Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-15


Mrs I.andis Mr.. and Mrs. f. NJ. Gary of
New York. George NJ Eckels. brother.
and his wife, and others were to have been
guests.
James A. Eckels of Princeton H., father
of James ii. E.ckeis. died recently. At the
time the son was host of eXPresident
Grover Cleveland.
The funeral will be held Tuesday after
noon at the Fourth PRESBYTERIAN Church.
after which the body will be placed in a
vault until the return of Mrs EckelS and
daughter. when a private funeral will be
held.
Shock to Cleveland.
PRINCETON. y. j.. April 15.-ExP resi-
dent Cleveland was deeply touched when
he learned of the death of Mr.. Eckels He
SAID = s'r. .r" 81, 5I-'- ss'i.. =.
Il was closely related to Mr.. 'Eckels and
his death comes to me with "a peculiar
shock. In important public work 1 learned
to know how intelligently and industriously
he devoted himself to duty. and in the init
macy of close friendship l learned to know
and appreciate his many and attractive
qualities of heart Mr.. Eckels illustrated
the traits that make the best American
citizenship.
James H. Eckes was one of the strong
men of the second Cleveland administra
ton. He was often referred to as one of
Mr.. Cleveland's personal discoveries. and.
although no nomination of the Presidents
Was more strenuously opposed by leading
men of both parties. his confidence IN his
nominee never wayered for an instant. and
the nomination of Mr.. &c els to one of the
most important posts in the financial de-
partment of the government was eventually
confirmed by the Senate. When Mr.. Eckels
retired from the office in the latter part of
1897 1t was to accept the presidency of the
Commercial National Bank of Chicago,
which office he assumed on the first day OF
January following.
Born in Princeton, Ill.
Mi. Eckels was born in Princeton. ILL.,,
November 90. 1855 and was educated in
the public schools of that city. He after
ward studied law. and In 1888 was gradu-
ated from the Albany On. " Law School,
He then returned to Illinois, and for the
next ten years practiced his profession in
Ottawa, that state In 1893 he was brought
suddenly into public notice by his appoint
ment to be controller of the currency.
The appointment came a great sur
prise TO the senators who had to confirm It,
ard Mr. Cleveland had to overcome a vast
amount of opposition in order to get the
nomination confirmed. One of the strong
est and most influential of the opponents of
the Eckeis nomination was the late Senator
Vest of Missouri. Senator Vest went to the
President and begged him to withdraw the
nomination, declaring that in his opinion it
could not be confirmed.
Cleveland Stood by Him.
Among the republican senators two of the
strongest opponents of Mr. Eckels' con-
frma ion were Senator Sherman of Ohio
and Senator Morrill, of Vermont They
were particularly outspoken. and their con-
tentions as to the inadvisa bility of the con-
frmation found great deal of newspaper
support throughout the country. But the
President was not to be shaken in his view
that Mr. EckeIs was the right man for the
place. and he told Senator Vest in plain
terms that under no consideration would
he withdraw the name of the young lawyer
from Illinois.
While the contest between the President
and the opposition senators was at its
height eX-Coatroller Lacey of Chicago in
an iuterview warmly defended the Pres
dents choice. The opposition TO Mr.. Eckels
was due principally to the fact that he was
not a banker. n country lawyer, the Op
ponents of the confirmation declared. was
the last man in the word to be considered
for such an important post as the one to
which Mr.. Eckeis had been appointed. 1t
said that he had never even read the
national banking act. He country
lawyer. and, while he was lifelong stu
dent of economic questions along academic
lines, he had never paid much attention to
the subject of banking.
Hardly had Mr.. Eckels taken hold of
his Office than ne was brought face to face
with a banking crisis without parallel in the
country's history. In the thirty years pre-
cedng the date OF MIR. Eckels' induction into
the Office of controller of the currency only
d. banks had failed. yet the number of
those Institutions that failed in the first ten
weeks of his administration numbered 165.
Tie policy of previous controllers had been
against failed banks resuming business. The
new controller from Illinois did not look
with favor on this policy. Wherever he
found grounds to hope for satisfactory
suits he encouraged the banks and assisted
them to resume business. He put lis out
of the 1t5 on their feet again. and. as 1t
turred out. nearly every one of them con-
tinU-I in business to the satisfaction and
profit of all concerned.
An instance or Mr.. Eckels' Judgment,
Which II often referred to by his admir-
ers was his letter to the embarrassed
Denver tCol) banks. assuring them of his
every assistance and criticisng the people
in that city for Withdrawing their deposits
and Gripping institutions in which they
had had confidence for SO many years. This
stopped the runs on the banks. and a more
settled situation was the result.
Mr.. Eckels declared that the failures in
most cases were not due to wildcat mis-