Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1900-02-20
Washington Letter.
From our Regular Correspondent

WASHINGTON, February 16. 1900
The second stage OF the financial leg
isiatiOn by this congress was reached
when the senate passed the Repub-
lean finance bill by a healthy and
substantial MA ority. The bill passed
is "A substitute for the bill passed
earlier IN the session by the house.
Both bills will now 60 to conference
committee, composed of senators and
which bill will be finally put through,
or whether it will be more advisable
to make composite bill, composed
Of parts of each There are diffe, ences
IN the bills. but inasmuch us they
both have the same object in view it
will not be very difficult for the con-
ference to reach an agreement, and
there is no doubt that when an
aLreemenC Is reached it will be
promptly ratified by the house and
senate.
Chairman Payne, OF the house ways
and means committee. has given no.
tice that the Porto Rlcan tariff bill
will De called up next Monday and
k-pt before the house until disposed
OF. The Democrats are busy circulat-
ing rumors of Republican opposition
to this bill. but the most careful
search has failed to Ind a single Re
publican member of the house who
will say thai he will vote against it.
The bill will pass.
Senator Davis, chairman of the
senate committee on foreign relations,
which is still considering the Nicarag
sau canal treaty. never expresses an
opinion without knowing what he is
taking about. Therefore, when be
expressed he opinion that the treaty
would he ratified, it carried more
weight IN Washington than the stor-
les, circulated largely by paid lobby
lists, to the contrary. The stories OF
the strength Of the opposition othe
treaty have no better foundation
than those alleging that President
Mckinley contemplated Withdrawing
the treaty from the senate, and the
last has absolutely no foundation
President Mckinley believes the
treaty is good one and that it will
be ratified.
Representative Grosveno of Ohio,
chairman of the house committee on
merchant marine and fisheries, which
has charge of the shipping bill, gave
out q statement concerning the num-
erous fakes published about this bill
in which he said: sit proposes to put
American vessels in the foreign trade
on an equality with the foreign YES
sells now doing Our carrying. When
that is done we expect to see Ameri-
can shlpyards turning out the ship
ping that is needed to do our foreign
| carrying. There are some people who
are so afraid that this bill will give a
chance to American ships to secure Il
share of our foreign carrying that
they can't sleep nights, and these are
the ones who are Matching up the ru-
mOrs, fals= and partially false, wit b
which the people are being RECALLED in
the opposition and free trade press.
| don't find any Of the American free
trade papers denOuncing the subsi-
dies and bounties the foreign ships in
competition with our own receive.
They reserve their denuncations for
the suggestion that American ships
be put on an equality of conditions.
1t is the same kind of situation
that we have confronted several
times on the tariff bill, and the coun-
try has not been ruined by that. ]
| believe that there is no bill before
congress today that means so much
OF material benefit to the nation and
to the people in every part as this
shipping bill"
There seems to be an almost unan.
imous sentiment in congress in favor
of ending the session before the ma.
tional conventions meet, and unless
something not now expected shall
turn up and cause an extension oil
the session, the adjournment will
probably take place about the first
of June.
Senator Allison was paid a high
compliment when he was chosen BY
the Republican caucus to be chair.
man of the steering committee oil
seven, charged with arranging and
controlling the legislative progra n in
the senate for the remainder of the
session, and authorized to choose the
other six members of the committee;
but the Republican senators know