ay
BV E. J. EDWARDS.
HETEVKN-and Weeks, Mon'dell and
Carter. Smitli and Beveridge, Dixon
and Lever, to say nothing of La, Fol
lette these are the namea of present-day
Federal Senators and Representatives
who are destined to be heard of often in
the near future when Congress gets down
to real business on the conservation of
National resources proposition which of
late months has been keeping most of
us up late o' nights discussing it in all
Its various phases.
These are the men who will undoubt
edly lead in the debates that will take
place ok the divers conservation bills now
before Congress bills that call for all
manner of conserving In all parts of the
country. There are bills expressing the
popular idea of conservation, which un
doubtedly confines itself to forestry, to
coal, oil and phosphate, lands on the
public domains and to water power,
ftjere are bills which express the senti
ment of Eastern members of Congress
and have to do with deeper harbors and
better facilities for the navigation of
rivers: and many a Middle Western Con
gressman's interest in this nationally
new and entertaining, subject centers
chiefly in bills looking towards the es
tablishment and maintenance of deep
waterways, reaching thousands of miles
Inland from the Gulf of Mexico. But.
whatever the phase of conservation soon
to be under running discussion in the
Capitol, it Is pretty certain that Heyburn
and Weeks, et al., will be found in the
midst of the fray, some, of course, fight
ing for and some fdrnlnst. And with
euch men as Heyburn and La Follette
taking a lively interest "In the legislative
scuffles it is fairly certain to prophesy
that some hard and stinging blows will
be delivered one way and another.
Man of Picturesque Opinions.
Just as the Wisconsin Senator is one
of the most radical supporters of a broad
conservation policy, so the Idaho toga
wearer Is everywhere recognized as one
of the leading opponents of conservation
in its varied phases. Also, he is pretty
generally recognized as a man of most
decided opinions, a characteristic which
seems to have grown with his years,
which now number 57, and which began
back in Pennsylvania In Quaker-settled
Delaware County, the Senator's parents
having been of that faith, and, like most
Quaker parents, having seen to it that
their son had a good education before
going out Into the world on his own
hook. The Senator Is ,a large man phy
sically, notwithstanding the fact that his
height is not above the average. " His
face is rotund and florid, and he is a
faultless dresser. Altogether, it is not
Bn uncommon thing for visitors in the
Senate galleries to express surprise that
the Far-Western, and comparatively new
State of Idaho should be represented in
the Senate by a man of the social type
of Senator Heyburn.
Senator Heyburn, during his Congres
sional career has never hesitated tcrjand
a body-blow on the Forest Service when
opportunity offered. One of these at
tempts by him proved somewhat of a
boomerang. A few years ago, while
making a speech in the Senate against
the Forestry Bureau, he charged that the
Forest Service was packing various con
ventions In Western states with forest
rangers and charging the expenses of their
; trips to and from the conventions to the
' account of "hay and grain." This par
ticular item proved a source of consider
able sarcasm on the part of the Senator
and served to mystify the Forest Service
itself not a little.
After considerable Investigation the
mystery was finally explained, but the
Senator did not tell the explanation to
the Senate. It transpired that at the
various conventions in the West devoted
mainly to irrigation, reclamation, graz
ing and forestry, it had been the custom
of the convention, promoters to Invite
the various Governmental services to
have well-informed experts -in attend
ance to answer any questions that might
arise. In response to these invitations,
the Forest Service had been sending
rangers to the "grazing" conventions and
charging tho expenses up to "grazing "
under which sub-head appropriations had
been made by Congress. Some one of
Senator Heyburn s over-zealous friends
tumbled across this item aridin telling
It to the Senator had Interpreted it to
mean "hay and grain."
How Heyburn Astonished President.
On another occasion Senator Heyburn
went to the White House to see President
RoosSvelt for the purpose of protesting
against the inclusion of certain lands in
Idaho within the boundaries of a forest
reserve. During the course of the con
versation President Roosevelt sent for
Gifford Plnchot. then chief forester of the
Government, and, with a map of Idaho
before them, the three men set about to
settle the mooted question.
