The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-03-15
1T IS AWFULLY IN THE WAY
And They Wish They Had Never
Heard of Reciprocity.
THE WAY THE TWO ARE MIXED,
Democratic Members of the Finance
Committee Are in a Dreadful
Predicament.

WASHINGTON. March 14.-When shall
the tariff bill be reported? Two Senators.
Aldrich and Allison. speaking for the Re-
publicans Of the Finance Committee, have
no wish to retain the bill in the committee
for an unreasonable time. They recognize
the fact that there will not be much profit
in discussing the details over the CON-
mittee table. and they are willing that the
bill shall go to the Senate next week.
They wish. however. a distinct under
standing as to the time when the debate in
the Senate shall begin, and they wish
sufficient time to elapse betw cen the
reporting OF the bill and the beginning of
the debate for the Republican Senators to
finish the preparation of their speeches
and to become familiar with the details of
the bill.
As finally presented to the committee, in
case the bill is reported next week, as now
seems probable. the Democrats wish the
debate TO begin on the following Monday.
March &c. while the Republicans do not
wish to begin the debate until week
later, April 2. II is the difference of opin-
ion as to the date for the beginning of the
debate which has thus far prevented an
agreement as to the time for the bill to be
reported to the Senate.
Chairman Voorhees, is authority for the
statement that while it is proposed to re-
peal tie autl Ority to negotiate ''recipro-
city treaties" which are provided for in
the Mckinley law, it Is not proposed to
Interfere in any manner with reciprocity
treaties already ratified.
This definition of the sugar schedule in
the tariff bill in its present form is sur
prising to the representatives of the sugar
producers, who have assumed, as a matter
of course, that the bill would carry the
repeal Of all reciprocity treaties. which
the Chicago platform denounced as
sham. Now the anomaly W i'll be presented
of the admission of beet sugar from Ger
many free of duty as at present in return
for the removal of the embargo on Ameri-
can pork by the German Empire, and the
reduction of the duties upon various agri-
cultural products.
The reciprocity treaty with Spain under
this Interpretation will also be allowed to
stan d. The repeal of the reciprocity
clause of the Mckinley act will. it is now
stated. merely prevent the President from
negotiating any further treaties of this
character.
The president of the National Beet-sugar
Growers Association states that the right
of Congress to repeal the sugar bounty
will be submitted to the decision of the
Supreme Court. The beet-sugar refiners
of The Northwest have made contracts with
the beet-sugar growers Of that section for
the crops of '94 and '95 at figures based on
the bounty clause of the Mckinley law.
They will make a test case by refusing to
carry out their contract with some one
sugar-beet grower and will then carry the
case up through the successive courts to
the Supreme Court
As Associate Justice White was, accord
ing to report made before the Senate by
Secretary Carlisle yesterday, a heavy
beneficiary of the bounty clause last year,
IL is assumed that White will not sit on the
bench when this case comes before the
Supreme Court.