The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-03-27
NO TARIFF REVISION
 AT PRESENT SESSION
WHAT MAY BE REGARDED AS FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT
 AGAINST IT.

Letter of Chairman Payne of the House
 Ways and Means Committee to Rep-
 resentative McCall-C0ncurrent View
 of Majority of Party in Power, Nec-
 essary for Change in Tariff, Want
 ing-Majority in House Against
 Change.
 Washington, March 26.-What may be regarded as the final pronouncement against tariff revision at the present session of congress is contained in let ter from Chairman Payne, of the house ways and means committee, in reply to a communication sent him by Repre- sentative Mccall, on behalf of the Mas sachusetts delegation in congress. MT. Mccall calls attention in his communi- cation to the declaration in the repub lican state platform of Massachusetts for tariff revision, with adherence to the policy of protection; and to the dec- laration in the republican national plat form regarding the readjustment of du- ties when conditions demand, and en- trusting the question to republican president and congress. The Massachu- setts view as presented is that condi- tions have so changed as to demand a change in the Dingley rates, which have served nine years.
 In his reply MT. Payne first calls att tention to the method by which tariff legislation must be brought about-by a concurrent view of the majority of the party in power. He next points out that this concurrent view does not ex- ist. The house, he says, is divided into groups of members, each group favor ing the modification of different sched- ules, while he says majority of the re- publicans in the house do not believe that, there should be any change at all. He declares that the people have not forgotten the disaster, politically and commercially, which followed the tariff change of 1890, and concludes with the following:
 Congress is not prepared to review the tariff schedules in that calm, judi cal frame of mind so necessary to the preparation of a tariff act at a time so near the coming congressional elections. The Dingley bill was the most success full ever enacted Its practical results were so evident to the country during the eighteen months that elapsed be- tween it's passage and the next election that the people have continued the pol icy of that bill to the present day. It IWould be unfortunate should any pre- clpitate action in the future result in a temporary reversal in the policy of protection in the United States.
 While it is true that some improve nent could well be made in the rates under the Dingley bill, now probably as free from defect at the time of It's pas sage as any new law which could now be enacted. During the. nine years of it's operation the country has enjoyed prosperity unparalleled, prosperity which at the present time Is simply marvellous. We may well hesitate to take any chance of interrupting the business of the country by general revision of the tariff, and we shsuld never enter upon it until we are satis- fled that such a revision will accom- plish results far outweighing any well grounded apprehension of business de- pression and consequent evil results which would come even temporarily from such revision,
 "I cannot, therefore, agree with your delegation that it would be best at the present session of congress to enter upon a consideration of the tariff with view to it's revision and readjust- ment. While this Is my individual opinion, I have reason to believe that 1t is also the judgment of decided ma jority of the committee on ways and means"