
and located in 1861 at St. Peter, where he soon found emplo3rment
as principal of the public schools. In August of the following
year, he enlisted in the Ninth Eegiment of Minnesota Infantry,
and was made orderly sergeant of his company. His military ex-
perience covered about one year and embraced the campaign of
his regiment against the Sioux Indians. Failing health resulted
in his discharge from the service for physical disabilities in 1863.
Shortly after his discharge from the service, he was elected super-
intendent of schools of iTicollet county, a position which he filled
for two consecutive terms.

The year 1865 is witness of the earnestness with which McGill
sought to make headway in the world. He not only embarked thai
year in the field of journalism, but he was also elected clerk of
the district court of his county and began a course of study for

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF AUSTIN AND MCGILL. 717

admission to the bar. During the next four years, his time was
divided between his threefold duties. He was admitted to the legal
profession in 1869, but it is fair to assume that his acquaintance
with the sages of the law was neither broad nor deep. Whatever
his natural aptitudes for the bar, it does not appear that he ever
had a client or wrote a brief. Circumstances soon directed him
to the political rather than the professional field.

Immediately upon his arrival at St. Peter he formed the ac-
quaintance of a gentleman who was destined to attain great prom-,
inence in public life, the late Horace Austin. Governor Austin
was a noble type of manhood. Fearless to a fault, the soul of
integrity, loving and doing justice, he never shrank from duty,
never quailed before an enemy, and never deceived a friend. Lit-
tle indebted to the schools, he yet became an able lawyer, a wise
judge, and one of the most powerful of reasoners.

Wlien young McGill began the study of law, Horace Austin was
the district judge of the judicial district to which Nicollet county
then belonged, and became the student's preceptor. It is incredi-
ble that such a master taught the elements of law without empha-
sizing the truth that the great purpose of human law is the ad-
vancement of justice. The student never forgot the lesson.

Forty years ago the people of this country, and especially of
the western states, became aroused over the question of the regula-
tion of the railways, whose managers, while imposing excessive
rates, claimed complete immunity from state interference. The
public generally, including the bar of the country, conceded the
immunity. But there were a few dissentients, and Judge Austin
was among them. He expressed his views with rugged plainness
and caught the public ear. In the fall of 1869 he became his
party's candidate for the office of governor, and, notwithstanding
unmeasured campaign vilification, he was successful at the polls.
To McGill, who had given him hearty support with voice and pen,
he tendered the position of private secretary to the governor, and
it was accepted. Thus was the young man introduced to the field
of state politics, placed in touch with its widespread forces, and
brought face to face with many of the practical problems of state
government which were then uppermost in the public thought.

718 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

The position gave him excellent training for the duties which in
turn awaited him.

The administration of Governor Austin deservedly ranks among
the ablest administrations of the governor's oflSce. No governor
of Minnesota ever took up the burden with a firmer grasp or a
keener sense of its obligations. His first message to the legislature
is remarkable for its wealth of proposed measures looking to the
future development of the state. With rare sagacity he foresaw
the importance of Duluth as a distributing point and its influence
upon transportation, and he therefore advocated the improvement
of its harbor. He condemned the pernicious evil of unbridled
special legislation, that patron saint of private jobbery. He rec-
ognized those hurtful restrictions of the constitution which were
a stumblingblock to the progress of the state, and recommended
the calling of a constitutional convention. He dealt with the sub-
ject of the public lands with the wisdom of a statesman. His dis-
cussion of the question of the relationship of railways to the public
was a prophecy of the present. These and many other subjects
were themes fruitful of much discussion in the executive chambers
while Andrew E. McGill was private secretary. The impressions
then formed were reflected in his messages to the legislature six-
teen years afterward.

The association of the two men in those years was not to the
advantage of the younger one alone. Governor Austin's wisdom
never declared itself more surely than when he brought from St.
Peter for the important office of private secretary the genial and
clear-brained McGill, who was a born politician, using the term in
its best sense, while Austin was naturally the reverse. McGill
could placate where Austin, with honest inflexibility, would repel.
None knew Austin better than his private secretary ; none admired
him more, nor understood as well the temper of his mind, the
elements of his strength and weakness. The governor had not yet
enjoyed enough of society to wear off the modesty which he carried
forth from the simplicity of his father's home. McGill, true to
the instincts of the Irish race and with a flavor of Irish wit in his
speech, loved and courted the social hour. It is not to be doubted,
therefore, that he was a constant source of strength to his chief.

