The Republican journal., 1897-07-15
Our Washington Letter.
Correspondence of The Journal.

bill having passed the danger point IN the
Senate, where the Republicans are with
out a majority, there is good reason to be-
lieve that it will receive the signature
of the President by the end of another
week. That the tariff bill was specially
satisfactory to the people when it left the
House is beyond question, and as its dis
cussion in the Senate brought it nearer to
the form in which it was passed by the
House the responses from the country now
indicate that it is meeting with proper ap-
proval.
The sugar and wool schedules will be
the most important questions before the
conferees, though both of these have been
brought so nearly in line with the House
bill that there will be little difficulty, prob
bly,, in reaching an agreement, whether
that agreement affects the House or
the Senate schedule or strikes a compro-
mise because of the fact that these feat
ures of the Senate have been brought so
nearly in line with the House schedules.
The most bitterly disappointed men in
Congress over this bill are these who
hoped to make capital out of the
cry of 'trusts'' The bill, even as
it passed the Senate, destroys this
opportunity. and is accepted by the
people as an evidence that however much
the sugar trusts may have controlled the
Democratic party in framing the Wilson
law, it does not and cannot control the
Republicac party in its Legislative duties.
The provision i'll the tariff bill for
stamp tax upon stocks and bonds, and
upon speculations in stocks and bonds, is
generally commended This amendment,
which has been adopted and made part
bonds and stocks aside from those of
building associations and other organiza-
tions of this character, and also places
tax upon each transaction in those bonds.
This will compel the stock spectators of
the great cities to contribute from II to
Is million dollars a year to the support of
the Government and will thus insure that
the new bill will meet running expenses of
the Government after the enormous sup
ply of foreign goods now in hand shall
have been absorbed
The coal miners strike has brought to
the public attention some facts as to the
effect of the Wilson tariff law upon this
industry. The Wilson law, it will be re-
membered, reduced the rates of duty on
coal 50 cents per ton it having been IS
cents per ton under the Mckinley law and
reduced to 40 cents per ton under the
Wilson law. Curiously President Ratch-
ford of the United Mine Workers Asso-
citation states that the wages of miners
have been reduced about So cents per ton
since 1898, the very year in which the
free-trade Congress met and began franz
ing the Wilson act, which reduced duties
35 cents per ton. The moment the Will
son law passed, coal from the Nova Scotia
mines began invading the markets on the
Atlantic coast, especially New England,
and drove out of those markets the West
Virginia coal, which had always found an
outlet at fair prices. This West Virginia
coal was thus compelled to seek market
in the west in competition with the Goals
of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.
The result was sharp competition,
fall in prices, a ruinous rate war, not
only between mine owners, but also be-
tween the railroads, and as a consequence
reduction in the wages of miners. Thus
the very low wages of the coal miners of
the country who are now striking for an
advance are directly and logically trace
able to the operations of the Wilson law.
The pending bill restores Mckinley rates
on coal and after it gets into operation
will, it is hoped, result in improved co1l-
ditions and wages for miners as well as
others.
The Republicans were compelled to
abandon the beet-sugar bounty PROPOSE
ton because of Democratic opposition
The amendment proposed to pay bounty
of quarter of cent pound during
hVo JC"iS p0iiou LIoIH bAe passage Oh LQe
bill. This, it was felt, would insure the
establishment of the beet-sugar industry
in the United States. 1t is by this pro-
cess that European countries have not
only encouraged the production of beet
sugar, but actually established system
which supplied more than half the sugar
Of the world bya process generation ago
unknown. 1t was felt that this slight en-
couragemeDt in this country, similar to
that utilized in other countries, might en-
able the farmers Of the United States to
produce the hundred million dollars
worth of sugar for which we are now
sending our money abroad, But the Dem
ocrats opposed the proposition, as they do
everything which emanates from the Re-
publicans, and gave notice that they
would delay the bill by a long and
indefinite discussion, making it prob
able that months would elapse be-
fore a vote could be had if the bounty
proposition was pressed by the Repub-
licans. The result was that the Republi-
cans were compelled to either abandon