BookX^ 
 
r 
 
 U.S. JS' 
 
 58th Congress! 
 3d Session I 
 
 House of Representatives 
 
 I Document 
 
 ( No. 470 
 
 GEORGE W. CROFT 
 
 (Late a Representative from South Carolina) 
 
 Memorial Addresses Delivered in the 
 House of Representatives and Senate 
 
 Third Session of the 
 Fifty-eighth Congress 
 
 Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing 
 
 WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFnCE:1905 
 

 
^■^^^^i^i^i'"^^':' 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Pngf 
 
 rroceedint;s in the House 5 
 
 Prayer by Rev. Henr_v N. Couden ■. 5 
 
 Praj-er by Rev. Henry N. Couden 9 
 
 .\ddress of Mr. Finley, of South Carolina 1 1 
 
 .•\ddress of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina i6 
 
 Address of Mr. French, of Idaho ^7 
 
 Address of Mr. Johnson, of South Carolina 3° 
 
 Address of Mr. Aiken, of .South Carolina 33 
 
 Proceedings in the Senate 39 
 
 Address of Mr. Latimer, of South Carolina -12 
 
 3 
 
Death of Representative George W. Croft 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE 
 
 Thursday, March lo, igo^.. 
 
 The House met at 12 o'clock m. 
 
 The Chaplain, Rev. Henry X. Couden, D. D. , offered the 
 following prayer: 
 
 We invoke Thy blessing. Almighty God, our Heavenly 
 Father, upon these Thy servants, that, guided by the light of 
 truth and strengthened by the power from on high, all the 
 deliberations of this House to-day may be in consonance with 
 Thy holy will. 
 
 A great sorrow has come to us in the death of one of our 
 Members, and our hearts go out in great .sympathy to the 
 bereaved family. We pray Thee that they may be upheld and 
 sustained by the hope of immortality. 
 
 Hear us, O Lord, and bless us, in the name of Jesus Christ, 
 our Savior. Amen. 
 
 DE.\TH OF HON. GEORGE W. CROFT. 
 
 Mr. FiNLEV. Mr. Speaker, the sad duty is mine to announce 
 to this House the death of the Hon. George W. Croft, a 
 Repre.sentative from the State of South Carolina, who died 
 this morning at 7.30 o'clock at his residence in this city. Of 
 his worth, of his virtues I shall not speak now, but at some 
 future time I shall ask the House to consider that matter in a 
 suitable manner. 
 
 5 
 
6 Proceedings in tlic House 
 
 As a mark of respect to him, I offer the following reso- 
 lutions. 
 
 The Speaker. The gentleman from vSouth Carolina offers 
 the following resohitions, which the Clerk will report: 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the House of Representatives has heard with profound 
 sorrow of the death of the Hon. G. \V. CroFT, a Representative from the 
 State of South Carolina. 
 
 Resolved, That the Speaker appoint a committee of thirteen Members 
 to attend the funeral services. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the 
 deceased Member the House do now adjourn. 
 
 Mr. OvERSTREET. Mr. Speaker, before the question is put, 
 and in view of the special order under which the Hou.se has 
 been proceeding, having fixed 4 o'clock this afternoon for a 
 vote, I think it proper to ask unanimous consent that the order 
 heretofore fixed for to-day shall continue to another day. I 
 had said that I would make the sugge.stion that it apply 
 to-morrow until it was suggested that to-morrow being pension 
 dav- the committee did not desire to be displaced. I therefore 
 ask unanimous consent that the order applicable to to-daj- 
 shall be available and continue tintil Sattirda}'. 
 
 The Speaker. Is there objection? 
 
 Mr. Moon, of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman 
 from Indiana will allow me to suggest, I think the better idea 
 would be to let Saturday be takeu for pensions and the House 
 execute the pending order to-morrow. 
 
 Mr. OvERSTREET. I should prefer to let a representative of 
 the Pension Committee state as to that. 
 
 Mr. Gibson. I have no objection. 
 
 The Speaker. The gentleman from Indiana asks unani- 
 mous consent that the order applicable to-daj- shall be 
 applicable to-morrow, and that Saturday be devoted to pensions 
 
Proceedings in the House , 7 
 
 under the rule. Is there objection? [After a pause.] The 
 Chair hears none. 
 
 The question is on agreeing to the first two re.sohitioiis 
 offered by the gentleman from South Carolina. 
 
 The resolutions were unauimou.sly agreed to. 
 
 The Speaker announced the appointment of the following 
 connnittee: D. E. Finley, Wyatt Aiken, J. T. Johnson, George 
 S. L,egare, R. B. vScarborough, A. F. Lever, Henry C. Louden- 
 slao-er, George R. Patterson, William Richardson, Frank A. 
 McLain, Henry A. Houston, Charles H. Weisse, Amos H. 
 Jackson, and Joseph C. Sibley. 
 
 The Spe.\ker. The question is on agreeing to the third 
 resolution. 
 
 The resolution was agreed to; and accordingly (at 12 o'clock 
 and 10 minutes p. m.) the House adjourned to meet to-morrow 
 
 at 12 m. 
 
 March ii, 1904. 
 
 mess.a.ge from the sex.a.te. 
 The message also announced that the Senate had passed the 
 following resolutions; 
 
 Resolved. That the Senate has heard with deep sorrow the announce- 
 ment of the death of Hon. George \V. Croft, late a Representative of 
 the Second district of the State of South Carolina. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of six Senators be appointed by the Presi- 
 dent pro tempore to join a connnittee on the part of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives to take order for superintending the funeral of the deceased. ' 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate communicate these resolutions to the House 
 of Representative's. 
 
 Resolved, As a. further mark of respect to memory of the deceased, that 
 the Senate do now adjourn. 
 
 And that in compliance with the foregoing the President pro 
 
 tempore had appointed as said committee Mr. Tillman, Mr. 
 
 Latimer, Mr. Fulton, Mr. Clarke of Arkansas, Mr. Hopkins, 
 
 and Mr. McLaurin. 
 
8 , Proceedings in the House 
 
 February 9, 1905. 
 
 Mr. FixLEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
 at the close of the exercises in meniorj' of the late Repre- 
 sentative Mahoney memorial exercises be held on the life and 
 character of the late George W. Croft, a Representative 
 from the State of South Carolina. 
 
 The Speaker. Is there objection? 
 
 There was no objection. 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 Sunday, Ffluu(u-y 26. 1905. 
 
 The House was called to order at 12 o'clock noon by 
 William J. Browning, Chief Clerk, who announced that the 
 Speaker had designated the Hon. William P. Hepburn as 
 Speaker pro tempore for this da>-. 
 
 Mr. Hepburn took the chair as Speaker pro tempore. 
 
 The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the 
 following prayer: 
 
 Our Father who art in heaven, we thank Thee for that deep 
 and ever-abidiug faith which looks up to Thee as the creator, 
 upholder, and sustainer of all, and for that eternal hope which 
 binds us to Thee by ties which time nor space can sever. 
 "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, 
 nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things 
 to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall 
 be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus, our Lord." For without the.se angels from Thy heart, 
 O God, life would be indeed a desert without a .single oa.sis 
 to cheer the weary traveler on his way. With these even the 
 mystery of death is solved, so when it comes and takes away 
 our dear ones we can throw our.selves into the everlasting arms 
 and feel the warm pulsations of a heavenly Father's heart 
 and say: 
 
 Theie is no death! What seems so is transition; 
 
 This life of mortal breath 
 Is but a suburb of the life elysian, 
 
 Whose portal we call Death. 
 
lo Memorial Addresses 
 
 So send, we beseech Thee, our heavenly Father, these 
 angels to comfort the hearts of the colleagues, friends, and 
 families of those for whom we have gathered here to-day in 
 loving remembrance, and Thine be the praise forever, through 
 Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 
 
 THE LATE HON. GEORGE WILLIAM CROFT. 
 