Senator Heyburn proved particularly
insistent during the argument that he
knew exactly what he was talking about,
while the President and Mr. Plnchot did
not.
"Why. I know this Bitter Root reserve
from beginning to end." said the Sena
tor. "I have been all over it. Why, see
here," he added, pointing triumphantly
at the map. "here are the Grassy Moun
, tains, eminently suited for grazing pur
$ IN r
poses and not at all suitable for fores
try." -
The President and Mr! Plnchot looked
with astonishment for the mountains
Senator Heyburn had discovered and
which they had never heard of before.
"You had better look again. Senator,"
finally broke in Mr. Pinchot. "As I
read the map it says 'Craggy Moun
tains.' '
Senator Heyburn, who had for the mo
ment . discarded his spectacles, was not
nonplussed for an instant. He complete
ly ignored the incident and went right on
with his argument as though nothing out
of the ordinary had happened.
It is fair to set down Senator Heyburn
as an extremist in those matters in
which he is most Interested. Quite re
cently, as the country doubtless still re
members, he went hot foot after Virginia
for daring to place In Statuary Hall, in
the National Capitol, a bust of General
Robert E. Lee, and a little later he op
posed a loan of Government tents- to a
Confederate veterans' reunion. When the
tariff bill was under consideration last
Summer he came out flatfootedly for the
very highest rates that could be Imposed
on every article in the bill. And about
that time, being deeply stlpred by the, at
titude of the presB of the country -to-'
wards the tariff bill ancLfcimself, he made
a speech to the Senate about the "Joke
smiths of the press gallery" who, he said,
were the guests of the Senate. He took
the position that the press had no more
right to express a discourteous opinion
Of the Senate or a Senator than it could,
with propriety, similarly discuss its host,
if a guest under a private roof. The- Sen
ator Indicated somewhat hotly that he
was in favor of throwing .the press gal
lery out of doors.
But probably the best illustration of
the Idaho man's extreme tendencies, was
furnished by him when he became a can
didate for re-election to" the Senate a
few years ago. Then he wrote a book
about himself 34 pages long, containing
hls-complete Congressional record. In it
he laid claim to a fondness for politics
and the law, and. after inserting 30 pages
of index, concluded the document by
saying:
"It would be impossible in this brief
statement to attempt to give an adequate
idea of what Mr. Heyburn has said in
discussing - the many questions above
enumerated. Those who ' desire full
copies of such of his speeches as have
been published in separate form will be
supplied on application."
Jsenator Carter His Way.
Senator Thomas H. Carter, of Mon
tana, who is the only member of -the Sen
ate boasting a goatee of respectable di
mensions, and who is further distin
guished as one of the two chairmen of
the Republican National Committee since
the war who have ever suffered defeat,
is regarded by the extreme friends .of
conservation as one of their shrewdest
opponents. Let there be a storm of any
kind in the Senate and Senator Carter,
who is only 55, but whose snow white
hair and goatee make him look at least
a decade older, can be depended upon
to arise in his seat and, with profound
indignation, or the greatest suavity, pro
ceed almost sanctimoniously to pour oil
on the troubled waters. He has, as a
constituency, not only one 'bf the great
est sheep-grazing sections of the country,
which frequently comes into conflict with
the Forestry Service, but some large
timber owners; and a story of how he
tried to work in his constituency's inter
ests on a group of Washington newspa
permen who were proceeding through
Montana in charge of forestry and re
clamation agents, with a view to "boost
ing" the work of those branches of the
Government, is told with great gusto by
the participants.
Arriving at Helena, in Montana, early
one Sunday morning, after a long, hard
ride over mountainous Western country,
the party found Senator Carter's private
secretary on the depot jjlatform. This
gentleman proceeded to upbraid the
crowd for sneaking into Helena without
letting anybody know about it.
