Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 January 1906 — HOUSE WILL FIGHT. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOUSE WILL FIGHT.

LOWER BRANCH TIRED. OF SENATE DOMINATION. Win Imbibe the Spirit of Speaker .Cannon, Tanncy and Hepburn. Leafier* Who Are Old In Mrmhor•taip but New in Influence. Washington correßpouilpncf. .

fIHS is to be a fighting Congress, according.to thosewho are watching . conditions closely in W a s h i n gfon.. strong—men of Loth achate and Sr* House will have -SgL* tHeir hands full. in i lif I louse of Tc5*PR e p r esentdtives the new men of the Cannon regime are coming' fill* forward more eon- || i* * spiciiotisly tji a n ever and will have

an important part,in the fighting. They will divide honors with the older leaders, who, because of their long tenure in high places, are sometimes disrespectfully called the “dowagers” of" the House. In this -class are such men as Grosvenor, Payne. Bingham. Pnlzell. Ilitt and several others. They will be leading, spirits iu the present House, but not so much the whole show as in several previous sessions. “Col. Pete’C 11 c-p bn r 11. Most prominent of the men whom Speaker Cannon brings forward is W. P. Hepburn, of lowa, usually called “Col. Pete.” He has had an interesting cnTeer, for he is not a young man nor even a new man in Congress, being new only in commanding influence? Oh two sTibjecTs'HgpbUrli TiT the strongest anti in the House. He Is against civil service and l against river and harbor "Appropriations; Per-?, haps his views on the former are "based on observation made during his service as solicitor of the treasury, in the Harrison administration. His con-

demnation of river and harbor appropriations does not lmrt him in the estimation of his constituents, because there is no navigation in his district. Hepburn was born at VVeWsTille,'’ Ohio, in 1833, and was taken to lowa, then a territory, in 1841. He was educated in the public schools of the territory and in a printing office. Then he studied law. He was admitted to practice in 1854. He served as captain, major and lieutenant colonel in the Second lowa Cavalry during the Civil War. He is 72 years old. and this is the tenth Congress of which he hns been.a member. For two or three years he did not speak to Mr. Cannon, and it is perhaps true that there is still no love lost between them. Iu spite of this, each respects the ability nnd position of the other. There is not another such fighter in either house of the .Congress as Colonel Pete. He has a command of irony and sarcasm and can use it so bitterly and effectively joined with ridicule that many a brave floor fighter quails before liirq. Mr. Cannon deliberated when he became speaker of the House. For months he and Colonel Hepbi\rn had not been friends. He made up his mind that it was better to have such a man with him than against him, and so he consented to a reconciliation, which was was engerl.r arranged by mutual friends. Hepburn is chairman of the Committee on Interstate Commerce, and In that position will have charge of the administration railroad rate regulation legislation. He will mix up tn every other tight of Importance. This is inevitable—partly because he is naturally a fighter and partly because he

has bad so wide and broad legislative experience, and hns such backing of good judgment and common sense that he will be drafted whenever there Is to be anytldng of importance doing. , A Blacksmith Slateamaa. "The Blacksmith Statesman” would not be an inappropriate title for James A. Tawney, of Minnesota, who is to be a conspicuous House leader. He la chairman Of the Committee on Appropriations, which Is the position

formerly held by Speaker Caun<>o< *nd also by W. S. Holman, of Indiana, and the holder of which is generally called “the watchdog of the treasury.” He is intimately acquainted with aIU the members of the House, for he has been for years Abe party “whip” and has also iiad charge‘of the speakers in TTcmgressioual Campaigns. He is a Pennsylvanian by birth, SO years old, and served n long (apprenticeship yi Ills father’s blacksmith shop. Later lie followed the uiaClihiist’s trade for many years, going to Winona, Minn., when he was 22 and following his ocof blacksmith and machinists Seeing in the new country opportunities for lawyers he studied Blaekstone after pounding* all day on Iron and steel and at the age of 27 was admitted to-the bar. He took a course later in the law school of Wisconsin University—la ISQO he was elected State Senator in Minnesota, two years later was sent to Congress and lias been there ever since. The fights which the House will carry ors against the Senate will be more bitter-and will undoubtedly win more of victory than has been the case in the past. This is due to the attitude of

Speaker Cannon. He won out against the Senate last session in the matter of Statehood legislation. He also won out in a of other particulars w hich, because of the graceful acquiescence. of the Senate, did not attract the same amount of attention. Mr. 4?fHHKm~-is the -sworn enemy- of - the Senate. lie has made that clear. Just before lie was elected Speaker of the House he took the floor one day and delivered a denunciation of the Senate methods and the manner in which the House had repeatedly given up to the" ‘Senate that attracted national and even international attention. He plainly threw down tlm gauntletT He said in effect that tliic House had always given dow r n to Senate pressure and that he was tired of the method that prevailed of the House being the body that always had to yield. For one he was up in arms against the system and hoped to see it end. So outspoken and plain was Mr. Cannop that members of the Senate, including "Hale, Spooner and Allison, felt called upon to reply to what Mr. Cannon said. It is a popular and well-founded belief that the Senate really shapes out and finishes and completes the legislation of the Congress and makes it tight, and so it will hold water and resist the strain put upon it by the courts.

SPEAKER CANNON.

A BEACKSMITH STATESMAN.

WAS A PRINTER'S DEVIL.