The Washington times., 1908-12-22
Republicans at Once Get
Ready to Report a Bill
TO Congress in March.
CARNEGIE FAILS
TO SHE'D LIGHT
Result of Testimony of Iron King
Does Not Aid Work of
the Legislators.

With expressions OF good will, eX,
changed by Republicans and Demo
Gratis, the Ways and Means Committee
today concluded its hearing. and the
Republicans Immediately held a meet
ing to begin the framing OF the tarin
bill that Will be presented to the House
early In the extra session Of Congress.
Chairman Payne thanked the mem
bcrs Of the committee for their faithful
attendance, and BourIIe Cochran,
speaking as the senior member of the
democratic side. said that ia his opinion
the hearing had been the fullest and
fairest that hau ever been held
W y Graham Clark, an expert in
the employ Of the Department of Com
merce and Labor, was the only witness
vino appeared before the committee to-
day. Mr. Clark recently returned from
Europe, where he made exhaustive in
VCStIGd tons into the textile industry,
and his testimony today vas devoted
entirely TO wooden and cotton goods
He said that cotton wool fabrics were
manufactured in England At a Consid-
crably lower cost than the United
states. The prohibi;oTy duty on rags
and shOddy, ne said, deprived the manu-
faCtUTer i'm this country of "a valuable
raw material
no Reason, Says Clark
In response 10 questions 10y Mr.. Hill.
Of Connecticut, who is a wooden manu-
racturcr. he said that there is no good
reason for this prohibitory duty and
that the compensatory duty should be
based on the average Shriukage I'm the
wool instead Of having the shrinkaEe
arbitrarily nNed at 65.7 per cent. lie CX-
PRESSED the opinion that the conn eusa-
tory duty Of * OF ! per cent was too
small 10 meet the average ShTinkage
In tn T4-
witness said that there Is a growing
depreciation in the quality Of wooden
goods each year. He said that tnlS waS
the result Of the high price of wool and
also the high cost OF production. This
depreciation in quality he said, also is
true in England.
When the hearing was closed Chair
man Payne announced that no more
the committee, but that others miFl t
be Summoned If the members felt th.t
they desired fuller Information on Ger
tain schedules.
Carnegie No Help.
1t was rumored today that the IestI-
mony Of Andrew Carnegie cIouded rath-
er than cleared Up the uncertainty about
what should be done on the steel sched-
ule. and there is a possibility that
Henry c trick, formerly one OF AIr
Carnegie s partners, nay be called Il
was aid also that Judge Gary. chair
man OF the board of directors OF the
United states Steel Corporation. might
be recalled TO Straighten out some OF Ila
discrepancies between his testimony and
mat OF Mr. Carnegie It is generally
admitted tuat most OF the members Of
the committee are agreed that there
SHOULD p" a substantial reduction in the
steel schedule, and il was for the Dlrr-
pose OF throwing light on this subject
md 10 get at the basis of his MAGAZINE
article That Mr.. Carnegie was sum
moned-
Members OF the committee had no
Carnegie. instead Of dealing i'm con
crete facts and figures. made his argu-
mentS on broad lines and successfully
eNddeu every attempt TO compel him
10 give minute tabulatiOn of the cost
"i steel manufacture from the ore beds
uhJi the finished product IS put On the
car.
Want More Information.
His refutation, however, Of some Of
the statements made by Judge Gary
and Charles NJ Schwab. president Of
the Bethlehem Steel COMPANY. and his
oit-repeated statement that steel mon
throughout the country. generally. adj
mt the useleSsnCss of the tarfff as a
protection % their industry. led sew
cIal OF the members to believe that they
should have further information on the
SUBJECT W neither or not further wit
neSSeS to testify to the steel schedule
VIII be summoned probably will not he
ISclded upon definitely until after The
Christmas holidays
Chairman Payne indicated TODAY that
ne was anxious TO spend Christmas at
ms home in New York State. and his
absence would mean, Of course, that
no work could be done by the committee
until after his return 10 Washington.
Will Receive Briefs.
The committee will receive briefs from
those who have not personally appear
Ell at the hearing, but there already is
such mass Of evidence on hand that
the committee viii not guarantee that
these written arguments will appear in
me nrSt volume to be printed for the
information Of Congress. They will
appear, however, in supplementary
volume 10 be printed later
The attitude to be taken BY the Dem
ocra1c members Of the committee has
not yet been determined. It is under
stood. however, that a meeting will he
held soon and at that time. the course
10 be pursued by the minority will be
decided upon. There is a feeling that
he Democrats are practically assured
that Chairman Payne and his associates
VIII bring in a bin calling for real re-
vision downward ana. with this In
mind, the minority leaders may decide
10 postpone action until they are ac-
with what the Republicans