The National tribune., 1906-05-03

Congress. in 1883, the veterans and
their widows felt inlove with Pete Hep
seuuently becaHh tn Act of June 81,
| 1890, had been passed by both n"u scs
but was vetoed by President Cleveland
| Col. Matson, Chairman of the House
| Committee on Invalid Pensions, at
tempted to passsthe bill over the Presi-
| dents veto. All of the veterans among
the Representatives stood firmly for
/ this except fouk--Niele. of New York;
/ Bragg, of Wisconsin,: A. J. Warner, of
Ohio, and one other. These four made
bitter speeches against the bill, and the
! voices of Warner and Bragg We're par
| ticularly rasping. After they had ended
| Hepburn arose flor the other side, and
the first notes aof his clear, resonant,
| trumpet-like voice fell gratefully upon
the ear. He began, ''The gentlemen
who have preceded me, like myself,
terminate their political careers March
Z, next" This brought general laugh
| from the crowded galleries, and he
continued, Unlike myself, however,
they are now haunting the White House
| crooking the pregnant hinges of the
knee. that thrift may follow fawning."
He then proceeded to literally take the
hides off Messrs. Bragg, Warner and
Viele, to the great delight of the friends
of the dependent pension bill
His seat was filed by a Democrat in
the next three Congresses, but by 1893
his District had come TO its senses again
and Pete Hepburn was reelected and
he has been coming ever since. He has
now nearly 10 years TO his credit in the
National Halls of legislation, and unless
he is OsleriZed out of office, will prob
ably stay there till death wants a shin
ing mark, and where will it find a
brighter?
Col. Hepburn is known as the hard
rot hi Il 9lg
you know. Really, it might not be a
good thing TO run up against his fist,
any more than it was his saber in the
long ago, but he Is not a man of bluster.
He just rams facts down your throat
till you are choked or cry enough"
The way he slings the solid words in
the English language is terror to the
demagOgue. There is no embroidery:
you never see a fril on any of his
speeches-but, hold. that is scarcely
true, for no man can better make men
tai pictures than he-pictures rich in
pathos. with n word imagery that is
eXquiSitely fine even to the slightest de-
tall but it is not. often that he is so
moved 10 talk. When some members
of Congress talk you know you are GO
ing to get whipped syllabub and cream.
angel food, and "jell." But when Pete
Hepburn talks you know you are going
to get rich, juicy old roast beef with
trimmings all done to q delicious brown,
and something that you can feed your
soul on, as well as your mentality. He
has voice that is a joy to hear. 1t
reaches to every part of the big House,
and his enunciation is perfect. He never
clips word, nor a syllable. His Eng
lish is choice, and he displays a wide
grasp of all subjects, while his field of
literature has evidently been planted
with the classics.
When he talks the House listens. He
hates hypocrisy and sham: he despises
make-shifts and byways in legislation.
For Civil Service as it is administered
he has the profoundest contempt, and
his one stock speech IS always made
against Civil Service.
Just now Col. Hepburn stands pre-
eminent in thefeyes of the people be-
cause of the great Railroad Rate bill
which in everyt Detail as presented by
him pleased President Roosevelt.
Like most of iliis kind, Col. Hepburn
is gregarIous. I4Ie loves the company
of a whole-souled man: he tells rarely
good story in a dry way, but there Is
twinkle in his hazel eyes which shows
that he appreciates humor. He is not
a society man. While he wears even
ing clothes as Though to the manner
born, he does not like them. He was
red-headed once,i and freckled away
back there when Ne was drawing his
inspiration for the coming years, wad-
ing barefoot in7the damp lush buffalo
grass on the prafries, but his hair is
almost white now and thinning just
a little where he IS going barefoot on
the top Of Its head. a"Old Pete Hep
burn" is I3 years young, not old, and
Iowa will hunt a long time to find his
equal when he goes hence. To the
veterans he has always been a tower
of strength. He has believed in the
widest latitude for pensions; his every
energy has been bent in that direction.