The age-herald., 1900-02-26
THE REPUBLICANS
 FAILED TO AGREE Long Conference On Porto RiCan Bill
 Proved FrnitleSS. NO CHANGE IN POSITIONS Opponents of the Measure StubbOrnly
Opponents of the Measure StubbOrnly Held Their Ground.
PROPOSITIONS PRO AND CON
One Member Of Conference Said He Believed the Bill Would Become al Law With Time Limit
 Provisions

Washington, February 25.-The efforts to unite the republicans of the house on
 Porto Rican bin have failed, and at mid night, after prolonged conferences, 1t was
 stated that matters were substantially
 where they were yesterday. Other efforts I at harmony may be made tomorrow. 1 long conference was held tonight at
 the residence of Representative Mccall, of
 Massachusetts, between the committee ap- | pointed at the republican conference last
 night, representing the republicans in fa-
 vor of the pending Porto Rican tariff bill,
 and committee agreed upon today by
 those republicans who are opposed to the
 measure The latter committee was made
 up of Messrs. Powers of Vermont, Crum | packer of Indiana Lorimer of Illinois, Me- 1 Cal of Massachusetts and Littleield of
 Maine.
 | Preliminary to this meeting the oppo- | nents of the bill to the number of about
 ten had assembled at MT. McCalls house
 during the afternoon and determined upon
 the rtand they would take and upon their
 five Representatives. MT Weeks of Michi- | gan was among those at the afternoon ses- | sion, and he remained with the committee of five to participate in tonight's meeting. | Propositions pro and con were made by | both sides. but none of those made on be- | half of the advocacy of the pending bill l amounted to an abandonment of the prin- | ciple of the issue, yiz.: the right of the | United States to levy tax on imports from | Porto Rico: and as its opponents consider | this the fundamental objection to the meas 1 ure, DO agreement could be reached. No Change in Posttions
 It vas stated after the conference by menae CTS opposed to the bill that both sides
 were practically in the same position as they had been before the meeting, and that there was no probability of another gath ering before the conference of republicans called for tomorrow night. From their statements 1t was evident they intended to maintain the position they have held all along. that under the constitution, the gov-
 ernment has no right to tax the products of territory under control of the United States. It was suggested by opponents of the pending bill that the whole matter be left
 in ths hands of the president with the un-
 derstanding that Porto Rico should have
 free trade with the United States, but this
 was objected to and nothing came of it
 The opponents of the committee bill also
 suggested that the original bill introduced
 by Mir. Payne providing for free trade be
 substituted on the floor of the house for
 the Committee bill, but this likewise fail
 ed to receive favorable consideration by the
 advocates of the pending measure.
 Considerable talk was indulged in over the
 proposition made by the committee bill ad-
 vocates to fix a time limit during which the
 tariff of 25 per cent against the imports of
 Porto Rico shall remain effective this time
 varying from two years to an indefinite pe-
 riod, but the opposition indicated their unal- terable opposition to amy tariff, no matter
 how short the time of its imposition may be.
 With view to meeting some of the ob- jelctions of the bill, its advocates suggested a change in it's title, which indicate that it was intended as an eXigency measure for tho purpose of raising revenue, but this also | found no favor with the opposition who re- iterated their hostility to the bill on priH- | ciple. One of the advocates of the measure after the conference expressed 1t to be his opinion that the bill finally would become a
 law, with provision limiting the time dur ing which it shall remain in force.