His method was to read matter to the Senate until he was tired and then to have some friend act for him while he rested.

According to the "Washington Star," Senator Gallinger was "his favorite helper in this, for he has a good round voice that never tires, and he likes to read aloud." The thousands of pages of material which Senator Quay had collected for use, and the apparently inexhaustible stores upon which he was drawing, were the subject of numerous descriptive articles in the newspapers of the day.

Senator Quay's tactics were so successful, indeed, that he received numerous congratulatory telegrams from those whose interests he was championing.

They had been defeated at the polls in their attempt to control legislation, and defeated in the House of Representatives, but now they were victorious in the Senate.
The methods of Senator Quay were tried by other Senators on both sides, though they were less frank in their avowal.

After the struggle was over, Senator Vest of Missouri, who had been in charge of the bill, declared: "I have not an enemy in the world whom I would place in the position that I have occupied as a member of the Finance Committee under the rules of the Senate.