University of Vermont - Ariel Yearbook (Burlington, VT)

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of Stratford, where, as he said in the remarks with which he tendered to the town his gift of a building for the town library, H the stars, the planets and the moon seem to shine more brightly than elewherej' and where he is held in the highest personal regard by old and young. Mr. Morrill has been too busy in affairs of State to give much time to literary labor, but a volume entitled 't Self-Consciousness of Noted Per- sons, being a collection of expressions of self-esteem on the part of many famous men and women, gathered by him in the course of his wide reading, was published in 1885, and a second edition in 1887. Mr. Morrill was married in 1851 to Ruth, daughter of Dr. Caleb Swan of Easton, Mass. I-lis only son, James S. Morrill, esq., graduated here in 1880. Mr. Morrill has been for twenty-six years a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College. He has always shown a deep interest in the welfare of the institution and its students, and his name will stand high on the roll of its benefactors as well as in the list of American statesmen. Q ll K fy 1 I N X ' ll I lei 'S GQQQV-AGT ' 7

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by him, in opposition to the admission of Kansas with a pro-slavery con- stitution. During the war he had charge of all the tariff and tax bills- a Herculean task-and made the leading arguments thereon, and the Morrill Tarriff of 1861, a monument of industry and practical wis- dom, and the Internal Revenue Tax System of 1862, connect his name indissolubly with the tinancial history of the time. In 1866, after twelve years of such honorable labor in the House, Mr. Morrill was transferred by the Legislature to the U. S. Senate. He took his seat with an established national fame as a statesman. The space alloted to this sketch will not permit anything like a review of his career in that dignined body. As chairman of the Committee on Finance he holds a position second in power and influence to no other, and his service as chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and as a member of the Committee on Education and Labor, has been of the most laborious and useful character. The important speeches made by him in the Senate exceed one hundred in number, and include a wide range of subjects. They are marked by exhaustive induction of facts, and cogent argument, often enlivened by touches of quiet humor. He is an authority in Washington, on all questions relating to finances and taxation, and his opinion on any subject carries great weight in Con- gress. Mr. Morrill's period of service in the National Legislature is as remarkable for its duration as it is distinguished by its usefulness. His jfftb election to the Senate, at the age of four-score, was an event without a precedent and will probably remain without a parallel. The longest previous continuous term of service in Congress was that of Thomas H. Benton of Missouri, which was thirty years. Mr. Morrill already looks back on ztbiriy-six years of Congressional life, and he is now younger in mind and body than most men of three-score. lt is the crowning glory of such a career that it is absolutely spotless. His name was never even connected with a job. No act of dishonor or word of discourtesy was ever charged to him. He has uniformly held the highest respect and esteem of his brother legislators of all parties, as well as of the citizens of Vermont. Did space permit it would be interesting to note the large share which Mr. Morrill has had, as chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, in the adornment of the National Capital. His house in that most beautiful of American cities, is widely known for its graceful hospitality. His summer home is a delightful one, in his native village 6

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ROBERT E. Ecard of Ediiorg el--s--5--e--e--e--Ie R Edifoff-ifz-Clyzlgf, ' EDMUND C. MOWER. Associaie Efiizfors, LEWIS, WILL GEORGE W. ALGER. 73zL5i11ess E7Vfmmge1', GEORGE E. PITKIN. QAss1Lsfaz1zf Business c9W.6Z7'16Zg'B'l', GEORGE C. MARTIN. Qf71'2'1l3Z, HERBERT H. BLANCHARD. S A. BABBIT