Middletown transcript., 1906-03-10
WAsHINdT0NLETTER


WAsHINdroN D. G. MARcH 81, 1906.
ALMOST to certainty the Philippines
- will have to wait another session for
tariff legislation which the Secretary Of
War and the Bureau Of InsuIar Affairs
has declared absolutely necessary for
their commercial development. The
Payne Tariff Bill has been killed in com
mittee in the Senate, aid while it is a
possibility that it may be called up by
the chairman on resolution on the ho1r,
this course is not considered likely. The
yotein the committee is said to have been
six to seven. What show the bill would
have should it get before the Senate is
questionable. 1t passed tile House by an
almost unamous vote, but there was fore
boding then that something would hap
pen to it in the Senate, and it is possible
the opponents OF the joint statehood bill
will take heart from this defeat of the tar
iff measure as Indicating that their friends
have s'delvered the goods" on the tariff
question and the combination will work
equally well on the statehood proposition.
II the action Of the Senate committee al,o
means the death OF the Joint Statehood
Bill, many people willthink the discomfi-
ture of the islanders was a cheap price to
pay for it. The Statehood Bill has been
politics, and small politics at that, from tile
start. There would be many dry eyes over
the demise OF the measure. As to the
Payne Bill, ilmay be well to recall that it
provided for free tarde with islands except
in the case of tobacco, rice and sugar. These
were to he admitted at 25 per cent. OF the
Dingley rates whereas they now pay 20
per cent 1t was claimed by the oppo-
nents of the measure that its passage
would mean immediate and immense de-
velopment OF the three crops named with
the result Of killing these industries in
the United United States. Consequently
the bill has been fought bitterly by the
sugar, tobacco and rice interests, which
are all very powerful. Whether the
forebodings they expressed were well
founded will remain mystery for sone-
time to come, but the officials who had
studied the problem on the ground de-
clared such fears unfounded and said that
the passage of the bill would merely
mean a general impetus to trade between
this country and the archipelago and
would never food the United States with
cheap sugar, rice and tobacco.
~
Senate Doliver has come out strongly
for the unamended Hepburn rate bill in
the Senate despite the fact that Senator
Tillman is in charge OF the measure. The
whole rate situation is SO beautifully and
hopelessly mixed that it is hard to say
what the result will be when the smoke
OF oratory clears away. But it looks as
though the question Of indical review
would be tackled on to the bill and there
might be a couple of other comparatively
unimportant amendments. President
Roosevelt has expressed himself as satis-
fed with the amendments proposed, and
if he is not nobody thinks he will hesitate
much at confding his views to the Senate.
He claims now as heretofore that all he
wants is action, and he will not stand out
on either verbiage or political effect. He
was much interested in the fate OF the
Payne Bill and said frankly that it ought
to pass. But il there is any really vicious
tampering with the rate bill, the White
House may be relied on to make itself ac-
lively unpleasant. And inst how un-
pleasant it can be on occasion, the pres
ent Congress has not run the i,k If iir.d-
ing out.
NJ