The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-03-26
TARIFF REVISION ATTITUDE
WILL BE GOVERNED
BY LOCALITY
Members of Congress to Work
For Interests of Individual Con-
stituency-Republican and Dem
ocratic Leaders to Vote TOgeth-
er on Some Schedules.

made by the sponsors for the bill and
by those who oppose it.
The COMMITTEES old room is on the
house floor of the capitol, and Satur-
day field head quarters we're estab-
lished there by Mr.. Payne.
Directly beneath the headquarters of
the Payne forces are the headquarters
of the enemy, the Democrats. Champ
Clark has taken possession of John
Sharp Williams old room and Saturday
was occupied with the preparation Of
the report of the minority. The Dem
ocratic members have held councils
of war for the past few days in the
Clark headquarters.
They will make a strong fight against
every protective duty in the Payne bill
unless it is a revenue producer.
While the Payne and Clark forces
will be lined up against each other on
many questions, there probably will
be several duties ON which they will
join in fighting the opposition. This is
due to the fact that Mr. Payne is not
a high tariff man.
Leaders Together on Lumber
When an amendment is offered to
decrease the duty on lumber to one dol
lar a thousand feet, as provided by the
Payne bill, Mr.. Payne and Mr.. Clark
will stand together for the decrease,
and each will find that some of his
trusted aides have deserted him. This
illustrates the feeling that prevails
throughout the membership of the
house-that every member shall work
for the interests of his individual con-
stituency and that the tariff question
is local one
There is one point about the new
bill on which little controversy is ex-
pected in tho house, but which it's is
believed will be much considered in
the senate That is the revision of
the present tariff law with regard to
ambiguous phraseology.
Litigation involving thousands of
dollars still is pending in the courts
because of the difficulty of determin-
ing under what paragraph of the Ding
ley law duty on sake Japanese rice
wine) should be imposed. To prevent
any similar difficulties in the future,
rice wine or sake is specifically includ-
ed in the paragraph of the Payne bill
imposing duty of 40 cents per gallon
on still wines. Numerous changes for
similar purposes have been incorpora-
ted in the new bill.
Payne Opens Eight
The Payne bill will today be laid
before the house for discussion, and
Chairman Payne will make the first
argument in support Of it. This will
be the beginning of the general debate
on the bill. Mr. Clark, the minority
leader, will follow Mr.. Payne with the
first speech in opposition, and these
two representatives will in turn be
followed by other members of their
respective parties until all who so
desire shall have spoken.
When the bill is up for amendments
the provisions will be discussed in
speeches of not more than five minutes
duration. 1t is the intention of the
Democrats to offer innumerable amend
ments, and it is said Republicans will
also suggest changes. 1t is not be-
lieved that the voting stage will be
reached III ess time than two weeks.
The senate will probably consider
and pass the census bill during the
week. The disposition of the senate
is to accept the bill as it passed the
house. That measure eliminated the
non-competitive feature of the bill,
which was Objectionable to President
Roosevelt and which is equally so to
President Taft.
Democrats Explain
Another explanation is forthcoming
as to the course Of certain Democrats
in opposing Minority Leader Clark
last Monday by voting for the Fitzger-
aid amendments to the house rules
Representatives Kelliher and Peters,
of Massachusetts, and Representative
Burton Harrison, of New York, issued
a statement in which they assert that
so generally has the action of the DEM
ocrats who voted for the amendments
been misrepresented and misunderstood
that they wish to present to those in
crested the facts.
The Fitzgerald amendments are de-
Tended as effective in the curtailment
of the power of the speaker. For six
months Mr.. Fitzgerald, acknowledged
as the best parliamentarian on the
Democratic side, had been preparing
the amendments, it is said,- but no OPP
portunity was offered to bring them
before the Democratic caucus for con-
sideration. ''He was unable to do so
because of the high-handed manner
adopted by few friends of Mr.. Clark. ;
Referring to the fight in the house,
the three members say that When Mr..
Clark offered his resolutions, he re-
fused any Democrat chance to speak
and then he did the very thing the
members have been deprecating and
fighting against for years. He moved
the previous question, they state.
1T is bad enough to be gagged by
our opponents, but when the muzzle
was clapped on us by our friends we
protested, and successfully. =