CONGRESSMEN PAY TRIBUTE TO LEADER
Congressmen Pay Tribute to Leader Memorial Exercises in House Characterize La Follette As Crusader With Jefferson and Lincoln m On Sunday, February 20th, 1927, in the United States House of...
...but as a rule it is a fact that the greatest t statesmen do not become our Presidents...
...During my youthful years and early manhood he was the central figure about which my hopes and activities revolved...
...During this campaign the railroads brought to their support- the banks of the State...
...I*a Follette regarded his platform promises as sacred and moral obligations...
...Beck of Wisconsin...
...and that the plain people seldom have an advocate to speak for them...
...Defeated in the legislature, La Follette appealed his case to the court of the last resort, the people of Wisconsin...
...Let ma present in conclusion two scenes distinctly im...
...In keeping with his nature, he instinctively threw his lot with those of his kind, and from that time forward until the day of his death his whole thought and energy was spent fighting their battles, striving to make the world a little pleasantcr, a little brighter for those who toil...
...Ke bill: his o«n monument...
...He then repeated those lines of Henley's: Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, J thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul...
...He not only achieved success in putting through reforms in his own State but had great influence in all the other States of the Union...
...La Follette is gone, the last of the great pioneer Progressive leaders...
...Standing at his desk in the Senate directly in front of the Vice-President, when the whole country was clamoring for war, his voice rang otit in denunciatisn of all the hideous sufferings and hardships that inevitably accompany armed conflicts between nations...
...It is my firm conviction that had he devoted his ability to money-making, as he devoted them to public service, he would have become one of our foremost multi-millionaires...
...In office, as legislator or executive, he was a tireless and resourceful builder, seeking to adapt our Government to modern conditions to afford democratic results...
...His life of service to the plain people constitutes a monument more enduring than our poor efforts of eulogium...
...He could not reward his friends with positions and had to continue the battle against forces of unlimited wealth who were armed with the effective weapon of the Federal patronage of the State...
...swept the Nation and threatened to consume all who had the temerity to speak in the name of peace, when the cry of "traitor" and "pacifist" engulfed all who had the courage to protest against war, Senator La'Follette exhibited an example of courage seldom recorded in the pages of history...
...This, coupled with his oratorical powers, made him an impregnable warrior in the fight for economic justice...
...Not only did he lay no emphasis upon financial gain to himself, but in his political contests in his desire to let the people know what he stood for he was even reckless in his personal sacrifices for the public welfare...
...In tho Capitol of his State I see the silent face of him, life's struggles forever over, so calm and peaceful at rest on the elevated bier that lovinjr hands had draped in the colors of his country's flag, before which ."iO.OOO men and women for two days file by in solemn silence, whose gently flowing tears feelingly testified to their deep sense of personal love and loss...
...Beeaure he lived we are more^ceenly conscious than ever of our duty to be loyal to the (Manciples of liberty, justice, and humanity, for which, in defeat as in victory, he so long and nobly_ wrought and fought...
...that we can do—those of us who were of the inner circle of his friends and so under the immediate impress of his extraordinary personality and the countless millions enriched more indirectly by his radiating influences for good—is to acknowledge publicly our great debt to him for the training, inspiration, and benefits that we shared together in him...
...We in Wisconsin are thankful for his life, and have long enjoyed the benefits resulting from his endeavors...
...The laws passed during the time La Follette was Governor of Wisconsin attracted attention all over the country...
...when he appeared it was the signal for hisses, but he continued on his course...
...ANYTHING I say, I fear, will only detract attention for a fleeting moment from the enduring monument La Follette built for himself...
...In the fell dutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud...
...I .a Follette understood the common people because he was one of them by origin and never lost his' contact with them...
...He backed the civil-service legislation as he promised and it became a law, thereby taking from himself practically all of the governor's patronage...
...And this country meant to him his fellowmen, especially the oppressed, the weak, and the needy ones...
...it is not the currency...
...He read the roll call on men and measures...
...His was a method of research and experiment step by step...
...Need we, therefore, wonder why homage is paid to this brave and public spirited man who has passed from our midst—why eulogies from leaders in every walk of life, all over the Nation, have already been given—yes, that would perhaps cover pages of many a volume attest-lg the worth of La Follette...