 Mr. FiNLEV. Mr. Speaker, I offer the following resolutions. 
 
 The vSpe.^ker pro tempore. The gentleman from vSouth 
 Carolina [Mr. Finley] offers the resolutions which the Clerk 
 will report. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That in pursuance of the special order heretofore adopted, 
 the House now proceed to pay tribute to the memory of Hon. GEORGE \\". 
 Croft, late a Member of this House from the State of South Carolina. 
 
 Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory of the 
 deceased, and in recognition of his distinguished public career, the House 
 at the conclusion of the exercises to-day shall stand adjourned. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resohitions to the vSenate. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk send a cop3' of these resolutions to the family 
 of the deceased. 
 
 Mr. Finley. Mr. Speaker, before proceeding with the special 
 order, I ask unanimous con.sent that leave to print remarks 
 relating to these ceremonies be granted to Members of the 
 House for twentj^ daj's. 
 
 The Speaker pro tempore. The gentleman from South 
 Carolina [Mr. Finley] asks unanimous consent that leave to 
 print remarks relating to these ceremonies be granted to 
 Members of the House for twent}' days. Is there objection? 
 
 There was no objection. 
 
Address of Mr. Fiiile\\ of South Carolina 1 1 
 
 Address of Mr. Finley, of South Carolina 
 
 Mr. Speaker: Oh the loth day of March last the sad 
 duty devolved upon nie to announce to the House the death 
 of Hon. George William Croft, late a Representative 
 from the State of South Carolina. I gave notice then, Mr. 
 Speaker, that at some future time I would ask the House 
 to join in suitable services commemorative of him and as a 
 proper recognition of his di.stingui.shed public career. 
 
 George William Croft was born in Newberry County, 
 S. C, on the 20th day of December, 1846. In 1864, when 
 he was a cadet at the South Carolina Military Academy, his 
 education was interrupted h\ rea.son of the corps of cadets 
 being mustered into the Confederate .service. In this service 
 he continued until the clo.se of the war. Subsequently he 
 spent two years at the University of \'irginia. In 1869 he 
 was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his pro- 
 fession at Aiken, S. C. and from then until his death he 
 lived there. Sitting in my seat on this floor yesterday I 
 listened to eloquent and eulogistic addresses on the lives and 
 characters of Austin and Houston, two men of all others most 
 honored Vjv the State of Texas. My distinguished friend 
 from Missouri [Mr. Clark] , in his matchless and inimitable 
 style, alluded to the fact that State pride was a characteristic 
 of the people of South Carolina, Ma.ssachusetts, \'irginia 
 and Texas. 
 
 No State can be truly great unless her citizens excel in 
 patrioti-sni and love of truth. Judged by this standard. South 
 Carolina can properly Vie termed "the imperial State," .second 
 to none in all that goes to constitute true greatness. The 
 
12 Life and Character of Gcoj'ge JJ\ Croff 
 
 proud boast of her citizens is that in making the history 
 of this greatest of great nations this State has always occu- 
 pied a foremost position. In declaring for freedom in the 
 Revolutionary war she paid the penalty in that struggle of 
 having every section of her territory a battlefield and suf- 
 fered the loss of at least three- fourths of all the destructible 
 property in her borders. In 1812, when Briti.sh tyranny had 
 become unendurable, South Carolina .spoke through her most 
 gifted and distinguished son, John C. Calhoun, and forced 
 matters to the issue of battle. In the war with Mexico she 
 •sent 1,000 men, the valor and chivalry of the State, led by 
 the brave and gallant Pierce Butler. These followed Gen- 
 eral Scott from Veracruz to the City of Mexico. In storm- 
 ing that city a forlorn hope of sixteen from this regiment 
 were the first inside of the walls. This fact I have from 
 the lips of James A. Thomas, of Harmony, S. C, vi'ho 
 participated in that frightful assault. 
 
 Likewise, in the greatest of all wars from the standpoint of 
 loss of life and material wealth, the memorable and ever-to-be- 
 regretted war between the States, she lagged not behind, and, 
 Mr. Speaker, in the last war, not the greatest that this country 
 has engaged in — in the war with Spain -she was among the 
 first to send her sons to uphold the flag of the Union and to 
 give freedom to the oppre.ssed Cubans. The one thing that 
 more than all others has given the State of .South Carolina her 
 proud po.sition is the fact that in times of stress on all great 
 issues her people stand as a unit. They are united. A notable 
 illustration of this is that notwithstanding a large and respect- 
 able minority of her citizens were opposed to .secession in i860, 
 in the ci\-il war that followed South Carolina .stands alone as 
 the only State in the Union that did not furnish a single regi- 
 ment or even a single company to the Union Army. 
 
Address of Mr. Finlcy, of Soii/Ji Carolina 1 3 
 
 This tuiity of the citizens of the State on all great occasions 
 is the one thing more than all others that causes the sons of 
 the State, wherever they go, at all times and in all places, not 
 only to be proud, but, if need be, assert the fact that they are 
 South Carolinians. 
 
 George William Croft in his life measured up to the 
 standard required of her sons by South Carolina. A beardless 
 youth in time of war, he answered the call of the State and 
 shouldered his nuisket and marched to the front, where, as a 
 brave and gallant soldier, he performed his full duty. When 
 the war was over he accepted the result in good faith and 
 gave to his country the best efforts of his life. Whenever his 
 time and his talents were demanded he gave them freely and 
 without stint. During the reconstruction period in South 
 Carolina, eight years of licen.se, debauchery, and misgovern- 
 ment by vicious carpetbaggers and ignorant negroes, during 
 which time the people of the State were plundered under the 
 forms of law of an amount equal to one-fourth of the taxable 
 property in the State, George William Ckoft, by word and 
 work, performed his full duty in redeeming the State and plac- 
 ing the government once more in the hands of those best fitted 
 to admini.ster it. Faithfully and efficiently he .served his peo- 
 ple both as a citizen and as an official, and right here I nia>- 
 add that the love and esteem accorded to George William 
 Croft by the people of his home county, Aiken, by the people 
 of the Second Congressional di.strict, was not confined to the 
 color of a man's skin. White and lilack regarded him as a 
 citizen wise, courageous, and a lover of truth and right. They 
 looked to him as an exemplar, and all his people, without 
 regard to race, without regard to party, admired, loved, 
 respected, and trusted him. 
 
14 Life and Character of George H^. Croft 
 
 However, it is oiil^- proper for me to say that Colonel Ckoft 
 excelled as a lawyer. Now, to enter into a statement of his 
 work, extending over a period of thirty-five years, from 1869 
 to 1904, the time of his death, would be out of place here. 
 I shall not do that. But it is sufficient for me to say that for 
 thirty-five years he practiced his profession with distinguished 
 ability and success. 
 
 The South Carolina bar is one which includes in its member- 
 ship men whose life work entitles them to a first place among 
 the juri-sts of the nation. His brethren of the bar recognized 
 the ability of Colonel Croft and his great legal attainments 
 bj' electing him more than once to the presidency of the State 
 Bar Association. 
 
