Middletown transcript., 1896-12-19
Washington
Letter

s@0NS feature Of the
first week of Congress. With the ex-
ception of the few silverbolters the
party and both branches of Congress is
a unit as to what is to be done in the
near future. Without a majority in
the Senate the party is powerless to
force tariff or any other legislation at
this session or Congress, but the mis-
chievous silver element in the Senate,
led by Allen, the Nebraska Populist,
have already been taught that the Re-
publican Senators do not intend to lose
any opportunities to pass the Dingley
bill at the present session. These
would-be mischief-makers started out
with the mistaken idea that the Re-
publicans were afraid of the Dingley
bill and that they could so demonstrate
to the country; they may find themsel-
YES prepared to 60 on record as op-
ponents of increasing the revenues of
the government before the short ses-
sion closes, by being forced to vote on
the Dingley bill.
The Republican members of the
House committee on Ways and Means
have once more demonstrated that the
Republican party never shirks its re-
sponsibilities and always keeps prom
ises made to the people, by deciding to
begin at once the preparation Of pro-
tective tariff bill, to be passed at the
extra session of the next Congress. No
man in Congress is better fitted to pre-
side over those preparations than is
Chairman Dingley of that Committee,
and no man is better fitted to direct
the ldepartmentment Of Government
charged with the administration of the
tariff law, should President Mckinley
see fit to make him his Secretary of the
Treasury, as many believe he will.
There are probably not twenty men in
the country who are SO we'll posted on
the tariff as Mr.. Dingley is, and this
is especially fortunate both for the
Republican party, as it is the intention
to make the new tariff bill the best we
have ever had no catering in favorite
ind ustries, as the present law does, but |
equitable protection for all, and the |
same time revenue enough to meet the |
needs of the government. 1t is in a
sense an innovation for the Ways and
Means Committee of one House to pre-
pare bill for the next House, but it |
happens to be all right in this case, as
every Republican member of the pre-
sent committee has been reelected to
The next House without Republican,
opposition.
The Ways and Means Committee
has already held formal meeting and
the work of preparing the
different schedules of the new tariff
bill to the individual members of the
Committee best fitted to handle them,
md hearings of the Representatives of
different industries will at once be ar
'anged for. One of the mistakes of
he past which will be avoided by the
lew bill will be the heavy importations
# foreign goods and the consequent
injury of our own manufacturers and
working men, This will be done by /
'roviding that dutiable goods in bonded
at the date upon which the
lew bill becomes a law shall pay duty !
lnder the new and not the old law.
No one was greatly surprised when
ertain Democratic Senators--sixteen of
hem. tried to kill the bill fci eiadin,
he landing Of any migrant '~ wrtni
be ages of 16 and 60 years wl.o Is M
bic to read Eve lines of the u. $. Con-
titutIon in some printed lang i,g', b.
its consideration u;.tii jan
AIRY. But the decisive mpn..-.f in
7hich these Senators, working i, the
interest Of Steamship Companies raiber
han to raise the standard of onf for
ign born citizens, were sat ap,n by
hirty-seven Senators indicates al most
. a certainty that the bill will be pas
ed before the holiday recess.
The House during its fiTst week pas
I'd the regular Pension Appropriation
Ill, several important pos 81 bills 2 :
lumber Of miscellaneous measures and {
rivats pension bills. and : bill prohi-