West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1906-04-19
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
The President and Senator Tillman
on The Rate Bill.
THE SENATE NOT READY TO VOTE
The Labor Unions Now Threaten To
Enter Politics.
From our regular correspondent.

WASHINGTON April II, 1000
Better than any other indications
that the rate bill is approaching a
vote is the fact that debate is
languishing. Senator Tillman has
not found it any easy job working
for the "White House." as some of
his enemies tantalizingly put it, but
he has stood up manfully to the
task, and it is quite possible that he
and the President understand each
other better than some members of
he Senate who are more frequent
callers at the Executive Mansion.
Senator Tillman this week rounded
to on both the Democratic and Re-
publican membera when he found
that there was no more "warm air"
read and said that he had done the
best he could in circulating notice
that there was open time for any
member who wanted to talk and
that If il we've true, as appeared
from the silence, that all the Sena-
tors had had their say, he could not
see why date should not be set for
a vote. The truth is that the Sen.
ate Is hot yet ready for a vote. The
leaders of the two wings are still
busy aligning their forces and they
do not want to tie themselves down
to day till they are assured that
they have enough votes pledged to
carry the rate bill as they want it.
OF course one side or the other is
going to be disappointed, but that
disappointment must come reason
ably soon. Possibly il will be as
early as the first of May. 1t does
not look now as though the evil day
could be put off much longer.
Meantime the President stands
much as he always stood. He has
been amused by the varying stories
tnat have been circulated as to his
attitude. Some say that he is won
over to the Knox amendment, others
that he is in favor of the Bailey
amendment, and still others that he
is for original Hepburn bill. staunch
and unamended. As a matter of
fact no one can put their finger on
any utterance of his in favor of the
Hepburn bill or of any other bill.
He will take the Hepburn bill for
lack of anything better il it comes
his way. He will not shy at any
amendment that will make it better
or stronger. But it can be said that
he will not be satisfied with having
it weakened. Most newspapers and
good many senators seem hope
lessly at sea as to kow bad a rate
measure would have to be before
the President would exercise the
veto right on it. Possibly he has
not yet made up his mind himself.
But 1t would not have to be much
worse than the Hepburn bill to bring
this about. Anyhow Congress will
know when it passes measure Of
some sort and sends it to the White
House.
The Ship Subsidy Bill is again
raising its head and it is said that
the friends of that measure have
been trying to make a deal with the
tariff revisionists TO see whether
they could help each other. The
Committe on Merchant Marine and
Fisheries has been holding hearings
all this week for the benefit of those
interested IN subsidy. There have
been number Of more or less in
terested Witnesses who proved more
or less interesting. Edwin Cramp
was one Of the witnesses for the
shipyard interests and he voiced the
general sentiment very well when he
said, 1--WE don't care much wha,
you give us, so you give us some
thing He told Of the relative
prices of steel at home and abroad
declaring it was a myth that steel
bad been sold abroad much cheaper
than the same manufacturers would
sell It here. He said that the whole
trouble with American shipbuildine
was that labor cost two thirds more
here than IL did abroad and that az
labor was two thirds the cost Of q
ship there was no wonder that We
could not compete with foreign
yards. All this may be true, though
as to the cost Of material here anc
abroad, il is radically different from
what is generally believed to be tn,
facts. 1t is also different from wha
has been shown by consular reports
to be facts at different times in tn,
past. As to the cost Of labor, il Il
quite true that the American work
man gets much more than the labor
J er abroad. AZ the same time h,