...it expresses welfare of the human race, defense of the rights of the poor, sacrifice of personal well-being, and all for the making of a better world in which to live...
...Fighting as he had to against adversity his early associations were among the common people of his vicinity, consisting of all nationalities, people engaged mostly in farming and trades and vocations of a rural population...
...His next step was to attack the power of the railroads, those identical corporations referred to by Chief Justice Ryan, 25 years before, as seeking to "make partition of the State and to share its spoils...
...But the man we knew and loved so long has gone, and while we sadly realize that we have lost our lion-hearted leader, we take solemn pride in knowing that what was said of another great American statesman is also true of our departed friend-He now belongs to the ages...
...But I think it will not be disputed that for nearly 20 years La Follette was leader of the Progressive opposition and the spokesman of millions of American people in the United States Senate...
...When obeying meant violating his convictions, when acquiescing meant what he conceived to be surrender, when to follow meant to abandon his principles, he took the only course open to one of his nature and stood and fought f-what he believed to be right...
...No matter what the odds, he hewed to the line until the day of his death...
...But grander still the last scene of all...
...Three times Wisconsin presented to the Republican national conventions her favorite and famous son...
...Returning from the Mlexican war where he had repeatedly overcome great odds, he was acclaimed the nation's hero...
...He had the courage of his conviction, but oh, how much he had to suffer for it...
...No man in public life ever met with more determined opposition nor was confronted with more discouragements nor made a braver tight...
...Foreseeing the results of war and possessed of an unbounded sympathy for those who must suffer the hardships of war, he instinctively opposed it...
...In the struggles of the masses which has been- going on througb the ages La Follette not only held the ground gained by those great champions of human liberty who pre ceded him but he planted the ftag^ of liberty and democracy far in advance of "where he found it...
...Particularly fresh in my memory are those terrible trials that he had to go through during the dark days of the World War...
...O. J. Kvale, Victor Bergcr, John C. Schafer, Florian Lanipert, Edward Volgt, James A, Frear, and Henry Alien Cooper...
...It was his high regard for human life and love for his country that made him do the things which no other man in public life has ever done and which, in my opinon, stamps him, in our time at least, as the bravest of the brave—a constructive statesman, a real natonal hero...
...If I were to write his epitaph it would fcimply be, "La Follette...
...Speaker, no comments upon the life of Senator La Follette would be worth while without mention of his great courage...
...Through their system of rebates they secured the aid of merchants, manufacturers, and chambers of commerce, who furnished money to go out over the State and buy editorial space in the newspapers...
...In the presidential race of 1848, he was elected.—From Dearborn Independent...
...He knew the thoughts, the ambitions, the hopes, and aspirations of these people, for he was one of them...
...La Follette was fortunate, in his early life, in coming in contact with two of Wisconsin's greatest men, just as thousands of other young men, in turn, have been fortunte in coming in contact with him...
...He had an intimate knowledge of human na-ture...
...When he was very young the responsibility of helping support a widowed mother and the family fell to his lot...
...He took the children of the State out of factories of the State so that the death rate He prohibited, through legislation, the employment of women and children in places dangerous to health or morals...
...La Follette was governor of the State and a firm believer in the merit system and helped draft the bill...
...During the ,"0 years of his active political life Robert M. La Follette was the outstanding champion of luman rights and the mighty defender of democratic principles...
...Instead of a government by political bosses, powerful railroad interests, and special privilege, he secured for us a government by the people...
...I see the living picture of him as he appealed before the public in the last presidential campaign...
...No more does he preside over our councils...
...But La Follette spared neither himself, his family, nor his friends in his supreme love for his country...
...He placed the public health above profits and drove food adulterators beyond our borders...
...which shall lead—money or intellect...
...Peavey of Wisconsin...
...But, Mr...
...Having determined upon his course, he launched himself into the struggle in their defense with all his energy...
...For this work no honest man who knows the record and has ever read the Declaration of Independence, will say I>a Follette was a demagogue, a radical, or a man seeking the destruction of democracy...
...He cleaned up tho factories of the State so that the death rate from tuberculosis fell in factory districts as sanitary conditions improved...
...in history...
...La Follette was, however, by no means an irreligious man...
