business training, but their financial start, to this broad-minded and liberal-hearted man.

From these successes and fortunate business ventures on a large scale Mr. MCMILLAN, at the end of a series of years, emerged with an established reputation as an honorable, farseeing, and successful business man, and with an acquired fortune which, even in these days of colossal accumulations, is regarded as princely.

In political life we think of Mr. MCMILLAN only as Senator. But men rarely come to that great office without having had some previous experience which demonstrated their ability and fitness for the high station. In this respect MR. MCMILLAN was not an exception to the rule. As early as 1874 he was chosen a member of the Detroit board of estimates, later he served on the board of park commissioners, and still later as a director in the museum of art. In each and all of these positions he discharged the duties devolved with credit to himself and acceptability to the city.

His introduction into State politics was through his relation to the Michigan Republican State central committee. In that body his organizing and executive ability early gave him a recognized standing with his fellow-members, and when Zachariah Chandler died he was chosen to succeed, as chairman of the committee, that great leader of men.

As the administrative head of his party through several successive campaigns he so favorably impressed himself upon the Republicans of his State that in 1889 he received a unanimous nomination for the United States Senate. In 1895 he received for his second term the vote of every legislator of both parties, and again in 1901 he was chosen for a third time without a contest.

I will leave to others the agreeable task of dwelling upon

his Senatorial career and content myself with saying that he gradually gained and firmly held the confidence of his fellowRepublicans in the nation, as he did in the State, as a wise, sagacious, and patriotic leader. No man since Chandler has been so potent a force in the politics of his State, and no Michigan man since Chandler has been so influential in the capital of the nation.

But JAMES MCMILLAN was more than a successful man of affairs, more than a statesman, though as such his services to his country were of recognized value; he was a philanthropist. The field of his benefactions, like that of his business enterprises, was varied and was subjected to the same discriminating judgHe was the founder and the constant friend and helper of Grace Hospital-which bears the name of his cherished daughter, deceased—one of Detroit's noblest humanitarian institutions, which represents at this time in buildings, equipment, and endowment a half million of dollars.

ment.

Among the thousands of students in annual attendance at the Michigan University the lovers of Shakespeare, through the liberality of Mr. MCMILLAN, have access to one of the finest American collections of the works of the great dramatist.

He gave to the Michigan Agricultural College, one of the oldest, best endowed, and most numerously attended of its class, its famous entomological collection, from which the State and the nation are deriving benefits through the advantages it has placed within the reach of its students.

On the campus of Albion College there stands a noble building, erected solely through his generosity and dedicated to the cause of science. Daily, in term time, its spacious rooms are thronged with bright and brainy young men and women in search of knowledge in the science of life. From its halls many teachers have gone forth to impart instruction in that which they there learned under such favorable conditions.

In far-away Texas, whose soil was never pressed by the feet of this lover of men, an institution designed to uplift and ennoble the daughters of negro mothers was the recipient of large donations. At this hour the grandchildren of those who were bondwomen share in the healthful and purifying influence of this man whose native air never filled the nostrils of a slave. These are among the visible evidences of his liberality and are illustrative of his broad view of the needs of men as well as his response to the solicitations of those who appealed to his generosity. It is but just to his memory to say that none of these was given with ostentation, none was accompanied by self-advertising, nor were they used for self-exploitation. They are known because they have a tangible existence; but who can tell, save Him who hears the orphan's sigh, the strong man's moan, or notes the widow's tear, how many were ministered to by the left hand of this practical philanthropist when the right hand knew it not?

are

Two acts done on the last day of his life, the knowledge of which was conveyed to the recipients in the last letters ever written by him whose life went out so suddenly, indicative of the innumerable benefactions of this princely man. One of these letters carried the joy of relief to a husband and father whose home was imperiled and which would certainly be lost unless aid came quickly; the other conveyed a generous response to the appeal of a woman, a stranger to him, but the worthy widow of an honored and influential citizen. After a careful investigation and being fully satisfied that she was deserving, he remarked in confidence to another, "I can not bear to take the consequences of refusal to an appeal like that." So saying, he lifted his pen and signed

his name that carried with it some hundreds of dollars and removed the weight from a burdened heart. It was his last S. Doc. 225-9

signature. A fitting close to a life filled with worthy deeds and great accomplishments. A few hours later his own great heart had ceased to beat, and this friend of man and servant of God had passed from the living.

If we seek the governing influence under which this business man built a name and character which young men may well strive to emulate; if we ask whence this statesman's gentle yet controlling power as an incorruptible leader of men and shaper of legislation, or where the hidden spring from which flowed this ever widening and deepening stream of benevolences, may we not find answer to all these in the fact that he was born of Christian parents; that the life principles of the Master Teacher were early instilled into his nature; that in his mature years he was a constant reader of the Divine Word; that he carly identified himself with and to the end of his life remained a faithful, consistent, and effective member of the Christian church? The Christ man was a dominating force in shaping the life and character of JAMES MCMILLAN. He lived and died a Christian.

ADDRESS OF MR. SHELDEN, OF MICHIGAN.

Mr. SPEAKER: We have met to-day to pay the last sincere tribute of respect and esteem to a dead friend; to show by our presence and our words that we have been the gainer through the life and influence of the late JAMES MCMILLAN and by our association with him. Of him, indeed, will we all join in saying, "the good that men do lives after them."

I shall, Mr. Speaker, address myself to the memory of JAMES MCMILLAN as a friend, "faithful and just to me."

How futile it would be of us in a passing hour and in the weakest of all methods, a few printed words upon the page, to try and portray the results of his life; a life that it took years upon years of thought and patient persistent toil to make perfect.

Long after this hour and its tribute shall be forgotten; long after it shall cease to be remembered, even as the legislative footnote on the death of a member, the works and results of JAMES MCMILLAN'S life will remain as a lasting and permanent memorial and monument to his memory in this city.

When Washington, the capital of the fairest nation on earth, shall take rank as the most perfect capital in the world, then will it be time to write the history of JAMES MCMILLAN'S life work. Then only can it be written. For then will the observant mind see in every beautiful structure that shall hereafter grace this city what the hand of the craftsman has wrought on the plan that the late Senator from Michigan conceived and started.