"Senator Carter will be terribly dis
appointed." said the secretary, "for he
is preparing to leave Helena on the next
train, and would have been glad to have
remained over and entertained you had
he known you were coming. However,
I would, be glad to have you go to the
club with me to get washed up and par
take of refreshments."
Humbly enough, the party followed the
secretary to the club, each one of them
feeling - very badly at the great dis
appointment their unannounced arrival
would cause the Senator. But no sooner
were they cleaned up, than the secretary
rushed in, stating that he had found the
Senator, who had determined to remain
over a train and entertain them as best
he could on such short notice. So they
were invited to enter automobiles and
ride out a couple of miles to the Hotel
Broadwater for a swim. The secretary
said the Senator was awaiting them
there, and immediately the sympathy
which had hitherto been extended to the
Senator turned Into joy at the prospect
of seeing him after all.
Finally, after an hour's dip In the wa
ter, in the midst of which the Senator
had calmly suggested to his secretary
that he "rustle up some of the boys to
join us at lunch," the party was ushered
into a private dining-room. The table
was laden with flowers, and all kinds
of food. Within the room had been as
sembled practically all of the Federal
officials stationed at Helena, all of the
THE SUNDAY
iVlen !in 'Either 'House of Congress
Who Will Be' Prominent' in the Debates
Over This Important Legislation
k.
r
leading sheep and cattle owners and
timber men, and a goodly number of
other personal friends of the Senator.
The party thereupon sat down and ate
a meal composed of nine courses, which
was perfect in every appointment.
"The Senator certainly had us "buffa
loed, until it came to that meal," said
one of the participants recently. "It
was then, however, that he overplayed
his hand. There was not a man in the
party who was not willing to make a bet
that there was not a hotel in Washington
itself which could have prepared a meal
like that without at least a week's no
tice." i
Montana's Offset for CartcJ.
Ever since he went to Montana to live,
in 18S2, Senator Carter has been a big
man there, politically, and from the
time that the territory was admitted to
statehood he has been a rather steady
figure in National politics and National
events; territorial Delegate, Montana's
first Congressman, twice a Senator, Com
missioner of the General Land Office,
delegate to Republican National conven
tions. Republican National committee
HARRIMAN OFFICIALS ASSERT LARGEST ENGINES IN
WORLD RUN ON THEIR LINES.
(;r';-::;
O. Tt.
W. LOCOMOTI1G, SAID TO
j i
r "
FOR GREAT NORTHERN.
Assertions made by the -Great Northern Railway Company that en
gine No. 2000, built in the Twin City shops, and described in The Ore
gonian recently, is the biggest in the world, are disputed by O. R. & N. ,
officers. It is asserted by them that there are four engines in opera
tion on the O. R. & N. lines in Oregon that outfigure the Great North
ern. The specifications of the Great Northern' engine are given as 92
feet from pilot to rear end of tender; weight of engine and tender
468,000 pounds; driving wheels, seven pairs of 55-lnch wheels. l"he
specifications given for the O. R. & N. 450 class engine is a length of
94 feet Hi Inches; weight, 596.000 pounds; driving wheels, eight pairs
of 57-inch wheels. Both engines are of the Mallet type and it was
one of these big locomotives that Engineer Gettings was driving when
he ran into the rear end of another freight train at Gibbon February
1. The Southern sffic has the same size and type of engine in the
freight service on the Ogden route.
OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND.
chairman and president of the board of
Commissioners of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition. ,
Montana's other Senatorial representa
tive, Joseph M. Dixon, is chairman of
the Senate committee on conservation,
and he as ardently upholds the Plnchot
ideas of conservation as his colleagues
opposes them. Mr. Dixon admits openly
that he should be numbered among the
men and women who have been made
conservationists by the Government's
late Chief Forester.
"In a general way," he told me, "the
conservation propaganda first promul
gated by Mr. Plnchot brought the mat
ter forcibly to my attention. In the ear
lier stages I read some of his articles
with only passing interest. Specifically,
my attention was called by a little inci
dent of everyday life. Some years ago,
in the town in Western Montana where
I live. I had occasion to purchase a
very small quantity of oak lumber for
use in a house I was building. I think
it was for thresholds for some doorways.