 After a heated and strenuous contest for the nomination, 
 being opposed by strong men, one of whom was attorney- 
 general of the State and another the solicitor of his circuit, 
 he was elected to the Fifty-eighth Congress. During the 
 short term, a little more than a j'ear, that he represented 
 his district in Congress he studied the wants of his people 
 and gave them efficient and satisfactory service. 
 
 I happen to know that one matter dear to the heart of 
 Colonel Croft, and to which he devoted time and attention, 
 was the reclamation of the .swamp lands of his State, and it 
 was his hope that in some way he might be instrumental 
 and helpful in bringing that about. So far as I know, he 
 originated this matter. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, the highest proof of the lo\-e and esteem in 
 which a Representative should be held is that which his peo- 
 ple accord him. We have numbered among Members of this 
 Hou.se the Hon. T. G. Croft, a .son of the Hon. George 
 William Croft. He was sent here by the overwhelming 
 vote of the district over three competitors to fill out the 
 
Address of A/r. Fi>//c\\ of Soit/k Carolina 15 
 
 unexpired term of his distinguished father. A greater tribute 
 than this the people of the Second Congressional district of 
 South Carolina could uot paj- to the memory of Colonel 
 Ckoft. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, when paying tril)ute to the memory and public 
 services of a deceased Member I feel that .something should be 
 said in reference to him as an individual. Colonel Croft in 
 his dealings with his fellow-men was an honest man, kind to 
 all, approachable by all, loved by the poor for the reason that 
 he was their friend. 
 
 He was a man of .strong religious convictions. I remember 
 well when he lay upon his deathbed at his residence on East 
 Capitol street in this city; I visited him time after time and 
 found him suffering in a way that seemed to be past human 
 endurance. Through it all he was patient and hopeful, and 
 bore it \vith great fortitude and Christian resignation. He 
 impressed me then as he had never impressed me before with 
 his greatness as a man. In order to be truly tried a man nui.st 
 be doubly tried — in adver.sity as well as in prosperity, in pain as 
 well as in pleasure. So when GEORGE William Croft lay 
 upon his dying bed, suffering as men can not suffer and live, 
 he gave evidence high and strong of the nobility of soul, of the 
 strength of character that was in him. 
 
 He served his God and his country faithfully and well. 
 ' ' Peace to his ashes. ' ' 
 
1 6 Life and Cliaractcr of George If. Croft 
 
 Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina 
 
 Mr. Speaker: Life is a frail arch uniting two eternities — the 
 unknown worlds — that from whence we come when life is 
 vouchsafed to us and that to which we go when, in infinite 
 wisdom, life is denied us. It is the day, begun in the sunshine 
 of the glorious morning and ending in the melancholy shades 
 of evening. It is the smile and the tear, the banquet hall and 
 the silence of the tomb; alike a triumphant song and a mourn- 
 ful elegy. 
 
 In the brief time allotted for the pilgrimage between the 
 eternities man writes the story of his life and records the 
 evidence of the manner in which he has used the opportunities 
 given him. He builds his own monument and writes upon it 
 his own epitaph, giving the basis upon which the future niu.st 
 pronounce judgment as to his true worth and character. The 
 record when once made must stand through all the ages, 
 death's seal imparting to it absolute veritj'. Ardent friends 
 may exaggerate the virtues and lessen the faults, but neither 
 human kindness nor human malevolence can add to or sub- 
 tract from the record, for the making of which he alone is 
 responsible. 
 
 The greatest of all poets has said: 
 
 The evil that men do lives after them; 
 The good is oft interred with their bones. 
 
 That is the dark picture and the judgment of the pessimi.st. 
 A kindlier philosophy would bury the bad deeds of man and 
 give an endless immortality to his good ones. This is the 
 opinion of the optimist, and it seems entirely in harmony with 
 nature's teaching and the best thought of mankind. 
 
Address of Mr. Lever^ of South Carolina 17 
 
 Yes, Mr. Speaker, I prefer to believe that real worth does 
 not die, but lives on and ou, a rich and ever-increasing legacy 
 for all men for all time. 
 
 The pain of this occasion is somewhat soothed in the tliought 
 that we are to deal with a character so full of good and so free 
 from vice that what we shall say in praise of his virtues is 
 the true expression of our real feelings and not the strained 
 exaggeration of a mere eulog}-. 
 
 As a friend, soldier, citizen, lawyer, and legislator George 
 William Croft richly merits the highest tributes we can pay 
 to departed greatness and goodness. 
 
 He lived and labored in the most eventful period of our 
 nation's history. 
 
 Born at Newberry, S. C, December 20, 1S46, his youthful 
 soul was, no doubt, filled with patriotic zeal as he listened to 
 his elders recount the glorious achievements of the famous Pal- 
 metto Regiment from Veracruz to the City of Mexico, over 
 whose doomed walls its flag was the first to float in victory. 
 He saw the rising storm between the two sections of our 
 country, over irreconcilable differences, assume larger and 
 larger proportions until it burst in its awful fury on that fateful 
 morning, January 9, 1861, when from a battery on Morris 
 Island, occupied by the Citadel Cadets, was fired the shot that 
 unfurled the banner of a new nation and announced to the 
 world the commencement of the bloodiest war in the annals of 
 time. He suffered with his State all the horrors of the recon- 
 -Struction era, and when it was ended caught step with the 
 march of progress that has lifted her from the slough of ruin 
 and de.spondencj- aud given her a commercial and industrial 
 growth .so rapid as to be almost enough to challenge the cre- 
 dulity of the most ardent dreamer. He saw the reconciliation 
 between the sections made certain and complete, when, in 
 mutual hatred of tyrainiy, the blue and gray joined hands and 
 H. Doc. 470, 58-3 2 
 
1 8 Life and Character of Geoi'ge If. Croft 
 
 hearts to crush into dust the power of despotism in Cuba, and 
 when in the last agonies of dissohition he looked out over the 
 capital, his eyes beheld, floating proudly and serenely in the 
 morning breezes, the flag of a great people, reunited in com- 
 mon purpose to make this the greatest nation on earth. 
 
 Living thus in a period of our national life so pregnant with 
 histor}', progress, and opportunity, it is not surprising that a 
 man in whose soul burned ambition's flame should profit by 
 the advantage of the situation to make for himself a niche in 
 the temple of fame. 
 
 Receiving his preparatory education in the conunon schools, 
 the nursery of the nation's greatest and best men, at Green- 
 ville, S. C where his parents had made their home, he 
 entered the South Carolina Military Academy, and there 
 expected to complete his academic studies. 
 
 But, alas, the voice of his State called him from the quiet 
 shades of college life to meet a sterner duty. 
 
