The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-07-16
About 400 Amendments to
Tariff Bill Passed On.
LOBBYISTS BESIEGE MEMBERS.
Representatives of Special Interests
Thrust Appeals Upon Commit
teemen In Regard to the
Various Schedules.

Washington. July 14.-By passing
over the cotton and WOODEN schedules
without taking up any Of the amended
paragraphs ana skipping the disputed
points connected with the rates on
lumber in the wood schedule. the tar
iff conferces have already disposed Of
about 400 amendments.
Many important subjects, such as
the house drawback feature of the al
cohol paragraphs. the rates on oilcloth
and the various items under the head
of Autographs were submitted to sub
conferees. The treasury experts who
helped the senate finance committee in
its consideration of the bill are assist
ing the conferees in gathering informa-
tion about these subjects.
The corridors about the conference
room in the senate office building are
about as thickly peOpled with repre-
sentatives of special interests and
lobbyists generally as they were wher
the bill was in house and senate COM
mittees.
The moment a member of the con-
ference energies from session he is
surrounded and briefs relating to va
rious schedules are thrust at him.
Some of the conferees have adopted
the plan Of refusing to accept these
arguments, basing their declination up
on the ground that the bill has been
considered in both branches of con-
gress and that 1t is now the duty of
the conference committee to harmonize
the differences without outside intiu.
ence Of any kind.
Few of the conferees predict that a
report can fH made before a week
| from Saturda-. and some go so far a.
to forecast A-g. 1 or later for the ad
! journment of the extra session.
Members of the senate committee OIL
finance are preparing a statement re-
plying to charges that senate amend
ments to the tariff bill will result In
increasing the cost of woolen and cot
ton clothing. shoes and other articles
of common wear, as well as other ne
cessities of life. The statement viii
be intended to show that the duty OF
shoes has been reduced and that there
has not been a change in the rates OF
wooden goods and that the rates OF
cotton have not been increased.
There will follow list of about 50(
decreases in rates from the Dingle!
duties and list of about sixty OF
seventy-five increases. An effort vii
be made to show that most of the lat
ter are not in reality increases in rates
but that they provide for the collec
tion of the rates fixed by the Dingle!
law, which had been set aside by mis-
Interpretation of that law.
Senator La Toilette of Wisconsin pre-
Sented to the senate Il table of the in
creases and decreases of tho senat,
tariff bill over the Dingley bill whicl
was prepared by the bureau of statiS
tics of the government. 1t is general,
understood that this table does no
correspond with the table prepared b!
Senator Aldrich, but, on the contrary
shows the senate rates to be highe
in some schedules than has been ad
mitted by the chairman of the senate
finance committee. This table. togeth
er with Il consular report showing tn
working of the initiative and refcren
dun in Switzerland. Senator LII Fol
lette secured leave to print as publi
documents.
The senate received the official nc
tice of the house asking a conference
on the Philippine tariff bill, decline,
to take up legislation affecting solel
the District of Columbia on the groun
that it would be in violation of tn
unanimous consent agreement and
after a brief executive session. ad
journed until Friday.