Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1896-12-18
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
A Newsy EpitOme From the Seat
of Government.
Probable Fate of the Dingley Bill and the
Passage of a New Immigra-
tion Law - Pension APP
tions-Notes.

hepuDlcdnS nave every reason 10
feel gratified at the outcome of the
consultation of Senators and Re
presentatives of the party, which
have been a feature of the first week
of Congress. With the exception of
the few silverbolters, the party and
both branches of Congress is INIT
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 of Congress, but the
mischievous silver element in the
Senate, led by Allen, the Nebraska
Populist, has already been taught
that the Republican 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 mis-
taken idea that the Republican S
were afraid of the Dingley bill and
that they could so demonstrate to
the country they may find them
selves prepared to go on record as
the opponents of increasing the re-
venues of the government before
the short session 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 it's responsibilities and al
ways keeps promises made to the
people, by deciding to begin at once
the prepara tion of a protective tariff
bill, to be passed at the extra session
of the next Congress. No man in
Congress is better fitted to preside
over those preparations than is
Chairman Dingley of that Com
mittee, and no man is better fitted
to direct the department of the
Government charged with the ad-
ministration 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 well posted on
the tariff as Mr.. Dingley is, and this
is especially fortunate both for the
country and for the Republican
party, as it is the intention to make
the new tariff bill the best we have
ever had no catering to favorite in
dustries, as the present law does,
but equitable protection for all, and
at 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 prepare bill for the next
House, but it happens to be all right
in this case, as every Repu blican
member of the present committee
has been reelected to the next
House and will be certain to retain
their committee places because
Speaker Reed will be chosen Speaker
of the next House without Republi
can opposition.
The Ways and Means Committee
has already held a formal meeting
and assigned the work of preparing
the different schedules of the new
tariff bill to the individual members
of the Committee best fitted tc
handle them, and hearings of the
Representatives of different in
dustries will at once be arranged
for. One of the mistakes of the
past which will be avoided by the
new bill will be the heavy importa-
tions of foreign goods and the conse
quent injury of our own manu-.
facturers and working men. This
will be done by providing that duti,
able goods in bonded houses
at the date upon which the new bill
becomes a law shall pay duty under
the new and not the old law.
No one was greatly surprised
when certain Democratic Senators =
sixteen of them tried to kill the
bill forbidding the landing of any
immigrants between the ages of II
and so years who is unable to reat
five lines of the United States Con.
stitution in some printed language
by postponing its consideration un-
til January. But the decisive man
ner in which these Senators, work
ing in the interest of STEAMSHIP
Companies rather than to raise the
standard of our foreign born citi
zens, were sat upon by thirty-sever
Senators indicates almost to a Ger
tainty that the bill will be passed be
fore the holiday recess.
The House during its first weel
passed the regular Pension Appro
.,,.io ton hill cavara1 ir,r,or.fo,,