...So that however great his services were directly ft) his State and to ihe other States of the Union, what he compelled his opponents to do indirectly in order to retain political and legislative power was c.ven more far iv.u V ing in scope av.l content...
...He also knew the handicaps and injustices that wealth and privilege had placed in their pathway...
...He was a genius in politics in its true meaning—the science of government...
...A State government which has not been, touched by the breath of scandal for the last 25 years and a State citizenry enjoying economic, political and religious freedom is a living evidence of the accomplishments of this man and the soundness of his principles...
...But let us hope that it may not always be so...
...La Follette swept corruption from the corridors of the State capito...
...The supreme issue involving all others— He said— is the encroachment of the powerful few upon the rights of the many...
...He was a great statesman...
...The dark hair has turned to gray, but seemingly with renewed youth th.0 old master plays at will upon the heart-strings of the thousands that crowd the halls to hear him...
...who shall fill public stations—educated and patriotic free men, or the feudal serfs of corporate caipital...
...Well may we ask: Wthat American statesman, in our generation, had moved the hearts of millions of his fellow men...
...The press, accordingly, denounced La Follette as a most dangerous demagogue, seeking to wreck the financial fabric of Wisconsin, drive factories out of the State, throw thousands of wage earners out of employment, and ruin the farmers by taking away their markets...
...it was so in the days of Lincoln: and it was so when the star of Bethlehem poised above the lowly manger...
...When history shall have balanced the scales and rendered him full justice, Robert Marion La Follette will be accorded a place, where the people of his own State who knew him best have always enshrined him, with Jefferson, and Lincoln, in company with the noblest defenders of human rights of all lands and of all ages...
...In the past generation no man has dared come before the people of Wisconsin and advocate the return to the spoils system of political control which existed be-fore Robert M...
...In using the word democrat, I do not use i«-in any narrow, partisan sense, but in its broad, comprehensive meaning, a person believing ir: a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people...
...a republic where the broad highway of opportunity offered an equal invitation to every youth to travel, whether he came as a barefooted boy from a humble cottage or traveled in the golden chariot of ancestral wealth...
...There was in him, too, that indomitable will to do, and willingness to die for a great cause and lofty ideals, . The moral sphere rather than the material or the spiritual was La Follette's field of labor...
...He soon learned that the captain of industry can always enlist the aid of the best talent in the land...
...His uncompromising loyalty to principle was his distinguishing trait...
...He entered that contest well knowing that however much the people might desire that he serve them as Chief Executive, the forces in control of the machinery and means of power could prevent his election...
...In a large measure Senator La Follette's success as a statesman may be attributed to the fact that he never advocated a measure, he never fought for a principle without first absorbing all available facts and information and marshaling them into orderly array...
...But La Follette had the facts and he never went into battle without ammunition...
...I am the captain of my soul...
...Wisconsin under his leadership became a legislative workshop for other States to copy from...
...SPEAKER, it is well that we hold memorial services for this great man...
...It matters not how straight the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate...
...Many are the reforms which he put through for the State of Wisconsin...
...1 shall only say here that La Follette took more pride in his war record than in any other" official act of his life, and I offer the prediction that when the day comes, as it will come, when a majority of the seats in this body and in the Senate are filled by men who love peace enough to fight for peace, who will make tho choice between peace and war without fear of executive power, or the propaganda of the press, or the pressure of selfish corporate in« terests, Robert Marion La Follette will be sustained...
...for they learned to know that the platform pledges of La Follette, were his political hible, and would be religiously carried out...
...I remember of his saying to a group of his faithful supporters after a temporary defeat in a convention: The men who win final victories are those who are stimulated to tetter fighting by defeat...
...How we are reminded of his conspicuous absence...
...Now, in the old family burying ground of the Taylors, near Louisvifle, Kentucky, rests the body of this hero whose fellow countrymen voted him to the highest office in their power to bestow...
...His record of achievements will keep his name shining on the pages of history long after his foes have faded into oblivion...
...Measured by these standards La Follette was truly a gTeat soul...
...Thus, under La Follette's leadership, not only the few, but all of its citizens—the farmers, the workers, and the business men—prospered, and today Wisconsin stands in a most enviable position— a leader among the great States of this great Union...
...They we're never permitted to know him...
...Browne of Wisconsin...
...Compromise he scorned and denounced...
