y the boundary and
water-way treaties. It was through his efforts that an amendment
to the latter treaty was adopted, which he considered necessary to
protect the interests of his State, and which I greatly feared
would result in the rejection of the treaty by the Canadian
Parliament. I am very glad to say, however, that the treaty has
been ratified by both Governments, and only recently proclaimed.

Senator Smith has taken a keen interest in matters before the
Committee on Foreign Relations, and with his experience, industry,
and capacity, he is bound to become a very useful member of the
committee.

One of the last members to be appointed on the Committee on Foreign
Relations was the Hon. Elihu Root, of New York. He is one of the
greatest men and ablest Senators who have ever been members of the
committee. When he became a member of it, he was not at all a
stranger, for the reason that he, on my invitation, had, while
Secretary of State, for two years previous to his retirement from
that office, attended almost every meeting of the committee.
Between Mr. Hay and the members of the Senate, there was not the
close relationship which should have existed between that body and
the State Department.

Secretary Hay was not disposed to cultivate friendly relations with
Senators, and certain remarks he made concerning the Senate as a
body were very distasteful to Senators; and although I had invited
him, he seemed very averse to coming before the Committee on Foreign
Relations. I did not press the point. The result was that important
treaties and other matters were constantly sent in, with which the
members of the committee were not familiar, and we had to grope in
the dark, as it were, and inform ourselves concerning them as best
we could.

But when Mr. Root became Secretary of State, I resolved to insist
that the Secretary meet with us from time to time, and explain such
treaties and measures as might need explanation, and upon which
the Administration was anxious to secure favorable action. In
other words, there should be closer relationship between the
Committee on Foreign Relations and the State Department than had
formerly existed. I first saw President Roosevelt and told him I
hoped Mr. Root would come before the committee as occasion might
require. The President seemed at once impressed with the propriety
of the proposed plan, and remarked in his own characteristic fashion:
"That is just the thing." I