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF AUSTIN AND MCGILL. 719

Moreover his eyes and ears gathered important facts which Grov-
ernor Austin would not have seen or heard, but which a most con-
fidential relationship enabled him to possess.

The governor and his secretary were thus associated during the
four years of the former's incumbency of the governorship, with
the exception of the closing fortnight. It was a period of mutual
confidence and respect, when a friendship was formed far too deep
to be disturbed by any subsequent event. We catch a glimpse of
it when, in 1887, Governor McGill was able to appoint his friend
to a place upon the board of railroad and warehouse commissioners,
a position for which he was eminently qualified and which he filled
with distinguished ability.

On the 15th of December, 1873, Governor Austin transferred
his secretary to the office of insurance commissioner. The office
had existed only about a year, and its duties were of comparatively
slight importance, as there were then only about fifty insurance
companies doing business in this state. The appointee continued
at the head of that department for thirteen consecutive years, dur-
ing which time he thoroughly familiarized himself with the insur-
ance business, S3^stematized the work of the office, secured the adop-
tion of needful legislation, and placed on record a series of reports
which gave him high standing in the insurance world as an officer
of exceptional ability.

We now approach the most important epoch in the life of
McGill, when his name became enrolled upon the roster of Min-
nesota's chief magistrates.

His nomination to the office of governor in 1886 was not a
political accident, but the expression of the genuine sentiments of
a large following of admiring citizens who had watched his official
career and reposed confidence in his executive ability. It is not
meant by this that his nomination was du*^ to any remarkable
demonstration in his behalf, for it was not. Rather it is meant
that by a quiet, able and conscientious discharge of duty, he had
made for himself so favorable an impression upon the public mind
that it told greatly in his favor in the pre-convention contest and
brought him final success.

720 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

Nor were the hopes of his friends disappointed in the events
of the administration of his office. Whatever estimate posterity
shall place upon the achievements of his administration, its verdict
must be that no governor ever left behind him a purer official rec-
ord. But his administration was far from being weak or fruitless.
Short as was his tenure of the office of chief executive, several
measures of great and permanent value were then enacted into law,
two of which will long make his administration conspicuous, the
one affecting the morals, the other the transportation interests of
the state.

The Legislature of 1885, prompted by the wise and timely
recommendations of Governor Hubbard in his message of that
year, seriously took up the work of further regulation of the rail-
ways of the state, which culminated in the passage of the act of
1885, whereby the Eailroad and Warehouse Commission was cre-
ated, vested with certain important powers. That measure was a
decidedly forward step, but, like all pioneer legislation, it was
wanting in provisions without which it could only prove, at best,
insufficient in practice and a disappointment to its friends. This
truth was clearly recognized by many of the friends of the public
regulation of common carriers.

Governor McGill was early in arriving at the view that it would
not do to halt at the work done in 1885, good as it was, and he
therefore made the subject an important feature of his first message
to the Legislature. Happily for the welfare of the state, the
Legislature was not remiss in seconding his efforts, and the ques-
tion received immediate and thorough consideration upon many
important phases. The result was a new measure adopted in 1887,
more sweeping than the pre-existing law in the scope of its pro-
visions, which, with the amendments of later years, make it the
most comprehensive measure of its kind now extant. It is remark-
able in this, that eighteen years ago it conferred upon the Board
of Railway Commissioners powers to prescribe maximum rates, the
power which the President now recommends, against strenuous
opposition, to be given to the Interstate Commerce Commission.

One has only to read Governor McGilFs first messsage to the
Legislature to learn with what wisdom and fairness he treated the
subject of railroads. With no disposition to be unjust to the car-

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF AUSTIN AND MCGILL. 721

rier, he boldly advocated the rights of the shipper. Few measures
have a place upon our statute books which have afforded greater
relief to the industrial interests of the state than the railway act
of 1887.

