Potosi journal. (Potosi, Mo.) 1894-1929, 1897-07-07
Washington Letter.
WASHINGTON. july >. Is

w ASHlNGION. July -, lS3'.
Special correspondence.
The Republican party in Congress
has completed a record Of which
the Republican party of the country
may we'll be proud. That a party
controlling both branches of Con
gress should be able to pass tariff
bill as quickly as has been ac-
compllshed this time is unprece-
dented. and that it should be able
to do so when it controls but one
branch of Congress is a record
Of which every member Of the party
from the President down to the
humblest member may feel proud.
Taking into consideration the bit
terness of the campaign of last fall,
nobody would have predicted or
thought it possible that the party
succeeding in that campaign, but
failing to obtain control of both
branches of Congress. could frame
and pass Il tariff bill so thoroughly
protective and so thoroughly salts
factory to its adherents in so short
a time. No such thing has ever
happened in the history of the
country. Indeed it has seldom if
ever happened that q party having
control of but one branch of Con
grcss has passed a radical tariff
measure even in three or four times
the number of weeks which has
been occupied in the passage of this
bill.
Still. PUSHING FOR FINAL COM
PLETION.
The conference between the House
and Senate will. it is believed. be
an unusually brief one. The fact
that the Senate restored to the bill
most of the House rates on i'm
portant features warrants the be
lief that the time occupied in con
ference will be brief, and that the
bill may reach the President by the
end of the coming week, and be
come a law by the middle of July
ABOUT THOSE TARIFF PROTESTS.
There are some smiles among the
statesmen over the protests against
our tariff measure which foreign
nations are making. The general
feeling is that those protests are,
first, piece of impcrtinencc. since
it is nobody's business but our own
what kind of Il tariff we make: and.
second. of no consequence in the
bearing on our commercial re-
IatiOns with those countries. Most
of the nations from which have
come grumblinos 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 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 iniure their sales to us more
than it would affect ours to them.
The fifteen countries from which
hints Of dissatisfaction with our
tariff have come have sold us in the
past decade 81. .S43. 943. 323 worth
of goods. and bought from us only
50. .O5a. 22O, 1S2 worth.
HOUSE TARIFF RATES RESTORED.
The important features and char
actcristics of the House tariff bill
have been restored by the Senate.
and the bill rs it goes back to the
House finally will differ very little
in those features in which the pub
lie have felt great interest, when
compared with the bill as original
ly passed by the House. 1t is be
/ licved that the conference commit
tee will in many cases restore abso-
lutcly the House rates.
THE SUGAR SCHEDULE sCREAMERs.
The violent effort to cast asper-
sions on the bill and the Republican
party with reference to the sugar
schedule have met with an igno-
minious failure. The bill as it
stands is generally satisfactory and
cannot be successfully charged with
favoritism 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 thor
oughly satisfactory and complete
in this and other features of any
tariff measure which has passed
Congress in many years.
THE CURRENCY COMMISSION.
| The question rs to whether Con
gress 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 de
terminc what the course of events
is to be in this particular. BY
many it is believed that. the special
work of the special session in the
passage of a tariff bill having been
so promptly and happily eomplet-
ed, the business element of the
country would prefer an oppor-
tunity to adjust itself to the new
conditions in regard to the tariff