Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-10
ALL AT SEA AGAIN
Tariff COnferees Seem as Far Apart
as Ever.
JUGGLING WITH COAL AND SUGAR
A Supposed Plan to Kill the Pend
ing b easure.
YESTERDAYS SURPRISE F

N aneuvertng Of the past two or three days
has been largely manipulated for the pur-
pose OF accomplishing this, and at the same
time of shifting responsibility.
The propositions as agreed upon yester-
day originated with the Senate, and were
formally accepted by the House conferees
at the morning session, and the conference
adjourned with nothing before them as fan
as appeared from the formal action taken
except the adjustment of schedules over
which there was no controversy and the
Clerical work of getting the matter In shape
for a report. The sugar schedule having
been fixed up several days ago, the coal and
iron ore were the pending questions when
the conference first met. The proposition
TO put coal on the free list and to leave iron
ore on the dUtidble list was made day be-
fore yesterday by one of the Senate con-
ferees. who announced authOritatively that
the proposition came in a formal manner
rom Messrs- German and Smith. The
House cOnfereeS took the matter under ad-
yisement at once, and. two of their number
DelnS disposed to prefer free iron ore TO
free coal, that suggestion was made to the
Senate conferees. and the matter was al
lowed to 90 over until yesterd@y. Yester-
day IL was fully decided hat the original
proposition made in Srnalf of Mr.. German
would be accepted by the House cOnferees.
This was made known to the Senators, and
the proposition was formally passed upon
and approved.
Prior 10 this the sugar schedule had been
Informally agreed to, and the other sched-
uleS in the bill. except the metal schedule,
concerning which IL was understood that
the Senate should have its own way. MAX
ing only those changes which IL was willing
should be made. had been gone over care
fully. the House yielding all points
Where 1t was COnteEdel by the Sena tors
that there could be no change without en-
dangerins the bill On this basis-that is.
the senate practically debating the terms
of settlement, these schedules We're made
up IN q manner understood to be acceptable
10 both sides. and to require no further re-
vision In this SituatiCs, with nothing left
In actual controversy, the morning session
or the conference closed with the aCknOwl-
edged understanding on both sides that the
work before the conference thereafter was
merely 70 get the matter in shape for re-
port TO the two houses
Again Wide Apart.
When the conferees reassembIed late in
the afte-nOon.it was supposed to be for mere
ly formal work. and there was feeling of re-
lief on the part of the House confereas that
the matter was settled and practically out
of the way. To their utter astonishment
the Senate conferees began the session by
practically Withdrawing the free coal p-opO-
sitiOn, which had been agreed TO in the
morning, and submitting in its place the
81 gSestion that they would give free sugar
instead of free coal il the House cUnferees
would permit the rest of the bill as II pass
Ell the Senate. In response to the sugges-
tiOn that this action would probably make
II impossible for the bill to pass the Senate,
it was said that that matter could take care
of itself So the matter stands now, unless
the Senate conferees make another shift in
this way, that the Senate cOnferees Will
agree 10 one OF two things, either to take
the bill exactly as il is, or change il only in
those respects which. according 10 their
own statements and statements of the Sena-
tors on the floor, Will unquestionably pre-
vent its adoption in the Senate.
In other words. the proposition coming
from Mr.. German for free coal appears in
the light of a blum, and IL appears that
Wnen IL was made, II was not believed that
the House COnfereeS would accept il. The
Idea vas. IL Is thought. that the President
would not accept either free coal or free
iron with the undsrs landing that the other
should be dutiable. and that the House
confereeS would reflect the Presidents de-
termination upon this point. If they had
rejected free coal. as it was evidently an
ttcipated they would, IT could have been
said that Mr.. German offered to sacrifice
his own personal interests I'm order TO get
the bill through. and that the House con-
feTees were still stubborn and there was no
further use in trying TO come to an agree
ment. The House people, however, did the
unexpected thing, accepted the PROPOSE
tion. thus. according TO their view. dsClos-
ing that il was not intended by those max
ing it that it should stand.
The Sugar Duties.
There is an interesting story behind all
this turning on the adjustment of the sugar
schedule. When that schedule was original
IL under discussion in the Senate, it was re-
peateily asserted that the one-eighth DIFF
ferentiaI duty on refined SUGAR was neces-
sary and must be retained in order to give
the sugar trust any protection whatever.
II was declared, again and again, that they
got no benefit of any kind ont OF the al
valOrem. 4 his was suspected by the anu.
trust people to he a misrepresentation OF
the aSe They believed that the difference
in value OF the refined and the raw sugar
made a fat ad valOrem rate sufficient 10
cover the difference to the trust OF the cost
of refining. After the matter had been
fought over in the last conference for somt
time the House conferees, still believing
that there was concealed beneIt IN the al
valJ-em for the trust. proposed that in or
der TO make sure that this was not true, il
be made Impossible for the trust TO get any
secret advantage, by providing that the ad
valorem should be on raw values only. ana
that the trust should be given the one
eighth they asked for as dttterentlai duty.
Those who advocated this proposition
thought there was no excuse for the trust
u reject il II they wee perfectly honest in
their presentation Of tbs case, as II save
them all they said they were seeking.
They could not. IL was thought. reject II
without acknowledging that they had been
attempting TO practice a deception. After a
good many talks over the mattel II was
finally acknowledged ON behalf OF the trust
thar they did get slight benefit out of the
al valorem. which this new proposition
would deprive themsOf, and the Senate con-
feraas made a counter proposition 70 the
House Increasing the difer-lJ!ai from one
eighth To lu--iitth. The House conterees
finally accepted this as Senate proposition,
p-F .,-r-rf- figuring on the schedule claim
that the trus. loses by II about twenty
hvuGr.itls or about half of the protection
tLrr -nf iu the original Senate schedule IL
has E... believed End the development Of
-s-.-r.r...- t.r.-s ta confirm the belief. that
The TRUST was forced lp aucept this c0mpr0-