Evening star., 1909-07-10
VARYING THE METHOD
New Procedure Adopted by
Tariff Bill Conferees.
DISTRIBUTING THE WORK
Many Important Provisions Submit
ted to Subconferees.

ted to Subconferees.
| The conferees on the tariff bill met at
| IL o'clock this morning in the first of the
many sessions that must be held to har-
| monize the differences between the House
and the Senate. Before proceeding with
| the bill motion was adopted admitting
| to the conferences the clerks of the House
| and Senate committees which framed the
! measure originally.
| 1t is customary in conferences relating
| to tariff legislation to take up first the
| amendments of character not likely to
provoke serious conflict. but this pro-
| cedure was varied today. 1t agreed
| that many of the more important pro-
visions should be- submitted to subcon-
! ferees, and other subjects will go to mem
befS u the Co.li.iit,ueS un ~dys and
means and finances who were not named
| as conferees. Assistance will be given
| the 'conferees also by members of the
Senate and House who had no official
| part in framing the bills In committees.
| OF course, where important work has
| been apportioned in the manner sug-
! gested it will be necessary for the entire
| conference committee to approve the find
| ings of the subconferees. Following the
plan of dividing the work the conferees
| were able today to plunge Immediately
| into the consideration of the most veXa-
tious questions in the bill.
Some Progress Made.
| The conferees took a recess at 1:15 for
| luncheon, to resume their meeting at 2:3o.
| The morning session resulted in a pre-
| liminary clearing of the way and some
actual progress 1t was determined to
| take up the amendments lin numerical
| order and dispose of those over which
| there is 10 material controversy. There are
| some two hundred or more amendments
| of a formal nature. involving changes nf
VCrbiagc only and there are also many
amendments representing differences be-
tween the two houses easily reconciIed,
and upon these the confereeS will work
| first.
| Subconferees will not be appointed until
the committee reaches amendments which
may require further investigation and in
qufry, and with which the conferees may
not be altogether familiar. In this class
will be those amendments referred to by
Mr.. Payne yesterday when he said that
| 10 one can tell at first glance whether the
amendments of the Senate carry increases
or not, or, indeed. what is the exact char
acter of the change.
| The meeting was attended only by the
republican members of the conference
committee. except Senator Cullom, who
was not present today. The democratic
| members of the conference committee
will be invited to attend when the re-
publicans are ready to make report.
The Speakers Motive.
! The explanation was made today on be-
| half of Speaker Cannon that the control
ling motive with him in selecting the
| House conferees on the tariff bill had
| bee.l the question of location.
| His chief desire was that all the sec
l n ha nj "a " MT ORG Tod
in the tariff should have representation
| on the committee. Finding that the mid
die west had half the population, half the
wealth, half the volume Of production. and
| especially that half of the republican rep
resentation in the House hailed from that
| section, he decided that it should have
larger representation on the conference
| than it could possibly have If the con-
entirely according to the rule of prece-
dence among members of the House ways
| and means committee.
| If the conferees had been selected ac-
cordlng to that system, the Mississippi
valley country would have been repre-
sented by Mr.. Boutel alone while the
! eastern states would have had four rep
lresentattves. including two from New
England. This. the Speaker considered,
would be an inequitable distribution. fie
| therefore passed over Mr. Hill of Con-
necticut and placed Mr.. Calderhead of
Kansas and MIR. Fordney OF Michigan on
,the committee. Mr.. Needham of Cali
{fornia was left off. according to this ex-
PLANTATION, because the Pacific coast has
very few interests which are involved in
| the pending bill. Fruit Is the principal
item with which that section is concerned
and the Speaker believed that 1t had been
adequately cared for in both houses
| According 10 his theory the north At
lantic, the south Atlantic and the Missis-
sippi valley sections were the principal
divisions that are concerned about the
tariff at this time. His selection gave
three republicans TO the eastern states
three republicans to the middle west and
three democrats to the south.
| The Speakers friends declare that in
this distribution his concern was not with
reference TO the character of the bill so
much as it was to the geographical loca
tion of the conferees.
House Conferees Appointed.
The special rule sending the tariff bill
to conference was adopted in the House
yesterday afternoon by It's to 15I, eighteen
insurgent republicans voting against it.
Speaker Cannon Immediately appo: nted
the conferees on the part of the House.
naming the following: Republcans--Rep-
resentatives Payne of New York Dalzell
Ipf Pennsylvania, Mccall CT Massachusetts
Boutell of Illinois, Calderhead OF Kan
sas. Fordney of Michigan. Democrats
Clark of Missouri. Underwood of Ala
bama and Grigss of Georgia.
The House conferees met their col
leagues of the Senate in the first formal
meeting at $50 O'Clock last evening in
the Senate office building. In the mean
time Senator Aldrch had been in confer
ence with President Taft. The first
meeting was purely formal and intina-
tion was Immediately given to the demo-
cratic conferees that their presence at
future meetings would not be required
until the republicans had reached agree
ments upon the bill.
The conferees will meet daily from now
on; the Senate will take three-day recess
es and the House will work on an appro-
priation bill and the income tax joint
resolution.