When I got the bill I was astonished at
the price charged by the local dealer,
and called his attention to what I sup
posed was a mere clerical error. He had
BE! LAKKEB THAN THAT B17IE.T
MARCH 13, 1910.
if-
V
j1
charged me at the rate of $100 per thou
sand feet. y.
"To my great' surprise, he informed me
that the charge was not only correct,
but that he had charged me only actual
cost. He said, 'Oak lumber is hard to
get at any figure; the supply is' almost
exhausted.' I remember that only a few
years before, in my boyhood days in
North Carolina, I had seen splendid big
oak trees burned for firewood and split
Into rails for fencing, and in clearing
'new ground' rolled in heaps and- burned
to get the logs out of the way of the
plow. But my youthful recollections
didn't change his argument on the price
charged. I ' investigated farther and
found his statements were true."
In downright' slirewdness and political
sagacity. Senator Dixon is- a, typical
product of the Western States. There is
nothing "flossy" about him. . He makes
little noise, and never starts anything
he cannot finish. ,
In the last session of Congress he
was one of-' those Republicans who
joined hands in the filibuster against
the practice of the Senate of consid
ering the appropriation bills in com
mittee almost exclusively. At that
time the appropriation committees were
In the hands of the "elder statesmen,"
and the younger Senators, who, never
theless, had to vote for these bills In
order to pass them, were practically
compelled to lend their acquiesence
without knowing what they were vot
ing for.
It fell to Senator Dixon's lot to quiz
the members of the Senate committee
on naval affairs about the provisions
of their appropriation bilL He did not
lay claim to knowing much about the
navy, so he made the members of the
committee make his speech for him. He
would merely seize upon an item in
the appropriation bill and ask what It
was' for. When he got an answer he
would Inquire into the ramifications of
his newly acquired piece of informa
tion with such minuteness that the
members of tle committee were kept
on their feet most of the day, while
Mr. Dixon kept the machine going by
interposing a question now and then.
It was one of the best pieces of
""hazing" ever perpetrated on the "old
guard" and by a "youngster" In the
early forties at that.
In the last national campaign. Sen
ator Dixon was made chairman of the
speakers bureau of the western divi
sion of the Republican National Com
mittee, with headquarters in Chicago.
It was generally conceded that the fate
of the Republican national ticket lay
In the middle and far West, where
William J. Bryan was making his prin
cipal fight, and where Mr. Taft was
comparatively unknown, except as a
political protege of Theodore Roosevelt.
Senator Dixon began operations by
pulling off his coat and sticking pegs
all over a map of the Western United
States, where he knew the most dan
gerous political situation lay. Into
these sections he subsequently sent
President Taft. Governor Hughes, of
New -York, and Senator Beveridge, of
Indiana, to preach the faith of Repub
licanism, and he followed them up with.
4
n
a host of rapid-fire speakers. who
brought in the votes.
Wyoming's sole member of the
House, Frank W. Mondell, by reason
of tho fact that he is chairman of the
House Committee on Public Lands, is
another Westerner who wlH figure
prominently in the conservation free-for-all.
Incidentally, Mr. Mondell Is to
be numbered among the orphans who
have made good, despite their great
handicap of having been early bereft
of parents. Hawas left alone in the
world before he had reached his sixth
year, and thereafter, until he was 18
he divided his time and energies be
tween farm work and convenient dis
trict schools. Then be took to wander
ing up and down the West, finally
locating in Wyoming in the late 80s.
And the first thing he did after light
ing was to help build the . town of
Newcastle; the next year he became its
mayor, and since then he has been one
of his state's "favorite sons."
Mr. Mondell Is the type of man who
would be listened to with close atten
tion in almost any assembly. Notwith-'
standing the fact that he is one of the
smallest men in the House, he has a
voice which penetrates the uttermost
recesses of the House without any ap
parent effort on the part of Its owner.