...Not only did he seek the errors in the social order but he sought the remedy as well...
...Speaker, I recognize the futility of attempting in the brief space allotted to me to recite the things Robert M. La Follette accomplished in his lifetime...
...himself wrote upon it a name that will liv...
...Joseph D. Beek, and Hubert H. I'eavey...
...It remains for others to tell more fully about his long and uninterrupted service in the Senate of the United States...
...IV /Til...
...It was he who organized and led the revolt in the Republican Party against party leaders, Which culminated in the direct election of United States Senators, control of corporate wealth by a more progressive body of legislation, in State and Nation, and a higher sense of civic consciousness all over this land than we havo known since the World War...
...and so unknown and mediocre men are for policy sake selected as standard bearers...
...While preparing political literature in cam-paigns I often marveled at the extent of his legislative labors...
...He was a close student of the Scriptures, as can be seen in the many quotations to be found in his written works from Holy Writ...
...This is not the time or place to review the events of that period when La Follette, aftei a nation-wide propaganda, was condemned to the legislature of his own State, by the faculty" and board of regents of his Alma Mater, by the city club of his own city, and threatened with expulsion from his scat in the United States Senate...
...R. SPEAKER, Robert Marion La Follette was to me for more than a generation personal friend, trusted counselor, and political leader...
...To add to or take from his enduring fame is not now within my power nor that of any man...
...Nor did he lay stress on religious matters...
...On the platform, I .a Follette was a great teacher, educating the people of the State ia politics and economics...
...In my opinion his name will go down in history beside the names of' the world's two greatest crusaders for democracy—Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln...
...Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed...
...It was so in the days of the Magna Charta...
...No longer in the prime of life he now bears the burden of nigh three score years and ten upon his brow...
...During La Follette's first administration as governor, and atfer every proposal for bringing these great corporations under control had failed, the railroads made the boast that no legislation had been enacted in Wisconsin in 30 years that had not been approved by them...
...There is grave fear that it and its great rival have confederated to make partition of the State and share its spoils...
...He placed our banking system upon as solid a foundation as may be found anywhere in the Union...
...Great were the odds at times which he had to face, but greater still was his courage, which has always carried him past the obstacles that were thrown in his way...
...Congressmen Pay Tribute to Leader Memorial Exercises in House Characterize La Follette As Crusader With Jefferson and Lincoln m On Sunday, February 20th, 1927, in the United States House of Representatives, tributes were paid to the memory of Robert M. La Follette by members of the Wisconsin delegation and by Congressmen Henry R. Rathbone, of Illinois, Fiorello H, i* (iuardia, of Sew York, Edward Howard, of Nebraska, O. J. Kvale, of Minnesota, George Huddleston, of Alabama, John Morrow, of New Mexico, and James O'^ Connor, of Louisiana...
...After La Follette had served three terms as Governor of Wisconsin, his people sent him to Washington to do for the Nation what he "had done for the home folks...
...The climax of his career came when at the call of the plain people be became their candidate for President as an Independent Progressive...
...La Follette is gone...
...But those dark days are fading from memory...
...It was the most comprehensive and far reaching measure of its kind which had been proposed in any State at that time or since...
...He did not shrink from a principle because it was new or fear a measure because it was untried...
...it was so in the days of Jefferson...
...Many of the governor's friends, believing that he took his political life in his hands, advised him that he defer the civil service legislation until the contest was over...
...But, for us, sir, the real purpose of today's exercises should not be merely to voice our admiration and respect for Robert M. La Follette, but to take a renewed hold in the good cause for which he gave his whole life, and to carry on...
...This was publicly acknowledged by progressive leaders of national renown...
...Thus alone he stood while his fellow Senators denounced him as an enemy of mankind...
...That stand brought down upon his head an avalanche of vituperation...
...To him temporary defeat was*lar to be preferred to a permaneTi...
...I respect it...
...What he did here may safely be left to the verdict of history...
...He held the public records of public servants up to the gaze of the voters, and when the people understood, the railroads were brought under control of the State...
...Justice Ryan, in a historic address to the graduates of the university, in 1873, pointed the way in which that service could be rendered when he said: There is looming up a new and dark power...
...He had a high regard for the rights of property, but, like Lincoln, he always placed human rights above property rights...
