Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-07-02
Behind Closed Doors.

When the last sad rites occur over
the PayneAldrich bill, they will be
private. The principal iniquities will
be enacted in the dark And it is
Evolutionary that no inkling of what
takes place in conference should ever
be trusted to the public 50
Senator Aldrich has been .veryt anx-
ious to get the tariff bill safely behind
closed doors. AS member of the con-
ference committee having in charge a
lprevious tariff bill Senator Aldrich
succeeded in increasing the duty on re-
fined sugar sone-tenth of 1 per cent
above the duties recommended by. the
senate and house 1t worked out that
this advance gave ,theSsugar trust an
annual increased profit of $S,000,000
In return for this favor the sugar
ltrust assisted Senator Aldrich in his
subsequent campaigns in Rhode Is
land and contributed no one knows
how much to the republican, Campaign
fund
1t is the function of conference
committee to adjust differences be-
tween the laws passed in the house
and in the senate, All paragraphs or
sections which are identical are not
subject to any change. IT, however,
1theE senate bill coptains any amend
Fment to any photographic any rate is
hIgheH or lower in the senate BILL
tfzt rate becomes the subject. of adj
Ijnstment
4
> Disputed schedules can be arranged
finally in any way which is satisfac-
ltory to. a majority of the conference
eomnittee;; provided only r4.that the
ihnalsreport of tie committee is ap-
lpr0ved in the senate and. the house.
To illustrate: If the house bill
jfasssfh duty on wool at 60 per cent
Iof thesyslue. ofrhe product, and the
senate bills increases the duty to 95
PEI. cent? the conferepce cpmmittee is
mot bound to- ad just the difference pat
some Moist betwseH the figures ,6ossand
Us 3,iE mag finally decide to zhaves tts
ldgfY at 85s6r 40G,s ~
senstor g7drfch wifi aninates.ths
eonfHsnea absolutely sOn1y meg. Vii
tbd appointed blythe. rep&blicaps that
Will do wtlat Af9fffeh asks A repuvs
Iaic#rf member of either tile.. house Or
i sHatet Isl farefuffy sized dB before
fhe is paferf te' Af in conferense On
Eths tafffssilf S. &c q
L nesssss "a Idrisb ana csnSSn, by i5ag
lassociafi6n with ,fiiesnbss dfaeongrsse.,
Know prsgrssly how. aff Rpeintee mll
lpefform e6onfer en6es ss bad
Faas least dess Jas. td AT uInsss,
kos the. tfSa of ultropret esti6n cav
WoaE a6tepe{rnit Him ID .tslhsxj sft .i1i'
FFsaS Mst sbseT the Hrif trit ]. { &
& Trnes fbeye ARE SOME 80 sodsat i on
the confsr renee, re1f.. NEp wers III IL
Eabies Iosget ctancs, ssould4iacS g
couple sBfs neees sitiess o t4u Tree As
instanfer, and reduce. ,brehibHfse tar
ifr rates to .maximtH re hue 7. niffoauc-
Fibg rates. !, But the, de1focrats may as
well not be on the COME renge ,edami.,
tes, as six stand no chafce agaSnst .5Qi
wteH'it comes TO. voting file vfepubs'
licans will hold "a secret meeting II and
when they decide what ttey5want 10
do with the tariff bill. VIII telR1the
democratic conferees about it, - q
President Tart, like Senator AldrieA.
has been in p great hurry to. get the
tariff bill safely in conference. He has
declared that he feels SURE there Will
De real downward. revision in confer
ence. -.
Among other things the president
has said the couRtry is losing 10000
COO every. day the bill is being held
up. This view varies somewhat from
the facts.
Instead of business depression fol-
lowing the lengthening weeks and
months of the special session, there
mas been upward movement in busi>
nesG. The special session began
March 10. 1t is doubtful if there ha:;
ever been a time in the whole history
of the country when like period has
been marked by an equally extensive
ana universal improvement in bust
ness conditions 1t is conceded by ali
authorities = the manufacturers, the
importers, the exporters, the whole
salers. the retailers, the railroads.
that the upward turn has been unpre-
cedented and phenomenal.
Why have Senator Aldrich and
President Taft been doing everything
i'll their power to grease the tracks so
that the tariff bill might slip speedily
into conference? Was the chief rea-
son to settle business conditions, or
to get the measure into the Aldrich
i'arbor SO it would be safe from the
storm of exposures loosened by pro