 The South, drained of men and resources, the incomparable 
 Lee hard pressed in A'irginia, Atlanta fallen, and Johnston in 
 dogged retreat, the cause of southern independence was des- 
 perate, the sun of her hope fast growing into a precious 
 memory of his once resplendent glory. Sherman's triumph- 
 ant army reached the waters of the Savannah on February i, 
 1865, and on the same da}' the hostile heel was planted upon 
 the soil of South Carolina, whose defiant voice had called a 
 nation into being. It was to meet this invasion, which 
 afterwards turned itself into a saturnalia of horrors, that the 
 schools and colleges and nurseries gave their precious charges 
 to the State for her defense. The student became a .soldier, 
 the beardless youth a brave defender of his State, a heroic 
 sacrifice upon her altar. In response to this call young 
 Croft, though only 16 >-ears old, donned for the first time the 
 
Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina ig 
 
 Confederate uniform, and during the continuance of the strug- 
 gle wore it with courage and credit. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, when the history of chi\-alry and true courage 
 shall iind an impartial author there will tie found in it no 
 more inspiring chapter than that which recounts the deeds, 
 the sacrifices, the suffering borne uncomplainingly, the des- 
 perate gallantry and unmatched valor of the boy soldiery of 
 the Confederacy. So long as hearts are responsive to noble 
 sentiments the conduct of the boy soldier of the South in 
 the most trying hour of his cotuitry's desperation will arouse 
 patriotic inspiration and wring a tribute of respect from the 
 meanest misanthrope. History furnishes no com]xirison. the 
 fertile brain of the romancer invents no approximation, and 
 the poet gives no equal to him. He is incomparable and 
 stands alone, the best exemplification of moral and physical 
 courage and patriotic devotion the world has ever seen. 
 
 When peace again smiled over the land and time began 
 her process of healing, young Croft resumed his studies, 
 entering the Universit)' of Virginia, taking the course in 
 law. Immediately after completing the course at the uni- 
 versity he learned the practical side of his profession in the 
 law office of Governor Benjamin F. Perry, himself a pro- 
 found lawyer and a patriotic and farseeing statesman, who.se 
 high character and unselfi.sh zeal in behalf of his conception 
 of his country's best interest no doubt had a .salutary- effect 
 in giving tendency to the mind and character of his promis- 
 ing protege, whose career became a fitting tril)ute tu his 
 great preceptor. 
 
 In i86g he stood the bar examination and was admitted 
 to practice in all the courts of the State, and for this jnir- 
 pose he located in Aiken a year later, where he labored 
 faithfully and earnestly the remainder of his life. 
 
20 Life and Character of George TV. Croft 
 
 This was the darkest day in the civil life of the State; in truth, 
 she was without civil life at all, and this was but the begin- 
 ning of that six-year period of political night when unlicensed 
 thievery and corruption held high carnival within her borders 
 in the name of law and liberty, "when the South trod with 
 unsandaled feet the burning marl of a political hell unparal- 
 leled in all history." In her executive chair sat a political 
 freebooter and thief from Ohio, and in her legislature illiter- 
 ate negroes, former slaves, and white scalawags interpreted 
 the principle of taxation as legislative license to confiscate 
 private property for the benefit of the legislator. With the 
 strong official arm thus against her, with the wounds of war 
 still bleeding, the flower of her splendid manhood filling 
 soldiers' graves, her agricultural and industrial wealth repre- 
 sented by smoldering ashes and silent chimneys, her chief 
 source of labor demoralized and intolerant with the impudence 
 of newborn power, the majesty of her law cru.shed and out- 
 raged, and life, liberty, and property iii-secure, the prospect 
 was sufficient to chill the ardor of the rosiest optimi.st. 
 
 Mr. Croft was not only a pronotuiced optimist, but a man 
 of infinite courage and caution. For him gloom had no terrors, 
 and seemingly insurmountable difficulties did not shake his 
 abiding faith in the ultimate triumph of right over might. 
 Through the darkness he saw the dawning of a fairer day for 
 Carolina, when banished reason should return to her throne, 
 when intelligence and integrity should sit in her council cham- 
 bers, and when justice should once again hokl the .scales and 
 pronounce judgment between man and man. 
 
 The conduct of the alien rulers became so monstrously outra- 
 geous, so indecent, and so disregardful of personal and property 
 rights that the crushed spirit of the Anglo-Saxon could bear it 
 no longer, and then began that memorable struggle between the 
 
Address of Mr. Lcvci\ of South Carolina 21 
 
 forces of light and the forces of darkness, between inteUigence 
 and ignorance, between education, cuUure, and refinement on the 
 one side, and ilHteracy, unbridled force, and impudence on the 
 other — a contest in which the shibboleth was white supremacy 
 and an honest administration of the affairs of the Government. ' 
 
 The culmination and the victory came in 1S76, when Gen. 
 Wade Hampton, hero alike in war and in peace, was elected 
 governor. In that mighty conflict Captain Croft bore a most 
 conspicuous and honorable part, and was intrusted with the 
 important place of chairman of his county executive commit- 
 tee — a position well fitted for his .sagacity, courage, and caution. 
 No young man of the State contributed more to her redemption 
 than did he. As captain of the Aiken \'olunteers, an organi- 
 zation composed of the best of the county's young manhood, he 
 participated in the unfortunate Ellenton riots, where his con- 
 duct was of such a manly and humane character as to extort a 
 word of commendation from the trial judge of those white men. 
 Captain CkofT among them, who had been thrown into a Fed- 
 eral prison because of their connection with the affair. 
 
 A product of the antebellum South, he did not waste his 
 talents pining over an irrevocable past, but, acconnnodating 
 himself to the changed conditions and new requirements, took 
 his place in the forefront of that army of progress whose mate- 
 rial victories in the brief space of a generation have made the 
 South blos.som as a rose and given her place of \'antage in the 
 race for indu.strial and commercial leadership. 
 
 As a business man Mr. Ckoft was in measure successful, 
 and accumulated a modest competency. 
 
 As a lawyer he stood at the very top of the profes.sion, anil 
 was for many years president of the bar a.s.sociation of South 
 Carolina, a position attained only by the most preeminent mem- 
 bers of the profession. 
 
22 Life and Cliaractcr of George Ji'^. Croft 
 
 His practice was large, perhaps the largest of au}' lawyer in 
 that part of the State. His intense fidelity to his clients, his 
 fairness to his antagonists, and his high conception of justice 
 won the respect and confidence of all who came in contact with 
 him. Men with large business interests involved in litigation 
 felt safe in putting them into his keeping; the poor, miserable 
 wretch, charged with crime, and seeking justice, liberty, or 
 life, felt half the burden ri.se from his shoulders when he suc- 
 ceeded in placing the powerful personality of Mr. Croft be- 
 tween him and ruin, and those unfortunate charges upon char- 
 ity, when in trouble, always bent their .steps toward his office, 
 where a willing ear listened to their .sad stories, and a generous 
 hand filled their pockets, or a great and busy man lent himself 
 to go to their defense in court if need be. He was as gener- 
 ous as he was just and received his reward in the universal 
 love of a great people. So fair and just was he in the conduct 
 of a case that his victories came to him without arousing the 
 resentment and l)itterness of tho.se he vanquished, and his long 
 service at the bar, where he was engaged on one side or the 
 other of every important case tried in his count}' for a genera- 
 tion, left him without personal enemies. 
 
 He combined in an unusual degree the elements both of the 
 office lawyer and the advocate. His carefully trained mind 
 was at once analytical and comprehensive, his judgment sound, 
 and his conclusions logical and incontrovertible. As a prac- 
 tical business adviser, dealing with intricate business proposi- 
 tions, he took first rank, while his calm persuasive manners, 
 his easy, graceful style, his dispa.ssionate and dignified deliv- 
 ery, his soft, mu.sical voice, his power of happj* expression, 
 his genial, wholesome humor, his wide learning, and intense 
 earnestness made him an almost irresistible force before a 
 jury and gave him ]ilace among the first orators of the State. 
 
