The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-05-22
TARIFF IS USED
AS A BIG CLUB
President is More Interested
in Rate Revision
WILL FORCE THEIR HANDS
s nst Time the Tariff Cues
ton Has Been Used as Power
in the Railroad Rate
Game.

Washington, May 21.-(Special)-There
are not few who think they see in the
Presidents tariff agitation a disposition
on his part to make a strong play for
both tariff and railroad rate legislation in
the hope that he will rally to his supper ,
the opponents of the former on the Il 60
ter proposition. This will not be the <
time that the tariff question has 90
used as a pawn in the railroa ~
game. Last winter the Preside : 8 ID
tariff revision as club over = g IDS
of the standpatters until he % lade
| Speaker Cannon and the rest siastic
supporters of his railroad rate cy
They assented to 1t ito prevent him
from calling a spring session to take up
the tariff As soon as they had yielded he
dropped the tariff revision talk. He had
the leaders all up at the White House
for conference, and after that confer
ence all fear of tariff revision and all dan
ger of defeating the Esch-Townsend bill
in the House was gone, when Speaker
Cannon rounded up the House republicans
in caucus and dragooned the Esch-Town-
send bill through as a party measure. His
! speech was in substance this:
No Use to Object.
There is no use objecting You've got
to take it. If you don't there will be tariff
revision"
Before that argument the grumblings
of the Pennsylvanians and the other en-
mics of railroad rate regulation died away
| The President is not and never has been
much interested in tariff revision. He ap-
proves of it, but considers that otner
| questions are of much more immediate
| importance. II he could revise the tariff
| himself he would do 1t. but he is not so
enthusiastic for revision that ne is will
ing to put it before othersr ,sures of
importance, or to imperil u hings he
considers to be pressing by ''ss to jam
revision through. ~
Hands Full with r lte SNA
The President did not an <e his origt-
nal announcement on the lanai supplies
| question for the sake of tariff revision
| He knowH very we'll that his hands are
| full with the rate bill, and that not even
a-Han@ his strength could Jam through
at the same time two such difficult propc-
stions as the rate bill and tariff revision,
each of which must encounter the oppose
tion of the most powerful interests in the
| country. His announcement frightened the
standpatters and he knew 1t would. But
| Ii was not the announcement of tariff
revision crusader. but the announcement
| of a who did not care whether he
! hurt their feelings. He still considers
railroad rate legislation as much the more
| important.
BY his exposure of the double prices of
American manufacturers, however he
puts the tariff question in a position where
| it will have to be considered sooner or
| later.
before he did for the reason that no
! trouble had developed with the commits
| sion prior to that time to give the inn
preston that 1t was not able to deal
with the situation. And so the matter
| goes. One side thinks that the point
has been reached where Mr. Conner will
have to run, and the other tnat there is
| no reason for his making the race, all he
wants being promised in the anticipated
platform of the lieutenant governor
Looks Like Big Fight.
The situation seems 10 nave reached
| that point where there rs no escape from
a fight that will tear the commonwealth
from center to circumference. 1t is well
| known that the railroad interests have
| made up their minds to fight to the Bit
| ter end any attempt to iower their earn
ions of the supreme court of the United
States it would seem that they have good
| grounds to make contests, and with hope
of getting decision in their favor, which
| will lead them on to litigation of the
most tenacious sort If there is a battle
| drawn that Is so far reaching as 1t ap
| pears Is now anticipated.
Mr. Conner may not run, but 1t Is
| safe guess that he is seriously thinking
| of 1t now, and that he will come out un-
less he is pretty certain that he is going
to find perfect sympathy with the man
who is to be the next governor. If 1t
could have been developed that there
was really any potency IN the railroad
commission 1t is quite likely Mr. Conner
would not have thought seriously of
| making a shy into the field Cunningham
hoped to occupy exclusively. but the de-
cision that the commission is practically
helpless will his friends assert this week
be a very strong influence to pull him
into the race. In fact, one of his close
political and personal friends has said
that he did not see how he could keep
out of the race. following the complete
turn down he received In his efforts to re-
duce the rates.
For Lieutenant Governor.
There is left of the fellows after the
bigger officers in the gift of the state
the asprants for lieutenant governor. So
far only two men, Henry b. Gray of
Birmingham. and William II. Sanford of
Troy are openly aspirants. Mr. Gray has
the handicap of being from the same
county that will very likely provide the
governor, and will find IL hard to, get
over the prejudice this will bring about
He has, however the advantage of large
following In the north part of the state
and the good chance that all men have
In primary election. Mr.. Sanford comes
of one of the oldest families In the state
His father was the late lamented COVER
nor, who died in office. and he will have
large following from his friends. He
is in a different part of the state from
all the other candidates and will be
able to make the argument that he is
the only man from his section And. In
addition to all of this, he is a hard cam
paigner. a forceful speaker and had a
wide acquaintance. His brother. 7. d.
Sanford. was elected this week TO high
place in the grand lodge of the Knights
of Pythias and he himself. is a leading
member of the order. So ii looks as IL
there. might be some little fun In Ns
g.. &t.l