The National tribune., 1908-06-04

States these days you would not thinl
80 at all. The Vice President has dis
carded the big stuffed chair with leath
er back and seat that usually stands il
grandeur on the platform of the Senat
and has a nice open-work, cane-Seatet
chair. When he is not playing witt
the gavel-and the gavel is might,
seldom used in the United States Sen
ate-Nice President Fairbanks uses th'
biggest palm-leaf fan that is made
Really it is enormous. There is moth
ing of the iceberg about the Vice Presi
dent, now. No. indeedy.
BY a majority of SO members the
House has refused to remove the desks
from the Chamber and substitute
benches, thus giving the meeting hal
better acoustic properties. For another
session. therefore, the desks will remain
as they are
The resolution for the change was
favorably reported by the Committee
on Library, and was a pet plan of Rep
resentative Boutell, of Illinois.
President Roosevelt has been pre-
sented with a set of enlarged photo
graphs Illustrating range life on the
Western plains in the early sos The
pictures were given to the President by
Pierre Wibeaux, of Miles City. Mont.
The President grew enthusiastic over
the pictures, which showed wild ami
mails of various kinds and herds of cat
tie running free.
The photographs were particularly
showed range life as it existed when he
went West for his health, just after his
graduation from Harvard
One more statue for Washington, that
of Rev. John Witherspoon. the only,
clerical signer of the Declaration of
Independence, was authorized by the
House, when it accepted by unanimous
vote the Senate joint resolution appro-
priating $4,000 for this purpose.
The resolution was called up by Rep
resentative Mckinley. of Illinois. Mr.
Mckinley is treasurer of an association
which has raised sum of money by
private subscriptions to aid in the con-
struction of this memorial
The statue is to be placed on Con-
necticut avenue in front of the Church
Of the Covenant, and is to be made of
bronze
An interesting picture of "befo' de
wah" days was presented in the Capt.
tot one day last week. The vision in
ffff. picture was Roger A Pryor, for
merly in the Confederate service as a
General.
His striking physical appearance ana
his long hair at the age of so. attracted
everyone's attention. and members and
visitors alike asked who he was.
There was much surprise when i'll
was learned that 49 years ago he was
a member of the House from the Rich
nnond (Va.) district. and a few recalled
him as one of the parties to the famous
bowie-knife duel with John T. Potter.
of Wisconsin, which never came off.
Gen. Pryor is visiting daughter-in-
law. who resides in washington
One of the first in the House TO rec-i
ognfZe Mr.. Pryor was Representative
Calderhead, of Kansas, who was chief
clerk in the office of Capt. Sleeper, Pro-
yost-Marshal of the District Of Wash
ington in the Spring of 1865.
He was in the office the morning
Maj.-Gen. Pryor was brought in pris-
oner CT his way from the War Depart
ment- 10 the military prison, and the
seal of the Provost Marshal was an es-
sentiaI feature of the proceedings.
A very interesting man is Col. H. E.
MCCOY. Collector of Customs at Manila
p. L. who was the man who first flung
the Stars and Stripes TO the breeze ini
the Philippines, and to lower the last
Spanish flag over there. Col. Mccoy
has been in the islands ever since until
now, when he is paying a visit in Wash
ington.
Speaking of the future of the islands,
Col. Mccoy said that since the Ameri-l
cans took possession of the Philippines
all sorts of natural resources have ex-
perienced steady development. and that
with more American capital invested in
enterprises in the archipelago a bright
future was before the people of the
islands
1T would be not only foolhardy, but
downright unpatriotic to argue surren-
der of the Philippines. The United
States cannot think of giving up thei
islands any more than giving up Illi-
nois. or New York, of Pennsylvania, or
any other State. A great work of edu-
cation must be done in the islands by
the Americans and F'ilfpinos, which will
help to bring about the closest possible
relations between the peoples of both
countries
ut will be a long time before the
Filipinos Will be ready for self-goyern-
ment or independence The truth of
the matter is, there is little talk about
independence. The Filipino peoplei
seem TO be contented with the mode of
government in practice in the islands.
"It is the general desire that Taft re-
ceive the nomination and be elected, as
1t is thought with him in the White
House the islands will fare better than
with person occupying the Presiden-
tial chair who has never made a visit
10 and is not as well acquainted With
the islands and their people as Score
tary Taft"
Here is something to make you think.
The amount of appropriations in this
Congress is S1.023, 200. 00N. In $50 gold
pieces this weighs 1851 tons.
Allowing one ton to a load ii would
require a train of wagons seven and
one-haif miles long to transport it. Toi
pack il on mems backs, allowing 800
pounds to {. man. would require every
Representative who voted for Speaker
EanDon's election as a Representative
and 1910 Democrats beside.
A great banquet has been arranged
for the retiring ambassador from thel
United States TO Germany, Mr.. Charlie
magne Tower, in Berlin, by the COM
niittee OF the American Chamber of
Commerce in Berlin 1t will be given
I'm the Hotel Adion, and covers will be-
laid for more than zoe guests. The
dinner is expected to be one of the most
important functions of its kind ever
given in Berlin. On the afternoon of
June 2 Mrs. Tower Will be the guest of
honor at a farewell reception at the
American Womans Club, of which she
was formerly the President. An address
on handsomely Illuminated parchment
is being prepared to present to Mrs.
Tower.
Representative A A Wiley, of Ala
bama, who has been i'll for some time
at his apartments in the Metropolitan
Hotel is tholght IN he irnnrOying