in
the Senate. Every one felt kindly toward him, and for this reason
it was very easy for him to secure the passage of any bill he was
interested in.

While Senator Morrill was chairman of the Committee on Finance,
owing to his advanced age and the feeble condition of his health
the real burden of the committee for years before his death fell
on Nelson W. Aldrich, of Rhode Island. He was prominent as far
back as the Forty-eighth Congress, and was a dominant unit even
then. His recent retirement is newspaper history and need not be
aired here.

Senator Aldrich has had a potent influence in framing all tariff
and financial legislation almost from the time he entered the
Senate. Personally, I have great admiration for him and for his
great ability and capacity to frame legislation, and it is a matter
of sincere regret with me that he has determined to retire to
private life. His absence is seriously felt, especially in the
Finance Committee.

The Hon. John Sherman, of Ohio, was one of the most valuable
statesmen of his day and one of the ablest men. He was exceedingly
industrious, and well posted on all financial questions. Toward
the close of his Senatorial term, he failed rapidly, but he was
just as clear on any financial question as he was at any time in
his career. He was Secretary of the Treasury when in his prime,
and I believe his record in the office stands second only to
Hamilton's. He was of the Hamilton school of financiers, and his
judgment was always reliable and trustworthy. He was a very serious
man and could never see through a joke. He was one of the very
best men in Ohio, and would have made a splendid President. For
years he was quite ambitious to be President, and the business
interests of the country seemed to be for him. His name was before
the National Convention of the Republican party many times, but
circumstances always intervened to prevent his nomination when it
was almost within his grasp.

I have always thought that one reason was that his own State had
so many ambitious men in it who sought the honor themselves, that
they were never sincerely in good faith for Sherman. At least
twice he went to National Conventions, apparently with his own
State behind him, but he was unfortunate in the selection of his
managers, and, really, when the time came to support him they seemed
only too ready to sacrifice him in their own interests.

I have always regretted that he closed his