Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 January 1905 — Mr. Hemenway’s Address. [ARTICLE]

Mr. Hemenway’s Address.

Mr. Hemenway said: Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives: Permit me, from the depths of a grateful heart, to thank you for the great honor that you, as the constituted authority in this state, have seen fit to confer upbffcibe by choosing me as the successor of Charles W. Fairbanks in the Senate of the United States. To say that I appreciate It greatly but feebly expresses the fact. My appreciation is quickened both by a sense of the confidence that is implied in your selection and by a realisation of the distinction it confers. 1 gratefully accept the honor that you have besowed upon me, but not, I assure you, without a deep sense of its responsibilities; but being stirred by an earnest resolve to render loyal service to the state and nation. I pledge you my faith and devotion to the full extent of my limited powers. It Is, Indeed, a mark of great honor and confidence to be chosen by you to represent our sovereign state in that august and venerable assembly, which has graced In successive epochs by the eloquence and genius of all those eminent statesmen who, for more than a hundred years, have been beacon lights upon the pathway of our national progress. The attainment of that honor is in itself an end worthy of the mature ambition and the earnest endeavor of the best citizen and the brightest intellect. I need not assure you that your action Is personally agreeable and gratifying in many ways. It transfers to me, however, unworthy of it as I mar be, the mantle of our beloved Fairbanks. It assures to roe the privilege of serving as colleague with our woe thy and gifted Beveridge, and it carries with It the warrant and promts* of official association In the upper bouse of congress,.not only with thoss gentlemen. but aIBO with other distinguished leaders of the senate who represent the very first order In statecraft, and

whose names, wihtoot regard to party affiliation, are household words, not alone within their own states, but throughout the conllnee of the republic. V, The distinction that attaches to the honorable position to which you assign me la two fold. On the one hand It springs from the high standing of the state which confers it, and on the other from the exalted character of the body to which the assignment is made. As to the Senate of the United States, you will agree with me. I am sure, when I assert that with its membership of ninety, representing the fortyfive enlightened states of the American Union, having an aggregate population of eighty millions of souls, it Is the most august and distinguished parliamentary body on this earth. The limited membership enhances the importance and the potency of its individual members. Its aggregate constituency is more than twice as large as that of the senate pf France, almost twice as large as that of the House of Lords of the British Parliament, and more than a third larger than that of the upper branch of the Imperial Legislature of Germany. When we reflect upon the fact that our country is today the unchallenged leader among the nations of the world, and when we further consider the boundless material wealth of our republic, and the vast commercial and industrial development of our civilization, its tremendous interests at home and its unquestioned prestige abroad, the unrivaled intelligence of its people and the unequalled standard of its system for the general education of its c.-izens, their high moral excellence and their exaltation of purpose—when we reflect, I say, upon all these stupendous facts, which are so largely the result of benificent legislation, you will agree with me, I know, in the assertion that this body to which you have elected me outranks all other uelinerative and legislative assemblies in the world. Under our national constitution the two houses of congress have in most respects an equal voice in legislation, the only important exception being the requirement that all revenue hills shall originate in the popular branch. In addition to its legislative powers, however, the Senate exercises in conjunction with the president, to the ex elusion of the House, important executive powers in the ratification of treaties and in the confirmation of his appointments to all important offices, i Those offices include, for example, the members of the cabinet, the judges of the supreme and other federal courts, presidential postmasters, and the officers of the army and navy. The part played in this exalted body by the senators from our great state since the day of its admission into the Union has been a most useful and creditable one, and few states can show a more illustrious roster of senators, or a list of statemen who have wrought more devotedly and effectively for their state and country. We meet today in the midst of unprecedented prosperity within our borders. Our wealth is accumulating by leaps and bounds; our greatest single Interest, agriculture is flourishing in all its manifold ramifications, a remarkable proportional area of our soil Is under thorough cultivation, and that area is extending year by year; our transportation facilities, already superior to those of any other state, are undergoing constant improvement and further enlargement: our diversified manufactures are thriving and have brought us to that high condition that we stand fifth in the output of our industrial institutions among the states. The commercial and productive enterprises of our citizens are meeting with deserved success, employment is general in all the avenues of industry and labor is everywhere well rewarded. The finances of the state government are in splendid condition, our charitable and penal institutions are crea.tably conducted, o’ir banks and other financial concerns are solvent and are administered with conservatism, safety and profit, our common schools and our higher educational institutions are unrivalled among the states of the Union. With our people as a whole, hapDv, prosperous and contented, everywhere throughout our borders are to be seen the characteristic results of their thrift and progress in moral, intellectual and material well-being. But better than this, our country at large Is still at flood tide of fortune and prosperity. Peace and plenty abound throughout the confines of the republic. The American people have demonstrated to all the world an inherent capacity for selfgovernment. The greatness of the republic at home exceeds the dearest dreams of our fathers, and its prestige abroad is unquestioned around the globe. We are now well embarked on the twentieth century and none hut the faint-hearted may question that the triumphs we have already achieved for the happiness of mankind under our free government will be exceeded by the triumphs yet to come. We have no reason to doubt that the ship of state, with President Roosevelt at the helm, will continue its happy voyage. or to doubt that otir beloved home commonwealth, under the guiding hana of Governor Hanley, will further advance in rank and Importance in the sisterhood of states. Difficult problems, it is true, confront us, problems economic, social' and political, but with courage and self-reliance, and with a steadfast faith in an overruling providence, with hope and confidence unabated, we can move forward to their ultimate solution. Again I thank you, gentlemen of this Joint assembly, for the trust you have so generously reposed in me. and In conclusion permit me to sincerely wish for esch of yon, both personally and officially, the full realisation of your every worthy ambition.