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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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62d Congress) 
 3d Session { 
 
 HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES 
 
 [Document 
 L No. 1472 
 
 DAVID JOHNSON FOSTER 
 
 ( Late a Representative from Vermont ) 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE 
 
 OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 I' SIXTY-SECOND CONGRESS 
 
 THIRD SESSION ' ^ ; ^ i •■ / 3 
 
 Proceedings in the House 
 January 19, 1913 
 
 Proceedings in the Senate 
 March 1, 1913 
 
 PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
 THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 1913 
 

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Proceedings in the House 5 
 
 Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D 5,7 
 
 Memorial addresses by — 
 
 Mr. Greene, of Vermont 10 
 
 Mr. Martin, of South Dakota 12 
 
 Mr. Hawiey, of Oregon 14 
 
 Mr. Nye, of Minnesota 18 
 
 Mr. Weeks, of Massacliusetts 21 
 
 Mr. Kahn, of California 23 
 
 Mr. Plumley, of Vermont 25 
 
 Mr. Slayden, of Texas 35 
 
 Proceedings in the Senate 37 
 
 Prayer by Rev. Ulysses G. R. Pierce, D. D 39 
 
 Memorial addresses by — 
 
 Mr. Dillingham, of Vermont 41 
 
 ' Mr. Rurton, of Ohio 46 
 
 Mr. Page, of Vermont 49 
 
 [31 
 
HON. DAVID J^ FOSTER 
 
DEATH OF HON. DAVID JOHNSON FOSTER 
 
 Proceedings in the House 
 
 Friday, March 22, 1912. 
 The House met at 12 o'clock noon. 
 
 The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the 
 following prayer: 
 
 Infinite and eternal Spirit, our heavenly Father, in 
 whom we live and move and have our being, our faith 
 looks up to Thee in this hour of sorrow and grief. Surely 
 Thou givest life and taketh it away, not in death but in 
 the larger life which awaits us all. A great sorrow has 
 fallen into our hearts because one of our number has 
 been taken away from us who for many years held a con- 
 spicuous place in the committee room and on the floor 
 of this House; strong, pure, aggressive, he served his 
 State and Nation with untiring energy. Help us to keep 
 his memory green and copy his virtues. Solace the 
 bereaved family with the hopes and promises of a bright 
 beyond when the voice which was music to their ears, the 
 eyes which looked love into their hearts, and the strong 
 arms which upheld and sustained them shall receive 
 them once more in a realm where there are no separa- 
 tions. " We are born for a higher destiny than that of 
 earth. There is a realm where the rainbow never fades, 
 where the stars will be spread out before us like the 
 islands that slumber on the ocean, and where the beauti- 
 ful beings that here pass before us like visions will stay 
 in our presence forever." Thus may we believe; thus 
 may we hope in the promises of the Master. Amen. 
 
 [5] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 Mr. Plumley. Mr. Speaker, I offer the resolution which 
 I send to the Clerk's desk. 
 
 The Speaker. The gentleman from Vermont offers a 
 resolution which will be reported by the Clerk. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow 
 of the deatli of Hon. David J. Foster, a Representative from the 
 State of Vermont. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of 10 Members of the House (with 
 such Members of tlie Senate as may be joined) be appointed to 
 attend tlie funeral. 
 
 Resolved, That the Sergeant at Arms of the House be authorized 
 and directed to take such steps as may be necessary for carrying 
 out the provisions of these resolutions, and tliat the necessary 
 expenses in connection therewith be paid out of the contingent 
 fund of the House. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
 Senate, and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 
 
 The resolutions were agreed to. 
 
 Mr. Plumley. Mr. Speaker, I have another resolution. 
 The Speaker. The gentleman from Vermont offers a 
 resolution which will be reported by the Clerk. 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect this House do now 
 adjourn. 
 
 The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 1 o'clock 
 p. m.) the House, under the order heretofore agreed to, 
 adjourned until Monday, March 25, 1912, at 12 o'clock 
 noon. 
 
 Monday, March 25, 1912. 
 The Speaker announced as the committee to attend the 
 funeral services of the late Hon. David J. Foster, a Rep- 
 resentative from the State of Vermont, Mr. Sulzer, Mr. 
 Plumley, Mr. McCall, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Roberts of Massa- 
 
 [6] 
 
Proceedings in the House 
 
 chusetts, Mr. Higgins, Mr. Fairchild, Mr. Cline, Mr. Taylor 
 of Colorado, Mr. Harrison of Mississippi, and Mr. 
 Linthicum. 
 
 Saturday, August 17, 1912. 
 
 Mr. Plumley, Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
 that on the third Sunday in January, 1913, there be 
 services in memory of Hon. David J. Foster, late a Repre- 
 sentative from Vermont. 
 
 The Speaker. The gentleman from Vermont asks unani- 
 mous consent that on the third Sunday in January, 1913, 
 memorial services be held for the late Hon. Davu) J. 
 Foster, of Vermont. Is there objection? 
 
 There was no objection. 
 
 Sunday, January 19, 1913. 
 
 The House met at 12 o'clock noon, and was called to 
 order by Mr. Cline as Speaker pro tempore. 
 
 The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered 
 the following prayer : 
 
 Eternal and everliving God, our heavenly Father, out 
 of the deeps we cry unto Thee, " Our refuge and our 
 strength, a very present help in trouble." We thank 
 Thee for all the disclosures Thou has made of Thyself, 
 which enables us to interpret the meaning of life and its 
 far-reaching purposes; especially for that light which 
 broke in splendor upon the world in the resurrection of 
 the Christ, demonstrating the immortality of the soul and 
 the unbroken continuity of life. We realize the fitness 
 of this service in memory of one who served with dis- 
 tinction upon the floor of this House and left behind him 
 an enviable record as a statesman, a Christian gentleman, 
 a warm-hearted friend, a faithful husband, a loving 
 
 [7] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 father. Help us to cherish with his dear ones his memory, 
 to copy his virtues, and leave behind us a record worthy 
 of emulation; looking forward with bright anticipations 
 to one of the Father's many mansions, where all the long- 
 ings, hopes, and aspirations of our souls shall find their 
 full fruition, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 The Clerk began the reading of the Journal of Satur- 
 day, January 18, 1913. 
 
 Mr. Plumley. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
 that the reading of the Journal be dispensed with. 
 
 The Speaker pro tempore. The gentleman from Ver- 
 mont asks unanimous consent that the reading of the 
 Journal be dispensed with. If there be no objection that 
 request will be granted, and the Journal will be con- 
 sidered as approved. 
 
 There was no objection. 
 
 The Speaker pro tempore. The Chair lays before the 
 House the order for to-day. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 On motion of Mr. Plumley, by unanimous consent, 
 Ordered, That Sunday, January 19, 1913, at 12 o'clock m., be 
 set apart for addresses upon the life, character, and public 
 services of Hon. David J. Foster, late a Representative from the 
 State of Vermont. 
 
 Mr. Greene of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, I offer the resolu- 
 tion which I send to the Clerk's desk. 
 
 The Speaker pro tempore. The gentleman from Ver- 
 mont offers a resolution, which the Clerk will report. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That in pursuance of the special order heretofore 
 adopted, the House proceed to pay tribute to the memory of the 
 Hon. David Johnson Foster, late a Representative in Congress 
 from the State of Vermont. 
 
 [8] 
 
Proceedings in the House 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
 the deceased, and in recognition of his distinguished career and 
 his great service to his country as a Representative in Congress, 
 the House, at the conclusion of tlae memorial proceedings of this 
 day, shall stand adjourned. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate these reso- 
 lutions to the Senate. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk of the House be, and he is hereby, 
 instructed to send a copy of these resolutions to the family of the 
 deceased. 
 
 The resolution was agreed to. 
 
 [9] 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 Address of Mr. Greene, of Vermont 
 
 Mr. Speaker: I need not suggest to you the peculiarly 
 delicate situation of one who, now attempting to do jus- 
 tice to the splendid merits of his predecessor, is himself 
 just beginning to learn to live up to the record in Congress 
 that his predecessor left. 
 
 It is now nearly 13 years since the Hon. David J. Foster 
 w^as chosen by his district to represent Vermont in Con- 
 gress. I knew him some time before this honor came to 
 him. And I knew him with something of intimacy dur- 
 ing all the years since. I felt it was iny duty as a citizen 
 and it was my pride as a friend to lend my voice and my 
 vote to support his biennial return to this Chamber. And 
 I was never disappointed in the return of public sei'vice 
 that he made for citizens and friends alike. 
 
 While at home in Vermont I knew pretty closely the 
 character of Mr. Foster; had been associated with him 
 time and again in important affairs that tended to bring 
 out the best there is in a man. Yet it remained for my 
 brief experience here to emphasize to me even more 
 directly the opinion that other men had of him, too. I 
 myself have been welcomed here by scores of men that 
 sit in this Chamber merely out of grateful and affectionate 
 recollection of my predecessor. I have been told that I 
 was welcome in his name, and I appreciate the depth of 
 feeling that has stirred them to this saying. He was one 
 of the men of rugged character that grow out of the New 
 
 [10] 
 
Address of Mr. Greene, of Vermont 
 
 England hills. He made himself all that he was, and he 
 was all that the best of his friends and admirers could 
 expect. 
 
