The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-04-17
A Weak Committee.

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The country is coming to the conclusion,
if it has not already reached it, that the
ways and means committee doesn't know
its own mind. The chairman of the COM
mittee, Mr.. Mckinley, was supposed very
generally to know all about the needs of the
country in so far as the tariff is concerned,
and it was, therefore, expected that tariff
bill would be reported very soon after the
holidays 1t has been announced several
times within the last month that the bill
was ready to be reported, and on one occa-
sion a synopsis of it was furnished to the
press, but something always occurred to
prevent the putting Of the finishing touches
to it.
Yesterday, just before it was to be re-
ported to the House. it was announced that
hides had been put Oh the free list again and
that sugar also hal been put on the free
llst-that is, sugar Of the grade that is pro-
duced by the sugar-gro wers of this country.
IL seems that the committee could not
stand the pressure in behalf of free hides.
In making hides dutiable in the first in
stance it acted upon the idea that the cattle
mon of the west and the farmers of the
whole country, would be pleased, but it had
not then heard from the shoe manufact-
urers. When the announcement was made
that the tariff bill provided for a
duty on hides strong committees,
representing the shoe manufacturing
Industry, went to Washington, and
their influence was so great and their argu-
ments SO strong that tho committee re-
scinded its action. Then the great beef
packing companies and the cattleinen asked
for hearing, and they convinced the COM
mittee that hides ought to be made dutia-
BILE. Hides were again placed on tho dutia-
BILE list and there the committee announced,
with great determination, they should stay.
Mr.. Mckinley appeared in an interview de-
Tending the committees action, and talked
about protection being system, and all that
sort of thing
But why did the committee at the last
moment again change its mind and restore
hides to the free list. Did it hear from the
farmers of the west and other sections of the
country that they would much rather have
cheap shoes than dear hides? Did it finally
discover that shoes are almost as necessary
as bread, and that legislation should tend to
make shoes cheaper instead of dearer!
Did it hear from the managers
of the great shoe factories that
are scattered over half a dozen or
more states, that a duty on hides would shut
American shoes out of every foreign mar
ket, and that many of the shoe factories
would have to close their doorsl 1t must
have heard some such things as these. or it
not Hax l,la Al, l.
III order to put hides back on the free list.
Does not this vacillating course with re-
spect to hides indicate that the committee
is rather weak ones
But why was it decided at the last hour
to put sugar on the fres lstl Did the COM
mttee find out from the treasury experts
after its bill was completed that the
changes that it made in the tariff would
not reduce the revenue, and that TO make
reduction worth mentioning a clean sweep
of the duties on low grade sugars would be
necessarys 1t certainly looks so.
But will the sugar growers be satisfied
with bounty They certainly will not,
for the reason that the payment Of bounties
will meet with the opposition of the growers
OF wheat, corn, cotton and other farm
products. This opposition will become so
great that the bounty system will have to
be abolished altogether or bounties will
have to be paid to the growers of other
products. The Kansas corn farmer now
finds it difficult to make a living, and he
will argue that he is as much entitled to
government aid as the sugar planter.
1t looks very much as if the ways and
means committee had virtually confessed
itself unequal to the task of framing a salts
factory tariff bill. The bill it has framed is
not one that will command the support of
its own party, and in its present shape
stands very littla chance Of getting through
the House.