...Theodore Roosevelt, upon visiting Wisconsin and investigating the working1- of its progressive laws, said: Thanks to the movement for a genuinely democratic government which Senator La Follette led to overwhelming victory in Wisconsin, that State has become literally a laboratory for wise experimental legislation aimingNto secure the social and political betterment of the people as a whole...
...Business had not been injured, as many predicted, but on the contrary hail been benefited and the masses of the people were prosperous, contented, and happy...
...A profound student of the Constitution and the history of his country, his great objective in life was "to bring our Government back to the people and make this country a republic in spirit and practice as well as in theory...
...Nevertheless we are palpably conscious of his invisible presence, for he built his life into tho very bone and fiber of our being and is yet a part of the political atmosphere that envelopes us...
...No man is great unless he measures up to at least three standards—greatness of intellect, greatness of conscience, and greatness of heart...
...I remember when the Wisconsin civil service bill was before the legislature for passage...
...So sound and so beneficial did they prove to be that they soon became the models for our sister States...
...His blight mind, coupled with a strong constitution, and an indomitable will, enabled him to overcome many handicaps which would have stopped others with equal ambition but possessing less physical and mental endurance...
...However much we cherish his memory, al...
...Today, on this occasion, we acknowledge our appreciation of the superb courage of the man...
...He was being opposed by a Postmaster General armed with all the State-Federal patronage...
...With cheers of approval and admiration that rise and sink over and over again, his audiences are brought to their feet time after time under the magic power of his magnetic presence and masterly eloquence...
...Also a marble image of him is to adorn the Hall of Fame in the Nation's Capitol to perpetuate his memory, for Wisconsin has already honored its favorite son by causing a monument of ' him to be erected there...
...Neither bribery, threats, villification, or persecution could change the course he set out to follow...
...Already, here at home, one great corporation has trifled with the sovereign power, and insulted the State...
...Taylor overcame the Indian Chief Tecumseh, was victorious in the Black Hawk War, and conquered the belligerent Seminoles in Florida...
...These are but manifestations of the struggle...
...Yet he willingly made the sacrifice in the spirit of love for the many that labor in factories and fields whose will and rights he fought to force...
...In I^a Follette's vocabulary there was no such word as expediency or compromise when he had made a promise to the people...
...For this, he was called a dangerous radical...
...it is not conservation or railroad regulation...
...As La Follette was a born leader of men, it was inevitable that untold millions of the common people should look upon him as the logical choice for President of the United States...
...These two great men were John Bascom, president of our State Univer-,sity, and Chief Justice Ryan, of our supreme court...
...Washington and Lincoln were only exceptions to the general rule...
...He summed up one of the cardinal principles of his creed when he said: I do not fear public opinion...
...The enterprises of the country are aggregating vast corporate combinations of unexampled capital, boldly marching, not for economic conquests only, but for political power...
...In order that I may speak of - him without undue bias, I shall endeavor to control the feelings of a lifetime friendship...
...La Follette defined his own belief in democracy in these words: I favor equal and exact justice to each individual and to every entrant, yielding neither to clamor on the one hand nor being swerved from the straight course by an interest on the other...
...From the time La Follette entered this House nearly a half century ago as a young man of 29, throughout a public career of 40 years, he never betrayed a trust nor failed his people...
...A stone shaft nearby marks the plot, but the old vault and the grounds are neglected...
...La Follette taught us by his example to place little emphasis on personal material gain and I often wondered why he seemed so little concerned about his financial resources in all his campaigns...
...In his autobiography he tells us that— the issue is not the tariff...
...John Bascom expounded to the students of the university the doctrine that every individual who avails himself of the training offered by the university at the expense of the State, should pay for the opportunity of education in service to the State...
...We are assembled today to pay our respects to that man, not for the wealth he accumulated nor for what he inherited but for the things he accomplished and his steadfast devotion to his ideals...
...It is not the part of a genius to discover the flaws, but to prescribe a remedy is the test of statesmanship...
...But under -his unswerving pressure in the Senate, through the pre?s and on the platform, his political enemies in the Senate would enact his proposed reforms in order to keep control...
...Men like Webster, Clay, Bryan, and La Follette, because of their preeminent abilities and aggressive activities, make many friends, but also many foes...