 It does not become me to say too much on this occasion, 
 because if I were to undertake to tell what I believe the 
 people of Vermont and his associates in this Chamber 
 thought of Mr. Foster and the great and good work he had 
 accomplished or helped to accomplish for the good of the 
 people at large I should simply reiterate the eulogies that 
 are to be heard to-day. 
 
 I desire simply to say, as the present Representative of 
 Mr. Foster's district and as his personal friend, that Ver- 
 mont w^as proud to feel that he was here to protect her 
 interests and to help safeguard the interests of the Nation, 
 and that his security in the confidence and affection of the 
 people whose servant he was could not be broken. 
 
 There is so much that 1 might say of Mr. Foster, so 
 much that I do so eagerly desire to say of him and his 
 good works, that I am halted now, not by disinclination, 
 but by the embarrassment of one that fears he may not 
 under these peculiar circumstances be understood. 
 
 I may only hope that Vermont and that the country 
 may always have here in this Congress men of such high 
 purpose and splendid ability as David J. Foster, and that 
 the ideals we all are striving for may find supporters in 
 the kind of men that my predecessor most nobly rep- 
 resented. 
 
 [11] 
 
Address of Mr. Martin, of South Dakota 
 
 Mr. Speaker: In the stress of legislative business it 
 had not come to mj^ notice until last evening that these 
 memorial exercises were set down for to-day. Under 
 ordinary circumstances I would let an occasion of this 
 sort pass, perhaps, but I have not felt that I would be 
 willing to allow the memorial exercises of David J. Foster 
 to pass in this House of Representatives without adding 
 my heartfelt, although halting, tribute to his memory. 
 
 It is not in any sense underestimating the warm attach- 
 ment that I have for my colleagues from many States 
 to say that, partly from circumstances and partly from 
 the strong and winning personality of Mr. Foster, I 
 formed for him a friendship more intimate than for any 
 other Member of this body. 
 
 We came into Congress at the same time, he from the 
 far East and I from the West. We met first at the grave 
 of the lamented William McKinley, during the funeral 
 services at Canton, Ohio. I was then impressed with 
 Mr. Foster's strong personality, his striking and attrac- 
 tive appearance, his warm and cordial greeting to his 
 fellows. The new Republican membership of the Fifty- 
 seventh Congress formed what I have not known to be 
 formed at any other time in the history of the House, a 
 club or association of new Members of that Congress, 
 known as the Tantalus Club, for the purpose of more 
 prompt acquaintance of new Members among themselves, 
 and of making the beginning of the legislative life of the 
 new Members of greater service and of more ready appli- 
 cation to the great problems of the time. Mr. Foster, if 
 not the originator, certainly was the mover and the con- 
 
 [12] 
 
Address of Mr. Martin, of South Dakota 
 
 trolling spirit of that organization. We lived for some 
 years in the same apartment house and I had the oppor- 
 tunity of seeing him often in his home — that sanctuary 
 and environment where a good man appears at his best 
 and where the meanness and selfishness of the bad man 
 is disclosed and known. There was nothing yellow in 
 the life of David J. Foster. He was the solicitous and 
 helpful parent, the courteous and affectionate husband, 
 and the superb and gentlemanly neighbor and host. 
 
 With great rapidity Mr. Foster rose from the position 
 of a new Member to become the chairman of our Com- 
 mittee on Foreign Affairs, one of the most responsible, 
 dignified, and important positions in the House and, 
 indeed, in the legislative and administrative life of the 
 country; a position on the wise and intelligent adminis- 
 tration of which our peace and standing among the 
 nations in considerable part depends. 
 
 Statecraft came naturally to Mr. Foster. Statesman- 
 ship was his inheritance, his constant study, and his 
 ample accomplishment. He belonged to that long line of 
 great New Englanders, who for now several generations 
 have come down froin the schoolhouse discipline of those 
 rugged hills to take a prominent part in leadership in 
 the industrial, legislative, and professional life of the 
 Nation. 
 
 So long as the Republic shall rear men of the type of 
 David J. Foster to shape her legislation and to interpret 
 and administer her laws, the future of our country will 
 be in safe hands, and we may look forward with confi- 
 dence to the fulfillment of her glorious destiny. 
 
 [13] 
 
Address of Mr. Hawley, of Oregon 
 
 Mr. Speaker: The most important factor in modern 
 life is the unearned increment that those who have pre- 
 ceded us on this stage of affairs have contributed to the 
 general welfare and prosperity of the world, and which 
 has added to the joys and happiness and comfort of those 
 who shall succeed them for their advancement and up- 
 building. In making an estimate of that distinguished 
 man, Hon. David J. Foster, of Vermont, whose memorial 
 services claim our attention this afternoon, I wish to 
 speak briefly on this point. 
 
 The material things — the building of great cities, the 
 construction of vast systems of transportation, the con- 
 quest of the wilderness and the plain by those who have 
 preceded us — have multiplied our comforts and our op- 
 portunities. The story of what the past has done for us 
 of the present is a long story. There is hardly a century 
 that has not contributed things which, if they were taken 
 away from us, would be most sincerely missed and would 
 be felt as a great loss to us as a people and as individuals. 
 The political principles that we enjoy were not of this 
 century, nor the past century, nor the century before 
 that, but they have come down to us through tens of cen- 
 turies. The educational advantages that have made the 
 American people a great people were not altogether origi- 
 nated within the confines of our territory. The religious 
 sentiments which we profess, which have strengthened 
 our moral fiber and made us a great people, come down 
 the ages from far across the seas, and especially from that 
 place where, on the Galilean hills, walked the divine and 
 immortal Nazarene. 
 
 [14] 
 
Address of Mr. Hawley, of Oregon 
 
 But among all the things the past has given us its mate- 
 rial contributions to our welfare are the least of the things 
 we prize. If our cities were razed, our transportation 
 systems destroyed, our farms returned to the wilderness, 
 within a hundred years we would have replaced them all; 
 but if there w ere taken from us the teaching of the centu- 
 ries of earth's great and good men, the record of their 
 lives, the sum total of their achievements, a thousand or 
 many thousands of years would not suffice to replace that 
 great loss. 
 
 The thing I am endeavoring to say is that the greatest 
 contribution ever made by any country or by our own 
 country, by any generation or by this generation, is the 
 characters of the men and women who have lived for the 
 good of mankind. Every strong man is a leader in his 
 place and time. Every man who can think clearly and 
 see clearly is a leader, and upon the sufficiency of his 
 knowledge, the soundness of his judgment, and the purity 
 of his intentions depends the quality and strength of his 
 leadership. 
 
 There was a man down in the land of Egj^pt who was 
 a stranger there, sold as a slave into that country, who, 
 by reason of three things alone, rose to control the 
 country, to its benefit and good; first, that his sense of 
 personal honor was more to him than life; second, that 
 he was untiring in his industry in the acquisition of infor- 
 mation concerning the things in which he was concerned; 
 and, third, that he had a judgment as sound and as 
 perfect as that of any man who ever lived. That man 
 was Joseph, a stranger in a strange land, but he con- 
 trolled that country for that country's good, because he 
 was worthy of its utmost confidence. 
 
 I could multiply such instances. It is to such a class 
 of men that the man in whose honor we are assembled 
 to-day belonged. He was a leader by reason of the 
 
 [15] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 adequacy of his knowledge concerning the things with 
 which he dealt, by the soundness and clearness of his 
 discernment and judgment, and because we had implicit 
 confidence in him. Everything he spoke of, everything 
 he touched, everything he said was illuminated with the 
 light of that high personal honor that appeals to the 
 hearts of men. What he said we believed. What he 
 desired we thought for the good of the country. Those 
 things he advocated we considered to be essential for the 
 welfare of the people of the United States. 
 
 Mr. Foster was a distinguished Member of this body 
 when I had the privilege of joining it. There were 
 certain qualities about him that attracted me to him at 
 the beginning, and I learned sincerely to love him, and 
 with the rest of my associates to follow his lead in those 
 matters in which he was our appointed leader. I do not 
 regret one act I took under his advice, one vote I cast 
 following his judgment, or one thing I ever heard him 
 say on the floor of this House. 
 
 I remember wdien David J. Livingstone came back 
 from Africa, worn with his long service to a benighted 
 people. He was to receive from one of the greatest 
 universities of England, in company with Alfred (Lord) 
 Tennyson, a distinguished honor. When the university 
 had been assembled and the authorities had taken these 
 two men to the place of honor, and Alfred (Lord) 
 Tennyson was called to the front of the stage to receive 
 his distinction, he was met with somewhat of jeers by 
 the assembled undergraduates, who made just a little 
 sport of some of his pretensions, saying: 
 
 If you're waking, call me early, Alfred, dear. 
 
 When Livingstone was announced for the honor, a man 
 whose whole life had been devoted to the service of 
 mankind without hope of reward or expectation of 
 
 [IG] 
 
Address of Mr. Hawley, of Oregon 
 
 remuneration or honor, but simply for the opportunity 
 of doing his duty as a man, that entire university rose 
 and with uncovered heads, an honor rarely given, stood 
 in solemn and reverent silence while he received his 
 distinction. 
 
