The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-04-17
CULLOM RETIRES
WITHOUT REGRET
Illinois Man Has Held Senate
Seat For Twenty-Five Years.
WELCOMES CHANCE TO QUIT.
Poorer Now Than When He Entered
Congress Nearly Half Century Ago.
Is Eighty two Years Old and Says He
Will Go Way Back and Sit Down.

Senator Shelby NJ. Cullom of Illinois
will leave congress after nearly fifty
years of continuous service without re-
gret on his own account or bitterness
toward any man. The venerable ILL
nois Republican will end twenty-nine
years of service in the senate poorer
man than when he took his seat in
that body. BY some it is said that the
Illinois senator is almost entirely de-
pendent on his salary.
In acknowledging his defeat in the
Illinois primaries Senator Cullom ap-
peared the most cheerful loser imagi-
nable. Senators crowded around his
seat in the senate to express their re-
gret. but he smiled and assured them
it was all for the best. Senator Cul-
lom is one of the best loved men in
the senate, and his defeat was taken
to heart by the employees. His retire
ment will just about be the end of the
so called old guard in the senate. First
Aldrich went, then Hale Of Maine;
death claimed Elkins of West Virginia
and Frye of Maine, and now Cullom
of Illinois goes. These great changes
in the senate have occurred within a
year.
Glad He's Through.
"Yes, | am defeated" said Senator
Cullom. 81 am through, and l am
glad of It. l did not want to be
candidate again. | told the boys So
but they seemed to think l owed it to
them to go in once more. Well, like
Sullivan, l went in the ring once too
often. Wasn't that what Sullivan
said? You see. l am eiGhty-two years
old If l had been reelected l would
have been eighty-three when l took
office again. Frankly, a man who
serves as long as l have in public life
ought to be willing to quit at eighty
three, don't you think so?
"Some of the boys in Illinois told me
to make the race, and when it was
over if l lost as l told them in ad-
vance l thought ! would, they said
they would see that l got an appOintive
Office. But | said to them: NO. If
am to he defeated | told them, 4
would welcome the opportunity to
quit I will now go away back and
sit down as they say in the song. l
will not have a great many years more
TO live, and | can afford to spend them
in rest and retirement. The state of
Illinois has been good to me. Every
body has been kind and good to me.
You newspaper men. most of all, have
been good to me. Why, the kind
things you have written about me
have made me cry sometimes.
Got Poorer Each Year.
81 have been getting n little poorer
financially every year ! have been in
office. / have less property today than
had the day left Springfield, nearly
thirty years ago, to take my seat in
the senate. Perhaps that is my fault.
Some men think of investments and
have good business sense. ! never
thought of things of that kind.
Il would not know how to go about
making money. l never had any taste
for it. Some of you boys say that my
lack of property after a life in Office is
due to my honesty, but other men
just as honest, in public life made
money. And they have made it hon
estly. l am not ready to condemn
men with sagacity and foresight
enough to make investments that re
suit in profits that will provide fol
themselves and their families In their
old age or support dependent relatives
after they are gone. / simply did not
like to think about business. / found
pleasure in the kind Of life | led Ny
tastes were simple. My family, like
myself. preferred a simple life. So il
was agreeable for me to go along with
out any thought Of money making"