San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-12-16
WASHINGTON GOSSIP.
FRESH BUDGET OF CONGRESSIONAL
GOSSIP.
Work Will Immediately Begin on the New
Tariff Bill so as to Have it Ready
For the Next Congress.

Republicans have every reason TO be
gratified at the outcome of the consul
tation of senator's and representatives
of the party, which has been a fea-
ture of the first week of Congress.
With the exception of the few silver
boilers, 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 of Congress,
but the mischievous silver element in
the Senate, led by Allen, the Nebraska
Populist, have 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 mistaken
idea that the Republicans were afraid
of the Dingley bill and that they
could so demonstrate to the country;
they may find themselves prepared to
go on record as the opponents of in
creasing the revenues of the govern
ment before the short session closes,
by being forced to vote on the Ding
ley 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
Uses made to the people, by deciding
to begin at once the preparation 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 govern
ment charged with the administra-
ton Of the tariff law, should President
Mckinley see fit to make him his Sec
reary Of the Treasury,as many believe
he will. There are probably not 20
men in the country who are so well
posted on the tariff as Mr.. Dingley is,
and this 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
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 of the present
committee has been re elected to the
next House and will be certain to re-
tain their committee places because
Speaker Reed will be chosen speaker
of the next House without opposition.
The ways and means committee has
already held a formal melting and as
signed the work Of preparing the diff
ferent schedules of the new tariff bill
to the individual members Of the COM
mittee best fitted to hadle them, and
hearings of the representatives Of the
different industries 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 manufacture
ers and working men. This will be
done by providing that dutiable goods
in bonded warehouses at the date up
on 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 forbid
ding the landing of any immigrant
between the ages of IS and 60 years
who is unable to read five lines of the
u. s. constitution and in some printed
language, by postponing it's considera-
ton until January. But the decisive
manner in which these senators, work
ing in the interest Of steamship COM
panies rather than to raise the stand
ard of our foreign born citizens, were
sat upon by thirty-seven senators in
dicates almost to certainty that the
bill will be passed before the holiday
recess.
The House during its first week
passed the regular pension appropria-
ton bill, several important postal bills
n number of miscellaneous measures
and private pension bills, and bill
prohibiting the sale of liquor in the
Capitol building, and this week anoth-
er one of the appropriation bills will
be reported and probably passed. 1t
is strictly a business body, as has been
every House preside over by Speaker
Reed.
Senator Sherman, chairman Of the
Republican senatorial caucus, lost no
time in complying with the unanimous
instructions of the caucus to appoint
n committee of five to devise legisla-
tion in the interests of international
bimetallism. and, although he is often
accused of being unfriendly to silver,
every man on the committee is a BIZ
metallist. They are Senators Wolcott
Hear Chandler Carter and Gear