The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-10-02
MEN AND THINGS.
The ''Hepburn" Bill.

! come 4ucHlillcA Win liilpNl Adlll ltElold-
ton. like those OF Wilson, Mckinley, and
Dingley, with tariff bills. and that Of
/ Sherman, with his financial measure. In
recent years the chairman Of the com
mlttee which originates or perfects a
/ bill, rather than the man who introduces
/ it. usually gets credit for it after II be-
comes a law. and the same thing often
/ occurs in the case Of legislation which
/ is a composite Of many measures worked
over and amended by MANY men, The
so-called Hepburn rate bill Is an illustra-
/ ton Of this. Numerous newspapers and
/ individuals will always refer 10 the law
enacted by the first session Of the last
| Congress as the Hepburn bill. and to
/ the high-minded and hard-hittng old war
/ horse from Iowa as the father" of rate
/ legislation; yet. as a matter OF fact. Col
/ Pete" Hepburn had much less to do
/ with the law as finally enacted than sew
erai other men. and he must share the
| honor Of parenthood with all the Rep
/ resentatlves and Senators who introduced
bills. Col Hepburn, as chairman of the
| Interstate and Foreign Commerce Com
mittee. took very prominent part in the
early consideration Of the proposed legis-
/ lation, Of course. and his bill was the
/ basis of the committees work The
! Democrats on the committee refused TO
! accept some parts Of it. naturally, and
offered what was known as the Davey
substitute. Representative r. c. Davey,
Of Louisiana. being the ranking member
/
/ compromise measure was reported to the
I House and passed. Everybody knows
/ what happened T. IL In Mr.. Elkins' com
mittee and in the Senate, and can there
| fore easily perceive the connection be-
/ tween the completed statute as it went
on the books and Col Hepburn How
/ ever. everybody knows what is meant
when 'the Hepburn law" is mentioned,
and IL would be hard 70 find a much bet
/ ter man TO name the law after, anyway.
Languages in Japan.
/ A letter from Japan published in Ber-
/ I'm calls attention to the fact that the
study Of the German language has fallen
( off a great deal in the last few years.
At the close Of the school term in Tokyo
! the department Of examinations reported
| that the following languages had been
I studied In the schools in the order
named. Engi sh. Chinese. German, and
/ Russian French. Korean, and Spanish
were neglected In 1894 the number OF
students Of Chinese increased by 100 per
/ cent. and the study Of English fell of.
while there was a marked Increase Of
/ German students In 1907 statistics show
+ that the German language has lost in
favor. and Il has gone back 20 seventh
place English has not retrOgraded. and
has thirty students IN the final class
| 20 thirteen who study German. Young
men who are being educated for bust
ness careers ID is found DO not study
German. but st is suH popular with
those japanese who hope &c enter sci
ent.fc circles.
Flower Beds and Battle ships.
When the so-called japanese question
was being agitated by supevhested san
/ Franciscans and certain interested news
papers last winter. three men went 10
/ the White House ore evening 10 ask the
/ President if he would give them a posi-
| tive statement concerning the persistent
I ly circulated rumors that preliminary
/ negotiations were in progress looking TO
/ the drafting and ratification Of a new
treaty between Japan and the United
States. whereby all troublesome prob
I lens would be solved The three found
/ Il necessary 20 wait a few minutes. as
/ Mr. Roosevelt had not returned from his
/ ride Finally when Il was quite dark
he came In. vigorous and refreshed
/ after his exercise, the mark Of the win
/ ter wind on his cheeks and the mud OF
/ country roads spattered plenufully over
/ the rough shoes and clothes he wore
all Of which showed that they had seen
service. For twenty minutes or more he
talked with his visitors in a manner
I that was as informal as his costume.
/ Were steps being taken toward the ex-
! change Of a new treaty? No such steps
whatever were being taken. Was any
/ such action in contemplation II was
not
/ Then launching into some very peril
/ nent observations regarding relations
/ with Japan generally. the President said
very emphaticauy that the japanese
/ question would take care of Itself Il
/ certain people-meaning, presumably,
/ those in san Francisco-and newspapers
would leave il alone. Il was only the
! constant agitation that contributed any
element of danger he declared. and ne
| told a story TO illustrate this point When
/ he was small boy, he said, he and a
playmate tried several successive springs
/ 10 establish small flower gardens Of their
very own on their respective premises
/ The President set out his plants, or
planted his seed, and let Mother Nature
/ do the rest with the result that his
garden was always success. The other
/ boy found Il necessary to dig Up his
plants every few DAYS. to see If they
! were growing. and, Of course, all of them
/ died
/ The moral, obviously. was that con-
slant digging up Of imaginary grievances
/ against Japan was calculated eventually
/ 10 kill the flowers Of friendship and har-
mOny between the two nations One Of
the three visitors recalled this story on
| reading that the President. Immediately
after his return to Washington last week.
/ had told some of the White House Wis
( itors very positively that there was no
/ possibility Of a change in the plan TO
send the battle-ship feet TO the Pacific
/ Ever since then the man has been at
/ tempting 10 IttoHtle the CnleI kXecu-
/ tive'S aneCdOte with his stand in the mat
/ ter of the fleet movement, which. as an
invitation to trouble. is widely opposed
/ by press and public. including some very
/ influential members Of Mr.. Roosevelts
( own party.
The Biggest Clock In Great Britain.
/ The biggest clock in Great Britain is
that which measures the time for the vast
number Of employees at the big factory
/ Of Singers at Kilbowie, where, too. most
Of the workmen are Americans. Singer
employs at present Il 500 hands and turns
out over a million sewing machines a
| year. Since the American manager has