Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-07-17

IseveraI weeks, cultivating his garden
and watching the crops. was among
the first of the Maine arrivals. He took
readily to the swinging chair well in
the center of the House, where his
desk is and found it no difficult task
to pass from agriculture to legislation
at one fell swoop. Representatives
| Burleigh, Swasey and Guernsey We're
also on the job and all helped vote the
tariff bill into conference. But after
that three hour session the Maine men,
as well as a large cOterie of other
representatives, found time hanging as
heavily on their hands as ever. Wash
ington is not the busiest city in the
world in mid-July. The Departments
are not doing very much, for half the
employees are away on vacation. And
accordingly. it is little use to attempt
to do many errands with departmental
officials and most of the Representa-
tives are sitting around twirling their
| thumbs and waiting for the conference
to finish it's deliberations.
All the New England Congressman
are i'll the same plight. They do not
care to return home, because the con-
ference on the tariff might conclude
inside of week and the moment the
conference concludes, business will be
rushing in the Senate and House and
every man will be expected to be in his
seat The waiting may be matter OF
a few days or it may be a matter of
two or three weeks and on that one
mars guess is as good as another's.
Most of the state delegations in Sen
ate and House are hanging earnestly
over the work of the tariff conferees
this week. That is because most of
the states have favorite items on the
bill, which the Senate enacted few
days ago and these favorite items are
hanging between the contentious of
five Senate Republicans and six House
Republicans. Maine, however. is in
pretty good shape in that regard.
The paper mills and the cotton mills
up in Maine are very much concerned
about the duty on bleaching powder
and want it kept at one-fifth of a cent
a pound, as the House voted, rather
than at onehalf a cent a pound as the
Senate voted at the instance of Senator
Burrows, of Michigan, in which state
considerable bleaching powder is made.
The lime burners down ROckland way
would like to have the duty on their
product kept at 10 cents hundred
pounds, as the Senate voted. instead of
cents a hundred, as the House voted.
Those who have something to do in one
way or another in the making of potato
starch in Maine, would like tapioca and
sage flour assessed with a duty when
those articles are used as starch and
not as a food product. The mating
mills, at Sanford, want high specific
duties retained on certain grades of
mating to keep out Japanese cOmpe-
tition. The Senate voted the higher
rates on these grades.
The old fight over the duty on paper,
in which the paper mills of Maine are
tremendously interested, is raging in
conference, where it is to be deter
mined whether paper shall pay a duty
of 81 a ton, which the House favors or
81 ton, which the Senate favors, or a
duty at some intermediate figure. Some
of the big metropolitan papers want
the lower duty and are bringing all the
influence at their command to obtain
it. Then there are several shoe fac
tories in the Pine Tree State with an
interest in the rates finally fixed on
boots and shoes and sole leather and
hides. The proprictorS of saw mills
and the logging companies and their
employees will be glad to know what
the conference decides about duties on
rough and dressed lumber.
The only real working man just at
present among the Pine Tree Staters
in Congress is Senator Hale, of Ellis
worth The Conference on the tariff is
progressing forenoon, afternoon and
evening and as one of the five Republi-
can conferees, who has important
local interests to look after for his
constituents not to mention the general
interests, political and national, en-
trusted to him in part, he has his hands
full.
Because of trouble with his throat,
the Senator was directed by his physi-
clan late in June to take a little rest
trip to Maine. He returned here a few
days ago much refreshed. His throat
trouble had practically disappeared and
the Senator was in good shape for the
ordeal of the Conference. These con-
ferences over tariff bills are very tedi-
Gus. They involve constant contests
AS matter of principle the Senate
conferees fight for the items which the
| 'NtIldlc IdSSSI, anu Tie IlOuSc COllLeIe eS
fight for the items that the
House passed. The conferees are
naturally put under something of a
strain. They are well aware that al
most 500 legislators are restless, anx-
ious to pass the tariff bill and get home,
but at the same time the work must be
performed satisfactorily in conference
or there might be danger of the re-
lection of the conference agreement in
one house or the other, which would
mean bad tangle, party demoraliza-
ton, and persistent delay.
Senator Hale is an old hand in con-
ferences. Almost ever since he has
come to Congress he has been Il mem
Der of appropriation committees and
those committees handle the largest
conference reports. During the last
ten or fifteen years Senator Hale has
been a member of half a dozen con-
ferences annually on big appropria-
ton bills. He has had more experience
in that line than any other member OF
the Senate and in some ways. his ser
vices will be very valuable to Congress
and to the party in the tariff conference