The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-06-07
THEY HUSTLE.
Strange As 1t May Seem the Senate
Works Fast.
Good Progress Reported on the Tariff Bill
The Southern Members and the
Bankruptcy Bill.
ESPECIAL TO THE pREss,l

ESPECIAL TO THE PREssol
Washington, June 5-Prospects of the
tariff bill in the Senate continue to be
excellent, and very good judges of the
course OF business in that body predict
confidently that the measure will be
signed by the President by the first of
July. But other old observers of the
course of legislation say that there are
many snags ahead, in the shape of wool,
hides, sugar, etc., and that they do not
look for the completion of the task before
the middle of August. Yet it is true
that at the present time the Senate is
about five weeks ahead of it's recent rec
ords on tariff bills. The action of the
House in waiting for the Senate undoubt-
edly disposes that body to work faster
than it ordinarily would and to concen-
trate its attention upon the tariff meas
ure alone. Senators know that they can
not get private and special bills through
the House if the Senate does pass Them
SO they give up practically all the time
to the tariff bill. The hot weather also
seems to have arrived and this will accel-
crate matters Aetsss 4
The apparent Fgood disposition Of the
Senate has had it's influence on the House
and some Of the members, jumping at the
too hasty conclusion that the tariff bill
is safe, are getting anxious to organize
the committees enough at least to take
up one or two bills Of Importance. The
northwestern members, those from Min
nesota in particular, are very anxious to
have the bankruptcy bill brought up. and
they have been bringing all the pressure
possible to bear on the Speaker. They
think that it may be possible to pass the
Nelson bill as 1T came from the Senate,
and as Senator Nelson is from Minnesota
Senators politics, have all operated to
strengthen this belief.
The difficulty of the situation is that
the House will probably not agree to any
plan of bankruptcy which does not have
an involuntary as well as a voluntary feat
ure. The Senate is strongly set against
anything but the voluntary bill There
fore there is still great danger of a dead
lock with the Senate over a bankruptcy
matter, SO that the tariff bill would be
endangered. 1t is probable that the ma
jority of the House will see it in this
light, and there is little likelihood at
present that anything will be done on
bankruptcy.
The position of some-not all by any
llAO01lo--Ol uAlO A1OuUaClA IAo VcSUCIIl luCn
against anything but voluntary bill is
rather STRANGE since their section after
all is the one that would profit by it the
most. Under an involuntary bill the
creditor who is convinced that his debtor
is bankrupt and is going on in such
a way as to waste the assets, may take
action to stop the debtor and secure an
equitable division of the assets among all
the creditors. This is the law among
most of the larger commercial states. In
practical operation it strengthens the
credit Of the debtor, since it makes the
creditor more confident that he can pro-
tect himself. Under the purely voluntary
system the debtor may go into bankruptcy
whenever he may wish to be relieved Of
his debts, but the creditor has no protec-
ton. A New York or Chicago merchant
who trusts man in Arkansas or Mis-
sissippi, has no recourse if the debtor
does not act properly, and in case of
trouble the local creditors will step In
and gobble up the assets, leaving the dis
tant creditor to lose. A proper bankrupt
cy law would protect the distant as we'll
as the local creditor. The advantages
of the law which protects all are in the
long run mainly with the debtors in the
poorer states, for If the merchants in the
great cities can feel easier about the risk
hey will be all the more ready to extend
credit. Some of the Southern and
Western men see this, but the most of
them are for the involuntary bill.