The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1897-04-02


tatives requiring their signatures to Pc
titions. This Is AL unnecessary. Can
didates must get up little petitions
! merely for the sake of complying with
! official routine They do not need to
have town elections on selection of post
masters.
The senator's and representatives are
receiving letters from Michigan grow
ers and seed dealers asking that the
distribution of seed by the department
of agriculture be discontinued. 1t will
be difficult to induce the congress to
pass an act abolshing the seed bureau.
In fact. 1t cannot be done. There Is too
much patronage back of 1t.
Fate of the Dingley BuI.
The Dingley bill. which will pass the
house Of representatives on March 81.
will not become law. A tariff bill will
be enacted by the Fifty-fifth congress
during the extraordinary session, but 1t
will be different bill from that which
is now about to be discussed and passed
by the lower branch of congress. The
Mills bill of 1888, which did not become
q law was so manipulated by the sem
ate that If it had been enacted it would
have been a bill altogether different
from that which passed the house. The
Mckinley BILL when it was finally
passed. was not the original bill. On
the contrary, the senate gave it all It's
best features, including the reciprocity
clause. The Wilson bill of 1894 was so
amended in the senate that 1T lost all
Of it's original characteristics.
The pending Dingley bill will be
dissected by the senate until scarcely
an original tissue remains. The bill
will be reported to the senate on April
/. All FOOLS day, and the vice president
will Immediately refer 1t to the COM
mittee on finance. In that committee 1t
will remain until all the members of
congress have had ample time to go
through it, paragraph by paragraph,
and line by line. The senate cannot get
at the bill until the committee sees fit
to report 1t. Six weeks or more the bill
will be in the hands of the eleven men,
bers Of that committee, and they will
do with it as they please. In the mean
time, all of the parties interested in the
proposed duties will appear in Wash
ington and make themselves heard, If
not felt. Whether the committee will
give public hearings or not, remains to
be determined. The impression at pres
ent is that they will not.
The Hearings on the Tariff.
AS matter of fact it is expensive
nonsense for parties interested in par
ticular schedules to appear before the
committee on ways and means or the
committee on finance and make argu-
ment in favor of their schemes. Just
for the purpose of creating a public i'm
preston of a disposition to be fair, the
committee gives public hearings. Then,
after the set time has passed, the men,
berS of the committee close their doors,
have guardians on the outside to pre-
vent interruptions and proceed to do
business, as if no hearings had been
given or even contemplated.
1t is arrant folly to link the name of
Vice President Hobart with any scheme
to force the passage of the bill through
the senate Nobody is so powerless in
the senate as it's presiding officer. He
has no vote, except when a tie Is re-
corded. He cannot make rules, nor
hasten business. He is a figurehead for
the enforcement Of rules, which are
made by the senate, and that is all. No
matter what he may desire to accom-
plish he is tongue-tied and without in
fiuence
Mark Hanna VIII Not Force Matters. "
1t is extreme folly to talk Of Mark
Hanna forcing things. lie is simply a
new senator, and holds his position by
appointment of the governor of his
state. He is not q member of the COM
mittee on finance, and will receive but
little consideration frtm that commit
tee. Older senator's will be heard with
more respect and decorum. Hanna
knows considerable about politics. That
is demonstrated. But he has never
been in legislative life, and hence will
have but little influence in the matter
The tariff, which will be passed ulti-
mately, will be q measure formulated
by three men. OF course, there will be
others interested in the work. because
every senator will have his say with the
members of the committee and upon the
floor OF the senate. But the bill will
ultimately be formulated by Senator
Allison Of Iowa, Senator Aldyich OF
Rhode Island, and Senator Vest Of Mis-
souri, That tells the whole story. Ali
son and Aldrich will attend to the worl.
for the Republicans, and Senator Vest
will attend to the work for the Demo
Gratis, and when they get through they
can say, as Sherman and General
Johnston said in North Carolina:
whatever conclusions are reached by
us will be regarded as good law" The
bill which these three men will formu-
late in the committee on finance will be
ratified by the full committee, and
when it is reported to the senate, it will
be debated and amended in some par
ticulars. Substantially as they formu-
late, however, it will be passed by the
senate.
ssThe Action OF the House.
Then 1t VIII go to the house of repre-
sentatives, and conference commit
tee will be appointed. The house viii 7
stand up and howl about senatorial die
tation. The house will declare that it
will not accept the senate amendments.
There will be wrangle for a week or
more, and then what will happen? The
house Will back down as usual and ac-
cept the bill as x comes from the sem
ate Read the daily reports OF the pro-
ceedings. Keep track OF the now eX-
porinent with the rational business in /.
dustries, and sec how the senate viii /
dominata the entire matter.
Tina Ropuhiican members Of the COM !
g.