Address of Mr. Lcc'cr, of So lit /i Carolina 23 
 
 Himself candid and open, he despised hypocris>- and shams 
 and was merciless in uncovering and destroying- them, and it 
 is said that on occasions his denunciations of treachery and 
 falsehood on the part of witnesses or litigants reached the 
 point of comparison with the best examples of vehement elo- 
 ([uence. But it was in appealing to the gentler and finer feel- 
 ings of the heart that he was greatest as an orator, and many 
 are the audiences from which his touching pathos has brought 
 the unbidden tear. He himself was gentle, sj-mpathetic, senti- 
 mental, and his manner was such as to impress >ou with the 
 thought that here is a man in whose breast beats a heart 
 devoid of guile and incapable of any other than noble purposes. 
 
 All in all, he was a great lawyer, a credit to any bar, and an 
 honor to his profession. 
 
 For a man of such eminent aljility and worth and per.sonal 
 popularity his legislative experience was comparatively limited, 
 and is covered by two terms in the State legislature, one year in 
 the State senate, and his brief service in this body. Always an 
 active and earnest participant in every movement looking to 
 the welfare of the State, always alert to combat and arrest any 
 tendencj' calculated to do her injury or stay her progress, 
 always taking an intelligent interest in every public question, 
 especially if it concerned the more unfortunate class of the 
 people, he .seems never to have been possessed with any sjiecial 
 desire for public positions. His conscientious belief in the now 
 antiquated idea that political preference should be the volun- 
 tary expression of public confidence, coupled with an innate 
 modesty and love for his profession, deprived the State of 
 many years of his valuable service which a confiding people 
 were only too willing she should have. 
 
 Brief as was his public service, it was sufficiently long to 
 make for him an enviable reputation as a wise, faithful, 
 
24 Life and Character of George }]'. Croft 
 
 earnest, and patriotic legislator. He approached every public 
 question with the utmost deliberation, and without bias, in 
 an endeavor to so act as to bring the best results for the State. 
 Jealous of the correctness of his own judgment, his pride of 
 opinion was not permitted to stand between him and what was 
 proven best for the interest of all the people. Per.sonal ambi- 
 tion and selfishness were subordinated to the public good. He 
 was not a demagogue, and refu.sed to play for public applause. 
 To do the right was the end and aim of his public life. His 
 coworkers recognized him as a safe, conserv^ative, wise coun- 
 selor, whose advice was much .sought and whose opinions were 
 worth serious consideration. He was a leader both in the .sen- 
 ate and house of South Carolina, and, no doubt, if a diiTerent 
 fate had been his, would have taken high rank in this body. 
 
 His most conspicuous contribution to wi.se and enduring 
 legislation is his authorship of the first law in South Carolina 
 prohibiting child labor in cotton mills. The effort to legislate 
 in accordance with conditions as they aro.se met with strong 
 and bitter opposition from powerful influences. To affirm 
 that the State had an interest in and therefore a right to 
 protect its children against a sy.stem which denied them fresh 
 air and sunshine and immunit>' from a grinding toil that 
 sapped their vitality, distorted their intellects, warped their 
 souls, and made life merely an existence, without a hope, 
 without a promise of better reward for faithful service, met 
 a most violent and relentless opposition from that class 
 which, actuated either by ignorance or greed, could see 
 nothing in the tender lives of the children of the State than 
 their capacity for earning a dollar. 
 
 Against this powerful opposition George W. Croft hurled 
 himself, and fought it with a power and el()i|uence conceived 
 
Address of Mr. Lever, of Sou t/i Carolina 25 
 
 in the justness of his cause and deHvered out of a great love 
 for the permanent welfare of his State. His speech closing 
 the debate in favor of the bill is without question one of the 
 greatest appeals ever made to a South Carolina legislature. 
 What seemed certain defeat for the cause of the children 
 was turned into victory by his masterful presentation of it, 
 and when all else he ever accomplished shall be forgotten 
 his service in this connection will be remembered in gratitude, 
 and will stand as an imperishable moiuiment to his eloquence 
 and his wisdom as a legislator. 
 
 The prestige gained by his leadership in this contest, the 
 universal acknowledgment of his ability, jiatriotism, and per- 
 sonal character by the people and the press of the State, 
 made his promotion to a wider field of u.sefulness a foregone 
 conclusion, and in 1902, after a sharp contest with two of 
 the ablest men of the State for the nomination of his party, 
 he was successful, and the choice of the jiarty was ratified 
 in his election to the Fifty-eighth Congre.ss. 
 
 In his short service here he made a most favorable impres- 
 sion upon all who came in contact with him. His pleasant 
 address, his eagerness to learn, his quiet, unassuming, though 
 dignified, bearing conunanded the admiration of all, and the 
 future seemed full of promise for a career of great credit to 
 himself and value to the nation. But, alas, how uncertain 
 are human calculations; how frail are the foundations upon 
 which it builds I We are but weak children of an all-powerful, 
 all-.seeing, all-knowing Father, who.se will, not ours, must be 
 done. The day and the hour had come when life's account 
 had to be balanced and the deeds done in the body passed 
 upon by the court of la.st appeal. To this bar of final judg- 
 ment our friend was called March 10, 1904, and he re.sponded 
 
26 Life and CJiaractcr of George IV. Croft 
 
 with calm, Christian fortitude. "He fell in the fullness of 
 his fame," when the sun of life shoue brightest, and each 
 day gave promise of a better morrow. The trials and 
 vicissitudes of life ended, the battle fought, the victory won, 
 he sleeps in the .soil of the State and among the people he 
 loved and honored. 
 
Add?-css of Mr. Firiick, of Idaho 2J 
 
 Address of Mr. French, of Idaho 
 
 Mr. Speaker: I arise to offer a word on that which has 
 impressed me most in the hfe of him whom we commemorate- 
 It was not my privilege to know tlie deceased well. Geokce 
 William Crokt lived in a State far removed from the one 
 that is m\- home. I met him shortly after Congress convened 
 in the antnmn of 1903. He had jast been elected for the 
 fir.st time to represent his district in the National House of 
 Representatives.. 
 
 Ovir work soon brought us together, and as the title of a 
 book suggests the message that it bears, so a few general 
 facts connected with the life of Mr. Croft told much that in 
 eulogy has been spoken of him to-da>". 
 
 A .soldier in the Army, fighting for the principles he loved; 
 a member for two sessions of the lower branch of the State 
 legislature; a member of the State senate: a Member of Con- 
 gress; president of the bar association of his Connnonwealth; 
 leader in pul)lic affairs and active participant in the politics 
 of his State — these are captions which, when applied to a 
 man who has passed the meridian of life and which have 
 attended him from early manhood, suggest bravery, courage, 
 ability, learning, penseverance, honor. 
 
 I shall not dwell further on those qualities which, popu- 
 larh- speaking, make success in life possible. I would speak 
 of a qualit\- of heart and soul that wliile it aids in all suc- 
 cess yet towers above all other attributes and has for its 
 chiefest object the enriching not of self, but of others. 
 Mr. Croft possessed that kindly sympathy that made him 
 
28 Life and Character of George If. Croft 
 
 understand the sorrow, the joy, the soul movements of his 
 fellow-man. 
 
 It made him understand the boy's delights and hopes. It 
 made him feel the vigor of noble manhood .struggling for 
 achievement. It made him know the emotions and reflections 
 of him whom age has bowed. 
 
