Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-05

since the SiXtieth Congress came into
being little more than a year ago. Five
of the eight were well past threescore ana
ten. The first to go were Morgan and
Pettus of Alabama, both in the eighties.
Then came Proctor of Vermont, almost
eighty. Then Whyte of Maryland. more
than eighty, and now Allison. The three
others. two comparatively and one act ,i
ally young. were Mallory of Florida. Latl..
mer of South Carolina and Bryan OF FLOR
ida. who succeeded Mallory by appoint
ment. being barely over the constitutional
age OF thirty years.
For Years a Leader.
The death of Mr.. Allison removes from
the United States Senate a man who for
more than a full generation had been one
of its most influential, If not conspicuous.
members. Senator Allison is usually
thought of as having made the record for
continuous service in the Senate. having
taken his seat there in 1873 and having
occupied it for thirty-five consecutive
winters. He lacked only the approaching
short session-rOunding out the Sixtieth
Congress-to complete six full terms. and
had won the primary in his state. which
insured his election for the seventh term.
But in one respect he had made an even
more remarkable record as senator.
He had been for twenty-five years chair
man of the greatest of the Senate COM
mlttees, that on appropriations. He took
up that post in March. 1881. when he
had been only eight years in the Senate.
and held it thereafter with but one in
termiSsiOn-the Fifty-third Congress
when the democrats controlled the Sen
ate and Cockrell of Missouri, now inter-
state commerce commissioner. held it.
An Unequaled Record.
AT the same time that he was at the
head of the committee which more than
any other in the Senate has to do with
the real running of the government he
was In an important place on the COM
mittee on finance. which considers chiefly
such bills as the ways and means commit
tee of the House handles. Thus in his
service on these two committees Senator
Allison had played an influential part in
all the financial and appropriation legisla-
ton of the government for the last quar-
ter OF a century. 1t is record I'M
equaled in the history of Congress.
He said of himself recently that the
most important piece of legislation with
which he had been connected was that
providing for the resumption of specie
payments after the close Of the civil war.
His name is probably better known in
connection with what is called the Bland
Allison act of 1873, when, by securing the
adoption of two amendments in the Serr
ate to the Bland bill for the free coinage
of silver as 1t came from the House. Mr..
HiIioOH prevented Tic duOptlOn OF q Tree
silver policy by this government and
paved the way for the ultimate unequivo-
cal declaration in favor of the gold stand
ard.
Candidate for Nomination.
Several times Mr.. Allison was brought
forward asa candidate for the presi-
dental nomination of his party, and once,
in the convention at Chicago in 1883,
came near winning. He was solidly sup
ported by the Iowa delegation, and the
western delegates rallied to their as
sistance. That was the year in which
New York presented the name of Chaun-
cey NJ. Depew, who was met by the OPP
position of the western men on the
ground that it would never do to nomi-
nate a railroad president. When Depew
finally recognized that he was beaten
he was able to prevent the New York
delegation from going to Allison. which
defeated the Iowa man and led ultimate
ly to the nomination of Benjamin Harri-
son of Indiana.
Mr.. Allison's connection with the repub-
lican party was lifelong. He worked for
the Fremont ticket in Ohio in 1856 and
was secretary of the convention at Chi
cago in 1860 which nominated Lincoln.