Proceedings in the Senate TUESDAY, January 3, 1939. Mr. WAGNER. Mr. President, we were all profoundly shocked when, shortly after the adjournment of the last session of the Congress, we learned of the death of my late colleague, Senator COPELAND. By his death the country lost one of its really great statesmen, and we, his colleagues, in addition to losing an associate of great ability, were bereft of a devoted friend, and his family of a devoted husband and father. I know that opportunity will be afforded me on some later occasion to pay a well-deserved tribute to this truly great and good man. At this time I submit a resolution, for the consideration of which I ask unanimous consent. The VICE PRESIDENT. The resolution will be read. The resolution (S. Res. 4) was read, considered by unanimous consent, and unanimously agreed to, as follows: Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of Hon. ROYAL S. COPELAND, late a Senator from the State of New York. Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions to the House of Representatives and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. Mr. WAGNER. Mr. President, as a further mark of respect to the memory of our late colleague, Senator COPELAND, I move that the Senate do now adjourn. The motion was unanimously agreed to; and (at 12 o'clock and 30 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, January 4, 1939, at 12 o'clock meridian. WEDNESDAY, January 4, 1939. A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Calloway, one of its reading clerks, transmitted to the Senate the resolutions of the House of Representatives adopted as a tribute to the memory of Hon. ROYAL S. COPELAND, late a Senator from the State of New York. Mr. VANDENBERG. Mr. President, when the Senate ended its session last evening, it adjourned out of respect to the memory of the late Senator ROYAL S. COPELAND, of New York. Last July there was a very beautiful memorial service held at Dexter, Mich., the little home town where Senator COPELAND was born. I was permitted the privilege at that time of delivering a memorial address. As a further mark of respect to our late colleague, whom we all loved and revered, I ask unanimous consent that my address upon that occasion may be printed in the body of the Record. Is there objection? The Chair The VICE PRESIDENT. hears none, and it is so ordered. The address is as follows: It is with mingling sorrow and gratitude that I come today to Dexter to join with you in memorializing your great son, the late senior Senator from New York, who was stricken in the prime of his patriotism and his humanities. Sorrow flows from the loss of a superb citizen and an intimately cherished friend. Gratitude springs from the heritage of a record and an example which spell Christianity and Americanism in their most practical realities. Sorrow lays its wreath upon an honored tomb which marks the long, last home of one whom we can illy spare. Gratitude lights its torch with the fires of his inspiration, which beckon us to the emulation of his virtues and his loyalties. It is good for men and women to meet together in the presence of such a benediction. ROYAL S. COPELAND was one of the great men of his time. You may test him by many standards and in many fields of action; you will not find him wanting. You may follow him from the humble Michigan farmstead which gave him birth to the proud prestige of his thrice-commissioned Senatorship from the largest and richest State in the Union, and every inch of the way you will find a trail of honor, industry, service friendliness, and achievement. But of all his sterling characteristics, none ever impressed me more than his tenacious love of his native State of Michigan and his devotion to the village of Dexter, which he ever looked upon as "home, sweet home." He may sleep upon the countryside of his adopted Commonwealth, in whose name he died upon the battle line of public service, but his heart sleeps here in Dexter, where it lived throughout his nearly 70 years of fruitful life. No stranger can tell you what you meant to him. You know. It is written in the story of this community. It permeates the air you breathe. It is present in his gifts. It is part of your endowment. Never was he so happy and so carefree as when he would cross over to my Senate desk and tell me, as he did repeatedly each year, that he was "leaving for Dexter" in a few hours. Nothing could be more appropriate than that Dexter should gather round his memory this afternoon and for years to come as at a precious shrine. You honor yourselves when you honor him, because no community in America ever had a greater friend or a worthier son. I hope that I may speak of him as you would speak of him, because that would be his wish. Perhaps I can, in some small degree, because we had a complete and never-tarnished bond of confidence and trust. All things considered, I think he was probably my closest associate throughout the 10 years of my own tenure in the Senate. If I linger on the personal note and speak of myself in these connections, I beg that you forgive me. It is only because I feel his passing as intimately as you. It is only because I thus may indicate that I know whereof I speak when I testify to his character and his achievements. For 10 years we sat and served together on the great Senate Committee on Commerce, over which he ably presided as chairman since 1933. Although we were theoretically in opposite political parties, I do not recall more than one single occasion when we disagreed in his committee throughout this decade. I saw the indefatigable industry of the man at first hand and I marveled at his capacity for effective work. I saw his relentless loyalty to clean principles of government and to sound political economy, and I always found inspiration in his leadership. I saw his natural friendliness, his good humor, his common touch, all of them an incalculable factor in composing committee differences among his colleagues. I saw him champion his committee's reports in the forum of an always critical Senate and in the difficulties of debate, and I doubt if any of his colleagues can match his performance in the matter of results conclusively obtained. In the larger fields of action, involving great fundamental principles of government, more than once I saw him under acid test. For |
