The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1910-08-05
COLONEL HAMER
HAS MADE GOOD

There are twice as many United
States Senators from Idaho as Con-
gressmen, and therefore it devolves
upon Colonel Thomas r. Hamer to
carry all the states heavy burdens
through the House of Representa-
tives. Now Colonel Hamer has been
in Washington only one term, and
the fates have decreed in his case
that he shall represent a compare.
lively small population but a very
large territory; and Idaho is like
other new sections of the country in
asmuch as it needs a great deal in
the way of legislation to bring about
its proper development and care for
the rich resources yet almost I'M
known to the rest of the country.
The Republicans of Idaho perhaps
realized that they had a big job to
attend to and selected their man &C
cOrdingly. The Washington view is
that Colonel Hamer Is attending to-
about as much as ordinarily falls to
the lot of several Congressman, and
that he is doing a f1rst-class piece of
work. Colonel Hamer enlisted as a
private in the Spanish-American
War, and rose to the rank of lieu
tenant-colonel of his regiment. He
became military governor of the ISL
and of Cebu, and associate justice Of
the Supreme Court of the Philip
pines. This is his first session in
Congress, but he has an acquaint-
ance and influence that many men
have not been able to attain in years.
Idaho has immense wealth in the
raw products that 1t furnishes, and
in the formulation of the present tar
if bill Colonel Hamer succeeded in
securing a rate of one and one-half
cents a pound on lead, after the bill
had been practically completed and
the schedule placed at one cent al
pound. Wool, sugar-beets and lum-
Der are the three other principal pro-
ducts and Uncle Sam has taken care
of them all in the tariff schedules.
but one of the principal reasons was
that Colonel Hamer was on the Job
looking after his states interests
1t is said that out in Idaho there Is |
some criticism of their Congress
mans alignment with the regular"
Republicans-but quite likely this is
mostly campaign talk. True to the
traditions and the policies of live
Western men, Colonel Hamer early |
discovered the surest way to getl
what his state needed, and then he
buckled to the task and began to
land things. If such states as Idaho
do not need tariff protection and a
piece of the pie" that is being hand |
ed out for reclamation and other
great projects, then the functions of
Congress might just as well be sus-
pended; and the strong man who can
a comparatively weak
state would certainly be a dullard to
come to Washington with any falsely
framed notion that he is going to
lead In great wave of political re-
formation; that kind of thing may at /
this time have a certain degree off
popularity, but it fails to fit in with
the plans of practical Congressmea
who have a great deal to ask for on
behalf of thinly populated states.
Idaho certainly possesses wonderful
strength in both branches of Cen
sress and her progressive sons are
putting the state on the map as 1t
should be. Colonel Hamer is inter-
ested in a bill to restore eight hun
dred thousand acres of puhRc school
lands, lately included in the national
forest reserve, to the state. and his
homestead bin which has
all passed, provides for 500 acre. dry
farm entries, making available NIL
lions of acres OF land in the state
that otherwise woald remain unset
lied. The great reclamation projects
of the east command the earnest at
lention of all such legislators as Col
onel Hamer, and the representatives.
who can best forward this kind of
legislation are performing a splendid
service not only for their state but
for the nation.
Idaho's Congressman Is a type that
one reads about, but does not meet
every day-he "gets there" and that
certainly is a strong quality ut the