The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-12-15
THE i
BIG QUESTION
By Ernest @. walker.


iffl tariff tarifl Congressman are in
town. More are coming by almost
every train. Meet them and talk with
them at the Capitol; in the corridors
or in the committee rooms. They want
to talk about nothing but tariff-tariff
and schedules, revising up or down,
about fixing maximum and mini
mum.
In the departments, at the desks of
the "big.uns," the same words and
phrases well forth in the conversation.
Tariff tariff 1t supplants other
themes. The city is full of visitors.
The hotels are reaping a harvest The
visitors, too, talk of tariff and sched-
ules
All this at first glance might seem
passing strange. The Congressman are
not coming to town to revise the tariff.
Their immediate task is the short SEES
sion, at which billion dollars in APP
preparations must be voted. One would
hardly ever realize it these days unless
he happens to encounter some old cod
ger of the Senate or the House Appro.
priations Committee. Such a one will
grumble to you about the stupendous
totals of annual appropriations and in
innate that the country is going to the
bowwows unless 500 Senators and
members will cooperate vigorously in
pruning efforts. But the 9ppropria-
tions members are conservative men.
They often have to sound the alarm.
Ever on the watch tower, they grumble
and criticize when all their colleagues
of legislation are taking up the popular
subjects of legislation.
Manufacturers to the Front.
And at present all the legislative at
tentiOn of the country is conferred upon
the framing of the tariff bill. The
Ways and Means Committee is in daily
session, taking up schedule after sched-
ule, hearing a cloud of witnesses, con-
Quoting keen cross-examinations, re.
viving the controversies between the
advocates of high protection and low
tariffs, and fighting over the hundred
and one battles that are preliminary to
a revision. Such legislation touches
in some degree the welfare of every
living person in the United States.
Thus far these people in general have
been showing very little interest in the
proceedings. The persons and corpo-
rations engaged in manufacturing and
in exporting and importing have been
most to the front.
But all the same the tariff is the one
live topic, and will be the one live
topic of the Washington winter. Under
| the circumstances it is little wonder
that no one is mentioning the short SEES
sion of Congress, which will assemble
now in few short days and remain in
session for the remainder of President
Roosevelt's administration,
The wheels of legislation will begin
to turn speedily, however; will begin
to turn almost as soon. as the session
convenes on December z, at II o'clock
noon. All the machinery is adjusted
for immediate operations. The organi
cation of both Senate and House is as
complete as the day when Congress ad
journed last spring. In fact, it is about
the same as though Congress had taken
a recess then for three days.
But nobody is talking about legisla
ton for that session. No carefully laid
plans are making for getting big bills
through. Of course, the President
wants something done for reform il
labor matters. He will probably recon-
mend several enactments of genera
nature. But even his best friends il
Congress have little hope that his rec
concentrations will be seriously con
sidered.
No Time for Such Tasks.
"There is just one argument the
President can not overcome,'' quotl
one of the older sages of the Senate
Appropriations Committee the other day
"We have no time for general legisla
ton"
And so it will surely be. There ma,
be spasmodic attempts to arouse inter
est for some general legislation that tn,
President wants. A few of the younge
enthusiasts in Senate and House may b.
fred up to action and into efforts t,
drive some legislation through. The,
will get interviews and statements int
the public prints as to what must b
done. All the while the old leaders o
appropriations will be busy with thei
own knitting. They will be FRAMING
up the fourteen annual appropriation
bills, dumping those bulky budgets int
the House of representatives, guidin
the same to a final vote there, and the
|
the Appropriations Committee know
that they have the floor, that appropria
ton bills are privileged and can crow
aside any of the favorite measures tn
White House may be favoring. A
best there will be a great crush an
frantic toll to get the appropriation
bills all completed before March
comes.
All the Senators and all the member
are aware of that And therefore the
are looking ahead to the extra session
Therefore they are talking about tn
tariff, planning and scherhing to &c
into that bill what their own constitl
ents want, arranging trades with othe
; members and other Senators. The tart
law is likely to be on the statute book
for long time, perhaps for ten year
. Therefore it is all the more desirable
. in the eyes of Senators and member
= to get the schedules enacted that wi
be satisfactory TO the folks at hofn
They are going to strain all their Ell
ergies to that end. for the present, wit
the Ways and Means Committee
y they do not succeed there, then with til