 The greatest thing that mortal times afford is spotless 
 reputation, and in these modern days, in the midst of 
 the fierce light that beats around a distinguished place 
 upon the floor of this House, it is gratifying to know that 
 a man can close his labors among the universal plaudits 
 of his fellows and can have it said country-wide and 
 world-wide that his sense of personal honor was such 
 that it gilded everything he touched. Such a life, Mr. 
 Speaker, must have been well spent, David J. Foster 
 was one of the men who in the future will be looked 
 back to as those who have preserved for us the purity of 
 our public life, has left a glorious record of an efficient 
 service, and one who has proved that a man's private life 
 may so adorn his public station that all will join in 
 granting him the honor dear to every true man's heart — 
 of loving and universal recollection. 
 
 [17] 
 
Address of Mr. Nye, of Minnesota 
 
 Mr. Speaker: Slowly, but I believe surely, humanity is 
 learning that goodness is not only compatible with great- 
 ness, but that goodness is greatness, and that there is no 
 greatness without it. I have been deeply impressed with 
 the beautiful train of thought so eloquently expressed by 
 the last speaker, and I think it is a theme upon which we 
 may properly comment on occasions of this character. 
 We are the heirs of all the rich and wondrous past, and 
 when I say " rich and wondrous past " I do not mean the 
 riches which are temporal and which moth and rust cor- 
 rupt, but I mean that enduring wealth of character to 
 which we pay our respects to-day. Every martyr to truth, 
 every hero, every philosopher, every poet, every artist, 
 every musician of all the past ages comes to us to-day and 
 lays his treasure of wealth at our feet. 
 
 If an intimate personal acquaintance with the deceased 
 were essential to take part on this occasion, I should be 
 almost wholly disqualified to speak; but there are people 
 we meet in this world whom we feel we have ahvays 
 known. There is a soul fraternity which the outer world 
 does not know. We catch the inspiration of the character 
 and the atmosphere of the life intuitively. It is not scho- 
 lastic or learned, but we read human character as we 
 read a face. We feel, and no power can convince us to 
 the contrary, that this man is genuine or the other man 
 is largely spectacular and counterfeit. During four 
 years as a colleague of this distinguished son of Vermont 
 I always felt that I was in the presence of an upright, 
 noble man, not only with the clear mind and the studious 
 qualities which enabled him to understand his subject, 
 
 [18] 
 
Address of Mr. Nye, of Minnesota 
 
 but one whose life was animated and illumined by con- 
 science and by enduring integrity. I believed in him in- 
 tuitively. I knew that if he made a mistake it was a mis- 
 take of judgment and not of motive. In the eloquent 
 invocation here to-day he was referred to as a Chris- 
 tian man. 
 
 I believe with Carlyle that men are essentially what 
 they are religiously and nothing else — not their church, 
 that may be an accident; not their profession, for we see 
 good men and bad men in every church and profession; 
 but that which men take to heart, that in which they are 
 rooted in life, that attitude of heart toward God and 
 their fellow men — this determines the man, and without 
 it he is a sham. And in this sense — and I know nothing 
 about his history in that regard — he was in character, I 
 know, profoundly and constitutionally religious, which 
 simply means honesty, integrity, and reverence and love. 
 I do not know that I can say more of him personally. I 
 was not associated with him on committees. I saw him 
 often here in the House. I had occasion during my four 
 or five years' acquaintance with him to work with him in 
 some of the measures in which he was personally and 
 deeply interested, and I always felt a sense of confidence 
 and reliance not alone upon his judgment but upon that 
 which is greater, his integrity. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, it so chances that in a brief experience of 
 six years in this Chamber this is the first time I have 
 attempted to utter a word upon occasions of this char- 
 acter. I try only to speak in simple, unstudied w^ords that 
 spring from the heart in kindly memory of one I esteemed 
 and loved. 
 
 I thought to-day, when I was coming up the hill to this 
 Capitol, of the vast procession of illustrious men who 
 for more than a century and a quarter have come and 
 
 [19] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 gone, men who for a day stood high in ability and 
 character, but I could not help but reflect after all how 
 transitory are all things human. The things which are 
 seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen — 
 that is, by the physical senses — are the eternal. That 
 character which this man expressed lives on to enrich 
 the future as the worthy men of the past enrich to-day. 
 
 How fleeting and how unsubstantial is human fame! 
 How wealth turns to ashes in our hands and how the 
 prizes we struggle for are but the toys of an hour! All 
 must pass away. Childishly ambitious to-day to write 
 our names upon the shore of time's restless sea, to-mor- 
 row's waves will sweep away both writer and inscription. 
 But that which is enduring, that which calls us here 
 to-day to pay our tribute of love to this man, that which 
 is born, I believe, of God and partakes of immortality, 
 that which the Great Teacher of Galilee taught and 
 demonstrated to humanity, that for which He toiled and 
 suffered on earth, can not and will not pass away. 
 
 These shall resist the empire of decay, 
 
 When time is o'er and worlds have passed away. 
 
 Cold in the dust the perished heart may lie. 
 
 But that which warmed it once can never die. 
 
 [20] 
 
Address of Mr. Weeks, of Massachusetts 
 
 Mr. Speaker: New England is so limited in area and 
 her interests in the several States are so similar that her 
 Representatives have as close association in most cases 
 as they would if they came from the same State. That 
 condition at least marked my acquaintance with and 
 friendship for Mr. Foster. He was one of those who in 
 my first days in Congress took an interest in me and the 
 things I was trying to do; advised and criticized and 
 praised when the occasion offered, in short assumed the 
 position of a real friend, and it is as such that I like to 
 think of and shall always remember him. I soon learned 
 that he was well equipped for the public service. He was 
 a good lawyer, which, despite the frequent criticism that 
 there are too many la^vyers in legislative bodies, is a de- 
 sirable qualification, which should always be considered 
 and obtained, other conditions being equal; and this quali- 
 fication was supplemented by a judicial temperament 
 which enabled him to give suitable weight to the opinions 
 of others and to incorporate them in his final conclusions. 
 Added to these characteristics, he was industrious; no 
 man can be entirely satisfactory to his constituents, what- 
 ever may be his other qualities, unless he has industry; 
 and, finally, he was intensely interested in his work. 
 Having all of these qualities, coupled with excellent 
 native ability, it was but natural that his tenure of office 
 should have seemed to be secure, especially as he came 
 from a State which has been particularly loyal to faithful 
 and deserving sons who have represented her in Congress. 
 Indeed, there are few places in our public service more 
 permanent than a Senatorship or Representative from 
 
 [21] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 Vermont. For two decades vacancies in the office of 
 Senator from that State have only come as a result of 
 death or resignation. It is not my purpose to speak in 
 detail of Mr. Foster's public service, except a word about 
 his last activities. One of his characteristics was that he 
 did not seem to have malice or continued resentment in 
 his make-up; this led him to speak of men only when he 
 could speak well of them; and he had a gracious courtesy, 
 both qualities which especially adapted him for the deli- 
 cate work of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, of which 
 he was long a member, and for one Congress its chair- 
 man. During this service he not only performed his work 
 in Congress with great credit, but was also commissioned 
 to represent our Government to two foreign countries — 
 Mexico and Italy — as a member of commissions ap- 
 pointed for special purposes, and we may well believe 
 that in this work he displayed those qualities " which 
 transmutes aliens into trusting friends and gives its 
 owner passport around the world." 
 
 Last March I went to Panama knowing that he was not 
 well, but was assured that his trouble was only tem- 
 porary, and expecting to find him entirely recovered on 
 my return, and was correspondingly shocked to find that 
 he had passed on to his reward. 
 
 I shall not forget David J. Foster, the able legislator, 
 the loyal Republican, the upright citizen, the true friend, 
 and I greatly regret that these words so inadequately 
 express my sincere sorrow at his untimely death and the 
 deep sense of personal loss which I feel. 
 
 [22] 
 
Address of Mr. Kahn, of California 
 
 Mr. Speaker : The mortality record of the present Con- 
 gress has been exceptionally large. I believe 16 Members 
 of this House have answered the final summons since the 
 Sixty-second Congress was convened in extraordinary 
 session. To-day we meet in solemn conclave to pay a 
 tribute of respect to one of these, our late colleague the 
 Hon. David Johnson Foster, of Vermont. He had a large 
 experience in public life. For many years honors were 
 heaped upon him by his friends and neighbors in his 
 native State. His rise from one public station to another 
 was almost meteoric. No man who failed to possess the 
 unqualified confidence of his constituency could have 
 attained the honors that were bestowed upon him. Suc- 
 cessively prosecuting attorney. State senator, commis- 
 sioner of State taxes, chairman of the State board of rail- 
 road commissioners from 1886 to 1900; and in the latter 
 year he was elected to the National House of Representa- 
 tives. Here his splendid ability soon found recognition. 
 His courteous manner, his knowledge of affairs, his indus- 
 try, his absolute fairness at all times, and especially upon 
 every momentous public question, gained for him the 
 esteem and confidence of all his colleagues, regardless 
 of political affiliation. As chairman of the Committee on 
 Foreign Affairs he was called upon to take an active part 
 in the settlement of grave questions of international rela- 
 tionship. He performed the duties that devolved upon 
 him fearlessly, earnestly, honestly, patriotically. 
 
 And in the very prime of life, in the very vigor of man- 
 hood, he was suddenly stricken by the Grim Reaper. 
 
 [23] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 The news of his death was a severe shock to all those who 
 had learned to know and esteem him. In his death they 
 felt they had lost a sincere friend. They knew his State 
 and the Nation had lost an able and faithful Representa- 
 tive, his family an affectionate and devoted husband and 
 father. Peace to his ashes. 
 
