The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-04-22

George Leavens Lilley was born in
 Oxford, Worcester county, Mass, Au-
 gust 3, 1859, the son of John L., and
 Caroline Ward Adams Lilley. MT. Lil-
 ley was, on his fathers side, descen-
 dant of George Lilley. who settled in
 Reading, Mass, in 1636.
 The future congressman and gover-
 nor was reared on a farm where there
 came more opportunity for work than
 for education. He secured the latter
 by hard work, however, his chief schooling being two years in the Wor- cester Technical Institute. He came
 to Connecticut in 1881 and engaged in the real estate business. He secured valuable property in Torrington and l Winsted, and went into the provision
 and produce business in Waterbury. | MT. Lilley became well known there and in 1900 was nominated by the Re-
 publicans as one of their candidates for the General Assembly. Upon cleo | tion night it was discovered that he was the only Republican elected. l Speaker John H. Light was generous
 to him in the matter of committees, as he was a member of those on railroads, | legislative expenses and congressional
 and senatorial districts. the first and | the last named being important ones i in that session.
 | The committee on railroads had be- | froe it during that session the famous
 struggle over the Tariffville extension | and Representative Lilley favored the | petitioning of the Hartford & Connecti- | cut Western corporation, which won it's ! fight in the House only to lose it in | the Senate.
 | Mr. Liley took an active part on the | floor of the House, being one of the | ''fnds'' of the session. Representative Iilley favored the redistricting of the
 state to create another congress
 sior al district, but the majority of the committee decided against the plan. | The decision against Represent ative Lilley's plan had an important bearing 1 congressman-at-large from the state,
 being elected in the fall of 1902, receiv l ing 83,666 votes to 105S9 for Homer $.
 Cummings, Democrat, a plurality of | 13,077- Two years later, when a. can | didate for reelection, Congressman
 Lilley was successful against another
 popular Democrat, William Kennedy. | who was beaten by 8, 706, the vote for | the leading candidates being: Lilley, | 108,91S; Kennedy, 75,212. He ran again
 in 1906, his chief opponent being Chas. 1 J. DonahueS of Derby. This campaign
 was a particularly lively one. both of | stump. They had served together in 1 the Legislature of 1901 and their speeches had much to do with, the rec ords which had been made during that | session.
 In spite of the acknowledged strength | of his rival. he was returned by the | cOn1OrtaDlo plurdllCy or ZU,ooS.
 During his first term in Washington Congressman Lilley was heard from in protest against the free distribution of | seeds by members of Congress al though he was unable to cut out the appropria ton for that purpose.
 In his. third term Congressman Lilley became a national figure because of his opposition to the plans of the Elec- l tric Boat Company and the denuncia- ton which followed doubtless subject | ed him to the mental strain which caused his breakdown and his death. During the winter of 1907-S the ad- vice of the navy department, backed by the recommendation of President Roosevelt, was for the construction of four submarine boats. This number was raised by the report of the com mittee to eight with an amendment that they should be of the Octopus type unless a boat of superior construction should be presented by October 1, 1908. This virtually threw the contract into the hands of Electric Boat Company of New Jersey. On February 19, 1908, Congressman Lilley called upon Presi- dent Roosevelt and the next day the con | eSSman offered a resolution call ing for the appointment of a commit tee of five to investigate respecting the methods employed by the Electric Boat Company and its predecessor, the Hoi- land Boat Company, relative to past and pending legislation before Con- gross.
 Congressman Lilley expressed an opinion at that time, which fair-mlnd- ed men believe has since been justified | He said: "A thorough investigation af- ter the manner of the insurance inves- tigation of the Hughes type in New York would pile up big benefit to the country.'
 It was considered from the first that Congressman Lilley was taking his | case before a packed jury and it was soon seen that the committee was much more inclined to investigate him than the conduct of the corporation.
 The strain to which he was subject | ed made him a sick man, but the strain l was intensified on May 20, 1908. when ] the report of the committee was pre- | sented. It was lengthy and most of it consisted of -denunciation. not Of the boat company, but of the man who | asked for its investigation. The re- | port of the committee was adopted, | 157 to S2 Talk of expelling Congress- l man Lilley followed. but nothing came | of it and it ended of its own accord.
 The convention, which was held in l New Haven. opened on the evening of September 8. When the ballot was taken the next day. with 577 of the 5SO delegates voting. it resulted as follows; Lilley 4O2. Lake 133. Woodruff 33
 There had been an eleventh-hour attack on Congressman Lllley. meet ing of manufacturers of the state be- | ing held in New Haven on the after l noon of the first day of the convention, 1 to protest against his nomination The claim was made that they represented more tHdH Illy iIiudSei IS9' "1eAA 0 ~.-p. tai of $50 OOO 600. and an aggregate | payroll of S10.0OO. 900.
 Frank T. Brown. of Norwich. who was one of his sponsors in the con- vention. died only a few days before | Governor Lilley. l
 MT Lilleys victory in the conven- tion was followed by campaign Of | vituperation-one of the most bitterly | fought in the political history of the l state.
 Congressman Lilley took the stump | and made speech after speech, in | which he replied to the charges of the | opposition and showed up the mo | tives which actuated the attacks upon | him.
 He spoke emphatically of the inf1u- l ence of the lobby on legislation and i came out unequivocallv for state | supervision of public service corpora i tions. which he made a leading issue