The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-18
SENATOR ALORICH
 TALKS WITH TAFT
Storm Is Gathering Over the
 Tariff Situation
INCOME TAX LOOMING UP
AIdrich Is Against an Income Tax and Wants the President to Help Him Out of Very
 Bad Fix.

Washington, April 1L-(Special. )-Sena- tor kldrich conferred with President Taft on tariff matters for two hours this aft ernoon. Aldrich Is alive at last to the storm that is gathering over the Senate and which is due to break as soon as the upper chamber gets well into the tarff debate. Aldrich is seeking the sup port of Taft. He desires, if possible. to be able to say when he fully outlines his bill in the Senate on Monday that it is the bill that meets with the approval of the President. And the simple req son for this Is that Senator Aldrich, prob ably for the first time since he assumed leadership of the Senate, will not be able to jam through bill by his own un- aided efforts.
 The President will have to help. There will have to be appeals to the selfish interests of senators as well as to their republicanism. Republicanlsm, as a mat ter of fact. amounts to little any more in question of tariff. To no more. in fact, than does democracy. There are repub- licans. for instance, who are bowling for an abolition of all tariffs on some goods. just as loudly as there are dem ocrats demanding high protection on some other things
 The Income Tax.
 Moreovera .ove and beyond this, the income tax has stalSed into the Sen ate and democrats and republicans alike are crowding about it. There is no long, CT the slightest doubt that forced into a position where a record vote would have to be taken, the Senate would pass an income tax law as quickly and with almost as big a majority as the House voted for free oil.
 Both propositions being anathema to Senator Aldrich there are reasons for the statement that the Rhode Island is seeking White House assistance He wants to get 8 bill through that will not concede too much to the radicals and at the same time he wants to get the bill through quickly. There is subtle appeal to the President in the latter aim Taft, too, wants to get the I riff dis posed of quickly in order that business men may be released from their suspense. Aldrich knows this and is prepared to make the most of it
 He called on the President this after roon to explain his substitute to the Payne bill Before the provisions of that bill were made public Aldrich prom sed the President that the measure would include many more reductions than nave been made in the Payne bill and would in every way meet platform promises. Che has, therefore, tut to read the Ald- rich bill to see that the President Is not at all sitshed with 1t.
 Aldrich Keeps Mum.
 Aldrich declined to talk after the con- ference this evening and no statement was slven out at the White House It can be said, however that some changes will have to be made in the Aldrich bill before 1t gets the presidential indorse- ment and no republican senator will be ignored by the President if he be found advoc ating an income tax, or some tax closely modelled after an income tax law. It can be said that while the President undoubtedly desires to get the tariff dis posed of quickly 1t Is not regarded as possible that he will urge haste at the sacrifice of party honor.
 Talk is rife at both ends of the capitol of the capture of the House by the demo- crats at the next congressional election. Taft has a legislative programme that he does not want to have smashed by the loss of the popular branch of Congress during his last years of administration 1t did not require the prediction of James J. Hill recently that if republican Con gross does not properly revise the tariff the people will turn to the democrats to show to the President that the work of the special session must be done we'll to save his party from defeat. Another tariff message in the near future would not be surprising