Strike if thou wilt, and soon; strike breast and brow;
For I have lived; and thou canst rob me now
Only of some long life that ne'er has been.
The life that I have lived, so full, so keen,
Is mine! I hold it firm beneath thy blow
And, dying, take it with me where I go.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore. Amen.

The VICE PRESIDENT. Senators, the hour of 2 o'clock having arrived, the special order of the Senate becomes effective. The clerk will read the special order.

The legislative clerk read as follows:

Ordered, That on Wednesday, April 20, 1938, at 2 o'clock p. m., the legislative business of the Senate be suspended for the purpose of permitting memorial addresses to be delivered on the life, character, and public service of the HONORABLE JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, late a Senator from the State of Arkansas.

Address by Senator Caraway
Of Arkansas

Mrs. CARAWAY. Mr. President, it is an indication that we have not deviated greatly from customs of our forefathers, when, in a world torn by foreign wars, upset by economic distress, and confronted with labor conditions causing unprecedented unrest, we can still pause to pay tribute to one who has gone far beyond all of us to that haven where no worldly strife can enter.

If "it is after death that we measure men," is it the body of clay from which the spirit has departed or is it the spirit itself that we would seek to measure? Death is no respecter of persons, but is the one great equalizer.

The greatest emperor of all time is no greater, when his spirit has been released from his body, than the lowliest babe in his empire who may have died from starvation. "Dust thou art, to dust returneth," illustrates the fact "that all men are created equal." They live, achieve, and die, again becoming equal. So it must follow that a man is measured by that indomitable something within himself which made him achieve whatever distinction he may have attained.

The late Senator JOSEPH TAYLOR ROBINSON, whose portrait has just been unveiled, to hang hereafter in the corridor of the National Capitol, was one of a large family, born to parents not blessed with great worldly goods, but having the spirit of real pioneers, the spirit which is a compound of honesty, courage, and endurance. The facilities for education in those days were not very accessible, but this son managed to fit himself for the practice of law.

His natural ability, combined with a pleasing personality, soon led him into the field of politics. He served with distinction as a Member of the National House of Representa

tives for many years, became Governor of our State, was speedily promoted to the Senate, where he served continuously until the day of his death, July 14, 1937. As minority leader, the position to which he was called by his colleagues in 1922, he displayed marked ability in handling men and legislation.

When the Democrats came into power in 1932, he was the unanimous choice for the majority leadership. How faithfully he performed that service is indelibly written in the history of this administration. He was unwavering in his allegiance to a democratic form of government and to his party's policies. I am free to say that he carried a burden of responsibility exceeded by none, not even that of the Chief Executive. So when we come to measure this man after death, we measure him by those outstanding qualities of spirit, courage, honesty, clear thinking, loyalty to our country, our State, and our people, and mark him as a man deserving of our respect and affection, worthy of all the honors and eulogies that we, his friends, can bestow.

Mr. E. R. Robinson, of Lonoke, Ark., who is a man of deep feeling, wrote that he designates a character etching of his brother. I shall quote here a part of what he has written:

ETCHING

This etching comes from one who knew him best;
Who toiled beside him, shared his home in youth,
His struggles to attain his aims, his quest

For worthy knowledge, and for vital truth.
His faithful service to his fellowman
His high ideals held until the end,
His discontent against an outworn plan

A brother, comrade, and a constant friend.

In sacred fires of home he found the source
Of inspiration and the vital power
That made him master, steered his tireless course
From striving youth to his last trying hour.

Here he was drilled in deep respect for law,
Through strict compliance to a father's rule;

Around that altar he was filled with awe,

His character found here its shaping school.

A mother's love enshrined him in her heart,
She sacrificed her life for children's weal;
A mother's love played that heroic part

Which stamped upon his soul the martyr's seal.
He quaffed through life of that inspiring spring,
Of books and songs which mirrored the sublime
Stored all the lessons history could bring

Absorbed the light from every age and clime.
Though all his youth he bore the hardest toil,

Yet through its grind the visions which he dreamed
Brought flaming star to beam on lowly soil,

Thus drudgery of labor he redeemed.

Here is the magic wand that made his life

So great, gave him the power to lead great men,
Undaunted will amid opposing strife

Magnetic force, keen comprehensive ken.

To those of us who only knew him in his success, this little pen picture of his early life, portraying the forming of his character by associations and environment, gives us a better understanding of his reactions and his power of leadership. He had learned early that when one would govern others, he must, perforce, be able to govern himself. He was honest in his convictions and, therefore, respected the convictions of his colleagues. His was a warrior spirit, but with a sense of justice which disarmed his critics.

While I am speaking here of the late Senator ROBINSON, I should like also to pay tribute to all those Members of both Houses of the Congress who, after faithful and arduous service, have answered the final roll call, and wrapping the drapery of their couch about them have lain down to pleasant dreams.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote:

There is no death.

What seems so is transition;

This life of mortal breath

Is but a suburb of the life Elysian,

Whose portal we call death.

He, our friend, has entered that portal, preceding us by a few years or months or days. May we, when our names are

called, respond "here," and enter into the last and greatest house with our escutcheons as untarnished, our records as clear, as that of this man, the favored of my State, a great leader, Arkansas' late Senator, JOSEPH TAYLOR ROBINSON.