Kantrowitz deemed Tillman "the Senate's wild man", who applied the same techniques of accusation and insinuation that had served him well in South Carolina. In 1897, Tillman accused the Republicans, "I certainly do not want to attack any member of the committee who does not deserve to be attacked nobody denies that there have been rooms occupied for two months by the Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee at the Arlington Hotel ... in easy reach of the sugar trust". Simkins, though, opined that Tillman's speeches in the Senate were only inflammatory because of his injection of personalities, and if that is disregarded, his speeches, when read, come across as well-reasoned and even conservative.