The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1897-07-15
Our Washington Letter.


WASHINGTON, July 6, 1897. The Re-
publican party in Congress has complet-
ed record of which the Republican
party of the country may well be proud.
That party controlling both branches
of Congress should be able to pass a tariff
! bill as quickly as has been accomplished
this time is unprecedented, and that it
should be able to do so when it controls
but one branch of Congress is record of
which every member of the party from
the President down to its humblest mem
Der may feel proud. Taking into CON
sideration the bitterness of the campaign
of last fall, no one would have predicted
or thought it possible that the party sue
ceeding in that campaign, but failing to
obtain control of both branches of Con
gress, could frame and pass tariff bill
SO thoroughly protective and so thorough
| ly satisfactory to its adherents in SO short
a time. No such thing has ever happen
ed in the history of the country. Indeed,
it has seldom if ever happened that par
ty having control of but one branch of
| Congress has passed a radical tariff meas
uIe even in three or four times the num-
Der OF weeks which has been occupied in
the passage of this bill.
The conference between the House and
Senate will, it is believed, be an unusual
ly brief one. The fact that the Senate
restored to the bill most of the House
rates on important features warrants the
belief that the time occupied in confer
ence will be brief and that, the bill may
reach the President by the end of the
present week, and become a law 10y the
middle of July.
There are some smiles among the states
men over the protests against our tariff
measure which foreign nations are max
ing. The general feeling is that these
protests are, first. a piece of impertn-
ence, since it is nobody's business but our
own what kind of a tariff we make and,
second, of no consequence in the bearing
on our commercial relations with those
countries. Most of the nations from which
! have come grumblings as to our tariff sell
us vastly more than they buy from us,
and while it is all right for them to get as
low a tariff on their articles as possible,
there is no likelihood that they are going
to disturb their markets in this country
by any retaliatory legislation which would
injure their sales to us more than it affects
ours to them. The fifteen countries from
which hints of dissatisfaction with our
i tariff have come have sold us in the past
decade 81 S43 943, 523 worth of goods.
and bought from us only s., O59, 22O, 1872
worth.
The important features and character
istics of the House tariff bill have been
restored by the Senate, and the bill as it
goes back to the House finally will differ
very little in those features in which the
public have felt great interest, when
compared with the bill as originally pass
ed by the House. 1t is believed that the
conference committee will in many cases
restore absolutely the House rates.
The violent effort to cast aspersions on
the bill and the Republican party with
reference to the sugar schedule have met
with an ignominious failure. The bill as
it stands is generally satisfactory and
cannot be successfully charged with favor
itism toward the sugar trust, and should
the conference restore absolutely the
| House rates, as many believe it will yet
do, the bill will be looked upon as the
most thoroughly satisfactory and COM
plete in this and other features of any
tariff measure which has passed Congress
in many years.
| The question as to whether Congress
will or will not Immediately take up the
currency revision is now looked upon
with much interest. There are two sides
to this question and both sides are being
carefully examined by those who are to
determine what the course of events is to
| be in this particular By many it is be-
lleved that, the special work of the speci-
al session in the passage of tariff bill
| ~
| completed, the business element of the
country would prefer an opportunity to
adjust itself to the new conditions in re-
gard to the tariff before being brought
face to face with the currency problem.
Those Who hold to this view believe that
it would be better to defer any action on
the currency question until the regular
meeting of Congress in December and
''give the country rest.'' Whether this
plan is determined upon or whether a cur
rency commission shall be urged upon
Congress at once is not fully determined,
but the public may rest assured that there
is no disposition on the part of the Ad-
ministration to delay or trif1e with the
currency question any more than it has
with the tariff.