The political overturn of 1932 brought about Senator THOMAS' retirement. In view of his age and the 7 years that elapsed while he was in retirement, it is an impressive sign of the strength of Senator THOMAS that no one had arrived during that period to fill the high position he had held in his party in State and Nation and that he was summoned back to be Senator when Senator William E. Borah died in January 1940. In spite of the fact that the State was now in the Democratic column generally, Senator THOMAS was reelected in 1942 and 1944. If I was the person fated to be left behind by the potent Senator, I could at least console myself with the thought that my successful opponent was so able and distinguished a man.

I did not meet Senator THOMAS personally until I came to the Senate. I recall, however, campaigning in his county and upon one occasion introducing myself to a man wearing the overalls which are so common on the streets of Idaho country towns. The man responded courteously to my approach, but replied, "Well, Taylor, you may be all right as far as I know, but I have worked for JOHN THOMAS for years, and I am voting for him." Something in the tone of the man revealed a warmth of feeling which I attributed to a long course of square dealing in his business and neighborly relations on the part of the Senator. I could not hope for much where he was best known.

When I first came to the Senate I valued the kindness and courtesy with which Senator THOMAS received me and introduced me around. To my deep regret Senator THOMAS' health which had been failing for many months soon became so impaired that he was not able to attend the sessions of the Senate. Accordingly, I missed the benefit of the wise counsels which had so endeared him to his colleagues of many years. Though he seldom spoke on the floor, the universal testimony of those who served with him was that he was a tower of strength and dependability in the halls and committee rooms as he had been for many years in the political and business

life of his home State. He was active on several of the most important standing committees of the Senate, namely, Banking and Currency, Finance, Military Affairs, Irrigation and Reclamation, and Public Lands and Surveys, and thus exerted tremendous influence on major legislation.

We do honor to Senator THOMAS not only as a man of simple and upright life, faithful in business, who was chosen by his fellow citizens to stand before kings but also as a typical representative of a generation of men who went west, or farther west, in youth or early manhood to develop business and industry, modern homes and schools, and to build the political institutions of a young and undeveloped State. These were not men consumed by ambition to live by public office; they sought only the satisfaction of seeing prosperous, happy communities rise where formerly were mere Indian trails through the deserts and mountains. They built soundly. Here and there one, by reason of his preeminence, was selected by his fellow citizens to execute the laws of the State or to represent them in the national councils. Senator THOMAS by the nearly unanimous call of his party and the repeatedly expressed approval of the voters as a body, was one of these. His body now rests in the heart of his State near that of his friend, former Governor and United States Senator Frank R. Gooding. Well may he rest from his labors and his State confer upon him the commendation, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Address by Senator Reed

of Kansas

Mr. REED. Mr. President, in the early seventies when Kansas was considered more or less a new country-inhabited mostly by Indians and buffaloes-a boy, JOHN THOMAS, was born to sturdy pioneer settlers in Phillips County, Kans., in 1874.

This lad grew up to know the rigors of frontier life and struggled unceasingly for an education. His love of adventure took him farther west where he became a well-known figure in Idaho. There he made his home until his death on November 10, 1945.

JOHN THOMAS demonstrated and took advantage of one of the greatest heritages of Americanism, the opportunity for an individual to make good on his own. From his meager beginnings he took to farming and eventually became a successful banker and large-scale livestock raiser. He became interested in politics and served as chairman of the Idaho Republican State central committee for 4 years. He was also a member of the Republican National Committee.

JOHN THOMAS was appointed to the United States Senate in June 1928. Following this he was elected to the office in November 1928 to succeed Senator Frank Gooding for a term ending March 3, 1933. Again he was appointed to the Senate in 1940 to succeed the late Senator Borah. Later he was elected and reelected. Senator THOMAS' success, coupled with a wide knowledge of Idaho's agriculture, mining, and livestock industry, made him a valuable man not only to the State of Idaho but to the entire West during the several terms he served in the Senate. From a political angle the Republican Party lost an outstanding and far-sighted leader when Senator THOMAS answered "the last roll call." He was married to Florence Johnson, who died in 1943. An only child, Mrs. C. Wayland Brooks, survives.

Address by Senator Dworshak

of Idaho

Mr. DWORSHAK. Mr. President, I desire to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of a friend of long standing, the late Senator JOHN THOMAS, who was distinguished for his service in this body to the people of the State of Idaho and to the Nation.

There was much in JOHN THOMAS of the rugged strength of the lofty mountains of Idaho whence he came; there was simplicity, the badge of greatness; there was courage and devotion to the principles of representative government. He had keenness of intellect and integrity of purpose.

Senator THOMAS, from 1928 to 1933, had the privilege of serving in this body with another illustrious Idahoan, the late Senator William E. Borah, and he took understandable pride in friendship and close association with his noted contemporary. Like Borah, he believed that nothing should be left undone to preserve democracy in this country. His strong convictions against excessive participation in world affairs were similar to those of that senior statesman. Senator THOMAS primarily believed that attempts to impose our concepts of democracy on Europe would result in the weakening, if not the destruction finally, of our American form of Government.

Mr. President, it was my honor to have served in the other House of Congress during the last term of Senator THOMAS, and it was my privilege to have been his friend since 1924. I found him to be conscientious in his duties, aware of his responsibilities, and alive to the problems of the day. He was immensely loyal to our system of government and proud of his part in its operations.

The esteem in which he was held by his associates in the livestock and banking enterprises in Idaho, their loyalty to 69550-48- -5 [ 65 ]

his friendship, their confidence in his spoken word, and their faith in his ability were shared by thousands of other Idahoans who twice elected him to the Senate following appointments; first, to succeed Senator Frank R. Gooding, and later to succeed Mr. Borah.

I was present at Gooding, Idaho, at the funeral services for Senator THOMAS, where sheepmen and irrigationists, from the reclamation lands he had helped wrest from the desert, mingled with Senators, high State officials, and his business associates-all gathered to pay final tribute to their friend, one of the great champions of the West.

It was there that the Reverend J. Wesley Miller, long-time friend of the Senator, in describing the nobility and strength of character of the deceased, said:

We shall not soon forget the earnestness, the vigor, the persistency, and the tenacity which marked his efforts in behalf of the farmer, the stockman, and the furtherance of reclamation throughout Idaho. He never seemed to be discouraged, and nothing seemed to daunt him.

He was loyal to his friends, liberal in his views, independent in his opinions, courageous in his convictions, an aggressive fighter, an eloquent advocate, an earnest worker, a wise legislator.

He was the embodiment of all the elements essential to the highest type of American citizenship, and the bright example of his life and work may well serve as a guiding star for those of us he left behind.

At the same services Senator C. Wayland Brooks, representing the congressional committee appointed by the President of the Senate, said:

If you want to see a monument to JOHN THOMAS, look around Idaho. He was rich in his devotion to duty, in his friendship, in idealism, and in his courage, and the mark he has left on the educational, agricultural, commercial, and financial institutions of Idaho will carry on through all time as a living monument to a great man.

JOHN THOMAS was born in a rock-fronted dugout of his homesteading parents, Daniel W. and Mary Elizabeth Sparks