The other measure before referred to is the high license law,
whose value in minimizing the evils of the liquor traffic is evi-
denced by the fact that no serious attempt has ever been made to
repeal any of its essential provisions. The passage of such a law
was one of the issues of the political contest of 1886, and it arrayed
against the Republican candidate the embittered hostility of the
liquor interests of the state. Be it said to his praise that he never
once faltered in redeeming the pledge of his party to the people
of the state.

Governor McGill was one of the founders of the Acker Post of
the Grand Army of the Republic, in St. Paul. He threw the
weight of his influence in favor of providing a home for the relief
of honorably discharged soldiers. Now that his voice is hushed
forever, let the following^ taken from his first message to the Legis-
lature, bear witness to his profound regard for those who wear
the blue :

To you is accorded the privilege of giving substantial expression
to the gratitude which the people of Minnesota feel toward the de-
fenders of the Union, whose heroism and valor from 1861 to 1865
preserved us a nation. The death roll of the old soldiers tells us
plainly that whatever is to be done in this direction must be done
promptly. It must be done not as a charity, but as one of the many
obligations resting upon us as citizens of a common country for
which these men did valiant service in the dark days of the Rebel-
lion.

The fruition of his labors in their behalf is the cluster of
commodious structures reared on the picturesque site near Min-
nehaha Falls. It was during his administration that the state
began its policy of maintaining farmers' institutes, a policy so wise
that none would now dare to call it in question. These and many
other subjects received his careful consideration and support.

When about to lay down the duties of his great office, his clos-
ing words to the Legislature, touching his administration, were :

HS-46

722 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

Whatever Its defects, I shall at least carry with me into private
life the solace which comes of an earnest endeavor to faithfully ad-
minister the trust placed in my hands by the people.

The defeat of Governor McGill as a candidate for renomina-
tion in 1888 was a great political mistake, a cause of sorrow^ to his
friends, an injustice to himself, and the source of subsequent mis-
fortune to his party. It was strangely at variance with the high
praise bestowed upon him in the platform of his party adopted
by the convention which passed him by. Note the words: "The
Republican party points with pride to the pure and clean admin-
istration of Governor McGill and to the measures he commended."
His friends, and they are many, can never forget the wrong then
done him nor cease to regret that he was not accorded a second
term, when, relieved of many of those perplexities always incident
to a first term, he could have devoted himself more exclusively
to public affairs and thus have demonstrated all the more clearly
how great w^ere his talents and how unselfish his motives.

For several years immediately following his retirement from
the gubernatorial office, he was engaged in private business. All
in all,' that was the oloudiest period of his life. He suffered in
the financial storms which overwhelmed the countiy; but his
sturdy spirit, though bowed, was not broken by it.

From June, 1900, until his death he occupied the office of post-
master of St. Paul. They were five years of happiness. He was
peculiarly adapted to the position. The duties were congenial;
his relations with his subordinates were most cordial; and his con-
tact with the general public rarely failed to leave a pleasant mem-
ory behind.

He was state senator from Eamsey county during the sessions
of the Thirty-first to the Thirty-fourth Legislatures inclusive. As
a legislator, he was watchful and cautious, gave much thought to
the welfare of our public institutions, was wise in council, and
wielded a wholesome influence upon legislation. No man enjoyed
to a higher degree the confidence of his fellow members.

The many and varied public positions held by Governor McGill
speak louder than words of the esteem in which he was always held
by his fellow citizens. There are men so weakened by pride that

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF AUSTIN AND MCGILL. 723

public station only serves to give greater prominence to their van-
ity. Such the great bard had in mind when he made Hamlet, in
the immortal soliloquy, speak of "the insolence of office/^ With
that tribe Governor McGill had no sympathy. He was always
plain, simple, approachable, lovable, and glad to greet a friend or
acquaintance anywhere. ISTor was this the studied art of the time-
server, but the innate qualities of the true gentleman, implanted
when he drew his life from the fountains of his noble mother's
breast. He was popular because his manhood found quick response
in the public heart, which cannot be long deceived.

