New-York tribune., 1909-04-07
FIGHT ON FREE LUMBER
ITS ADVOC4TES LOSE
Connter0aiIing Duty Of-Ways
and Means Committee TTnbeJd
JFrom The Tribune Ruresp


From The Tribune Bureau
Washington. April e--That the Wavs o,5 A.,
Committee, backed by the Republican orFaniza+for,
has the tar1h situation in the lower branch of
Congress wei IN hand was demonstrated TODAY in
the consideration of amendments 10 the ps,-- IN,
The committee amendment presented b- D.
sentative Fordney. which provided for the aIir,ir
ton Of the countervailing duty on lumber u,as
passed ny a sweeping majority, while attenopts 10
alter the measure by placing lumber on the frea
list and duty of 10 Per cent on hides vrara f,s
trated the former by the close r,arsi, 90 sc =
10 and the latter by 166 to los An amendment 20
increase the duty on barley from Is to q cente =
bushel was being debated when the House ad-
journed until z o'clock tomorrow It is believed
that this amendment viii fail of passage as !, &c
Of importance 10 few localities
The indications point more victories for the
WAYS and Means Committee. There is little on
position to the removal Of the duty on coffee a.
tea and il is understood that the committee ts cor
fdent II viii be able to retain the duty on oil To-
night the advocates of free lumber under tho
leadership Of Representative Tawney of Mime
sofa say that when a record vote is obtained ,r
the House they will overcome the slender majority
Of and place lumber on the free 1s+ -rra
vote to-day was taken in the committee of the
whole house the state of the Union which does
not permit Of E rollcau
AS there were forty-three Representatives ab-
sent when the vote was taken. there is nerhaps
some ground for the assertion that a record vote
Cushuan. who LED the fight against free lumber
also expresses confidence that the Judgment of the
WAYS and Mear5 Committee Will be upheld He
asserts that a majority of the absentees favor a
retention Of the present duty. The hides ques-
ton is settled, far the House is concerned.
but Judge Smith, of Iowa declared after the vote
that the bill could never finally be passed unless
+be duty on hides was restored
The session opened with a dispute between the
Republican and Democratic members as TO the
. rtc cr,,la hair
nan Of the Committee. Representative Olmsted. Of
Pennsylvania, ruled that amendments other than
those presented by the committee were in order,
but that committee amendments had precedence.
The debate on the lumber amendment began at
once A little later MI Payne announced that the
y-svs and Means Committee would vote against
snv amendments not submitted by the committee,
and This course was followed throughout the after
noon
Nr Fordney said he introduced his amendment
with great regret, as the provision 1t sought to
strike out was a meritorious one Il am offering
-be amendment he declared. and Will vote for
f. but II causes TO sweat blood in doing So
Nr Tawney then offered a substitute. Both Mr.
Tavney and Mr.. Clark claimed the floor, and when
the Chair ruled IN favor OF Mr.. Clark Chairman
Payne protested, saying the ruling was not falr 10
the Republicans, since the Democrats were op-
posed 10 the bill
Mr Clark's substitute provided for amending
several sections by placing lumber on the free hst
IawleE
not be covered in one amendment and onereo an
entire substitute for the lumber schedule modiIy
ing but retaining the duty. The Chair ruled thal te
Fordney amendment had precedence
The Fo-dnev amendment was then overwhelm-
inelz adopted by q viva voce vote. and Mr.. Tawney
a once reofered his amendment He explained
that ~ adopted his amendment would take the duty
of all lumber included in paragraph l9I OF the olll,
EXCEPT finished lumber, the duty on Whlch "oulu
he materially reduced He would later ne salo'
offer an amendment placing rough lumber on the
free list.
Tre amendment and the proposed amendment
were vigorously attacked by Mr.. Fordney, who
charged that Mr. Tawney forgot that the raw
material Of the planning mill its finished prod
ret The amendments. he said, affected thirty
,r,s.vd say-,iIls OF the country. employing eight
hundred thousand men If Mr.. Tawney was falF'
re added. he would demand free barley for the
brewers In MS opinion NJ TaWney was ho'
good Republican ~
,sro IF he fs q Republican" he said, Il am not
ara don't want 10 be He said that when
ro,r surrounded and circumscribed his Republican
is,, ny the lines OF sublime selhshness that man
put his feet of the Republican pauorm anu
rra-'s where tre gentleman stands to-day
Nessrs Fassett. Of New York; RansdeA OF
TouiSiana and Swasey. Of Maine. opposed the
Ia znev amendment. and Messrs- Reeder' OF ran
sss and Slayden OF Texas, supported It Inc
amendment was lost on division and on vote by
tell=rs
1fz-el,- discussion was caused by an amendment
offered by Mr.. Scott Of Kansas, fixing duty OF
"a rer cent ad valoren raw hides, which was
finally lost on division
Among those supporting the Scott Amendment
vas Mr. Burleson, of Texas, who said that evident
!, tho amendment suggested the only way to get
cheaper boots and shoes Referring to MI oiarh
of Florida but without mentioning his name, ne
declared that the position he had taken meant
that II YOU take care Of my district you may pl-
fer. vou may rob you may plunder the American
peope. and l will stand by and not raise my Eoi0e
against IT.
leBark norsanser' shouted Mr.. Mann, Of Illinois
all The 1yav across the chamber 4 am for free
hides royself'' he said but that is rank nonsense
After the Scott amendment had been defeated an
une,,ccessful attempt was made by Mr Clark, OF
1Tis-i n mn leather and all products Of leather
n, The free list the Chair deciding that the special
rule did not apply TO that section