 It was that sympathy that prompted him, in the first act 
 that came within my ob.servation, to reach out his hand 
 and aid in placing a boy, struggling amid difficulties, in a 
 position where he could realize his life's dream. It was 
 that .sympathy that impelled him throughout life to lay 
 personal ambition aside and sa}-, "My friend first." It 
 was that sympath>- that as a boy was shown to two old 
 slaves upon his father's plantation, a .sympathy that prompted 
 them in return to journey a distance of 60 miles to rejoice 
 with their young master of fifty years ago in the honor' his 
 district had conferred upon him in electing him to Congress. 
 Sixty miles in Pullman coach is a short distance, but to 
 two old men who had seen plantation life before the war 
 with a kind master and free from care it was a memorable 
 journe)-. 
 
 It was that sympathy shown through many years to those 
 of high and low estate that made them, when he had fallen 
 stricken at his post of duty and his ca.sket was brought 
 back to the door of his home, bear his body, as it were, in 
 the arras of all, to its resting place. 
 
 The streets of Aiken were not lined with people from idle 
 curiosity. The chtirch was not crowded with strangers and 
 those irreverent, but with neighbors and with friends who 
 lo\-ed him for what he was. The .sorrow that spoke so elo- 
 quently on every hand was mindful of a man rich in power 
 and author of large public deeds; yet, mo.st of all, it told 
 
Address of Mr. French, of Idaho 29 
 
 of one whose daily life was an inspiration; whose hand- 
 shake was an expression of good will; whose greeting was 
 a perennial benediction. 
 
 Great legislative bodies have adjourned out of respect to 
 the memory of a man eminent in statecraft; flags have laeen 
 placed at half-mast when he has fallen who has led armies 
 to battle; days have been set apart for mourning by execu- 
 tive bidding in honor of those whom history calls great; 
 but the tears that flow from children's eyes and the sobs 
 that burst from the lips of the lowly tell of the worth of 
 a man and tell as words can not tell of the tenderness and 
 sympathy which, more than all else, make souls of mortal 
 akin to power divine. 
 
 Such is my humble tribute to the memory of our late 
 friend and colleague, George William Ckoft. 
 
30 Life and Character of George IV. Croft 
 
 Address of Mr. Johnson, of South Carolina 
 
 Mr. Speaker: We are assembled on this beautiful, holy 
 day, in the House of Representatives, not to engage in keen, 
 cutting, acrimonious debate, not to discuss great questions of 
 state, but to pay the last fond, deserved tribute of respect to 
 our deceased colleague, George William Croft, late the 
 Representative in this body from the Second Congressional 
 district of South Carolina. It is fit and meet that we should 
 cherish the memory and emulate the example of such as 
 have made themselves eminent and conspicuous in good 
 words, good works, and high character. 
 
 George Willi.'vm Croft, the subject of this memorial 
 occasion, was born in Newburg, S. C, December 20, 1846. 
 After attending the .schools of his count}- he entered the 
 South Carolina Military Academy at Charleston, where lie 
 remained for three years, during which time he pursued his 
 studies with painstaking fidelit\-. This was during the most 
 stubborn and sanguinary conflict in modern times. The 
 South being hard pressed, young Croft, like thousands of 
 other boys of tender age but patriotic zeal, offered his young 
 life on the altar of his country. The student's cap was 
 doffed, the soldier's uniform was donned. When that great 
 struggle was over and the South had lost all save honor; 
 when the Stars and Bars went down before superior numbers 
 and more abundant re.sources; when the "bonnie blue flag" 
 was furled and its silken folds could no more kiss the morn- 
 ing sunbeams of our Southern clime, the manly soldier boy 
 again became the student. He completed his education at 
 
Address of Mr. Joliiisoii, of South Carolina 31 
 
 the University of \'irginia and settled at Aiken, S. C, for 
 the practice of his chosen profession — the law. The first few- 
 years of his professional life were the darkest days in the 
 history of our vState. Here and now I shall not enter into 
 details. After the long, dark night came a brighter morn. 
 In 1876 Wade Hampton, assisted by able lieutenants like 
 George W. Croft, noted for their courage, their caution, 
 and judgment, by a bloodless revolution, but nevertheless a 
 revolution the like of which no State in this I'nion ever had, 
 redeemed the proud old State. In that struggle every Caro- 
 linian did his duty: but few did as much as Mr. Croft. 
 
 As a lawj-er Mr. Croft attained preeminent success. His 
 clientage was large, and he was zealous, faithful, and efficient. 
 As an evidence of his high character and ability, he was for 
 several years president of the South Carolina Bar Association, 
 a position of honor given only to such as are distinguished for 
 their legal ability and noted for their high character. 
 
 The people of Aiken County expres.sed their appreciation of 
 and their confidence in him by sending him both to the house 
 of representatives aud the State senate of South Carolina. 
 Having shown himself faithful in every trust, the people of the 
 Second Congressional di.strict elected him to the Fifty-eighth 
 Congress. In entering this body, where intellectual giants and 
 gladiators have met, his legal attainments, his legislative expe- 
 rience, his literary culture, his high character, as.sured him a 
 career of great u.sefulness, influence, power. His horizon to 
 our ken .seemed to widen, broaden; but an all-wi.se and all-good 
 Providence decreed otherwi.se. After only a few weeks here 
 the final summons came. Croft, so often the advocate of his 
 fellows, appeared with the Advocate divine; Croft, the law- 
 maker, appeared before the great Lawgiver; Ckoft, who had 
 so often and eUxjuenth- jileaded in chancery for righteous 
 
32 Life and Character of George W. Croft 
 
 decrees, appeared before the Perfect Chancellor to receive his 
 final decree. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, these memorial exercises in honor of the dead 
 should impress the li\-ing and teach us how to live. The angel 
 of death comes with unerring and equal pace to the cottage 
 and to the palace. He claims for his own the old, the middle- 
 aged, the young. Dives in his purple and Lazarus in his rags 
 can not escape his touch. At the final .summons the orator 
 ceases to be eloquent, the philosopher ceases to be wi.se, and the 
 giant is shorn of his strength. It is the beginning and the end — 
 the end of this life of probation, the beginning of a higher, bet- 
 ter life. "That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it 
 die, and that which thou sowest thou sowest not that body that 
 shall be." In Christian faith and courage let us live on and 
 work on, not .seeking nor yet fearing the final summons. Let 
 each say and feel with Adams: 
 
 My last great wish, absorbing all, 
 
 Is, when beneath the sod 
 And summoned to my final call, 
 
 Prepared to meet my God. 
 
Address of Mr. Aiken, of Soiitli Carolina 33 
 
 Address of Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina 
 
 Mr. Speaker: We are again assembled to conimeniorate the 
 virtues and recount the services of one of our number who has 
 passed within the dark and mysterious shadow. The frequent 
 recurrence of such occasions carries with it a solemn lesson. 
 In the death of our late lamented friend, Hon. George W. 
 Croft, March 10, 1904, there is that which mystifies and 
 appalls the finite mind. Scarcely had his feet pres.sed the goal 
 of ambition, where ripened ability promised nio.st, and where 
 the desire of a lifetime seemed within easy reach, when he was 
 called from time to eternity. Like the great lawgiver of 
 Israel, he threaded hfe's circuitous path, and at its end "fell 
 on sleep," with but a glimpse of that which ambition had 
 co\-eted and devotion to duty had won. 
 
