POWER IN ORGANIZATION
In reference to the incident a member of the federation in discussing it with a Georgian said:
“I must tell you of the fine impression made by your fellow Georgian, Mr. Samuel Spencer, in the strong, impassioned address he made to the labor representatives at the conciliation meeting. What he said was noble and stirring, and the expressions of Mr. Samuel B. Donnelly, one of our labor members representing his side of the controversy, and finally, the decision of the presiding officer, Hon. Seth Low, the Civic Federation representative, made the occasion one fully demonstrating the greatness of the co-operative spirit for which the National Civic Federation stands in uniting in its membership men representing the forces of the nation.”
These few incidents illustrate the appreciation with which Mr. Spencer was held by men representing great national questions; the responsibility thrown upon him by the railroads of the country as their representative in the House of Congress; his readiness to assume the individual responsibility thereof; his factorship in national organized effort are many incidents that entitle him to a position of Napoleonic ascendency in the history of railroad construction and development; to an everlasting monument in the hearts of the people of his native Southland, and to a position of national recognition among men standing for the highest civilization making now the history of the twentieth century.
Mr. Spencer was born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1846. He went from the military school of Marietta, Georgia, into the Civil War, and served gallantly under General Forrest’s command. After the war he graduated from the University of Georgia, and subsequently from the University of Virginia.
Soon afterward he became interested in the construction work of Southern railroads, and died president of one of the greatest railroad systems in the world.