Mexico weekly ledger., 1899-03-16

dea-htot ana MloodnheG,
Especial washington Lsttsrl
The short session Of the Ffty-6fth con-
gress which has Just closed win be re-
membsred for many things especially
for bad blood between Republican chief
tainA Many Of them have cut and slash
ed each other in q wayit grieved me to
behold. but perhaps Colonel William
P. Hepburn of Iowa has been the most
conspicuous fighter in these family
wars he gets of the reservation and
goes on the warpath oftener than any
Of them. Bis pet aversion Ia the Reed
code Of rules He never loses an oppor-
tunity to inveigh against them The
other day the colonel became 90 OBJ
streperOus that evidently the managers
took alarm and concluded that he need
ed discipline. SO Hon. Serene L Payne
Of New York. the new chairman Of the
ways and means COMMITTEES. n Of
Speaker Reeds most trusted leuten-
ants. whom Uncle joe Cannon once
characterized as ''the white haired
mandarin Of the house" essayed to
put the Iowan through q course Of
sprouts but ever since he must have
put In his time wonderingi
% soon Tn done for.
What was I begun fort
Mr.. Payne Is Of the mildest man
nered Of mortals, which Colonel Hep
burn IL not By several jugs full So
when Mr.. Payne had administered his
gentle castigation, Hepburn arose.
white with rage, and proceeded 10 wal
lop the venerable New Yorker In the
most hair raising style Shaking his
ciinched fist in uncomfortable juxtapo-
sition TO the proboscis Of Mr.. Payne,
and with an angry roar that could have
been heard at Arlington or the navy
yard, he shouted: 'fYou stated an un-
truth / contradict your untruthful
statementl" and much more Of the same
sort, while the Republican leaders look
ed on aghast and Payne smiled a siekly
sort Of smile. no doubt revolving In his
mind some scheme to even up the score
with Colonel Hepburn in future Now,
If Hepburn has the courage Of his con
victionA we can knock the Reed rules
into smithereens In the next congress,
for we will need only seven Republican
votes to do it and the colonel ought to
be able 10 muster that many.
The Fight For Missouri.
As 1 am anxious for all Americans 10
know what a leonine character that
great Missouri Democrat, Frank P.
Blair, was, l hereby quote some more
fiery remarks In presenting his statue
to congress;
Early impressions are never etfaced.
and IL may be. who knows that the
fact that when a child he sat upon the
knee Of Andrew jackson, received the
hiss Of hereditary friendship from his
lips and heard words Of patriotism fan
burning from his tongue determined HIS
In the woeful days Of 1851. for
Jackson himself, could he have return
cd to earth in the prime Of life could
not have acted a sterner or more heroic
part than did his foster son.
The fact that Andrew jackson. Thorn
az Hart Benton and the elder Francis
Preston Blair were sworn friends most
probably caused young Frank to settle
In St. Louis. a performance which.
little noted at the time. in all
human probability kept Missouri in the
Union and thereby defeated the efforts
Of the southern people for Independence.
for had IL not been for Blair's cool cour-
age, clear head. unquailing spirit. indie
fafigable industry, commanding inhu-
ence and rare foresight the Southern
sympathizsrs in Missouri would have
succeeded in taking her into the Con-
federacy.
There never was in this world a
struggle in which time was more the
essence Of things than In the fight for
Missouri The people were divided into
something like three equal parts-one
for the Union, another for secession,
while the minds Of the third were not
made up but were IN q plastic condi-
ton This hating. wavering third be-
came decisive Of the contest To control
1t Blair and his opponents waged Q bat
tie royal II In the beginning Blair
could have aroused the Federal govern
ment to . realization Of the vast strate-
gic Importance Of Missouri and 10 the
necessity for early action, his task
would have been eAsy. II in the begin
ming his antagonists could have aroused
the Missouri legislature to a compre-
hension Of the situation and could have
induced the state authorities to seize
the United States arsenal at St Louis
before General Nathaniel Lyon was
placed In command. their task would
have been easy. but when Lyon appear
ed upon the scene their one golden op-
p~ortunity was gone
Played Eos Hish Stakes.
II was a colossal stake for which this
master spirit played Nevertheless I'M
~derstanding clearly the gravity Of the
game. he played 1t to the end with su-
perb audacity and with nerves Of steel
no hesitation. no equ~ivocatton. no
mental ~reaarvafiun- No renfniuQ M