Justin Smith Morrill: Father of the Land-Grant Colleges

Chapter 6: The Politician Inside the Public Servant

6 THE POLITICIAN INSIDE THE PUBLIC SERVANT I know of no one more capable of filling the vacancy in the United States Senate occasioned by the death of the lamented Jacob Collamer than Justin S. Morrill. His large experience as a legislator, his practical good sense and his inflexible honesty of purpose would seem to point to him as the man of all others ...on the score of national interest, state interest, and self interest , who should receive the united suffrage of the freemen of Vermont. M. W. C. Wrightl With the end of the Civil War, Morrill faced the task of dismantling the revenue programs that financed the victory. Before the Thirtyeighth Congress ended in March 1865, Representative Samuel Cox of Ohio initiated a rule change that divided the Ways and Means Committee into Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Banking and Currency. When the Thirty-ninth Congress convened in December 1865, Justin Morrill accepted the Ways and Means chair. But, even as he assumed the position, Morrill planned to try for the Senate.2 In late 1865 seventy-three year-old Senator Jacob Collamer's health began to fail. Morrill assumed the senator would not run for reelection in 1866. Morrill admired Collamer and considered him a friend and a role model. Three years earlier, Senator Collamer had said, "Mr. Morrill is the best man you can send to the Senate from Eastern Vermont."3 Morrill looked like a senator "should" look. He was fifty-five, tall and lean. He had a full head of graying hair that extended into "muttonchop " sideburns. A contemporary writer for The Independent described 95 JUSTIN SMITH MORRILL him as a tall gentleman with scholarly stooped shoulders. "That stoop comes of working ... for years over miles of tax-bills.... The clear eyes to be seen above these shoulders reflect the large intelligence ... the integrity and the goodness of the man. Here is a face to believe in without reservation.,,4 Assessing his own qualifications to be senator, Morrill wrote a friend to "pardon the egotism" but, confidentially, he believed he had as much influence in the House as former speaker Nathaniel Banks or Republican Party leader James G. Blaine. Morrill considered Thaddeus Stevens "a remarkable man, unequalled in a great many respects in the history of the world." But, he added, "I have had a good many contest with him ... and have been rarely worsted."5 In early November 1865, Senator Collamer died. On 10 November, Morrill confided his intention to run for Collamer's seat to his friend C. W. Willard, editor of the Green Mountain Freeman. Morrill explained, "I shall be a candidate. I should not be but for the fact that many friends assure me that the people of the state to a large extent will expect it and they also say it will not be a doubtful contest. All of my present colleagues including even the late Senator Collamer are openly in my favor."6 He also solicited Willard's support, if the editor considered him as the best candidate. But, if Willard thought Judge Luke Poland would "do the state the most service-say so unflinchingly. The state is entitled to so much and I shall cheerfully acquiesce in the verdict of the state."7 Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Luke Poland, an ex-Democrat, was the other leading Republican candidate. While acknowledging that former governor J. Gregory Smith and several other influential Vermont Republicans would support Poland, Morrill felt confident the "present best men in the state" would back his own candidacy. He, therefore, surveyed his friends to learn if they supported his election to the Senate.8 Justin Morrill considered himself a public servant, who placed the wishes of the voters ahead of his own. Although he probably would have disavowed the label, he was also an astute and very effective politician. Even before holding public office, he worked within the Whig party strengthening the organization and garnering support for national and local candidates. He also gave speeches and wrote editorials espousing the Whig position on important issues. Ten years in Congress and six elections to the House of Representatives further honed his skills. Vermont's Republicans so esteemed Morrill, other candidates seldom opposed his renomination. In Vermont the Republican nomination was 96 THE POLITICIAN INSIDE THE PUBLIC SERVANT equivalent to election. Between 1856, when the Republican Party participated in its first national elections, and...