The Washington weekly post., 1900-05-29

from Iowa." bowling profoundly to Mr..
Hepburn.
The Iowan utterly ignored him. Now
| would like t. have a vote on this bill,
he said, when the Danville man had con-
cluded in a self cOIgratulatOry peroration.
Il have no further remarks to address to
him or 10 the House"
ker Took the Floor.
These ..-alne pieasaHtries are only in
dicatiI CT the scene whe- ire sundry civil
bill came UD. Hepburn far the canal
bill in the form of an IA ndment, and
Mr.. Hopkins, of Illinois. chairman of the
Committee of the Whole House on the
State OF the Union rulei it out of order
Hepburn promptly took an appeal, and
there was much excitement. Then a hot
discussion ensued. Cannon and Hepburn
sprayed each other with siphons of sar-
casm, and choice expletives cracked like
tire-crackers or the Fourth Of July. The
air grew mephitic, and the hubbub became
Internal. Finally the scrimmage became
general. Jerry Sin pson was sucked into It,
and the immortal J. Hamilton Lewis be-
gan to throw his Oratorical rockets into
the air Moody, of Massa chusetts, and
William Alden Smith INDUCED in a lively
intellectual clinCh. and Corlss. of Michi-
gan. and Fleming, of Georgia, were piling
on parliamentary fuel, when there was an
appalling explosion. Ohio's volcano, Gen
Charles ii. GrOsVenOr burst out N smoke
and fame. and nClter lava ran down the
main aisle of the House Joseph w. Bal
ley tried TO put out the fire with cOrstitu-
tional kerosene. II was a sad experiment
DOckery, of Missouri, and Lemuel Ely
Quigg were caught in the fiery overflow,
and more than one foot was burning wheE
Hepburn succeeded in closing the debate.
Meantime Speaker Reed appeared on the
floor and personally appealed to the mem
bers TO sustain Hopkins. II the minority
had voted solidly with Hepburn he would
have won his fight handsomely. AS it was
he was beaten by eighteen majority Nor
did the IOwan get another opportunity TO
press the matter 10 consideration before
Congress adjourned sine die.
4 New situation.
The situation in the Fifty-sixth Con-
gress was changed the instant that Thorn
as 3. Reed sent in his resignation. When
the new Congress met, David 3. Hender-
son became the power on the throne. The
same caucus that gave him the nomination
for Speaker pledged the party 10 adopt
the Reed rules. Hepburn lost his fiery
feeling against the rules. and placiTly ac-
cepted the caucus obligation He was ap-
parently satisfied that under the new ad-
ministTatioE he would be able TO bring the
Nicaragua bill before the House for con-
sideration. In the interim. between the
adjournment Of the Fifty-fffth and the
beginning of the Fifty-sixth Congress.
the fight against the Hepburn bill was re-
SUmed ali along the line Those opposed
10 il pooled their issues. Corporate greed
was still rampant, and the Panama Canal
Company became a factor in the fight.
They sought an opportunity 10 sell their
franchise to the United States govern
ment. They invited many a CongressrnaE
10 visit the Isthmus as their guests and
inspect the work already done. The
proposition TO sell looked plausible. be-
cause such a sale would avoid the com
plieations caused by the Clayton -Buiwer
treaty. The situation was further COM
plicated by the HayPauncefote trea,y.
His Final Triumph
The indignation of the American people
was aroused Nevertheless. Hepburn main
tanned his attitude. Not for an instant
did he turn aside. He was urged TO await
the report OF the Walker Commission.
which had inspected the work of the Pan
anna route. but refused. He wanted an
American canal. built by Americans with
American capital and protected by Amir
lean fortihcations and American guns. He
stood with defiant feet on the Monroe
doctrine, despite the -?auncefote
treaty. recognizing no other inter-
ests but those of the United States Eng
land was placed on the same basis with
all other nations This bill was reported
to the House on February L. Day after
day passed and no special order for its
consideration came from the Committee
on Rules. Hepburn's friends became anx-
iOus. but he expressed the utmost conf
denee that the special order would be
forthcoming before the end Of the session.
This confidence was not misplaced
Il came at last, setting down the LIST and
I'd Cf May for the consideration OF the
bill. On May ] the foodgates OF oratory
were opened. The new members Jumped
into the stream with Slacrity. II was a
grand opportunity 10 display the opening
buds OF craftsmanship. They got away
with the time OF the House in great
shape. There WAS sucn a superabund-
ance OF material that a night session was
found necessary. But the usual disturb
ing element appeared. Joseph G. Cannon.
flushed with his victory over the Commit
tee TN Naval Affairs, assaulted the pro-
cession. artillery, foot. and dragons.
Hepburn met his old antagonist hllt 10