The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-06-19
ESPECIAL TO THE paEss.I

ESPECIAL TO THE PREss.1
Washington. June 1S.-Thursday was
day of hope among those who hope to see
the tariff bill pass the Senate before the
end of the summer The agricultural
schedule having been completed the states
men struck the cotton schedule, each where
paragraph is about page long. Under
the debate by paragraphs the paragraph
Is first read, and then may be discussed
and amended. THE Democratic senators
who are opposing the bill make about SO
much talk on every paragraph, SO when
the paragraphs are long the progress is
much faster than it was when they are
short. By the middle of the afternoon
Thursday the Tooth page of the bill had
been passed. There are 161 pages before
the free list is reached, so by the end of
the session Thursday there remained
about so pages of the duties portion of
the bill to consider. In those 80 pages,
however, are included such important
subjects as linen, wool, wooden cloths,
paper. pulp, hides, and the schedule of
sundries, like buttons, jewelry, gloves,
etc.
Thursday was close, sultry day, like
the very worst of dog days in Maine.
The heat had a manifest effect on the
Senate. The body acted dull and Ian
gu1d. The seats were almost all empty,
and no senator seemed to desire to oc-
cupy his seat any length Of time, unless
he happened to be one of the two or three
in charge of the bill. AS matter of fact,
three or four mon did almost all of the
debating On tho liam fio cida
tor Jones of Arkansas, he who managed
Bryan's campaign and hated SO to ad-
NIT the defeat, and Senator Vest, of Mis-
souri,, did about all of the work. No one
else paid much attention. They talked
and offered amendments to every para
graph, assailing the Republicans with
all the arguments that they knew. These
tight, and are making the most of it.
They do not intend to let any schedule
pass without attacking it. Thus they
waste a great amount of time and i'm
pede the passage Of the bill without really
laying themselves open to the charge that
they are obstructing. Senator Allison
does nearly all the work of replying to
them, as Senator Aldrich's illness has
forced him to go home to Rhode Island.
Mr.. Allison always replies in the briefest
possible words, sometimes does not reply
at all, but hastens the vote, and hurries
along to the next paragraph. So if there
is no obstruction, or rather serious delay,
it is due rather to the Republicans than
to the Democrats.
Senators Jones and Vest, make rather
a comical pair as they hunt schedules to-
gether. Jones is big fellow with big
head, in which there is probably not half
so much knowledge and acuteness as
there is in the little chuckle head set far
down into the shoulders of the diminu-
tive and huddled-up figure of Mr.. Vest.
Jones furnishes the stage thunder, but
Vest is the william with a rapier, of which
his opponents stand in awe. Wen-in-
formed and keen, if there is weak spot,
he will find it.
Conservative people are prophesying
that the bill will be through the Senate
and over to the House by July 1st. How
long it will then have to remain in
conference between the two houses is un-
certain. Mr.. Bailey, the Democratic
leader in the House, says he does not be-
lieve that it will be in conference "a
hours. He bases this belief on the fact
that the Senate is coming back to House
rates of duty on SO many important arti-
cles. But more conservative estimates
are that it will take five or ten days for
the bill to be passed in conference after
it leaves the Senate.
Jerry Simpson has returned from Kan
sas, where he is said to have gone on
railroad pass given him at the instance