Since the preparation of this address was begun. Governor Hor-
ace Austin, the old friend of Governor McGill during many years,
has also been suddenly summoned hence. With the weight of
seventy-four years upon him, it was his privilege at the funeral
of Governor McGill to participate in the last rites of the living to
the dead. He left the open grave with loneliness in his heart.
Not long the separation. In life they had been "one soul in two
bodies.'' The spirit of the student beckoned to its old preceptor
and he went. Theirs were two beautiful and most fitting deaths.
Each had done his work manfully and according to the light with
which he had been endowed. Each had discharged his obligations
to the world and faced the future with a sublime trust in the
justice of his Maker. To each was it permitted to pass into the
shadow with mental faculties unimpaired and bodily powers un-
wasted by lingering disease; like two warriors, were they fallen
with harness on.

That freedom of discussion, which, kept within legitimate
channels, is of utmost value in la3rLng bare dishonesty, hypocrisy,
and incompetency, but which too often degenerates into reckless
and unblushing license to belie and defame, exerted itself cruelly
and shamelessly against both of these patriotic and high-minded
men. But the poisoned shafts beat harmless against flawless mail.
Long after their detractors shall have been lost in oblivion, they
will live in the esteem of the wise and good. Truth will do them
justice. Their deeds will be read of men in the ever-changing

724 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

records of the great commonwealth which they served. The words

of Omar Khayyam fit this hour :

"The moving finger writes, and having writ,
Moves on ; nor all your piety nor wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all your tears wash out a breath of it.''

General James H. Baker said :

In Horace Austin, the sixth governor of the state of Minne-
sota, there is much to admire and respect. By profession a lawyer,
he came to the bench of the Sixth Judicial District because of the
general conviction that he was well fitted for the office. It was
soon observed that he was an independent, upright, and fearless
judge. This fact paved the w^ay for greater preferment, and in
1869, backed by his entire judicial district, he was nominated for
governor. The firmness and decisive character which he developed
commended him more to the people than it did to the politicians.
He advocated a complete revision of the criminal code; he op-
posed special legislation; he urged that the state and federal elec-
tions should occur on the same day; and when a subservient legis-
lature apportioned the internal improvement lands among certain
railroad corporations, he promptly vetoed the proposition, and
secured the adoption of a constitutional amendment prohibiting
the legislature from squandering these lands without consent oi
the voters.

These and like vigorous measures so commended him to the
people that he was re-elected by a largely increased majority.
There was about him so much independence of spirit, and such
courage of his convictions, that he was not possessed of those
qualities which fitted him for popularity or political prosperity.
He had a certain sharpness and asperity of character. His nature
was somewhat imperious, self-reliant and self-assertive, and he
sometimes dealt harshly with those opposed to his views.

When the Sioux outbreak came and threatened the border with
devastation, he attested his patriotic devotion by promptly offer-
ing his services to the state, and he made a splendid record in

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF AUSTIN AND MCGILL. 725

defense of the homes of the frontier. At Camp Baker it was my
fortune to see him lead a gallant charge against the infuriated
savages. *

When he retired from the gubernatorial office, he seemed to
abandon the purpose or the hope of further political preferment,
though he held several subordinate appointive offices, which he
filled with dignity and honor. The uprightness of his character,
his general intelligence and pertinent views on all public questions,
made him a welcome guest among a large circle of friends. His
private life was one of unsullied purity. His religious views were
strict, but, in all, liberal. In some measure his life was incom-
plete, an admirable fragment, of which we could wish there had
been more.

If you will study the roster of our governors with comparative
care, you will find that Horace Austin stands well up in the front
row, and he bequeaths to the state an honorable record scs one of
the best of its executives.

It is sorrowful indeed to see that our governors are passing
away. Within one week, two unique personalities departed to the
impenetrable beyond, Horace Austin and Andrew Eyan McGill.
They were the Damon and Pythias of our executives, the Gemini
of the gubernatorial constellation. All their lives they were the
most intimate of friends. Each had his rise and development in
the same city of St. Peter, a city famous for its governors. It has
furnished the state four executives. Swift, Austin, McGill, and
Johnson. If Virginia was the mother of presidents, surely St.
Peter is the prolific mother of governors.

Henry A. Swift, her first governor, was as clean, able and
accomplished a man as ever honored the gubernatorial chair of
our state. The two following we are now considering; and I may
add that St. Peter's last offering, upon the chief magistrate's altar,
gives abundant promise, by his fair, manly and graceful deport-
ment, to add a fresh laurel to the brow of his native city.

