Evening star., 1900-03-06

| oy raising money for the expenses of gov
| ernment and improvements of the island
and at the same time 1t had before ii
| the recommendation of the President that
free trade between the island and the
United States should exist
While the matter was under consideration
and several propositions had been made
letters were received from certain farmer
producers of sugar beets protesting against
the products Of Porto Rico coming into our
ports free. Similar protests came from to-
bacco manufacturers and others. The ques-
tion was then raised whether sufficient rev.
enue for the island could be had from any
source except the tariff dues.
Conferred With the President
While this was under discussion the Pres
ident sent for republican members of the
ways and means committee to visit him at
the White House. On this invitation they
held conference with the President going
over the whole question, and agreed that a
tariff bill along the line of that reported
from the committee should be drawn and
Secretary Root was then requested to draw
up the bill in accordance with the plan
agreed upon.
Mr.. Payne, chairman of the ways and
means committee. refuses to discuss the
authorship of the bill. but like every other
member OF the committee who voted to re-
He says that the tariff duties, accruing
as they do under the bill TO the benefit of
Porto Rico, are necessary under the cir
cumstances. and that it is essential that
the right of this government to levy duties
upon products of insular possessions must
be made.
Should the Supreme Court decide that
this cannot be done lawfully it is important
that this should be known, as in all prob
ability it would have an important inf1u-
ence upon our policy with reference to the
Philippines.
Later when the bill was discussed In the
republican conference of the House. Ii was
announced that the bill had been drawn by,
Secretary Root and that it had the ac-
quiescence of the President.
Could Have Been Defeated.
Since the Porto Rican tariff bill has
passed beyond the present Jurisdiction of
the House members Of that body are disin-
clined to discuss for publication thesevents
which led up to its passage.
In private conversation, however men
who withdrew their opposition to the bill
at the last moment say that the bill could
have been defeated il word had come from
the White House that the President op-
posed it.
The statement is frequently yentured that
TWO score votes hanging in the balance
were turned to the bill when it was an
bill.
Mr.. Russell of Connecticut a member of
the ways and means committee while loath
to discuss the subject at this time, said to
Star reporter today:
The President has held from the first
that the Constitution does not go of its own
vigor to these new insular possessions. and
the application of this doctrine to Porto
Rico will set the pace for the Philippines
1t is the general opinion that arguments
like this were responsible for the passage
of the bill.
Mr.. Tawney's Difficulty.
Representative. Tawney of Minnesota, A
member of the ways and means committee.
and one of those who voted for the Porto
Rican bill, is having trouble in his district
over his vote. Since the passage of the bill
some republicans of his district have been
discussing the advisa bility of bringing ont
another candidate for Congress, and the
names of two prominent citizens have been
canvassed in this connection.
Mr.. HeatwOIe Commended.
Mr.. Heatwole of Minnesota was the only
man in the Minnesota delegation who vot-
ed against the bill on every roll call With
in the past day or two he has received more
than two hundred letters from his own con-
sutuents, and from men in other congress
slonaf districts in the state commencing
him for his position.
One enthusiastic voter wrote him:
If you were candidate for governor Won
would beat John Lind by 10000 on that vote
of yours alone