The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-03-15
HATCH DOES
HARD WORK
How the Philippine Tar
if Bill Was
Beaten.
cMafl Special to the Advertiser)

here has been the killing of I'll
| Philippine tariff bill. A little work ha
| been done on the refunding bill, Nh
| w. O. Smith, of Honolulu, before de
| narting Thursday last having seel
| Speaker Cannon and others in com
| pany with Judge F. NJ. Hatch. While
| thew had a more favorable interview
! with Speaker Cannon than they ex
| pected, there has been little of marked
| interest in connection with the refund
| ing measure.
The action of the Philippines Com
mittee. which is undoubtedly already
known in Honolulu, was very much OF
a surprise It had been generally be-
lieved that the bill would have hard
shedding and that it might be defeated
but it was hardly believed that the
majority against reporting it would be
to 5. Several motions were made,
one to report it favorably, one to re-
port it adversely. and also one to re-
port it without prejudice. So firmly
did the opponents of the measure have
the situation in their grasp that they
were able to defeat every one of these
motions, which buried the bill eTectu-
ally in the committee.
HATCH'S HARD WORK.
No one man has more reason to feel
ssratified at the result than Judge
Hatch. He has worked constantly for
the defeat of that bill. practically to
the exclusion of everything else since
the hearings began in the Ways and
Means Committee. He has formulated
arguments against the enactment of
such legislation and based them on
broad grounds, likely to appeal to
Senators. Besides opposing the bill in
committee he has done much more by
personal appeals. His methods have
been quiet ones, as they necessarily
had to be, and have been very effec-
tive. His old time friendships in Wash
ington stood him in good stead as did
his excellent tact in handling every
phase of the situation which present
ed itself to him.
duction of sugar in Cuba, which has
increased very largely since the en-
actment of the reciprocity resolution
and assurances that this would be re-
peated in the Philippines, were among
the very effective arguments used by
Judge Hatch. He had all the figures
on the Cuban and Philippine situations
at his fingers ends and impressed ev-
cry man he talked with by his wealth
of information on the subject. Again
he argued quite as much the injurious
effect the opening of the sugar market
would shave upon beet sugar producers
as upon Hawaiians. Thereby he kept
in full accord with the beet sugar in
tereSts. A Senator, who has followed
the Philippine bill very closely, both
in this and previous Congresses re-
marked today that Hawaii had never
been more efficiently represented here
in a case before a committee.
The attitude of the Democrats on the
bill was not without interest. In the
House they voted for it because they
believed it in the line of tariff reduc-
ton, to which the Democratic party
is committed. In the Senate Commit
tee some of the Democrats voted
against the bill, because they think it's
enactment would draw the Philippines
closer to the United States and make
it more difficult ever to grant them
Independence. Accordingly, they placed
the question of imperialism in the
present instance more important than
the question of tariff revision.
THE BILL IS DEAD.
ing the action of the Philippines COM
mittee as sounding the death knell of
that measure. 1t is certainly out of
the way for quite time, but whether
it can eventually be resurrected is an
other question. Perhaps, towards the
end of the session, after the rate regu-
lation bill has been disposed of some
effort may be made to revive the meas
ure. But if this is done it can only
happen along lines that the most of
the present opponents of the bill APP
prove. 1t might be materially amend
ed and put through the Senate in the
closing days.
Mr.. George B. Mcclellan went to the
War Department yesterday for con-
sultation with Gen. Alexander McKen-
Zie, chief OF army engineers, to ascer-
tain whether the $4,000 appropriated
by Congress on the urgent deficiency
bill for the filing in of quarantine is
land could not be used Immediately.
He found that under the law it is
probably necessary to first advertise
for bids for the filling in of the is
land, which would take a little time.
He promised. however. to refer the
matter to the Judge Advocate General
to ascertain whether some way can
not be found to expedite the usual
procedure, because of the opportunity
for the firm now dredging Honolulu
harbor to begin promptly on the work.
ERNEST G. WALKER.