...His many heroic acts like this thrilled the disinterested intelligent electorate of the State, and men and women who had never before taken an interest in politics enlisted in hi« cai«ie...
...pressed upon my memory which demonstrate more than any words of mine the wonderful hold he had upon the hearts of the plain people whose cause he championed...
...During the days of the World War, when the flames of passior...
...He would present platfom aiming at civic or political wrongs to national conventions...
...Rather than surrender the principle he would not yield an inch of ground...
...He created a tax commission and abolished a tax system that permitted the railroads to assess themselves, and built up a system of taxation for the whole State in accordance with the principle of "ability to pay...
...To the stranger he appeared as one who revelled in the carnage of battle, who delighted in striking down his opponents, but in truth nothing was farther from his nature...
...These epithets come from the powerful few whenever their supremacy is challenged...
...SPEAKER, more than 70 years ago in -tVA a little log cabin in Dane County, Wisconsin, Robert M. La Follette was born...
...I can not, however, refrain from testifying to the intellect and moral courage of the man who held such complete sway over the people of Wisconsin...
...For what constitutes true greatness...
...His leadership of a movement to emancipate his feliow men from industrial oppression, and his illustrious career as one of our ablest statesmen gave to him such conspicuous preeminence in the hearts and minds of men that our best efforts at appreciation seem little more than idle or wasted words...
...A HERO'S TOMB IN WEEDS In an unkempt tomb lies the body of Major General Zachary Taylor, Twelfth President of the United States...
...His sympathies were all with those who tilled the soil and labored in the factory, and he granted no quarter to those in the seats of the oppressor...
...Robert M. La Follette was the most outstanding consistent exponent of democratic principles of his time...
...that wealth can always purchase its defenders...
...Words spoken here will add little to the memory of Senator La Follette...
...In a later issue of the Magazine will be published the addresses of- Congressmen Fiorello H.'La Guardia, Henry R. Rath-bone, George Huddleston, John Morrow, and James O'Connor.—Editor's Note...
...When Wisconsin placed him in charge of the affairs of the State, by electing him governor in 1900, I,a Follette immediatey began the struggle of wrestling the government of Wisconsin from the hands of the powerful few and placing it in the hands of the many...
...It is also my convi'|iv-i that had he given himself to spiritual affairs as he did to political he would have been a preacher like the Apostle Raul...
...To the propositions laid down by these two great Americans La Follette dedicated his life...
...Indeed, in those days he almost absorbed my whole personality...
...Although five million of American citizens supported La Follette as an independent candidate for President in 1924, the mass of the people of the Nation never knew him as the people of Wisconsin knew and understood him...
...Our direct primary which he gave us has made the ballot a real and powerful instrumentality with which the citizens of Wisconsin can approve or disapprove the conduct of its public servants...
...yet when among his friends or in the bosom of his family so open, so clear, and so unruffled that we could see as a reflection from him that which was noblest and best in us...
...So that through his life he was not a rich man...
...The history, the life, and accomplishments of this most remarkable and distinguished man have been so ably recited by the speakers who have preceded me, and are so fresh in the minds of the people of his own State and the Nation, that I will use the brief time allotted to me in .speaking of the one phase of his life which impressed me most—his inherent and fervent love of democracy and his abiding faith and confidence in the people...
...When he entered a street car it was immediately vacated...
...Thus the value, sir, of the service he rendered, whether through the enactment of constructive legislation which he sponsored or favored, or by his constant exposure and onslaught against corruption in government, can hardly be estimated through an expression of mere words...
...That name, throughout the world, expresses more than anything else that may be said of him...
...He had a restless mind, he sought always to pick out the flaws in government, to overthrow tyranny and expose political dishonesty...
...It would be useless to attempt even in a much longer time to recount the far-reaching effects of his achievements...
...Speaker, nmch as I would like to linger in paying this tribute to my departed...
...That was in exact accord with the conception of government as laid down by the fathers of this country and expressed in both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States...
...at Madison...
...In our April Magazine will be published the addresses of the HonoraWes Edward Howard...
...He never doubted the righteousness of his position...
...He reduced the accident rate of the State over 60 per cent and diverted the $5,000,000 paid by employers for insurance into the pockets of injured workmen or their dependents, and entirely relieved the courts of damage suits arising from industrial accidents...
