39 



foundation for his great interest in fish and fishing, for 

 the welfare and happiness of mankind, which followed 

 him through the remaining years of his eventful life. 

 He served with John Onincy Adams on the select 

 committee on the Smith son will, which led to the 

 founding of the Smithsonian Institution, now one of the 

 most valuable and interesting institutions in the world. 

 In 1847 we find him ]\Iayor of the city of Toledo, and 

 during this year he was elected to the Ohio Legisla- 

 ture ; in 1848 he was elected to the Thirty-first Congress, 

 where he took a specialh' prominent part in the long 

 struggle for Speaker, receiving within three votes of 

 being elected to that office. He was made chairman 

 of the Committee on Postoffices and Post-roads, and as 

 such was the author of the bill providing for cheap 

 postage and the coining of the three-cent silver piece. 

 Of this he said: "vSpeaker Cobb made me chairman 

 of the Committee of Postoffices. During my first term 

 in Congress postage was reduced from eighteen, twelve, 

 ten, and six cents, according to distance. It was ten 

 cents for a single sheet to any part of the country. I 

 had been corresponding with Sir Rowland Hill and 

 was convinced that the rates of postage could be 

 reduced in this countr}' without incurring debt. I 

 introduced a bill reducing the postage to three cents, a 

 uniform rate for all distances in the United States. I 

 was deeply interested. The main objections came 

 from Senator Toombs, a distinguished and polished 

 gentleman, whose principal objection was that we had 

 no money, no change less than a five-cent piece. I 

 knew I had to do something to offset this plea, so I 

 went to the mint and told them I wanted a three-cent 

 coin made. They sent me three hundred or four hun- 

 dred of the little silver pieces, so I had my pockets full 

 when Mr. Toombs was ready to make his final speech 

 against me. I walked over to his seat, just before he 

 was ready, and I said, 'So you 've got no change less 



