The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-28
must WORRY OVER
IMMENSE DEFICIT
Conditions in Treasury Make
Extra Session Of Congress
Absolutely Necessary
ABOUT u RATE I. REGULATION | i N
Not Likely That Committee Will
Report BillSThat Will Amount
to Anything.
ABOUT l:l y RATE |. E REGULATION |. VI on
,Fror1 Our Rev,,,5r correspondent.)

E
tally, It may be stated that the railroad
men who, are now being heard y are g ".
ing the committee much moro effective ctl,'
matter from the viewpoint Of the oppo-
nents OF the proposition than was given
the committee last winter. It sesms that
the subject OF government rate-maklng
is letter understood by the railroad men
than 1t was then. There was great yer.
boslty and much flounderng last winter
when the HOUSE Il COMMITTEES was con-
Quoting Its hearings. A Lack of digested
knowledge OF the subject was apparent.
Little Of this is evident now, and the
addresses or a arguments OF the railroad
lawyers. who have been taking up tho,
time OF the committee for ten days or
more, have been as concise and pointed
as arguments to q Jury. ~
But the hearings are decidedly dull
None Of the speakers have succeeded
in introducing any striklngly new mat
ter unless the; fat contradiction OF the
figures OF the Interstate CONNIE rce Com
mission streport relatives 10 the Increase
In railroad rates In the past few years
be excepted. M. sSWalker Hines. counsel
for the Louisville and Nashville, made
the CONTRACT ction. And 1t Is claimed by
some that he made good" But ne does
not possess the superhuman g1ft attri,s
buted to Mr.. Gladstone, OF. making all
figures interesting.F Y,
ing the apparently greater familiarity
which the lawyers for the railroads have
with tho subject now than they had. @
few months ~ ago. the result Of study
which had been neglected. remarked To-
day that the people were also more
familiar with the subject now than they
were when 4 IL came up in Congress last
winter. None has been more &Wloely
discussed In recent years. at least I Ie
has been a campaign OF education. IN:
deedStn those who wished to escape
obtaining Information on, the subject could
hardly have done 80 SO full have theS
papers been of sit,.sGIt remains to be seen
whether the content of some OF tho
sopponents Of government regulation, that
the neople are losing interest in the sub
tect, be correct. ItSis certainly true tnat
it does not occupy3so much space IN the
public < press. This: undoubte dlys Also ~!
is. in large part due to the tact .tna ~.
0of the Comraitteep on Interstate Com
merce should not haYe expected t .ltsi
sitting to investigate the subject to have
attracted as great III crest as discussion
az the subject IN Congress-, or BY one
Of the commit es o. that body during lr: 2
session. 49,.
y. The committee is Interested in tho &C.
I ton Of certain labor unions OF georgia,
and the Travellers Protective Assocla-
flor. IN protesting against the propo.l
5sition ~ the railroad 5cornmissio of that
state to reduce passenger rates to Two
cents q mile. There yareSthree at present.
trrha n brotherhood Of locomotive Ensi-j
neers the Order Of Railway Conductors
ana 7the Blacksm1t hs' II Machin ists' Tel
T. egraphers', Railway Trainmen. Carpen-,
ters'a ad Joiners', Clerks, and Garments
Unions all protested against the reouc-
ton, employing a lawyer TO .represen.
them before the commission. They urged
maj such a reduction would work against
the nrosperity Of the State and lead to
4 REDUCTION in the number OF railroad en-
q Moves, as well rs OF their wages. The
1rravele1s Protective Assoc citation OIL
GEORGIA also protested against the reduc-
ton on the ground that 1t would cause
fewer trains a day and poorer service:
II, is not believed. that there 10 anotn-
err case on record where there mas peol'
protest from the public against the re-
duction Of railway charges. There q 10
little prospect that the Interstate COM
merce Committee will make any startling
recommendations to- Congress. ne COM m
mittee will in oil probability report q
bill, But It will be such q little. ONE
as Jack Easy's wet-nurse is reported 70
have said, that 1t viii not do the shipper
any good or tho railroads any harm. Ihi Y
was true OF the Townsend Each PIN when
passed tho last House. It 6is likely TO pc
| true In more marked degree OF bin
with which Stephen 3. Elkins has any
thing to do, And he will have all TO 90
with the one the committee on inter-
state commerce, Of which he is the char
man, will report oEthe Senate next De-
cember or whenever the Congress- meets
/ THE President said early In March that
there would be an extra session called
| for the first OF October "sure pop. nc
/ added II an extra session was neces'
/ sary then Its necessity now is mucl
| more apparent. Indeed, It Is hard e
! sec how tho interests OF the country. car
afford to wait go long for relief. Wher
| the President made the remark quotec
/ he thought the deficit In the treasury
would amount to only eighteen m'!!lof
j this year, He had the assurance OF sec
i The deficit Is now about $50 0OO, ooU. Ihere
i are some who claim II will reach tSb ooo,'
4 90 by the end of the fiscal year. Josepl
8. Mccoy, the actuary Of the treasury
says 1t will not DO over $2S 1000. 0oO, Bu
/. ali admit 1t will BIO greater next year thar
this and greater the following year thal
next year. Something has to be done
There arc alternatives, TO the averag'
Democrat, 1t Will appear there Is only on
course to pursue: Reduce the tariff %
certain articles. so that there may Dc 70
venue from imports, The tariff a. pres
ent on many articles Ia so high as 70 D
prohibitory, There is no revenue 20 IN
government from the importatlon OF man.
articles OF commerce. They are not I'm
! ported and have not been since the pro
tectiye tariff OF William Mck lnley ma
been In operation, .i,,
There is much talk Of tariff on q
d coffee Imported other than from Fort
. Rico and the Philippines. But. the 10
yorite Republican campaign cry Of tn
poor mans free breakfast tab g. !. stan 2
in the way, 1t Is said that q tnrif r. OF ny
cents pound on coffee would wipe on
the tax on spirits and beer was increase'
to So, 1T was out In half after the wa