New-York tribune., 1905-06-09
SUICIDAL "sTAND-PATTERS'7
One View of the Special Session Post.
ponement

To the Editor of The Tribune
Sir: 1t is with sincere disappointment ana regret
that learn from the Washington dispatches ina,
the President has definitely determined to post
none the special session OF Congress untii aIter
rho fall elections and that he expects that
the next Congress will convene on November H.
This / fear. indefinitely postpones that readJuse-
nient of the tariff schedules which l. with many
other Republican protectionsts, regard as esseh'ia
to n proper administration of the protective sys-
tenn as we'll as to the fu1lrnent OF Republican
pledges President Mckinley foresaw the necessity
of readusting the Dinsey schedules To suit changed
conditions after the war with Spain. and president
Roosevelt has given abundant evidence Of his ap-
probation of that necessity and yet he has now
taken a step of which the ''stand-patters Will GER
tainly try to take advantage TO prevent any tarii
changes by the next Congress
The President wrote in his message to Congress
last fall 'On the tariff / shall communicate with
you later" 1t is true that these words were
stricken out of the copy which finally was sent to
Congress- but that they were in the original draft
Is proved by the fact that they appeared In the
text rs printed in numerous papers. more or less
remote from Washington, which were Doubtless
unable to make the correction ordered at the eiev-
enth hour That President Roosevelt did conrnuni-
cate with Congress this subject later although
not in formal message. / learned from The Irio-
une's Washington Bureau dispatches, notably In
The Tribune of January g. where account was given
of a Saturday afternoon conference at the White
House which was attended by the leaders of both
houses In that and several subsequent dispatches
IT was stated that Speaker Cannon and other stand
pntters in the told the President that. while
they did not believe any change in the tariff act.
if any were to be made 1t should be at a special
spring session. that ample time would be ar
forded the business of the country to become
adjusted to the new conditions before the cleo
tions of the autumn of 1906. Senator Aldrich and
other members the Senate urged that the special
session be deferred until the coming fall. and
Speaker Cannon objected that II a tariff debate
were started in the Senate, where closure rule
obtained, ii would be prolonged by the Democrats
throughout the special session and so long into the
regular session to imperil the success at the
polls of the members OF the House who n1rst stand
for reelection the following fall To this Senator
Aldrich replied that he could assure the President
and the Speaker that with a fall session there
would be no such delay. and the President accepted
the assurance so that The Tribune of January S,
the day after the conference. announced positively
that the special session had been deferred until
fall probably early in October
The sincerity of Senator Aldrich promptly
demonstrated. The Tribune of January 13 con-
tanned a Washington Bureau dispatch announcing
the fact that he had secured agreement with
Senator German, the Democratic leader, whereby
the Democrats in the Senate would refrain from
1libusterfng and would permit the tariff BILL which
was expected from the House. to TO vote
before final adjournment of the special session.
It cannot be expected, however, that even IL the
House could perfect tariff bill and send it to the
Senate within the three weeks between November
13 and December 4. Senator German could be held
O the pledge he made for his party in the Senate
when il understood that the session was TO
be early in October
Some effective reasons why. in view OF this post
ponement there should be special session have
been supplied and of the opinion that there
will be none. In any event / cannot but fear that
tariff readjustment will be effectually postponed
for several years. In the notification of the
AIdrich-Gorman agreement the argument of Speak
er Cannon against taking up the tariff at session
Immediately preceding regular election is revived
With all it's pristine force. The impracticability of
changing the schedules at short session vas
been well recognized so that there certainly seems
session Of the next succeeding Congress some time
after March T. 1907. and there will be the usual
excuse of the ''eve of Presidential election.
The experience of the Panama Canal Commission
has clearly demonstrated to the entire nation the
ir Justice of perpetuating tariff schedules have
outgrown: the President has himself declared that
the existing schedules Incompatible with the
'tso,lare deal" and the Republican party will
tanly be held account for its failure to take the
steps necessary to securing even-handed justice"
That the protective policy properly administered is
almost ideal has been clearly demonstrated in the
past but its improper application is certain to
brig it into disrepute. driving the people to the
opposite extreme, and House elected on free
trade platform will be the inevitable outcome of
this continued disregard by the Republican party
New-York. June g. 1905 A B. C. D.