 [24] 
 
Address of Mr. Plumley, of Vermont 
 
 Mr. Speaker: David Johnson Foster, son of Jacob 
 Prentiss Foster and Matilda Gaboon Foster, was born in 
 Barnet, Caledonia County, Vt., June 27, 1857, and died 
 8.30 p. m., Thursday, March 21, 1912, at his residence in 
 Washington. 
 
 He was a slender youth, of delicate health, having 
 neither ability nor liking for the rough sports of his 
 young comrades, but from early boyhood he was an 
 omnivorous reader, and found his glad employment 
 among his books, a pastime which he indulged late into 
 the night. He obtained his early education in a district 
 school of 24 weeks each year; during the remainder of 
 the 3^ear he aided his father upon the farm, and while 
 school was in progress his mornings and evenings were 
 similarly employed. Meanwhile he seized every avail- 
 able means to store up useful knowledge. Fortunately 
 for the lad, the father was a great lover of good literature, 
 and surrounded himself, to the extent of his financial 
 ability, with the means for indulging his tastes, and to 
 these the boy had access. 
 
 While his comrades played ball and games of that 
 character, he sat at home an eager student. He entered 
 St. Johnsbury Academy in the fall of 1872, graduated in 
 1876, entered Dartmouth that fall, and graduated in 1880. 
 While attending the academy he worked for his board, 
 received such aid as the father, mother, and other 
 members of the family could give him, and supplemented 
 their aid by teaching school. During his college life he 
 taught school in the winter, gained scholarships by 
 
 [25] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 studious application, tutored students in the lower classes, 
 won money prizes in elocution, and trained his associates 
 in prize speaking. It was while teaching at Chelsea, Vt., 
 that he made the acquaintance of his future wife, Mabel 
 M. Allen, of that town. 
 
 From college he went immediately to Burlington, Vt., 
 to read law, was admitted to the Chittenden County court 
 in 1883, began the practice of law at once in the city of 
 Burlington, and was married during the year. He was 
 elected prosecuting attorney for the county of Chittenden 
 for two terms— 1886 to 1890; in 1890 to 1894 he was one 
 of the State senators from that county; was State tax 
 commissioner by appointment of the governor for four 
 years — 1894 to 1898; chairman of the railroad commis- 
 sioners of the State of Vermont, by appointment of the 
 governor, from 1898 to 1900, and in the spring of 1900 was 
 nominated to the Fifty-seventh Congress and elected that 
 fall. His first committee assignments were those of For- 
 eign Affairs, Claims, and Expenditures in the State 
 Department. He held similar committee positions in the 
 Fifty-eighth Congress, also the Committee on Labor. He 
 retained a position on the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
 throughout his congressional career. He was made chair- 
 man of the Committee on Expenditures in the Depart- 
 ment of Commerce and Labor in the Fifty-ninth Congress, 
 which position he held until, following the death of the 
 chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, James 
 Brock Perkins, during the Sixty-first Congress, he was 
 appointed by the Speaker to the chairmanship thus made 
 vacant, when he resigned his position upon the Committee 
 on Commerce and Labor. In the Sixty-second Congress, 
 there being a Democratic majority in the House, he was 
 given the position of the ranking member of the minority 
 in the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 
 
 [26] 
 
Address of Mr. Plumley, of Vermont 
 
 In September, 1910, by the appointment of the Presi- 
 dent, he headed the delegation which represented this 
 country at the Centennial of Mexican Independence, and 
 during his service as chairman of the Committee on For- 
 eign Affairs he was made chairman by President Taft of 
 the delegation from the United States to the General 
 Assembly of the International Institute of Agriculture at 
 Rome. During the winter of 1910-11 he gave a banquet 
 in honor of the Secretary of State, which was a most 
 brilliant and successful affair. 
 
 On the 16th of January, 1907, he delivered a speech in 
 the House of Representatives on the treaty power of the 
 Government, which was regarded by his colleagues as a 
 most able and successful effort, of large value in the dis- 
 cussion of the questions then pending, and important in 
 the House and throughout the United States. In the 
 course of this speech he spoke of the intense State pride 
 which had charact :rized the American people from the 
 very Declaration of Independence, saying: 
 
 It was written of old " that one star differeth from another 
 star in glory," and it certainly was never truer than it is to-day 
 that the stars that on the blue firmament of the flag represent 
 the several States of the Union ditter one from another in glory. 
 You who come here from the State of New York insist that the 
 star which represents your Empire State shines with a glory that 
 is all its own; and we who come from the little State that lies 
 nestled among the Green Mountains insist that the star which 
 represents our State has a glory that is peculiarly its own; and 
 so you who come from Virginia and Pennsylvania and Texas 
 and Illinois and California and all the other States insist the 
 star which on the flag represents your State has its own peculiar 
 glory. And so to-day, as ever before, the citizens of each of 
 the 45 States are proud of their State. They rejoice in her 
 achievements in peace and war. They guard with zealous care 
 her ancient rights and privileges. They resent with just indig- 
 nation any reflection upon her her fame. They rejoice in the 
 part vouchsafed to them in maintaining her honor and prestige; 
 
 [27] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 and, best of all, they see in all this nothing incompatible with 
 their absolute and unswerving loyalty and devotion to the 
 Republic. 
 
 He concluded his speech with the eloquent passage 
 which follows : 
 
 From the days of Benjamin Franklin, our first and still our 
 greatest diplomat, the American "people have insisted that our 
 foreign relations should be grounded in the highest morality 
 and justice. Our foreign relations have become one of the 
 most important functions of the Government. Our own growth 
 and expansion during the last hundred years, and the contrac- 
 tion of the world through the extinction of distance, have 
 brought the nations of the earth to our door and have taken us 
 to their door. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are con- 
 stantly in foreign lands. They are there for business, for pleas- 
 ure. In addition to the tourists who come to our country from 
 other lands we have a million immigrants per year. These 
 people leave kindred and friends at home and form new friend- 
 ships here. Hundreds of thousands of them return each year, 
 leaving kindred and friends here. Our vast foreign commerce 
 brings us into contact with the other nations of the earth, for 
 the products of our field and our factory go to nearly every 
 harbor in the world. And so it comes to pass in these days of 
 modern development and modern enterprise and modern inven- 
 tion and modern unification that no nation lives unto itself 
 alone. Our diplomacy has assumed new proportions. And in 
 all her foreign relations the great Republic, standing for equality 
 of opportunity, must continue to shape her conduct by the prin- 
 ciples of the highest morality and justice. 
 
 On Friday, February 25, 1910, he replied in the House 
 to the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr, Kitchin] 
 upon the subject of Mr. Foster's insurgency in connection 
 wdth others. During the course of his remarks he said: 
 
 It is an axiomatic fact that in popular government, wherever 
 situated, the majority must rule. It is the fundamental principle 
 of popular government that the minority must submit to the 
 rule of the majority so long as it remains the majority. So I, as 
 an American citizen, am bound to yield peacefully to the will of 
 
 [28] 
 
Address of Mr. Plumley, of Vermont 
 
 the majority so long as that majority remains. But while this 
 is true, it is also true that it is my right and privilege as an 
 American citizen and my duty as an American citizen, if I believe 
 that the majority is wrong and that I am right, to use my best 
 endeavors to see that the minority of to-day becomes the majority 
 of to-morrow. 
 
 So it is with parties. Political parties are necessary in this 
 country. We are governed by political parties. And in order to 
 secure party solidarity and therefore party efficiency it is equally 
 necessary that the majority should rule within the party; that 
 the minority yield peacefully to the will of the majority so long 
 as it remains the majority. But while this is true it is equally 
 true that' I, as a member of my party and still an American 
 citizen, have the right and privilege and the duty, if I believe 
 that I am right and the majority of my party is wrong, to use 
 my best endeavors to see to it that my minority within my party 
 to-day becomes the majority of to-morrow. It is this that gives 
 vitality and virility to parties and preserves them from stagnation. 
 Old ocean itself would stagnate into rottenness but for the cease- 
 less action of the remorseless waves and tides. 
 
 I resent the implication that a Republican who shows the least 
 inclination toward independence is an insurgent. Lincoln 
 expressed the true doctrine of republicanism in the phrase: 
 "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, 
 charity." I stand for party unity as to all essentials, and I insist 
 that I shall not be called opprobrious names when I stand for 
 individual freedom as to nonessentials. 
 
 Mr. Foster addressed the House on the occasion of 
 memorial services on the death of Hon. Redfield Proctor, 
 late United States Senator from Vermont, and as illus- 
 trative of his finished style of oratory I quote a portion 
 of his closing remarks on that occasion : 
 
 He was a typical son of his native State. The jocular remark 
 made years ago, that Vermont was a good State to emigrate from, 
 contained a great truth. That is a good home for the young man 
 to go out from whose choicest decorations are the simple but 
 enduring virtues of human life. Whether that home be a costly 
 mansion stored with the rarest productions of art and the 
 handiwork of man, or a humble cottage furnishing scant pro- 
 
 [29] 
 
Memorial Addresses : Representative Foster 
 
 tection against the winter blasts, the recollection of its faith and 
 love and devotion will go with him farther and abide with him 
 longer and be of infinitely more service to him than aught else 
 he can take with him. And that is a good State to go out from 
 whose cardinal principles are the simple but profound truths of 
 human life and human relationship, and whose citizens see in 
 their State the ancient torch of celestial fire handed down from 
 generation to generation and by them to be passed on unimpaired 
 to the generation yet to come. From its earliest history Vermont 
 has been the cradle of human freedom. The sturdy pioneers who 
 went thither in search of homes fell under the most potent spell 
 of nature. 
 
