Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1882-12-29

were present in the buse to-day, and, as
several members ob.aied lesve to absent
themselves until ihethird of January,
there is no longer auTioubt that congress
will not transact any usiness before that
date. The formalir of meeting on
Wednesday next vii be gone through
with merely 10 keep ithia the constitu-
tional requirement lat one branch of
congress shall not aiourn for greater
period than three das without the con-
sent of the other. dr. Page, SpeskeS
Keifer's substitute, wi adjourn the house
from Jay to day, CT " three days, so as
10 cover the whole tim proposed fer re-
cess in the resolution hat was rejected by
the senate. The coEnittee of ways and
means has dropped i, work temporarily,
but the members hsvepromised 10 return
next week, SO that meetings OF the COM
mittee may be ieli on Wednesday,
Thursday, and FRAY, because the COM
mittee find that oily By the exercise of
great diligence can!hey hope to have the
general tariff bill eady before the latter
part OF Januar-. his is result of the
attempt of the maj j1ity TO go through the
whole of the tariff commission bill and
raise the rates recommended to protect
i've standard high aou2h TO satisfy the
clamor of the manufacturers.
THE ACTUAL rR1EF REFoRMERs
on that committee sem to have become
more Gissus:ed the urthe7 the committee
proceeds, and they have about ma ie rp
their minds thaLths only possible chance
10 secure any imprtant reforms in the
tariff rates is to fiat it out with the pro-
tec,ionists on the for of the house. This
81 ia-,t- u, H.
port TO the house. Tine bill has so much
debatable matter thu it will be almost i'm
possible to pass anyplan for general re.
vision ofthe tariff il time for the senate
to act upon it befor' the close of the term
of the forly-seventl congress. The best
that the minority ca do is to ma ke a de-
termined SIGHT in thI house with view to
placing tue county in possession OF the
facts and were The responsibility for
failure to revise ths tariff properly be-
taken to revise the evision except as TO
ion had been PROMPTLY reported TO the
house for consideration, there might have
been time 10 get thrmgh with the whole
work. But only abolt
FIFTY woRKINt DAYS REMAIN,
and in that time tue speech-produoing
question Of ciyil-ser'ice reform must be
of. And al of the most debat-
able appropriation bills are yet to be con.
sidered and passed by the senate. The
house has disposed of nearly half OF the
thirteen general appropriation BILLS, but
those rot yet reported are the ones that
take the most time to act on. For
some reason the naval bill is to be held
back this session, az it was last session,
and there is a gene1 Al suspicion that some
features betraying tie taint of Robeson's
touch will again be thrust into the bill.
This would lead to long struggle over it.
The senate has talked two weeks over
civil service, going over and over the
same ground. The same sort Of debate
will soon consume hours and PERHAPS DAYS
of time in the house, 10 the prejudice of
the important question of tariff revision,
unless the committee of ways and means
should show itself more in earnest in the
cause of tariff reform than anything it
has yet done would lead one to suspect.
The senate has four appropriation bills to
dispose of, and is very far behind the
house in its work 1t viii require extra
ordinary diligence ON its part to get
through with the bills on hand and others
that are rapidly accommodating to leave
that body sufficient time to debate the
tariff bill. Looking over the whole field
OF tariff legislation. the friends of tariff
reform do not re0Ara- the -prospect Tor
decisive action Oh tnat question encour-
aging.