The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1909-05-07
TARlFF.MAKING REACHES
SECOND STAGE AT CAPITAL

day in and day oui b. tarin. tarin
tarn The talk around the white
House offices " also ~ the same pur
pofs Tho House ~ stepped In iaun
talk FOR three or four months tho Sen.
ate for quite a. long time. but the
white House has 10 for nve or six
months And President Taft had
much Of It for two or three months
before he became President.
while he withheld from many OF the
quarrels and contentious over partic-
ular dutieo. the President has done
much 10 shape the policies and prln-
ciplos guiding the revision. There
have been conferences with him time
and again. No important step has
been taken without n complete UNI
derstanding with the President For
example, he made compact during
the presidential campaign with the
beet sugar men for the limitation OF
free imports OF sugar from the Phil
lppines to the amount OF not over
100000 long tons annually. He insisted
that the Ways and Means Committee
should recognize that agreement,
which they did, and the same propo.
Hlllpn WIS put DtlbTt the FINANCE
Committee with similar outcome.
But the President is hardly half
through his tariff troubles. AS the
Senate debate progresses, the confer
ences with him will continue as new
and knotty problems develop. The
House leaders will be taking vaca-
tion for month or six weeks, but
the Senate leaders will be trotting
over to the White House almost every
morning for word with the Presi-
dent about this and that tariff mat
ter. The Western Senators threaten
to make trouble. If they carry out
their threats, the President will have
to take a hand at tanning them, Just
ils he took a hand in tanning the
Western insurgents In the House. He
is not only President, but the leader
of his party. The political aspects of
the various moves which contending
interest make must be considered by
the President. And when the policy
in given instance is decided upon,
he speaks the authoritative word He
can bring recalcitrants back into line,
when all Others can not.
The Republicans of Senate and House
are politically very sensitive about crit.
icisms of the tariff bill. Parties have
been thrown out of power in the House
more over tariff issues in the last TWEEN.
ty-hVe years, than for any other cause
whenever the old time Republicans in
Congress get to thinking about the long
and interrupted control the party has
enjoyed In the two legislative branches
they feel superstitious about the effect
upon the country of the passage of the
Payne bill. After all, it might be the
enactment that would arouse the coun.
try, bring in a Democratic House two
years from now and make the next
Presidential election problematical. For
if the new tariff does not please the
voters and does not bring revival of
business the outcome will be blow
to the administration.
The Mckinley tariff law, enacted by
a Republican Congress brought in a
Democratic House and undoubtedly had
much to do with the election of Demo.
cratic President. On the other hand
the Wilson tariff law. enacted by a
Democratic House of Representatives
brought in Republican House of Rep.
resentatives and two years later gave
the Republicans great advantage in
winning the Presidential election of
1896. And all in ALL the failure of the
Wilson law to work satisfactorily to the
people proved such setback to the
Democratic party nationally that it has
been used against them to some degree
IN every biennial campaign for the last
twelve years.
Probably no tariff law has been more
severely criticized than was the Ding
ley law, although it was the greatest
and most satisfactory revenue producer
of any tariff bill ever enacted by an
American Congress. But its enactment
was attended by revival of prosperity
and that alone sufliced to nullify most
of the criticisms for long time.
In the same way, the leaders expect
that criticisms of the Payne law. as it
stands when President Taft signs it
will count for little politically if indus
try revives and the country has inereas-
ed prosperity. They are confident the
prosperity is coming but, at the same
time, are very wary of the deep.seated
sentiment in opposition to the big trusts
and combinations that have been an
outgrowth to considerable degree. of
high protection. The western Senators
and Representatives are particularly
sensitive about legislation that might
seem over friendly to the trusts. That
is the chief reason for the insurgent
movement in the House and for the
threatened insurgent movement in the
Senate. There are probably more long
tenure Republicans from the West than
ever before in the history of Congress.
Many of them are possessed of the idea
of making life career in the House,
just as numerous eastern Republicans
have been doing. They have alert con.
stituencies behind them and are now
profiting by the examples of few
prominent western Representatives who
have been turned out of Office and
. superseded by Democrats during the
last four years.
That accounts in some part for the
smashing of party lines on tariff in
the House. The western men are aware
of the increasing Democratic vote in
their districts. And almost to the same
extent the southern Democrats are af.
fected by the growth of Republican
sentiment in the South. OF course the
increasing demands of the South for a
share in the protection "swag," as IL
was STYLED in some of the recent