 The wild freedom of the forest, the rugged strength of the hills, 
 the beauty of the valleys, and the fierce struggle with savagery 
 developed within them that stern love of liberty, that resolute 
 independence, and that profound respect for government and 
 all the instrumentalities of human progress which have charac- 
 terized the true sons of Vermont in all succeeding time. And he 
 was one of those true sons. He loved her hills and valleys. He 
 cherished her history, her traditions, her institutions, her achieve- 
 ments. He was jealous of her good name and fair fame, and 
 throughout his long life his heart beat true to her every interest. 
 He honored the State as the State honored him, and no higher 
 tribute can be paid to his memory than the simple truth that the 
 State is better by reason of his life, his character, his career. 
 
 June 27, 1857; March 21, 1912. Birth— death. Between 
 these two events a genuine and striking life history may 
 be written. It will be the truth, but it shall read like a 
 romance. It is elementary in that it deals with the 
 triumph of resolute will, untiring zeal, and inflexible 
 purpose over poverty, obscurity, and countless formida- 
 ble obstacles. It tells of his ceaseless efforts to advance, 
 while it reveals, if closely scanned, the willing and loving 
 sacrifice and service of a devoted family that they might 
 promote the aspirations of a beloved son and brother. 
 
 Between these two dates there is the history of one 
 whose life was much more than usually successful in 
 what it brought to him and much more than commonly 
 
 [30] 
 
Address of Mr. Plumley, of Vermont 
 
 valuable in what it did for his fellows and his country, 
 and yet a few wholly inadequate paragraphs must con- 
 tain all that can be said here. How greatly the heart 
 feels; how little the tongue can express! 
 
 As the years of his life ran on he climbed with willing 
 feet the more rugged steeps, and from those exalted plains 
 breathed a purer air and had a broader, clearer vision. 
 He loved his countrj'^ and his State with a depth and qual- 
 ity of affection that permitted no rival, while it marked 
 the limits, set the bounds, and laid out the course of his 
 political afTiliations and activities. 
 
 More and more as the days ripened into years and the 
 years sped on he was developing a statesmanlike grasp 
 of all national problems. Conscious of a high purpose 
 throughout and with a developing confidence in his ability 
 to rightly comprehend and settle the great questions of 
 state, the natural hesitancy of the novice had disappeared 
 and there was a promptness in conclusion, a readiness of 
 action, a steadfastness of position which gave him promi- 
 nence in party councils and a place of honor among his 
 colleagues. 
 
 He was a loyal friend. He counted nothing as too great 
 a hardship if in the end it served and pleased a friend. 
 And his friends were not few. The warm hand of con- 
 stancy and regard went out alike to the humble and the 
 exalted, the rich and the poor. Born and bred in a home 
 of limited means, among neighbors of like circumstances, 
 he was destitute of ostentatious pride or affectation, and 
 knowing the genuine worth of these sons and daughters of 
 toil, was glad always to render them generous service and 
 to knit them closely to his great, warm heart. He had a 
 passion for service to his fellow men and delighted most 
 when he could yield most of his time and talent in ad- 
 vancing their interests, in promoting their welfare. 
 
 [31] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 He was ready always to serve another regardless of the 
 personal labor and sacrifice which the service involved; 
 he even sought the opportunity to befriend others, espe- 
 cially such as were new to their position and embarrassed 
 by the wealth of their ignorance in the performance of 
 their duties. He was discreet and tactful, and, while vig- 
 orously defending his positions, spoke and acted in such a 
 manner and in such language as not to offend but rather 
 to win his opponent, if not to his view at least to a full 
 appreciation of his worth and worthiness as an antagonist. 
 He won all by his manly and courteous bearing, and when 
 death came it was to a man who, true to his convictions as 
 any knight of old, had not an enemy. On the day follow- 
 ing his decease, when his draped desk announced at the 
 morning hour the sad tidings to his associates in Congress, 
 all hearts were sad, and many eyes were moist with un- 
 shed but gathering tears as they looked upon his vacant 
 seat. No man ever passed out in death from the Hall of 
 this House with fewer enemies or more sincere and 
 mourning friends. 
 
 He was not a frequent speaker in this Hall, but when 
 he spoke he commanded the attention of his colleagues 
 to an unusual degree. He spoke only when he deemed 
 speech more potent than silence. From the beginning to 
 the end of his congressional career he was a hard-work- 
 ing, painstaking, honorablp, and efficient Representative 
 of his district, with augmenting confidence in his resource- 
 fulness and capacity on the part of his colleagues and 
 increasing faith in his character and worth on the part of 
 his constituents. 
 
 His ability as an orator on great occasions upon matters 
 of world-wide bearing and importance, of grave character 
 and deep significance, had only begun to be generally 
 appreciated; and yet he had spoken in most of our cities 
 of the first class to large, admiring, and appreciative 
 
 [32] 
 
Address of Mr. Plumley, of Vermont 
 
 audiences with a demonstrated power to touch these great 
 themes before vast assemblies with the potent hand of a 
 master. 
 
 From his appointment as chairman of the Committee 
 on Foreign Affairs to the end of his Hfe he was easily in 
 the very front rank of the membership of the House, 
 possessing the respect and enjoying the regard of all 
 his colleagues, irrespective of party, to an unusual, even 
 to a remarkable, degree; and when with inexpressible 
 shock and sadness the knowledge came to them that his 
 earthly career had closed, the depth, breadth, and warmth 
 of the affection with which he was enshrined in their 
 hearts was revealed to them in its completeness. 
 
 He had not reached but he was steadily approaching 
 the zenith of his career as a statesman. His life had been, 
 and without question it would have continued to be, one 
 of constant growth in character, in gathering resources, 
 in mental strength and acumen, in increasing faith in his 
 own powers coupled with a steadily growing conviction 
 on the part of the citizens of his native State that in him 
 they had one in high place worthy of unlimited trust and 
 confidence. 
 
 His was a manly spirit — virile, pervasive, indomitable. 
 It was manifest in his early boyhood when, struggling 
 against adverse conditions, he broke through his repres- 
 sive environments and by his own well-directed efforts 
 acquired a liberal education, the goal of his early ambi- 
 tion. It has been manifest since on many noteworthy 
 occasions when battling against strong contending and 
 opposing influences he has risen above them or has over- 
 come them, has illuminated despair with the bright beam 
 of hope, and out of seeming defeat has plucked unques- 
 tioned victory. 
 
 His was a noble soul, lofty, inflexible, and inspired. 
 He dared to attempt great things, to rise that he might 
 
 93285°— 13 3 [33] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 seize great opportunities, and, measured by things accom- 
 plished, there are few of his compeers who show larger 
 or better results. Grand, indeed, was the course which 
 lay before him. It was no easy task to set limitations 
 to his increasing power, honor, and usefulness. It was in 
 the effulgence of a risen sun that his manly, noble life 
 went out, and we who were his comrades and his friends 
 are left to mourn his untimely death. 
 
 By the few to whom he gave access to his innermost 
 being, where they could catch the faintest throbs of his 
 warm, true heart, there was abiding faith and fervent 
 love. They who knew him best loved him most. These 
 are the mourners who find no surcease. His memory 
 reigns eternal in their breasts. His widow and his 
 daughters, his aged mother, and his near kin — deep and 
 sad is their bereavement. The chords of human sym- 
 pathy yield plaintive and tender music when touched by 
 the hand of affliction, and God in infinite love will be 
 their " shield and buckler." 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
 who desire be granted leave to print remarks in the 
 Record for 20 legislative days. 
 
 There was no objection, and it was so ordered. 
 
 And then, in accordance with the resolution heretofore 
 adopted, the House (at 1 o'clock and 10 minutes p. m.) 
 adjourned until to-morrow, Monday, January 20, 1913, 
 at 12 o'clock noon. 
 
 [34] 
 
Address of Mr. Slayden, of Texas 
 
 Mr. Speaker: The most important of all recent move- 
 ments in the interest of mankind at large is that which 
 seeks to suhstitute the rule of reason for the rule of brute 
 force in the settlement of international disputes. The 
 man who makes it possible to avoid war is not acclaimed 
 with the same vigor that greets the victor in battle, but 
 his service to humanity is immeasurably greater. Under 
 our peculiar and .irrational system, which hurries to erect 
 statues to those who slay, while it fails to recognize those 
 who preserve life, the man who does the best work rarely 
 gets a proper reward in this world. His treasures are laid 
 up in heaven. 
 
 One of the most sincere and effective workers in the 
 cause of peace was David J. Foster, of Vermont. It was 
 my good fortune to be intimately associated with him in 
 unselfish endeavors to develop friendship — real, sincere 
 friendship — between this and other American countries, 
 not the perfunctory, formal, diplomatic exchanges that 
 usually pass for friendship, and no one ever worked with 
 more zeal and earnestness in any cause than he did in 
 that. 
 
