The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1909-07-15
WASHINGTON
From our Regular Correspondent.

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From our Regular Correspondent.
Washington, d. c., July IL, 1909
The Senate has made such rapid
progress in its consideration of the
tariff bill that it now looks as if f.
nal adjournment would be reached
by July az, which by somewhat
curious coincidence is the date on
which the Dingley bill was signed,
after special session which con-
vened on March IS, the same date
as saw the beginning of this session.
Senator Aldrich. chairman of the
Finance Committee, is having pre-
pared a tabulated comparison of
the House and Senate bills, by
which he hopes to show that the
increases made in the upper house
have been neither as numerou; nor
as great as is popularity supposed.
1t is true that there have been a
number of decreases from the bill
as originally reported from the FL
nance Committee, many OF which,
because they were effected with lit.
tie debate, attracted comparatively
little attention. Despite this fact,
however, even a casual study of
the measure as reported to the Sen
ate from the committee of the
whole shows an appalling number
Of increases which even the inge-
nuity of Mr.. Aldrich will find ii
difficult to explain, and which arc
certain TO merit and to receive the
censure of the great army Of con-
sumers.
fSE
The one feature of the Senate
bill en- which the leaders are rely
ing to mitigate popular censure is
the substitution of the tax on in
heritances, together with the adop-
ton by unanimous vote of the
join. resolution submitting to the
several states a constitutional a.
mendment authorizing Congress to
impose tax on individual incomes
Great as is the disappointment to
the Democratic leaders over the
failure of an income tax this ses-
sion, they are, like true philoso-
pliers, finding no small degree of
comfort in the fact that President
Taft has permitted it to become
known that the special tax which
he prefers above all others is a
graduated income tax. In view of
the fact that this has long been one
of the chief planks in the Demo
cratic platform, it is strikingly il
Illustrative of the influence exerted
by the minority ard of the adapta-
bility Of the majority that this con-
stitutional amendment is now given
its first real impetus by Republi.
can President and such staunch ad-
herents of old-school Republican
ism as Nelson w. Aldrich and his
associates on the Finance Commit
tee. 1t was perhaps to be expect
ed of a President so welded 10 the
law and who enjoyed so long and
eminent an experience On the bench
as Judge Taft that he should re-
gardless of his views of that decis-
ion of the Supreme Court which
pronounced unconstitutional the in
come tax eff the Wilson bill, hesi-
tate to promote the reenactment of
similar law. 1t must be taken
into consideration in judging of his
course that the more pronounced
was his conviction that the
court erred in its former decision,
the more loath would he be again
to present to it the same cause for
adjudication. Like all great law
yers his respect for the Supreme
Court of the United States at least
approaches the sacrisant, and be-
lieving as he probably did that the
Supreme Court would be compelled
to reverse it's former decision, or
else purely as matter of consis-
tency again to err, he was loath to
place it in that position. By means
of constitutional amendment he is
convinced that the greatest tribu-
nal in the land eau be saved from
that embarrassing position, and it
is an earnest of his sincerity that
he has so Tar won over to his view
that conservative of conservatives,
Senator Root of New York, that
Mr.. Root in public debate pledged
himself to work and vote for the
adoption of the constitutional a.
mendment by his own State which
has generally been assumed least
likely to approve it.
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