The National tribune., 1908-11-05

as to what he will say and recommend
He will be thrown more or less II
| the shadow by the new President
| who is now the President-designate
if one wishes to be accurate, and who
will be actually President-elect only
after the Electoral College has met
and the announcement of the vote
has been made before Senate and
House in joint assembly.
Revision of the Tariff.
The big legislative theme, however,
will be the revision of the tariff, to
which the new President stands COM
mitted, and which is to be undertaken
soon after he is inaugurated. The ex-
piring Congress will do considerable
preliminary work in the preparation
of that bill. The Ways and Means
Committee of the House and the FL
nance Committee of the Senate have
already had experts at work gathering
a great amount of data for their guild
ance as soon as Congress meets. They
have sent circular letters through the
State Department to many United
States Consuls abroad and have sought
the cost of labor and of materials in
divers European countries that pro-
duce manufactured goods in competi-
ton with the United States. They have
also had experts at work along with
the customs appraisers to ascertain
how the classifications of goods, which
never has been at all perfect in any
tariff law, can be improved.
The inquiries by the Consuls have
been successful as regards the cost
Of wages abroad, but not successful as
to the cost of materials. The Euro
pean manufacturers hold that the
cost of the materials they use is a
trade secret and that they can not be
expected to make it public for the
benefit of any competitors In the
United States or elsewhere. Therefore
it is altogether probable that the
Ways and Means Committee must rely
upon other sources of information If
it is to learn how much more the
materials for a yard of fine broad
cloth, for example, costs in Europe
than the same materials cost in the
United States nt ifs-
But while there will be hustle and
hustle all Winter long in the big
Ways and Means Committee room,
where the revision bill is to be pre-
pared-a hustle and hustle that will
be warranted in some respects, because
the Ways and Means Committee has
to support a deal of dignity, and for
twelve long years has had little else
to do-the Capitol will be agog with
interest in other matters. How the
waking hours! All the preparations
of the new President for entering upon
his four years term will concern the
legislators. The leaders In Senate and
House will be wondering how they are
going to get along with the new man
in the White House.
Day after day and week after week
there will be a procession of impor-
tant men coming to Washington. Some
will have been visiting at the home
of the President-elect and will bring
tidings of the plans for legislation and
of the ideas about what Congress
should do with revision and with
lot of other matters. And then the
more serious minded legislators will
have their hands full looking out for
the appropriations, about billion dol
lars Of which must be authorized and
voted In the three months that Con-
gress will be In session. AS the ses-
sion lasts only about 20 days, elm
mating Sundays and the Christmas
holiday recess, Congress will have to
appropriate to the tune of about s15,-
100000 a day for every week day
that it meets. Think Of the work
there is in scanning and in preparing
an appropriation of SIS 100000.
There will be few Saturday holidays
on the Hill. The House will work
six days of a week every week, and
1t will not be long before the wheels
will be whirring in the Senate. too.
There will be a rush and crush as
the numerous bills seek to get through
and reach the President before the
Congress expires and new Admins
tration begins. Exhiliration. that at
tends the trooping Of big events heel
and toe, will prevail among the fire.
quenters of the Senate and House. But
there will also be the departures from
public life, which always form a fea-
ture of regret with the expiration of
Congress. The Vice-President and
many Senators step down and out and
are constantly reminded of the fact
that it is their last session. The de.
partures, nevertheless, will be fewer
than usual this year in the Senate.
Permanency in Congress.
The seasoned Congressman will be
much in evidence in the National
House for the next two years, what
ever the party majority may prove to