 His untimely death arrested a career that gave promise 
 of unusual usefulness in that important work. As chair- 
 man of the Committee on Foreign Affairs Mr. Foster was 
 chosen to head the envoys from Congress to Mexico on the 
 occasion of the hundredth anniversaiy of the separation 
 of that country from Spain. He discharged the delicate 
 duties of that important mission in such a way as to 
 command the respect and earn the regard of all the for- 
 eign otficials with whom he came in contact. After his 
 
 [35] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 death I received letters from Mexican officials and private 
 citizens expressing profound sorrow that the career of one 
 whom they called friend had been closed. 
 
 One of the greatest pleasures and most distinct advan- 
 tages of service in Congress is the opportunity for meeting 
 and knowing one's fellow^ citizens from other parts of the 
 country. It broadens the life of every man who has such 
 service. It makes him more tolerant of differences of 
 opinion. It makes him understand that many of the 
 prejudices caused by environment and the conditions 
 which surrounded him in youth were not entirely 
 justified. That, at least, has been the effect of such 
 service on me. 
 
 Mr. Foster was a typical Yankee. My birth and resi- 
 dence for a lifetime in the far South make me, I suppose, 
 a typical southerner. Yet in most matters — in, I may say, 
 all the things that are really worth while — I could see no 
 difference between him and any honest, truthful, peace- 
 loving gentleman of my own section. He was a big- 
 hearted, clear-headed, patriotic American, who loved his 
 country and earnestly longed for its proper development 
 while he remained a stout partisan, in all of which there 
 is absolutely no inconsistency. 
 
 Vermont has had many wise and patriotic Representa- 
 tives on the floor of this House, among them Matthew 
 Lyon, Jacob Collamer, and Justin S. Morrill, but none 
 among them ever gave more patriotic and unselfish 
 service than David Foster, and none deserved to live 
 longer in our legislative history as a man whose stand- 
 ards were high and whose effort was to live up to that 
 standard. More can not be asked of anv man. 
 
 [36] 
 
Proceedings in the Senate 
 
 Friday, March 22, 1912. 
 
 A message from the House of Representatives, by D. K. 
 Hempstead, its enrolling clerk, communicated to the Sen- 
 ate the intelligence of the death of Hon, David J. Foster, 
 late a Representative from the State of Vermont, and 
 transmitted resolutions of the House thereon. 
 
 The Vice President. The Chair lays before the Senate 
 resolutions of the House of Representatives, which will be 
 read. 
 
 The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
 the death of Hon. David J. Foster, a Representative from the 
 State of "Vermont, 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of 10 Members of tlie House, with 
 such Members of the Senate as may be joined, be appointed to 
 attend the funeral. 
 
 Resolved, That the Sergeant at Arms of the House be author- 
 ized and directed to take sucli steps as may be necessary for 
 carrying out the provisions of these resokitions, and that the 
 necessary expenses in connection therewith be paid out of the 
 contingent fund of tlie House. 
 
 Resolved, That tlie Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
 Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect this House do now 
 adjourn. 
 
 Mr. Dillingham. Mr. President, I submit the resolutions 
 which I send to the desk, and ask for their adoption. 
 
 The Vice President. The resolutions offered by the 
 Senator from Vermont will be read. 
 
 [37] 
 
jNIemorial Addresses : Representative Foster 
 
 The Secretary read the resolutions (S. Res. 259), as 
 follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep sensibility the 
 announcement of the dcatli of Hon. David J. Foster, late a Rep- 
 resentative from the State of Vermont. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of nine Senators be appointed by 
 the Vice President to join the committee appointed on the part of 
 the House of Representatives to take order for superintending the 
 funeral of the deceased at Burlington, Vt. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions to 
 the House of Representatives and transmit a copy thereof to the 
 family of the deceased. 
 
 The resolutions were considered by unanimous consent, 
 and unanimousl}^ agreed to. 
 
 The Vice President appointed, under the second reso- 
 lution, as the committee on the part of the Senate Mr. 
 Dillingham, Mr. Page, Mr. Gallinger, Mr. Lodge, Mr. Ray- 
 ner, Mr. Burton, Mr. Jones, Mr. Percy, and Mr. Thornton. 
 
 Mr. Dillingham. 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 4 
 o'clock and 36 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
 Monday, March 25, 1912, at 2 o'clock p. m. 
 
 Thursday, February 13, WIS. 
 
 Mr. Page. Mr. President, I wish to give notice that on 
 March 1, 1913, I will ask the Senate to consider resolutions 
 commemorative of the life and public character of David 
 J. Foster, late a Representative in Congress from the 
 State of Vermont. 
 
 The President pro tempore. The notice will be entered. 
 
 [38] 
 
Proceedings in the Senate 
 
 Saturday, March i, 1913. 
 The Senate met at 10 o'clock a. m. 
 
 The Chaplain, Rev. Ulysses G. B. Pierce, D. D., offered 
 the following prayer : 
 
 Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we thank Thee for 
 the gracious Providence which brings us to this day of 
 solemn and reverent memory. As we recall the life and 
 public service of him whom we this day commemorate, 
 we pray Thee to inspire our minds and to give utterance 
 to our lips that we may fitly honor the life which Thou 
 hast called to Thy nearer presence and to Thy higher 
 service. 
 
 We pray Thee, our Father, to comfort those that mourn. 
 Uphold them by Thy heavenly grace and grant that 
 neither the height of remembered joys nor the depth of 
 sorrows that can not be forgotten, nor the present with 
 its burdens nor the future with its loneliness may be able 
 to separate them from the love of God which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord. 
 
 In the name of Him who abolished death and brought 
 life and immortality to light, hear Thou our prayer. 
 Amen. 
 
 Mr. Gallinger took the chair as President pro tempore 
 under the previous order of the Senate. 
 
 The Secretary proceeded to read the Journal of yester- 
 daj^'s proceedings, when, on request of Mr. Smoot and by 
 unanimous consent, the further reading was dispensed 
 with and the Journal w^as approved. 
 
 Mr. Dillingham. Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay 
 before the Senate resolutions from the House of Repre- 
 sentatives on the death of the late Representative Foster. 
 
 The President pro tempore (Mr. Gallinger) . The Chair 
 lays before the Senate resolutions from the House of Rep- 
 resentatives, which will be read. 
 
 [39] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 The Secretaiy read the resolutions, as follows : 
 
 In the House of Representatives, 
 
 January 19, 1913. 
 
 Resolved, That in pursuance of the special order lieretofore 
 adopted the House proceed to pay tribute to the memory of the 
 Hon. DAvm Johnson Foster, late a Representative in Congress 
 from the State of Vermont. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
 •the deceased and in recognition of his distinguished career and 
 his great service to his country as a Representative in Congress 
 the House, at the conclusion of the memorial proceedings of this 
 day, shall stand adjourned. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate these 
 resolutions to the Senate. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk of the House be, and he is hereby, 
 instructed to send a copy of these resolutions to the family of 
 the deceased. 
 
 Mr. Dillingham. Mr. President, I offer the resolutions 
 which I send to the desk, and ask for their adoption. 
 
 The President pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont 
 offers resolutions which will be read. 
 
 The resolutions (S. Res. 495) 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 the Hon. David J. Foster, late a Member 
 of the House of Representatives from the State of Vermont. 
 
 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. 
 
 [40] 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 Address of Mr. Dillingham, of Vermont 
 
 Mr. President: Nearly a year has passed since death 
 summoned from our midst Vermont's Representative 
 from the first congressional district and closed the earthly 
 career of David Johnson Foster. The announcement of 
 his death, so sudden and unexpected, came as a distinct 
 shock to his friends everywhere, and particularly to his 
 associates in Congress, among whom the critical nature 
 of his illness had not been known. From all classes came 
 expressions of personal sorrow and the deepest sympathy 
 for the stricken ones in the delightful home which he had 
 so recently established in this city. Consternation, regret, 
 and a keen sense of loss followed in the cities, in the 
 villages, and on the farms of Vermont. The people of 
 the State he had loved so well and had so faithfully and 
 proudly served were his devoted friends and admirers. 
 
 But time, with her softening influences, has somewhat 
 m^odified the first effects of the shock, and now we are 
 able to look back with some degree of calmness upon 
 the life of our friend and are better able to judge of those 
 elements in his character which gave him such a charm- 
 ing personality and which served to advance him so sig- 
 nally in the profession of his choice as well as in the 
 public life to which his people called him. 
 
 Even a casual meeting with Mr. Foster was a delight. 
 His courtesy and amiability, coupled with bright men- 
 tality and quick responsiveness, gave no suggestion of the 
 real struggle through which he had achieved success at 
 
 [41] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 the bar and which had pecuHarly fitted him for the long 
 public service during which he had won a most conspicu- 
 ous position in the councils of the Nation. And j^et 
 underneath lay hidden a life brimming with ambitions 
 but subject to many discouragements, of many brilliant 
 accomplishments and some disheartening defeats; but 
 through all, from childhood until death, there was always 
 in evidence a calm, steady purpose and firm determina- 
 tion to succeed and an industry combined with a courage 
 and persistence against which obstacles only served as 
 a challenge to greater endeavor. 
 
 The record of David J. Foster's life would make a 
 stimulating story of the step-by-step process by which 
 men reach high positions in the world's work when their 
 undertakings are properly inspired and directed by 
 honest ambition, accompanied by earnest, well-directed 
 efforts. 
 