Added thereto a choice vocabulary and
the art of logic, Mr. Mondell stands
high in the ranks of forceful speakers
in the House. He rarely uses gestures,
but depends upon the modulations of
his voice for oratorical effect. His
physical attitude in speaking, and his
physical size are not dissimilar to that
of Representative John Dalzell, of
Pennsylvania.
Mr. Mondell Is a fearless 'fighter, and
he sticks to his opinion with tenacity,
especially on conservation subjects,
concerning which he is one of the
frankest men in Congress. He has been
set down as one of the most ardent
opponents of the policy, but on the
other hand he points with considerable
pride to the fact that when he was as
sistant public land commissioner of the
Government.- he had maps drawn for
several existing forest reserves. Re
cently, when President Taft wanted
Mr. Mondell to introduce the adminis
tration's conservation bills in the House
the Wyoming representative announced
that he would Introduce two of them,
of which he approved, but would not
stands sponsor for seven others, the
Intent of which did not command his
sympathy.
Mr. Mondell is a politician of more
than ordinary ability. Before he made
politics his main hobby, he was engaged
in the coal business in all of, Its various
phases from the mine to the con
sumer. He is 49.
A Voice From a Desert.
Representative Sylvester C. Smith, of
California, whose high cheek bones,
florid complexion and sandy colored
hair strongly suggest kilts and bag
pipes, though their owner never makes
mention of a probable Scotch ancestry,
is sure to be prominent in the conser
vation talk, as lie has been In all simi
lar discussions in the past. --If one
were to try to find out what Mr. Smith
hates most, he would have a hard
time deciding between the alleged
vagaries of the forestry service and the
indiscriminate immigration of the
Japanese which obtained until the Jap
anese government began keeping their
laborers at home something over a year
ago. Mr. Smith has been one of the
most outspoken of the CaiKornia Na
tional legislators on this latter sub
ject. Mr. Smith is a Callfornian by way of
an Iowa farm, and his first work in his
new home was farming and school teach
ing combined. Then he became a lawyer
and finally a newspaper editor. He still
owns the leading newspaper of his home
city. Bakersville, and has made a great
success of it. notwithstanding the fact
many inhabitants of his district are coy
otes on the Great Mojave Desert.
It la now 20 years since he started the
Bakersfield Echo, which played a promi
nent part in the newspaper field during
a famous fight among irrigatlonists over
their respective riparian rights. This
was long before conservation as a Na
tional policy was ever thought of. The
question involved concerned the. rights
of landowners both up and down stream
to the ulse of water from a river for
irrigation purposes. The fight was so
hot that, in one campaign, the contest
ants sought to pledge candidates for the
Supreme Court of the state in advance,
to render a decision one one side or the
other. On this occasion, the Echo, which
reflected the sentiments of Mr. Smith,
took a position which was subsequently
sustained by the courts, by which all
the users of water got their Just share.
Recently, Mr. Smith had his paper pro
pound the question: "What Is Conserva
tion?" He now is sitting up nights
frantically trying to catalogue the various
answers.
Dyed in. the Wool Plncholst.
One of the most noted advocates of the
policy of conservation during the Roose
velt and Taft administrations has been
Senator Albert J. Beveridge of Indiana.
In and out of season he has defended
every phase of conservation, not only
on the floor of the Senate but also In his
public Speeches throughout the country.
It is no secret to say' that the Senator
began making "heavy" speeches on this i
subject before be bad mastered the tech- 1
. ' - ?
f
nlcalities of the various phases of con
servation. When he had a speech to !
liver on conservation in the early days
of his championship he would get hold of
some expert on. the subject, find out what
he wanted to know and then "rump" s
speech Into his audience. By this
method the Senator added to his sum to
tal of knowledge gradually and became
one of the best informed conservationists
in Congress. I
Representative John W. Weeks, of
Massachusetts, who Is the author of the
only bill for an Appalachian forest re
serve which has yet commanded, with
any degree of unanimity, the support of
Eastern members of the House from
Maine to Florida, and so is interested
deeply In conservation from the Eastern
viewpoint, is one of the big men of the
House, both physically and mentally. He
is a six-footer in height, built In propor
tion, and Is regarded as one of the 16
inch guns on the Republican side in a
debate.