There was something dramatic in the lives of these two gov-
ernors. Their unexpected departure to the "pale realms of shade"
recalls facts in their history, showing how they had traveled life's

726 MINNESOTA HISTOEICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

dusty paths together, in sympathy and co-operation. In life, as in
death, their intimacy Was manifest.

When Austin became governor, he took McGill with him as
private secretary. In due time Austin promoted McGill to be in-
surance commissioner, which position he held for thirteen years.
In turn, when McGiU became governor, he appointed Austin as
railroad commissioner. In their orbit, as statesmen, neither of
them affected to soar high. Neither of them was an orator, and
thus they could not rely upon the magnetic power of speech to
advance their interest. The plurality of each at the election was
only about 2,000, being the lowest ever given to Republican can-
didates.

McGill's administration was characterized by faithful and
meritorious work. He urged the simplification of the tax laws, the
abolition of contract prison labor, and the establishment of that
noble institution, the Soldiers* Home. He made a very firm and
memorable stand in favor of high license and local option. These
aU stand to his honor and credit. He was one of the organizers of
Acker Post, G. A. R., and ever remained one of its most efficient
members. There is nothing to recall about McGill which is not
pleasant and sweet to remember. [N^otwithstanding that he had
been set aside in renomination by his party, he did not go over to
the enemy ; but resumed his wonted place in the ranks with dignity,
and performed every party duty uncomplainingly. He had done
no wrong, and many subsequent rewards came to him by reason of
his dignified and manly course.

That his party refused him a renomination was a political in-
justice. By every usage of the party, and by his excellent admin-
istration, he was entitled to it.

Governor McGill was justly esteemed as a citizen and a man.
His affections bound him to his country and to his friends. Al-
ways kind and considerate of friend or foe, with a personal deport-
ment beyond the reach of criticism, his constant civiUties won
upon all. Anger and resentment were unknown to him in his
conduct of life. He was always, at aU times and above all, a gentle-
man. He was truly the gentleman in politics. Above all, he pos-
sessed a spotless character; and character, like gold coin, passes

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF AUSTIN AND MCGILL. 727

current among all men and in all countries. His private life was
pure and sweet, and his friendship a benediction.

Death closes all questions, and hides all faults; but it is prob-
able that these two friends had as little to cover and conceal as
any two public men in the state. Their unexpected departure, the
quick severance of all earthly ties, the sudden "loosing of the
silver cord," while cruel for friends to bear, I fully believe was in
complete accord with the personal desire of each. In the language
of the poet, we may say to them, as they might well say to each
other :

" 'T is hard to part, when friends are dear,

Perhaps 't will cost a sigh, a tear, —

Then steal away, — give little warning;

Choose thine own time; say not 'Good night,'

But in some brighter clime bid me 'Good morning!' "

Governor Lucius F. Hubbard said :

Surely those of us who have listened to the memorial addresses
of General Chi Ids and General Baker, as indeed all who knew Gov-
ernors Austin and McGill in life, will cordially subscribe to the.
sentiments of respect and eulogy which they have so well expressed.
I feel that I will be unable to add anything, except perhaps a brief
reminiscence of a personal nature.

It was my good fortune to become somewhat intimate with G ov-
ernor McGill in an official as well as in a personal relation, for he
was a member of my official family during the time I occupied the
executive office. His conduct of the office of State Insurance Com-
missioner during that time brought us much in contact, and gave
me opportunity to accurately measure and appreciate the qualities
of character that most distinguished him and dominated his rela-
tions in life. I had not known Governor McGill well prior to the
time of which I speak, but I knew his reputation and qualifica-
tions as a public officer, and it was this knowledge, aside from all
other considerations, that made me feel that the public interests
would be best served by his continued occupation of the position.
His long service in that office and the marked success of his ad-
ministration of its affairs, as also his subsequent public service,.

728 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

constitute a notable tribute to his ability and conscientious devo-
tion to duty.

Officially and otherwise I always found Governor McGill to be
a safe adviser. While deliberate in forming an opinion, he was
logical and sound in his final judgment. It required time and
much communication with him to learn and to appreciate at their
value the sterling qualities that were an essential feature of his
character. One quality that always impressed me was his loyalty
to his friends and to his spoken word. Those who knew him well
ever placed absolute confidence in any assurance he gave respecting
the affairs of life or the more intimate relations between man
and man.