 From the standpoint of human judgment the death of this 
 distinguished .son of South Carolina, when life's fruition, 
 golden and abundant, was in his very grasp, was untimely, for 
 it is with reluctance that man plucks the rose half blown or 
 the apple just touched with the blush of autumn. But in the 
 broader .sense that our earthly existence is, in comparison with 
 the Great Beyond, what an atom is to the universe, what a 
 tiny spark is to the eternal stars, we realize only too fully that 
 the lives of the noblest of earth's sons weigh but lightly in the 
 .scales of eternity. We realize that life is but a preparation 
 for death and that death is the door that closes on .scenes of 
 care and sorrow to open in the reahn of everlasting peace. 
 And He who called us into being, and who marks the way along 
 which our faltering steps are taken, knows best where the 
 journey should end. 
 
 H. Doc. 470, 58-3 3 
 
34 Life and Character of George W. Croft 
 
 While our hearts are bowed under the weight of sorrow, 
 'tis but human to lament the Providence that has left us 
 lonel)' ; yet we should look beyond the grave to that higher 
 life, where Death's stealthy tread is dreaded no more forever. 
 
 Longfellow expresses this thought beautifully in those oft- 
 quoted lines : 
 
 Life is real! life is earnest! 
 
 And the grave is not its goal; 
 Dust thou art, to dust returnest, 
 
 Was not spoken of the soul. 
 
 It is but fitting, Mr. Speaker, that here, at the very foun- 
 tain head of a temporal power .second to none on earth, we 
 pause with uncovered heads to acknowledge the will of Him 
 before whom kings have trembled and empires crumbled into 
 dust. And, too, it is but a just tribute to the memory of our 
 departed friend to recount and spread upon our records those 
 virtues and traits of character which marked him a man 
 amongst men. The highest ideals of this and future genera- 
 tions are drawn from the biography of tho.se who have passed 
 into hi.story. 
 
 Mr. Croft was born in Newberry County, S. C, December 
 20, 1846. In 1863 he entered the South Carolina Military 
 Academy. He had been there but a year when he left the 
 college walls for the tented field. All the fires of patriotism 
 that burned in his .soul were stirred when the Army of the 
 West, spreading fire and desolation in its wake, threatened 
 the homes and firesides of those he loved. Though but a 
 lad, he freely offered his young life to his country, and con- 
 tinued in her service until the curtain fell upon that terrible 
 scene of fratricidal strife. 
 
 Nor was he less devoted to his State in the dark days 
 immediately following the war. Realizing that the situation 
 
Address of Mr. Aiken, of Soii/Ji Carolhia 35 
 
 could be controlled and the honor of the State saved only by 
 the mailed hand, that the best interests of white and black 
 alike rested in white supremacy, he willingly jeopardized life 
 and liberty to remove the rule of the carpetbagger and the 
 ignorant negro, drunk with the lust of power. Above the 
 law of the land, which knew not or understood not conditions 
 in the prostrate State, he heard the appeal of that higher 
 law which would protect property from confiscation and the 
 home from scenes of murder and rapine. It was during this 
 period that, as captain of the Palmetto Rifles, an organization 
 of his county, he quelled the bloody riots at Ellenton, dis- 
 persing the black hordes assembled in a spirit of violence 
 and destruction. 
 
 In 1866 and 1867 Mr. Croft attended the Univensity of 
 Virginia. Subsequenth' he studied law under Governor Perry 
 and settled at Aiken about the time that county was formed. 
 
 He has been a prominent figure in South Carolina politics 
 for many years, having sen-ed with distinguished ability in 
 both branches of the legislature. 
 
 So short was his service in Congress that I deem it not 
 improper to refer specifically to one of the crowning efforts 
 of his ser\'ice in the State legi-slature. It was in advocacy of 
 a law^ prohibiting the employment of child labor in cotton 
 mills. I am sorry that I can not recall, literally, extracts 
 from that eloquent appeal. He drew a picture of the attenu- 
 ated form and pallid face of the child operative, prematurely 
 old. He pleaded with his colleagues not to allow the God- 
 given graces of youth to be effaced by the thoughtless .spirit 
 of commercialism. He urged that education alone meant 
 white supremacy, and that any policy which deprived the 
 white child of this advantage was suicidal to his race. While 
 we do not vouch for the legality of his ]x)sition, it is but just 
 
36 Life and Character of George JT. Croft 
 
 to say that it finally met the approval of a majority of his 
 
 colleagues. 
 
 The following extract from the Barnwell People, one of the 
 
 leading papers of the vState, throws further light upon this 
 
 period of his career: 
 
 As usual, his advent to the legislature placed him in the forefront of 
 action by his apt and powerful presentation of the questions which he 
 advocated. The State newspaper denominated him "a powerful and elo- 
 quent defender of the rights of the common people." He was prominent 
 in representing the interests of the people in the reform antitrust laws 
 before the legislature. He championed the child-labor bill in a speech 
 which was a masterpiece in logic and information, creating a profound 
 impression, it being the leading speech against the employment in cotton 
 mills and factories of children under T2 years of age. 
 
 Mr. Croft was elected to the Fifty-eighth Congress from 
 the Second district in 1902. and his record here, all too short, 
 is before you. 
 
 A distinguishing characteristic which marked Mr. Croft's 
 career was a clear-cut, well-defined sense of duty. Throughout 
 his life he never subordinated principle to expediency. As a 
 citizen he was uniformly courteous and gentle, kind and affec- 
 tionate at home, and loyal to his friends always. As a lawyer 
 he was the peer of the best talent. As an orator, imbued with 
 a deep sense of sympathy for his kind, his utterances were 
 from heart to heart, logical, convincing, eloquent. 
 
 It was my good fortune to have known the deceased inti- 
 mately for a number of years, and I feel that iu his death I 
 have lo.st a true friend. It is, however, this close totich with 
 the dread enemy that checks us in the mad rush of life. While 
 we contemplate this career, so fresh in our memories, so full of 
 promise of even more glorious service, and yet so abruptly 
 terminated, are we not reminded that we, too, must .soon 
 be submerged by the ever-approaching wave? We are too 
 
Address of Mr. Aiki-ii, of SoittJi Carolina 37 
 
 prone to shut our ears to tlie sound of the breakers in the 
 distance. 
 
 We see Time's furrows on another's brow, 
 And Death intrench'd, preparing his assault; 
 How few themselves in that just mirror see ! 
 
 The Speaker pro tempore (Mr. Finlev). The question is 
 on the adoption of the resolutions. 
 The resolutions were agreed to. 
 
PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE 
 
 March io. 1904. 
 death of representative croft, 
 
 A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. \V. J. 
 Browning, its Chief Clerk, comnumicated to the Senate the 
 intelhgence of the death of Hon. G. W. Ckoft, late a Repre- 
 sentative from the State of South Carolina, and transmitted 
 resolutions of the House thereon. 
 
 The President pro tempore. The Chair lays before the 
 Senate resolutions from the House of Representatives, which 
 will be read. 
 
 The re.solutions were read, as follows: 
 
 In the House of Represent.\tives, 
 
 March 10. rgo4. 
 Resolved, That the House of Representatives lias heard with profound 
 sorrow of the death of the Hon. G. W.- Croft, a Representative from the 
 State of South Carolina. 
 
 Resolved, That the Speaker appoint a committee of thirteen members 
 to attend the funeral .services. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory oi the 
 deceased member the House do now adjourn. 
 
