Potosi journal. (Potosi, Mo.) 1894-1929, 1897-06-30
Washington Letter.


Special correspondence.
The tariff bill, when it reaches
the President, will probably con
tain the House rates on nearly al!
the important features. While it
could scarcely be expected that the
Senate would rcjcctthe amendments
which lis own committee had pro
posed and 90 absolutely back to
the House schedules on first and
second class woods. sugar, pottery.
farm products generally and many
other articles in which the amend
ments made by the Senate commit
tee have proven imp pnlar. The
bill as framed by the House com
mi,tce and passed by that body was
especially acceptable to the agri-
cultural interest. and to Republicans
generally in the fact that it pre-
cIudcl the possibility of suspicion
or successful charge that it was
framed in the interests Of or to the
advantage of trusts Of any kind.
Whether the Senate amendments
are more favorable to the trusts or
not, the mere fact that many per
sons believe them to be So is likely
to lead the conference committee to
restore absolutely the House rates.
and there is every reason to believe
that the Senate will promptly ac-
ccpt them.
THE TARIFF BILL BEING PUSHED.
The protest OF the people against
Democratic delay Of the taril; bill
has been 50 iou,! and clear that even
the members Of that party could
not resist it. The progress upon
the bill! thi.; week has been rapid.
so rapid that there is reason to cx-
pect that ii will pass the Senate by
the end of the month.
Not only i, the progress made by
the bill extremely satisfactory SO
far as relates to the Senate. bat the
prospects are that the time oc-
c'rpicd in conference will be un-
usually brief. Ordinarily It tariff
bill Is in conference several weeks.
sometimes months. i;ut there i,
reason to believe that the time oc-
cnpicd by the conference committee
viii he as brief, comparatively. as
has been the time occupied viii
the other features Of the bill. The
fact that the Senate has restored
the House rates in Il large number
of cases and has nearly reached the
House figures on the most i'm
por'ant Of the changes made by the
Finance Committee reduces very
much the time that tic bill is likely
to occupy in reaching complete
agreement. and there is still reason
to hope that the bill may become Il
law by July 4th.
FOREIGN PROTESTS NOT REGARDED.
The closing days OF the tariff
consideration are p,inctnAted with
one or two further mild protests
from foreign countries with refer
encc to the bill. There have been
possibly a half dozen of these in
the various forms, some of them
coming formally through the for
eign representatives here and being
fled at the State Department. and
others merely in the way of scoIds
in legislative bodies or newspapers
of foreign countries. These do not
create the slightest furry among
the statesmen who are engaged il,
framing the tariff measure. Nearly
all Of the countries which have
made protests OF this sort have
themselves protective tariffs. many
Of them very high, and against none
of these have the | nitci States ever
made any complaint or protest.
While they have protested visor-
ousiy against discrimination made
with reference to products Of 1iac
United States alone and not applied
also to similar products of other
nations, they have made no com
plant of the general tariff Systems
/ or the high protective rates which
other countries levy upon articles
which we may happen to offer for
sale. and it is not likely that these
protests from other countries viii!
have any weight with the trainers
of this bill.