 Mr. Foster was born on a farm in the town of Barnet, 
 neither blessed nor cursed by riches. His was the life 
 of the boys in the rural districts of our mountainous 
 State, where they are important factors, learning at an 
 early date that labor is both necessary and honorable, 
 that good character is as essential as is capital in 
 business, and that under our free institutions the avenues 
 to success and distinction are open to all who are worthy 
 to attain them. He was essentially a New England 
 product and had these principles instilled by precept 
 and example, in the development of which the little red 
 schoolhouse and the old New England academy did their 
 full part. To the education thus secured was added a 
 college course at Dartmouth, from which institution he 
 was graduated in 1880. It was distinctly to his advantage 
 that in acquiring this educational attainment he was com- 
 pelled to rely upon his own resources, and that in his 
 subsequent study of the law he w^as likewise obliged to 
 
 [42] 
 
Address of Mr. Dillingham, of Vermont 
 
 rely upon his own resources to meet his expenses, how- 
 ever much they were reduced by rigid economy. Each 
 effort gave him greater strength to meet the one that 
 follow^ed. Each achievement gave him greater confidence 
 in his ability to win still greater victories, and so, in the 
 practice of his profession, which he follow^ed in the city 
 of Burlington, this process went on, and he quickly took 
 high rank as a law^^er and grew in power and influence as 
 a citizen. 
 
 Time wall not permit an estimate of his work, either 
 in his profession or any of the positions which he so 
 acceptably filled, and I must confine myself to saying that 
 he was early recognized as not only well grounded in the 
 principles of the law, a safe counselor, but also a forceful 
 practitioner. In short, he exemplified that excellent 
 definition of a lawyer — " a gentleman learned in the 
 law." Twice he was elected State's attorney for the 
 county of Chittenden. His tastes led him into political 
 life, and his ability was soon so marked that he was called 
 from his county to serve as a senator in the General 
 Assembly of Vermont, as one of the board of railroad 
 commissioners of that State, and later as commissioner of 
 State taxes. 
 
 He so creditably acquitted himself in all these positions 
 that in 1900 the people of Vermont's first congressional 
 district chose him to represent them in the National 
 House of Representatives. For 12 years he served them 
 with a rare fidelity. Among his associates he was con- 
 sidered a man of culture and intelligence, of sound judg- 
 ment and individuality of action, and w^as much appre- 
 ciated for his charming personal qualities. Not seeking 
 the glare of the limelight, he gradually but surely 
 advanced in usefulness and influence in the work of the 
 House. While he looked sharply after the needs of his 
 State and district and was unsparing of himself in the 
 
 [43] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 interests of his constituents, he found time to give atten- 
 ti6n to other things and grappled with broad problems 
 not limited to the borders of his State or even to our 
 national boundaries — he studied international questions. 
 
 It was his good fortune early in his service to be placed 
 upon the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in the ripe- 
 ness of his experience and knowledge became its 
 chairman, being regarded as one of the leaders in that 
 great body which represents in a special sense the " rank 
 and file " of the citizenship of the Nation, Because of 
 this he was on more than one occasion chosen as the 
 representative of the United States at noteworthy cele- 
 brations of international character. He became a much- 
 traveled man, well versed on questions involving our 
 relations with foreign Governments. He was a strong 
 advocate of international peace, and was much sought 
 as a speaker on this and kindred subjects. 
 
 Mr. Foster became a Member of the House at about the 
 time I entered the Senate. We had been friends at the 
 bar of Vermont; we became better friends here. Twelve 
 years of companionship developed only the most agree- 
 able relations. During that entire period I recall no in- 
 stance, no suggestion, of any serious difference of opinion 
 between us. We advised freely concerning all matters of 
 common interest, candidly discussed every problem which 
 presented itself, looking always to harmony and unity of 
 action, in which we never failed. 
 
 The last time I met him was at a meeting of the Ver- 
 mont delegation, called to devise methods best calculated 
 to protect Vermont's great dairy interests. He was unusu- 
 ally quiet and reserved, and impressed me as being weary 
 and worn, but protested that he was not out of health. 
 He returned to his home, and my next knowledge was 
 that he was seriously, though not dangerously ill. Re- 
 peated inquiries brought assurances that time only was 
 
 [44] 
 
Address of Mr. Dillingham, of Vermont 
 
 necessary to restore him to his accustomed vigor, and then 
 came the end — sudden, as it was unexpected, and a life 
 full of kind and genial as well as strong qualities was lost 
 to the world. 
 
 It is due to the memory of our friend and to those he 
 most tended}^ loved, that I should say in closing that, not- 
 withstanding the disciplinary experiences to which I have 
 alluded, as fundamental factors in the development of 
 the character of Mr, Foster, I am of the opinion that the 
 great moral qualities he possessed, without the modifying 
 influences of which he could not, however strong, have 
 reached the distinction which will stand the test of time 
 and criticism, were fostered in him by an ideal home life. 
 Hardly ever have I observed more delightful domestic 
 relations. To wife and daughters he ever gave freely of 
 his love and sympathy, devotion and service, and in their 
 reciprocal love and sympathy he received inspiration to 
 lofty thought and noble action, without which his work 
 would have fallen far short of what it was. 
 
 To-day his loved ones mourn the loss of one who to 
 them was everything good implied in the term husband 
 and father. Vermont mourns the loss of a public servant 
 in whom confidence was rightly placed. His record is an 
 honor to his State and an enduring monument to his 
 memory. 
 
 [45] 
 
Address of Mr. Burton, of Ohio 
 
 Mr. President: David Johnson Foster was a son of 
 Vermont, a Commonwealth which has made notable con- 
 tributions to the citizenship of this Republic. One of the 
 least in area, and not far from the least in population, 
 Vermont has afforded proof that for the birth of genius 
 and patriotism neither fertile fields nor widespread plains 
 are essential. These qualities live and flourish among the 
 quarries and the mountains of Vcrmont. 
 
 From Revolutionary times to the present day, when- 
 ever the tocsin of alarm has sounded the call to arms, 
 the men of Vermont have been ready to respond. When- 
 ever there has been a call for a missionary or a teacher 
 in some remote part of the earth, or wherever self-sacri- 
 fice has been required, the women of Vermont have been 
 ready to respond to the call. 
 
 Mr, Foster was born in Caledonia County, in one of the 
 most rocky portions of the State, and worked his own 
 way through Dartmouth College. He enjoyed the educa- 
 tional advantages afforded by that institution, the college 
 which has furnished to the country Webster, Woodbury, 
 Choate, Chase, and many other citizens of the highest 
 rank and the greatest usefulness in many walks of life. 
 
 His surroundings were essentially those of the country. 
 The college which he attended is located in a small town, 
 where there is an all-pervading university atmosphere. 
 His early life was passed in the rural portion of Vermont, 
 and although later he settled in a city of some consider- 
 able size, nevertheless he did not enter upon the hurly- 
 burly rush of American life which belongs to our great 
 cities. 
 
 [46] 
 
Address of Mr. Burton, of Ohio 
 
 He early showed a predilection for a public career. He 
 enjoyed that apprenticeship which, more than any other 
 position, has been the initial step for a congressional 
 career — the position of prosecuting attorney. He was 
 afterwards a State senator in Vermont. 
 
 I may say of liim, as one who served contemporane- 
 ously with him in the House of Representatives, that he 
 made a most favorable impression from the very begin- 
 ning of his career in the House in the year 1900. In that 
 body, where promotion is often slow, he showed the ster- 
 ling qualities of honesty and of industry. With no bril- 
 liant efforts in the way of oratory, he was a master of 
 clear statement. He showed such a thorough understand- 
 ing of the subjects upon which he spoke that he com- 
 manded the respect, and I may say the admiration, of his 
 fellow Members. 
 
 At a rather early date he became a member of the Com- 
 mittee on Foreign Affairs, and I take it his greatest inter- 
 est during his service of 12 years was in our relations with 
 foreign countries and in the cause of peace. 
 
 Unfortunately his career was brought to a premature 
 end. Such was his standing in his State that he no doubt 
 would have been continued in the House of Representa- 
 tives or in Congress to the very end of his life. Death 
 came with startling suddenness. Even on the day of his 
 death, I am told, it was thought he would soon recover 
 from the illness which had detained him at home. He 
 left a splendid record in the House. 
 
 Mr. President, there is a feature of his career which is 
 to me almost pathetic — that with his ambition to serve 
 his country, with his fondness for public life, he was cut 
 off in his prime. His family mourn his death, and I de- 
 sire to give my tribute of sorrow and sympathy to his 
 wife and daughters, and also my tribute to his memory. 
 
 [47] 
 
Memohial Aodhesses: Representative Foster 
 
 Along with all those Avho, serving well in any great 
 cause, have been taken away before the work of life is 
 done, he looked down, as it were, from the mountain 
 heights upon the future with budding hopes, with confi- 
 dence that in the future the work which he had been 
 performing would bring still greater and better results, 
 and that the causes for which he had labored might reach 
 their glad fruition in his lifetime. But he was taken 
 away from us, and we must mourn our loss. 
 
 Notwithstanding that his career was cut short, he 
 accomplished much that was useful. We may look to 
 him for an example of devotion to public service, of 
 honesty, of friendliness, of good will to all. 
 
