The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-25
Taft and His Party Leaders
 Have Failed to Agree
SOME BILLS OBNOXIOUS
Administration Bill on Interstate Com merce Does Not Suit the Senate and Other Matters Are in
 Dispute.
BY PATTERSON sTEALEY.

BY PATTERSON STEALEY. Washington, December 2+-(special.)- No programme of legislation on railroad Il and corporation matters or on postal savings banks has yet been worked out on which the Senate leaders and Pres ident Taft can stand. It is a question whether they will be able to reach an agreement. Important conferences have been held of late and others will be held through the holiday recess for the purpose of trying to arrive at an agreement It is not yet possible to say whether one will be reached. Unless there is an agree ment either by the end of the holidays or soon afterward it is llasly there will be no legislation this session, either on railroad matters, on corporation ques- tions, or on postal savings banks. The Senate leaders will not accept the administration bill dealing with Inter state commerce questions. They have given the President to understand this pretty clearly. For months Attorney General Wickersham has worked on bill which was too drastic to suit the managers of the big railroads or the Senate leaders
 
 down 1t may be expected to meet the opposition of the Senate chiefs. One of the features of this bill which is oD- jected to would give the interstate com merce commission the tight to investi- gate a proposed increase of a rate and forbid the increase to 70 into effect. The railroads are strongly opposed to this Some other features are also ob- jected to-
 No Agreement Reached.
 When it comes to postal savings legis- lation the leaders will not accept all the ideas of the President. Nor have they come to any agreement with him as to a national incorporation law.
 President Taft is standing thus far pretty firmly by the ideas which he thinks ought to be incorporated into the railroad laws and the other legislation referred to. But there is every reason to believe that such senators as Hale, Aldrich and other conservatives will stand their ground just as firmly.
 The fact impelling compromise is that the administration and the Senate leaders realize that there is a political crisis at hand They fear the results to the party if this Congress adjourns next spring and the cry goes up that it has been do-nothing Congress. The mind of the public is apparently bent on getting legislation on some or all of the matters referred to. The fear that un- less something is done the republicans will lose control of the House may in- duce concessions on all hands and bring about an agreed programme of legisla- ton.
 All along the Senate and House lead CTS have been trying to effect coalition with the President which would leave the insurgents out in the cold and bring about a situation wherein it would ap- pear the insurgents were fighting a force composed of the President and the old regime in the Senate and House. But the question now is on what terms the Congress leaders can get together with the President.
 Document Ia Misleading.
 Members of Congress who, in defense of their votes for the measure, have been sending out senate document D5 as an argument in favor of the Aldrich-Payne tariff law need not be surprised at the sudden development of strong opposition to the law.
 And it will be due to the distribution of the document by the congressman who have been thus trying to set themselves right.
 It was discovered this morning that the pamphlet, supposed to be a bulletin on the fight for control of the house by those who held sway when the tariff bill was passed, Is a boomerang. Instead of getting on the target of the opposition, it turns and hits the sender.
 Strenuous efforts are being made at the Capitol today by the document rooms of both houses and by senate and house leaders to suppress the document.
 Copies which reached the hands of the newspaper men in bold letters on the out side were marked Suppressed" There is hustle to get hold of all copies which have left the document rooms and which have not yet reached their destination.
 The document contains an article on 'The Payne Tarin Law" prepared by Representative Samuel w. Mccall. It was asked to be printed by Senator Lodge of Massachusetts, so that 1t could be sent free through the mails. It was intended to present strong arguments in behalf of the new tariff law,
 Cooper 10 Startled.
 When Representative Cooper, chairman of the house committee on printing was reading the document yesterday he was startled by coming across this statement: s.It appears that duties had been in- creased upon necessary articles consumed by the American people to the amount of i've billion dollars worth annually, while they had been increased upon unnecessary articles consumed to the amount of only $273,O00000 each year,
 An increase of $5.0oo,0 100000 on neces- saries.
 That was what startled the house mem- Der.
 "Decreased by five billion dollars." 1t should have read. That was what Repre- sentative Mccall wrote in the article.
 The error was called to the attention of the house document room The senate room was in turn notified. The suppress sion of the publication was immediately ordered.
 The Government Printing Office is charged with the error. At Senator Lodges offIce today 1t was stated that. the copy for the article, as sent to the Government Printing Ofice, read 'De- creasedy in regard to the hve-bilion-dol- 1a< statement.