He has an all-around penchant for leg
islation. He is a banker and a broker,
and an all-around business man. with a
liking for naval affairs as a side issue.
When the emergency currency bill was
before the Hofse, and that body had some
reason to suspect that Wall street had
had its finger In the framing of the Sen
ate side of the so-called Aldrich-Vree-land
bill, Mr. Weeks was one of those
chosen t6 see to it that the wishes of
the House were carried out. Just because
he was a first-class business man. Speak
er Cannon put Mr. Weeks on the com
mittee on agriculture in the last Con
gress, for the purpose of straightening
out the Appalachian forest reserve bill
on a business basis. In this session of
Congress. Speaker Cannon made Mr.
Weeks chairman of the House committee
on Postoffices. The Postoffice Depart
ment is the one big commercial business
of the Government, and it is showing
such an enormous deficit each year that
a lack of business principles in Its opera
tion is openly charged by many persons.
If Mr. Weeks can unravel this situation
successfully, he will leave a lasting mon
ument to his efficiency as a business
member of the House.
Originally, Mr .Weeks intended to en
ter the United States Navy. He is a
graduate of the Naval Academy at Ann
apolis, and is commander of the naval
militia of the State of Massachusetts,
with whioh he served as a Lieutenant in
the volunteer navy during the Spanish
American War, commanding the second
division of the auxiliary navy.
"Boy" Conservationist.
South of Mason and Dixon's line oa
of the recognized champions of con
servation is a young South Carolina
Representative, Asbury K. Lever. Mr.
Lever was exceedingly prominent when
the Appalachian forest reserve bill wu
up for consideration in the last Con
gress. He admits that he received hi
inspiration as a conservationist by ob
serving the relations of nature and
commerce in his own home state.
"In my district." said Mr. Lever, "is)
located one of the largest cotton mills
of .the world. These mills give em
ployment to several thousand men, and.
in fact, the 'mill town' consists of
about 10,000 souls. The mills are run
by electricity developed from water
power from the Broad River, on whose
banks, 20 miles above the Columbia,
I was born.
"I can- well remember as a small boy
asking my father why It was that in
the Summer and Fall of each year
certain large rocks in the riverbed rose
above the top of the water, while
during- the Winter and Spring months
they could never be seen.
" That is low water, my boy, ha
would reply. 'When those rocks coma
In view it means there is not nuch
water in the river.'
"As I. grew older." continued Mr.
Lever, "I saw for myself that these
rocks were beginning to show higher
and higher out of the water each year
and that they sometimes remained in
view even in Winter months. On the
other hand, we would have floods at
times which would bury them out of
sight and I began to inquire the rea
son why. I soon found that at the
headwate rs of the river In the moun
tains the country was being defor
estrated, and the explanation was easy.
Without trees there was nothing to
hold back the water of the wet months
for the dry months to come. I be
came a friend of forvstration at once,
for I realized the commercial im
portance of waterpower to my state.
That started me on conservation and
I have been deeply interested In for
estry and kindred subjects ever since."
Mr. Lever is 35. and doesn't look It
by several years. And, like not a few
of the other men who will be promi
nent in the various conservation de
bates, he was born and brought up on
a farm. He began bis public career
as private secretary, to the mau he
succeeeded four Congresses ago.
(Copyright. 1910. by H. J. Edwards.)
A New Jenny LInd Discovered.
' Baltimore News.
An Impresario in quest of vocal pearls
has just found one in a cotton-spinner
of Lancashire, England. Her name
is Annit Beshell. She has an aston
ishing soprano voice, and gives promise
of having- the success of Sontag, Patti,
Tetrazzini, or even Jenny "Lind. She
is said to have "surprising Instinct for
dramatic talent," and her education has
already begun.
ft -