 Whatever maj^ be the rank or station of anyone whose 
 death we call to mind, or w^hose life we commemorate, 
 we judge of them as men. Judging of him by that 
 standard, he was a model husband, a model father, and 
 in all the varied walks of life he has left an example 
 which it is inspiring to follow. 
 
 [48] 
 
Address of Mr. Page, of Vermont 
 
 Mr. President: Few men of this generation have been 
 better types of those sons of Vermont who toughened into 
 manhood on the hillside farm than David Johnson Foster. 
 
 To what extent climatic conditions tend to produce 
 exceptional intellectual strength it is difTicult to say, but 
 it is an interesting study to observe the characteristics 
 which are stamped upon men who have grown up in 
 those mountainous regions of our Northern States, where 
 the temperature reaches a point so low that the mercury 
 congeals, and this is oftentimes the case in Caledonia 
 County, where Congressman Foster was born. Few 
 winters pass there in which the temperature does not fall 
 to 42 degrees below zero. When to this is added the 
 further fact that the boys and girls who grew up with 
 Congressman Foster were obliged to break their own 
 roads through the deep snows to the little red school- 
 house, it is not unreasonable to believe that these severe 
 endurance tests may, in some degree at least, account for 
 the vigorous type of manhood which came from that sec- 
 tion of the country. 
 
 Congressman Foster was born on the 27th day of June, 
 1857, upon his father's farm in Barnet, Vt. His early life 
 was uneventful. He grew to early manhood amid those 
 rugged natural surroundings and adverse conditions 
 which developed in him that iron will, that indomitable 
 pluck, and that sturdy self-reliance which are charac- 
 teristics of those who are compelled to learn life's hard 
 lessons through the toil and struggle necessary to over- 
 come well-nigh insurmountable difficulties. 
 
 93285°— 13 4 [49] 
 
Memorial Addresses: Representative Foster 
 
 In the year 1880, at the age of 23, he graduated from 
 Dartmouth College, and for a few years thereafter was, 
 I believe, a teacher of rhetoric in that institution. 
 
 During his college days he supplemented his slender 
 income from father and friends by teaching school in 
 winter and tutoring students in the lower classes of the 
 college. It has been said that genius has an unlimited 
 capacity for hard work. Measured by this standard, Con- 
 gressman Foster had few superiors, for he was industry 
 personified. 
 
 He removed to Burlington, Vt., soon after his gradua- 
 tion from Dartmouth College, and in 1883 was admitted 
 to the bar. In 1886 he was made the prosecuting attorney 
 of his county, an office which he continued to hold until 
 1890. From 1892 to 1894 he was a member of the State 
 senate. From 1894 to 1898 he was State commissioner of 
 taxes. In 1898 he was made chairman of the board of 
 railroad commissioners of Vermont, a position which he 
 held until 1900, when he was elected a Member of Con- 
 gress. 
 
 Congressman Foster, by reason of his eminent abilities 
 as a natural orator, was early called into public life. For 
 many years he had been in constant demand in many of 
 the States of the Union for service in political campaigns. 
 He was the first president of the Young Men's Republican 
 Club of Vermont. As a parliamentarian he ranked veiy 
 high, and was often called to the chair by Speaker 
 Cannon. 
 
 Having once entered the political arena, he found little 
 difficulty in reaching the goal of his ambition, as he 
 passed from station to station up the line of political and 
 official honors to membership in the National House of 
 Representatives. 
 
 It was probably as chairman of the Committee on For- 
 eign Affairs of the National House of Representatives that 
 
 [50] 
 
Address of Mr. Page, of Vermont 
 
 Congressman Foster was able to perform his most impor- 
 tant service to his country. He was appointed a mem- 
 ber of that committee in 1901. In 1910 he was made its 
 chairman, and from that time forward until his death he 
 brought to the discharge of the duties of that office a 
 measure of ability which made him an invaluable public 
 servant. 
 
 I do not think I wrongly estimate the attitude of 
 Vermont toward Congressman Foster when I say that a 
 large portion of the good people of the Green Mountain 
 State had concerning him but one expectation, and that 
 was that when there was a vacancy in the upper branch 
 of Congress from the west side of the State he would 
 be called upon to fill that vacancy. Vermont looked upon 
 this favorite son as a genuine product of the rigorous life 
 and environment which had given to our State her long 
 line of distinguished men, who, like him, had been 
 developed and nurtured on her cold, rocky hillside 
 Vermont farms. They saw in his character those 
 elements which they loved and appreciated, because he 
 was of them in nature, in extraction, in industry, and 
 in vigor. 
 
 Congressman Foster's early life and training had 
 developed a strength of character which made him equal 
 to any and every emergency. President Taft named him 
 as chairman of the delegation which represented this 
 country at the Centennial of Mexican Independence, a 
 commission the duties of which he discharged with credit 
 to himself and honor to his country. President Taft also 
 named him as chairman of the delegation from the 
 United States to the general assembly of the International 
 Institute of Agriculture at Rome. 
 
 Wherever he was placed, whether as a representative 
 of this country abroad or as the chairman of the impor- 
 tant Committee on Foreign Affairs in the House, he 
 
 [51] 
 
Memorial Addresses : Representative Foster 
 
 discharged the duties devolving upon him in such a way 
 as to reflect credit upon himself and to create in the 
 hearts of his constituents a just pride in their Repre- 
 sentative. 
 
 Few men possessed his power of attracting to them- 
 selves the young men of their acquaintance. He was 
 universally popular, but with the younger element of his 
 district he was exceptionally so. Always genial, always 
 meeting everyone with a smile, always zealously anxious 
 to serve everyone by little acts of kindness, always 
 faithful in the discharge of every trust reposed in him 
 by his constituents in matters here in Washington, he had 
 come to be — as he deserved to be — one of the most 
 popular and best beloved of all the sons of his State. 
 
 Modest, unassuming, kind, with an irresistible personal 
 charm which drew his fellow men to him, he was the 
 perfect embodiment of courtesy and gentleness, wdiich, 
 coupled with a broad mind, a large heart, and an amiable 
 and lovable disposition, resulted in producing a combina- 
 tion of qualities rarely found in a single individual. 
 
 It was a part of my duty to go to Vermont, in advance 
 of the joint committee from the Senate and House ap- 
 pointed to attend the funeral, to help in arranging its 
 details, and I shall never forget the genuine, heartfelt 
 grief manifested by every Vermonter with whom I came 
 in contact while on this sad errand. On every hand was 
 heard the expression: "Vermont has suffered an irrep- 
 arable loss." 
 
 From all parts of the State, not alone from his own 
 congressional district, the people gathered, in numbers 
 larger than are wont to be present on such occasions, to 
 show their respect and their affection for Congressman 
 Foster. 
 
 We often hear the remark made that the true test of a 
 man's character is his home life. It was my great good 
 
 [52] 
 
Address of Mr. Page, of Vermont 
 
 fortune to visit Congressman Foster at his home here in 
 Washington on repeated occasions, and I was always 
 deeply impressed with the affectionate regard in which 
 the father was held by the three daughters and the 
 mother, who, with the father, constituted the family. 
 
 His last illness was not believed to be serious until the 
 day of his death. It was my custom to telephone Mrs. 
 Foster at their home and inquire as to his health, and, 
 without a single exception, the reply came back to me: 
 " He is not seriously ill; he is tired and needs a little time 
 for recuperation. He will soon be back in the House." 
 Little did she realize that in a few hours this strong man 
 was to be stricken down by the grim reaper. 
 
 On March 21 of last year, at a time when life and hope 
 were brightest and when honors were falling thickest 
 upon him, he was called home. 
 
 One might be inclined to question the wisdom of divine 
 Providence in removing from such a family a father so 
 richly endowed, and to assert that there were few men 
 who might not have been better spared than this strong, 
 charming personality^ who had achieved such a command- 
 ing position in the affairs of his State and in the councils 
 of the Nation. Why he should have been thus suddenly 
 stricken down and his country deprived of his trained 
 leadership, at a time when all his powers were flowering 
 into their most perfect bloom, is a question which it is not 
 given human intelligence to answer. 
 
 Mr. President, I realize only too well that I have been 
 able to touch far too lightly upon a life whose fullness and 
 beauty furnishes material from which could have been 
 formulated so much of good. But when the future histo- 
 rian, in the light of a true perspective, shall come to write 
 with deliberation and painstaking care a record of the 
 strong and virile statesmen who have played their parts 
 in the national field of legislation during the first decade 
 
 [53] 
 
Memorial Addresses : Representative Foster 
 
 of the twentieth centur}% his account will be far from 
 complete if it fails to include therein in liberal measure 
 the part played in important public affairs by David 
 Johnson Foster. 
 
 To the long line of Vermont's illustrious dead whose 
 names hold places of honor in our Nation's history, and 
 especially the names of those sons w^ho have been promi- 
 nent in the Nation's councils here in Washington during 
 the last threescore years, to the names of Collamer, Foote, 
 Morrill, Proctor, Ave now add the name of Foster. 
 
 They had lived longer than he and were garnered like 
 sheaves of ripened wheat in their old age and after long 
 years of distinguished public service, while he was cut 
 down at the zenith of his vigorous manhood. Their mem- 
 ories are revered and venerated by Vermonters every- 
 where, but none of them were more dearly beloved by an 
 appreciative constituency than the one to whose name 
 we to-day pay our tribute of respect, David Johnson 
 Foster. 
 
 
 [54] 
 
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