...The soul of him was like a mountain lake—too deep to be fathomed by us to the bottom...
...If ever, sir, there was a brave man, it was La Follette...
...Frpm one end of the land to the other he was denounced as a traitor to his country, an agent of the Kaiser, and some found the term "copperhead" most convenient...
...He well knew they would there meet with defeat...
...He has been called the embattled prophet of the now democracy, a democracy directed by intelligence and organized to guarantee to every child born in this Republic equal opportunities...
...friend, the limit of my time forbids...
...Tested by every stand of greatness, La Follette was truly a great soul...
...Nelson, Edward E. Browne, George J. Schneider...
...SPEAKER, Congress has convened thin •Sunday morning, to pay tribute to the memory of the late Senator Robert M. I>a Follette, of Wisconsin...
...Once convinced of the soundness of purpose and justice of the cause, he permitted nothing to deter him...
...The accumulation of individual wealth seems to be greater than it ever has been since the downfall of the Roman Empire...
...It expresses honesty and integrity, buttressed by profound intellect and matchless courage...
...The question will arise, "Which shall rule, wealth, or man...
...He stood for a step at a time, but, as he said, a full step...
...The aim and ambition of Senator La Follette was to make his country a true democracy as contemplated by Jefferson and Lincolr...
...It was this loyalty" to princip: that gave him such far-reaching influence i national affairs...
...He preferred for himself and for his family a modest enjoyment of that to which too many gifted men of today give too high a place in human endeavor...
...Neither is it necessary to enumerate here the long list of achievements recorded opposite his name...
...His first step in the great struggle that was to continue for a decade, was to abolish the old caucus system where delegates to conventions, and public servants from United States senators down to coroners, were chosen in the back rooms of saloons, and to place the machinery for choosing public servants in the hands of the people, through direct primary, giving the man in overalls as much to say about his Government as the magnate of corporate wealth...
...Beginning his career in Wisconsin at a time when the State government was in tho clutches of corrupt political bosses, when intrigue and bargaining in the public business was the order of the day, Robert M. La Follette at once found himself opposing these influences...
...But in 1922 I^a Follette submitted his war record to the people of Wisconsin, discussed and defended it, ami he received the greatest endorsement ever given a United States Senator in a primary and an election...
...But time does not permit to relate in detail the wonderful story of the life and work of this most wonderful man—how, from the very beginning of his public career he championed the cause of right and fair play, his first encounter with the arrogance of boss rule, his persistent fight to free his State from the control and exploitation of the special interests...
...Mr...
...We publish in abbreviated form the addresses from the Congressional Record by' Representatives John M...
...Nelson of Wisconsin...
...compromise...
...It is that period of his life that has stamped its deepest imprints upon our Nation's history...
...Not that it is necessary to commemorate the dead—La Follette would not have it so if it be merely to praise his name...
...But if any one thing should be singled out at this time from his many important accomplishments, it is the fact that La Follette gave life to a different, if not new, political philosophy—the principles of progressivism—gradually, to be followed by others, and which, in time, must make our Government more truly democratic, more responsive to the people, and functioning not only for the benefit of the few, but for the good of all...
...But what dois it rratter now to hiir w'-.at ve say here in recording his life and services in the annals of his country...
...Unfortunately, however, the truly great men are not elected to the high office ot Chief Executive...
...As the cause for which he devoted his life is the cause of human freedom, surely at the appointed time some other mighty son of the common people of his lofty spirit will take up the burden of leadership where he laid it down to carry it on to certain victory...
...There have been notable exceptions, like Washington and Lincoln...
...Schneider of Wisconsin...
...No mortal man ever held in my heart so high a place...
...He spoke reverently of Deity...
...But, Mr...
...I have seen him hold an audience of 10,000 people with a complex economic discussion, and with the same earnestness and effort address "a dozen farmers or mechanics at a country crossroad...
...In Wisconsin, La Follette literally covered every square mile of the state" in a dozen campaigns from 1894 to 1922, in which he overcame the organized opposition of the press, the corporations, the large banks, and fashionable society with no weapon except his own power on the platform...
...He dedicated his life to the principle of equal opportunities to all and special privilege to none...
Vol. 19 • March 1927 • No. 3
