The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1910-03-18
MEMBER
WOULD RETURN?
Belief That Col. Hepburn of Iowa
Will Seek to Re-enter
Congress.
LIGHT ON HIS RETIREMENT
Friends Claim Constituents Mlsunder-
stood His Position-The President
and the Postal Savings Bank Bill
Movement to Protect
Game Birds.


Washington.-Repu officials in
Washington. especially those repre-
sentatives who have membership in
the Republican congressional commit
tee. believe firmly that Col William
p. Hepburn. Familiarity known as
Uncle Pete" and who formerly rep.
resented an Iowa district In congress.
will attempt to secure the Republican
crat, William d. Jameson. who repre-
sents the colonel's district.
II Col. Hepburn should enter the
race in the eighth Iowa district and
should succeed in defeating his Dem.
ocratic opponent. the Republicans In
the next house might be puzzled as
to where to place the colonel, for 1t
is said that for years he was a regu-
lar of regulars and then showed
marked signs of insurgency. but not
the insurgency which found it's express
sion in opposition to the policies of OBJ
struction of the Roosevelt legislation
which 1t was charged the regulars
were sanctioning.
The story as 1t Is told in Washing.
ton has two sides. One side, however,
is history. The picturesque colonel
was the chairman of the house COM
mittee on interstate and foreign com.
merce at the time that the Townsend
railroad rate bill was introduced into
the house with President Roosevelt's
sanction and finally was passed by the
representatives Now, as the Iowa
man was the chairman of the COM
mittee which considered the bill, 1t
was only natural that he should have
been the father of it, but Mr.. Roose-
welt and a good many other friends
of the railroad rate legislation con-
cluded that Col Hepburn was not the
warm friend of legislation which
looked to the regulation of rates.
Misunderstanding Claimed.
So it was that the president sane
toned the Townsend bill. and it went
through the house. This apparent be-
lief on the part of Mr.. Roosevelt that
the colonel was not in favor OF his
railroad legislation made some of the
people of the lowan's district angry
and as a result Col. Hepburn found
things little unfavorable in the
home district. The Townsend bill
passed the house of Representatives.
but the senate insisted on having
time for long inquiry into the whole
subject of rate matters.
So il was that the bill did not pass
congress at that time, but was put off
until another season. When that sea-
son came around. Col. Hepburn was
at the front of the railroad rate legis-
lation advocates. His friends all say
that he was perfectly sincere in his
advocacy of this Roosevelt policy. and
that there simply had been a mistake
on the part of the people concerning
his previous position. At any rate,
President Roosevelt consented that
Col Hepburn should be the father of
the new railroad rate measure and its
father he was. and II went through
both house and senate and became
the law OF the land.
His Constituents Dissatisfied.
The colonel went back home and
stood for reelection. but some of the
people of his district believe that he
had change of heart on progressive
policies only because he thought his
seat was endangered, and so while
most of the Republicans gave the col.
onel the benefit of the doubt, he was
defeated by the Democrat by a small
majority.
During the last months OF the
Iowan's service in the house, he was
one of the warmest upholders of pro-
gressive legislation. II he runs for
congress again and should succeed in
defeating his Democratic opponent, 1t
is probable that both regulars and In.
surgents will look at the colonel with
expectant eyes as he enters congress-,
and wonder with which faction Of
them he is to take his seat
II seems to be finally assured that
the Republican congressional commit
tee will not make any attempt to dis
criminate against candidates for re-
election who have been opposed TO
the Cannon organization in the house
OF representatives. President Taft, Il
is said, has told the members of the
committee that they must make no
such discrimination. IL Is pretty we'll
understood, however, that the litera-
ture which the congressional commit.
tee will put out to aid in the re-elec-
ton of Republicans will contain de-
lenses of the Payne-Aldrich tariff bill.
and the Democrats say that in many
ihsurgent districts. this kind OF lit
erature cannot fail to aid the Demo
cratic cause.
Postal Savings Bank Bill.
President Taft's confidants say
that the reports that he is not
satisfied with the form in which
the postal savings bank bill passed
the senate are not true. They say
that Mr.. Taft did not wholly approve
of the change that was made in the
measure. but now because II has re-
cefved fha unanimous suDpOrt of the