Following our official relations, there continued until the day
of his death a feeling upon my part that in Governor McGill I had
a friend whose devotion would only be qualified by his sense of
right and duty.

The death of Governor McGill creates the third vacancy in
the official group who first occupied this building, in the early and
middle '80s, in charge of the state administration. Attorney Gen-
eral H^hn and Auditor Braden preceded him to the mystic beyond
some years ago. The narrowing circumference of that circle is
surely an admonition to those who survive and to all of us as well,
that the span of life is but brief at best.

Though my acquaintance with Governor Austin was more lim-
ited, it was sufficient to enable me to accept as my own the judg-
ment of his immediate friends and of the public at large in their
high regard for his ability and integrity as a man and a public
official. I was a member of the legislature during a part of the
time he served as governor of the state, and among my reminis-
cences of that period is a vivid recollection of the kindly relations
Governor Austin sought to maintain with his fellow workers in
the public service.

Minnesota will honor the memory of these public servants as
among those who have left their impress for good that will long
endure upon the institutions of our state, and whose ability, in-
tegrity and patriotic effort characterized in an especial manner all
their public acts.

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES IJ^ HONOR OF AUSTIN AND MCGILL. 729

Governor John A. Johnson^ who was prevented from being
present at this meeting by official business in a distant part of the
state, wrote the following tribute in a letter which was read by
the secretary :

It wdll be impossible for me to accept your invitation to be
present on this occasion. I sincerely regret my inability to be
with you.

I had but a slight acquaintance with Governor Austin. He
was one of the early pioneers of Minnesota and settled in St. Peter,
my native city, several years before I was born. His activity there
as a citizen and as a public official was very largely before my time
and beyond my recollection. Because of his prominence, I have
often heard him spoken of by the older citizens, and always in those
complimentary terms which beget admiration for men. He was a
man of the most rugged honesty, absolutely fearless in the con-
scientious discharge of his duty, and his name was always a
synonymn for the very best things in human life. It was my
pleasure to know him casually later in life. He was a man, I
imagine, somewhat after the style of our great martyred President,
Abraham Lincoln. While apparently a man of serious moods, there
was beneath all that a vein of the kindest humor, which made him
one of the most attractive of men.

His service to the state, both as Judge and Governor, was most
valuable. We have had more dramatic and more theatrical figures
than Governor Austin, but I doubt that we have had in the gov-
ernor's chair a more conscientious, learned and able executive.

It was my personal privilege to know Governor McGill very
intimately. For over twenty years we had been warm personal
friends. 1 knew him as the editor of the St. Peter Tribune, and
as a private citizen, and as a fellow member of the State Senate.
I knew him in almost every capacity, and I think I can truth-
fully say that I have never known a kinder, truer, better friend
than he was. As a member of the State Senate, it was permitted
him always to be a commanding and leading figure. While not a
strong man in debate, his counsel and his advice were always in
demand. ' When he spoke, which was not frequent, he commanded

730 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

the respect and attention of the body as few other men could ; this
because of his honesty and sincerity of purpose. He was a friend
of the common people and served the people faithfully and well.
His record, both legislative and executive, is so well established
that comment upon it is unnecessary, and yet I cannot refrain
from saying that Minnesota has had no better public officer, either
as Governor or as Senator, than Andrew K. McGill. I think of
him most, however, as the individual citizen. His kindness, his
thoughtfulness, his honesty, and, above all, his absolute devotion
and loyalty to his friends, made him a man to be admired and
revered. Exalted as he was by his fellow men and rising to emi-
nent positions, he never forgot that he came from the people and
that it was his duty to serve the people. His whole life, both
as a private citizen and as a public officer, is an inspiration to the
present and coming generations. Measured by every standard, ex-
cept that of the selfish end of gaining money, his life was a rounded
success.

The state can ill afford to lose such men. There must have
been a Divine purpose in the taking away of these two close per-
sonal and political friends in such rapid succession. As close to
each other as Damon and P3d:hias, there is something sad and
pathetic in their passing away within such a short interval.

Under all the circumstances surrounding their official career
and mine, it seems as though I must be with you on this occasion,
and I regret moje than I can tell you that the press of official duties
makes it impossible for me to follow my own desire.

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