The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-05-28
ESPECIAL TO THE pREss.l

Washington, May 27.-The tariff situa-
ton continues to look promising SO far as
action by the Senate is concerned. Mr..
Aldrich has expressed the opinion that
the bill will be through the Senate inside
of month. 1t has also been ascertained
from confidential interviews with the
leading Democrats in the Senate that
they as party are not at all disposed to
delay, and in fact that they are rather
anxious for reasonably speedy action.
The impatience of the country is begin
ming to be felt by them and they are
desirous of getting the troublesome
question off their hands. A very desirable
bill is not to be expected when it comes
from the Senate. No party is in power
there, and therefore none is responsible,
So the most that the Republican
managers can hope for is to get bill
through in some shape. Such amend
ments as the finance committee shall pro
pose on the floor will probably be in the
direction of restoring the bill to the
position in which it left the House. But
if it is necessary to make any concession
to gain the vote of a Senator, or rather to
prevent the obstruction of Senator, it
will probably be done without regard to
the effect upon the bill. Thus it Is hoped
to get rapid action and to have the bill
returned to the House with the Senate
amendments by the first of July or even
before. Then the House will Of course
disagree to the Senate amendments, or
the most of them, at once, and the matter
will go to a conference committee COM
posed of members of both bodies. There
will probably be at least five members of
the House and five from the Senate. The
Speaker will appoint the conferees of the
House. Mr.. Dingley will be first on the
list for the House and Senator Allison on
elects the conferees or rather may elect
them if it wishes to, there might possibly
be chance that some one else would be
chairman. But after all if the Senate
wished to insist on a policy that Mr.. Alli-
son did not favor they would probably
accomplish it by instructions.
The conference will then make the real
tariff bill, although it may not touch
such parts of the bill as the Senate con-
CURED in without amendment. But on
most of the vital parts there are amend
ments, so as to throw the whole main
portions of the measure into conference.
While the work of the conference may not
stand until endorsed by both bodies, yet
| there is good prospect that most of the
bad features that will get forced into the
bill to get it passed by the Senate will be
eliminated in the process of the con-
ference.
1t is more difficult for the little coteries
of a body like the Senate to keep their
grip on conference reports than on bills
before their body A conference report
being matter Of compromise the one
body must drop part of its amendments
in order to succeed with others. So it its
possible, if the House conferees are crafty
and they will be, and the House backs
them up strongly as it is likely to do, be-
| ing matter of creed with the dominant
party to do so, that a pretty good bill
will be the result. But all this will take
| time and the bill may be almost as long
| in conference as in the Senate.
PERSONAL.
Charles f. Lord, Esq, of Portland,
Oregon, district attorney of Oregon, has
| written friends in Washington that he
expects to visit Maine this summer Mr..
Lord is a native of Alfred being the son
of the late Caleb B. Lord who was for a
| long time clerk of courts for York county.
Mr.. Hildreth of York is in the city for
| few days.