CHAPTER XXXIII
THE UNITED STATES SENATORS
The provisional legislature which met in Huron, temporary capital, under the constitution of 1885, elected Gideon C. Moody and Alonso J. Edgerton United States senators. They went to Washington and made application for admission to seats in the Senate. They were courteously given the privileges of the floor, but were not permitted to qualify. Upon the admission of the state, in 1890, Edgerton was made judge of the United States district court for the South Dakota district, and Moody and Richard F. Pettigrew were elected to the United States Senate.
In the choice of terms Judge Moody drew the short term, which expired the succeeding year. He therefore had little time to develop a senatorial policy. During his term the revision of the tariff, on the lines of the historic McKinley Bill, was the principal measure under consideration, and he supported the administration policy. Coming from a mining region, he favored the largest use of silver, and was active in support of the well-known Sherman Silver Act. Owing to the wave of populism which struck South Dakota in 1890, he was not reëlected.
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