Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-08
HEPBURN FLAYS
LEE AND OTHER
FAMOUS REBELS
WOULD NOT LEND TENTS TO
C0NFEDERATES
DENoUNcEs SOUTH, BUT FAILS
TO GET SUPPORT
Every Democrat and Republican in the
v. S. Senate Votes Against
ldahoan After He Thun-
ders 40 Minutes
Associated Press!

campment in Mobile, Ala, next April
Senator Hepburn of Idaho in the SEN
ate today made the sharpest comment
upon the issues of the Civil War that
has been heard in congress in twenty
years. -.
He inveighed against men in rebel
uniforms being permitted TO occupy
government property. or the repeL
flag being allowed to fly above 1t.
Finally he drifted into the question
of honoring men by placing their stat
ues in the Hall of Fame. and by un-
mistakable inference condemned the
action of Virginia in sending the
statue of General Robert Z. Lee to
Washington.
Take it away and worship it If you
please" he thundered. but do not IN
trude it upon the people who do not
want it,"
Democratic senators moved uneasily
about the floor. conversing with each
other, or sat, frowning, during the
speech.
When Senator Hepburn had con-
cluded, Senator Bankhead of Alabama
said:
q am sure the senator from Idaho
feels much better, and I ask for a
vote"
I1X 1Dll CALI ollOINSAt a tNNNAA -
more senators. and hands went up
second of that request from every part
of the senate chamber.
When the vote was had on the tent
1oaning resolution every Democrat ana
all the Republicans except Mr.. Hey
burn voted for it,
The resolution was reache% in its
regular order. Mr.. Hepburn was
prompt to raise an objection, and Mr.
alpTt in lnnVInE
the consideration regardless of the op-
lection.
1t was Immediately evident that the
objection had aroused some feelng,
for, with flushed face and animated
voice, Mr. Bailey, who sat near Bank
head, declared that if the resolution
was ruled out of order no other busi-
ness could be transacted.
The Bankhead motion being uhde-
batable. the senate Immediately pro
ceeded to an aye and nay vote no the
question as to whether the resolution
should be taken up. This was declueu
in the affirmative, unanimously, Mr.
Hepburn not voting.
MIR. Hepburn then spoke for probably
forty minutes, in which he went over
many issues of the war and declared
| himself as much a patriot now as he
| had been in 1S6263-64. There were no
material interruptions, but all senators
listened with evident interest.
Ignore His Abuse
The southern senators held hurried
consultations while the Idaho senator
was proceeding, and decided to make
no reply.
Accordingly, when Mr.. Hepburn con-
cluded. they contented themselves with
allowing the question to go to q vote
after the laconic remark by Mr.. Bank
head.
1t so happened that Mr.. Heyburn's
colleague, senator Borah of Idaho, was
the first of the Republicans to be
reached in the roll call. Without
twitch of countenance he voted in Ia
vor of the adoption of the resolution.
Mr.. Hepburn said that while he did
not want to open the wounds of war,
he still thought the south had MADE
great mistake in that war. He had
been told that the government was IN
the habit of making such loans to the
G. A, r., and he thanked God that such
was the case, because the Grand Army
was composed of men who had fought
on the side of the Union, and their
cause was a glorious and honorable
one"
DO you expect" he said, going back
to the contrast of the G. A. r. with the
Confederate Veterans, that those who
would sit idly by and say nothing when
these issues are raised? They are none
the less patriotic now than they We're
in 1862 -63-64 Could they be less patri-
otic and can they complacently permit
the subject of the war to become a jest
in this age? If so, the sooner we know
it the better"
Was Not in War
At this point Mr.. Hepburn received
his only interruption. 1t came from
Senator Davis of Arkansas, who, even
without awaiting the permission of the
Idaho senator, abruptly interposed the
question:
Were you inethe war;"
"Oh," responded Mr.. Hepburn, that
is the stock expression of the cheap
reporter"
Il understand" replied Mr.. Davis.
that the senator represents 264 niggers
in his state"
Responding to the last interruption,
Mr.. Hepburn said if there We're 264
negroes in his state he intended to rep
resent them. He added he was not a
senator from his state alone, but
senator of the United States as well.
AS for his participation in the war; he
stated he had been too young for that,
but that he had been very anxious to
enlist while the war was in progress.
Mr.. Hepburn said that if there were
senators who thought that it was
proper that the rebel flag should
wave over the property of the United
States they could vote for the measure,
but he would remind them that there
were millions of people in the United
States who have implanted deep in
their hearts the spirit of patriotism
and who would not follow them in that
course.
From the consideration of the pend
ing resolution, Mr.. Hepburn turned
temporarily tosthe question of the wis
dom of placing a statue of Gen. Lee
in the Hall of Fame in the national
capitol. He did not mention Gen. Lee
by name, but left no doubt that he
had him in mind.
Denounces General
He spoke of the fact that the object
of his remarks had been an officer in
the army of the United States when
the war broke out, and said he had
done much to render more serious that
conflict which had cost the country
millions upon millions of money and
thousands upon thousands of lives.
He appealed to the people of Virginia
and the south to take the statue back.
I'm sending us figures for the ma
tional Hall of Fame L would advise
you," he said, mot to overlook your
Il 4