Remarks by Representative Bradley

Of Michigan

Mr. BRADLEY of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, it has been my observation that our greatest leaders have been extremely modest in claiming for themselves the accomplishments recognized by their contemporaries, and recorded in our histories. CARL E. MAPES was that character of a man. He made no pretense of greatness, yet we who knew him recognized in him qualities possessed by only too few of us.

In the Congressional Directory my Michigan colleague permitted only this brief biography:

CARL E. MAPES, Republican, of Grand Rapids; born December 26, 1874; lawyer; married; has three children; elected to Sixtythird and succeeding Congresses.

Modest and humble, he never boasted.

Yet here was a leader who identified himself with every constructive piece of legislation proposed or enacted into law during more than a quarter of a century. CARL MAPES was courageous, a hard worker, a clear thinker, a man of principles who placed the welfare of our Nation above personal and partisan considerations. He asked not, "How will this affect me?" but rather, "How will it benefit my fellow men?" He worked and voted in accordance with his high principles, never wavering, and the people of his Fifth District in Michigan admired and respected him and reelected him to 13 succeeding Congresses.

The death of CARL MAPES was a loss to me. To him I went as a freshman Congressman, seeking counsel and advice, and this he gave generously according to his sincere convictions, without thought of self but again in the interests of our State and Nation.

CARL MAPES died as he had lived, serving his people. His service record stands as an inspiration and a challenge to all of us.

Remarks by Representative Woodruff

Of Michigan

Mr. WOODRUFF of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, the Nation, our own State of Michigan, and the Congress have all suffered a loss in the passing of the Honorable CARL E. MAPES, a loss which in some respects is irreplaceable.

The highest tribute to his rugged and steadfast integrity is best attested by the fact that those of his colleagues who had known and served with him longest loved him best, had for him the highest respect, and will feel in the years to come a sense of loss that to them cannot be alleviated.

Just as his own immediate family can find solace in the kind of a man he was, the kind of life he lived, and the fine, unselfish service he rendered his country, so the Michigan delegation in the Congress will always remember with pride the character of service he gave and the example he set for younger and less experienced legislators.

CARL MAPES was a man of deep, quiet, and undemonstrative temperament, but just as his nature was deep and quiet, it moved toward what he conceived to be right as a great, deep river moves resistlessly to the sea. One of the most beautiful things that can truly be said of our colleague was that when he was convinced he was right nothing could move him from this position. As a legislator, he was cautious without being slow. He was firm without being obstinate, and when he gave his friendship its roots went to the depths of his soul.

CARL MAPES was among the truly great men who have been in the United States Congress, because he was so unassuming, plain, sincere, and unpretentious. He was a tower of strength through the troubled years of the depression when he refused to be swept from his ideals of government by

either political expediency or emotionalism. He meditated long upon his course, he pondered well his decisions, and when convinced that he was right no amount of organized opposition or persuasion could cause him for a moment to abandon or to compromise with a position which he felt was dictated by stern integrity and duty.

In his quiet way he had a great influence upon his country and his time, particularly in the latter years of his service. In those years when emotionalism and, at times, hysteria, seemed to sway lawmakers as well as the citizens generally, in those times when faith in the future grew dim and faith in constitutional government seemed worn to a slender thread, CARL MAPES made his imprint and exerted his influence on the side of coolness and sanity. The people will never know and history will not record for posterity the great amount of good he accomplished and the great service he rendered the Nation, but his colleagues always will remember, because they know, and so long as they live his friendship, association, and memory will be cherished by them.

I express the heartfelt sentiment of every member of the Michigan delegation in saying that his life and service have entitled our colleague to all that we would have awaiting him in that realm of mystery through which he has passed and from which no word comes back. His colleagues, the Congress, his State, and his country can ill afford to lose him.

Remarks by Representative Blackney

Of Michigan

Mr. BLACKNEY. Mr. Speaker, the 30th of May, by custom and by legislation, has been designated as Memorial Day, at which time we pay tribute to our departed dead, whose services to their country have endeared their memories to State and Nation. It is a fine tribute for a nation to pause in the midst of its business strife and worries to pay tribute to these heroes, because it shows that the heart of the Nation is fundamentally sound and appreciative.

Likewise, Congress, by long custom, has established a Memorial Day, on which occasion tribute is paid to those departed members, who have endeared themselves, not only to the Members of the House and Senate, but to their constituents at home.

Since the last memorial roll call, 2 Senators and 17 Representatives have departed this life, leaving their memories embedded in the hearts of their surviving colleagues.

On this memorial-service day, I wish to pay tribute to the memory of my former colleague and long-time friend, CARL EDGAR MAPES, who, for 27 years, represented the Fifth Congressional District of Michigan faithfully and well. Since the first day that I met my departed colleague I have felt the impress of his splendid character and outstanding virtues.

CARL MAPES was fundamentally a real American, a great constitutionalist, a fine parliamentarian, an earnest, devoted worker in the public service, and a friend in time of need. On December 12, 1939, when his death was announced, a wave of sorrow swept over the State of Michigan, and over the Nation at the loss of this fine public servant. America, in these days, particularly, needs men of the type of CARL MAPES

Men whom the lust of office does not kill,
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy,
Men who possess a conscience and a will,

Men who have honor, men who will not lie-
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog.

In the hectic days of Congress, CARL MAPES remained calm and thoughtful. When others were excited, he was well poised and deliberative. He remained, like the Rock of Gibraltar, untouched and unscathed.

Francis Thompson, in one of his beautiful poems, said:

For there is nothing lives but something dies,
And there is nothing dies but something lives.
Till skies be fugitives,

Till time, the hidden root of change, updrives,
Are birth and death inseparable on earth,

For they are twain yet one, and death is birth.

CARL MAPES was modest in demeanor, earnest in action, faithful to his trust, and when the shades of eternal night descended upon him it could be said of him, as of the Apostle Paul, "He has fought a good fight, he has finished his course, he has kept the faith."

CARL MAPES, as an outstanding Congressman for 27 years, as a defender of the Constitution, as a preserver of those great institutions which have made America great, as a hope and inspiration for the youth of the land, did fight a good fight, and to his last days preserved his faith in our great country, which is without prototype in the history of nations. Tennyson, in that beautiful poem of his, says:

And the stately ships sail on

To the haven under the hill,

But, oh! for the touch of a vanished hand,

And the sound of a voice that is still.

And while we will no longer hear the voice of our departed colleague, no longer grasp his friendly hand, yet his memory will linger with us through the years to come, like the aroma of beautiful flowers.