 The message stated that the Speaker had appointed Mr. Fin- 
 ley, Mr. Aiken, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Legare, Mr. Scarborough, 
 Mr. Lever, Mr. Loudenslager, Mr. Patterson of Pennsylvania, 
 Mr. Richardson of Alabama, Mr. McLain, Mr. Houston, Mr. 
 Sibley, Mr. Weisse, and Mr. Jackson of Ohio members of the 
 committee on the part of the House. 
 
 Mr. Latimer. Mr. President, I pre.sent the resolutions 
 
 which I send to the desk, and ask unanimous con.sent for their 
 
 present con.sideration. 
 
 39 
 
40 Proceedings in tlir Senate 
 
 The President pro tempore. The Senator from South 
 CaroHna submits resolutions, which will be read. 
 The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep sorrow the announce- 
 ment of the death of Hon. George W. CroFT, late a Representative of 
 the Second district of the State of South Carolina. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of six Senators be appointed by the Presi- 
 dent pro tempore to join a committee on the part of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives to take order for superintending the funeral of the deceased. 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate comnmnicate these resolutions to the House 
 of Representatives. 
 
 The President pro tempore. Will the Senate agree to the 
 resolution s? 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. ^ 
 
 The President pro tempore appointed as the committee on 
 the part of the vSenate, under the second resolution, Mr. Till- 
 man, Mr. Latimer, Mr. Fultou, Mr. Clarke of Arkansas, Mr. 
 Hopkins, and Mr. McLauriu. 
 
 Mr. Latimer. Mr. President, I move, as a further mark 
 of respect to the memory of the deceased, that the Senate do 
 now adjourn. 
 
 The motion was unanimousl}- agreed to; and (at 4 o'clock 
 and 42 minutes p. m. ) the Senate adjourned until to-morrow, 
 Friday, March 11, 1904, at 12 o'clock meridian. 
 
 February 27, 1905. 
 message from the house. 
 
 The message further transmitted resolutions of the House 
 commemorative of the life and public services of Hon. George 
 W. Croft, late a Representative from the State of South 
 Carolina. 
 
Memorial addresses 
 
 March i, 1905. 
 
 Mr. Latimer. I ask that the resolutions of the House of 
 Repre.sentatives in relation to the death of my late colleague 
 in that body may be laid before the Senate. 
 
 The Presiding Officer (Mr. Kean in the chair). The 
 resolutions of the House of Representatives will be read. 
 
 The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 
 
 In the House of Represent.\tives, 
 
 Frbriiaiy 26, icfos- 
 
 Resolird, That in pursuance of the special order heretofore adopted, 
 the House now proceed to pay tribute to the memorv of Hon. GEORGE 
 W. Croft, late a Member of this House from the State of South Carolina. 
 
 Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory of the 
 deceased, and in recognition of his distinguished public career, the House, 
 at the conclusion of the exercises to-day, shall stand adjourned. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to the family 
 of the deceased. 
 
 Mr. Latimer. Mr. President, I offer the resolutions which 
 I send to the desk. 
 
 The Secretary read the resolutions, and the Senate pro- 
 ceeded to their consideration, as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of the death 
 of Hon. George \Vili.i.^M Croft, late a Member of the House of Rep- 
 resentatives from the State of South Carolina. 
 
 Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended in order 
 that a fitting tribute may be paid to his memory. 
 
 Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect the Senate shall, at the 
 conclusion of these ceremonies, adjourn. 
 
 41 
 
42 Life and Character of George W. Croft 
 
 Address of Mr. Latimer, of South Carouna 
 
 Mr. President: The great pressure of unfinished business' 
 upon the remaining time of the Senate, and the lateness of the 
 hour, forbids a lengthy eulogy of the character and accom- 
 plishments of the late distinguished Member of the House in 
 whose memory these exercises are held. 
 
 It is fitting, however, Mr. President, that we should pause 
 for a moment to pay our tribute of respect to one who was, 
 only a year ago, a fellow-worker with us. The passing away 
 from the activities, ambitions, and hopes of this world of one 
 and another of our friends and colleagues from time to time 
 should give us pause and serve to turn our minds to a not far 
 distant time when we too must lay down all that pertains to 
 this life. We are too apt to forget our mortality in the strife 
 for the rewards of the world, the attainment of ambitions, and 
 the nuiltitude of desires that cause men to care to live. The 
 passing away of friends, an event inevitable, but nevertheless 
 sad and .sorrowful, should wrench our minds from these earthly 
 endeavors and place them upon things not of this world, and 
 in the contemplation of their characters and virtues, as well as 
 their frailties and weaknesses, we .should find examples to be 
 emulated or pitfalls to be avoided. 
 
 Mr. President, there was nothing in the life and character of 
 George Willi.^m Croft, so far as I know or have heard the 
 story of his life, whicli was not lofty and worthy'of emulation. 
 His life was one of bra\-e and earnest endeavor to uplift him- 
 self and his fellow-men. He was born in Newberry County, 
 S. C, on the 20th day of December, 1846, and died in this 
 
Address of Mr. Latimer, of Soidli Carolina 43 
 
 cit}-, as a Member of the House of Representatives, March 
 10, 1904. He received his earlj^ education at the South 
 CaroHna MiHtary Academy, from which school he was nnis- 
 tered into the Confederate army at the age of 16 and served 
 until the close of the war. He then took a course of study 
 at the University of Virginia for two years, and at the age 
 of 23 was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his 
 profession at Aiken, S. C, which was to be his home until 
 his death. The principal achievements of Colonel Croft 
 were in his chosen profes.siou. He became one of the lead- 
 ing lawyers of his State, and during the latter years of his 
 life was engaged on one .side or the other of nearly every 
 important case in his section of the State. He was a man 
 of strong character, who dared to do the right at all times, 
 and who never swerved from the course pointed out to him 
 by his conscience. He had a lovable disposition and was 
 deservedly popular wherever he was known. This popularity 
 and his well-known fitne.ss and ability led to his election to 
 the Fifty-eighth Congre.ss. 
 
 His service in the House was very brief, yet during the 
 time he was there he had laid the foundations for a useful 
 and active career. He made friends easily, and by means 
 of his engaging characteristics was btiilding up a valuable 
 asset to a successful career in the Hoti.se — that of a wide 
 circle of personal friends. He was also fitting himself by 
 the acquisition of the parliamentary knowledge and u.sage so 
 necessarj- to a Congressional career. His was a steady, 
 energetic, and unswerving purpose to do something for his 
 country and his own fame, and there can be no doubt that, 
 had he lived, he would have made himself strongly felt here, 
 and that his political future would have been rewarded by 
 the highest honors his State could confer upon him. 
 
44 /,{/?' and Character of George If^. Croft 
 
 But these things were not to be. All his prospects were 
 blighted and dissipated hy his untimely taking off. He 
 developed blood poisoning from an insignificant hurt, and 
 after much patient suffering, and with a fortitude horn of a 
 strong spirit, he met his death without fear. 
 
 Mr. President, it is with much sorrow for the untimely 
 death of my friend, and a heartfelt and sincere admiration 
 for the many qualities and traits of character and disposition 
 that made him loved by all who knew him and won for him 
 distinction in his profession and honor among and from the 
 people of his State that I move the adoption of the reso- 
 lutions. 
 
 The Presiding Officer. The question is on agreeing to 
 the resolutions submitted by the Senator from South Carolina. 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously agreed to; and (at lo 
 o'clock and 36 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
 to-morrow, Thursday, March 2, 1905, at 11 o'clock a. m. 
 
^-6 .. 
 
 1 8 S '06 
 

I 
 
1 
 
I 
 

I