The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1909-07-16
COMMENT FROM THE
NATIONS CAPITAL
Tariff Bill at Present in the
Hands of Conferees.
PRESIDENT FOR LOWER RATES
Is Laboring With Senators and Con-
gressmen in an Effort to Make Them
Keep the Party's Political Pledges
Veto May Be Necessary.

From our Special correspondent.
Washington, d. c., July IA.
The tariff bill is now in the hanus on
the republican conferees chosen by the
two houses and report may be expect
ed newt week. just before the bill rs
renorted back to the house the demo
cratic conferees will be invited into CON
ference and informed of the conclusions
of their contemporaries, IN whose WORN
they have had no part. Inc presl'aeh.
regards the pending pm as rep ,hpioons
party measure in which the repuplicans
Are yitallv concerned, and democratic
conoressmen are therefore excluded
from the deliberations of the conferees.
The question which is now disturbing
the president and revisionlsts IN DOM
branches of congress is Whether we
conferees will return tariff law to the
neonle materially lower than the pres
ent Dineley law and thus keep faltn
with the president Is repeated promises
that the tariff should be revised down
ward.
That the president is taking an active
part in the tariff conference is SHOWN
by his frequent consultations with t h
conferees. They are called to the
White House for long talks and it is
very evident that the president WISH ln
qs are being impressed On the repupli-
can leaders. No forceful measures are
expected to be employed to accomplish
the desires of the executive, but moTal
suasion will it is hoped, prevent the
necessity of a veto.
ITndoubtedIy Senator Aldrich ex-
pected that the senate schedules would
be changed and at a conference at the
White House Monday it was agreed that
the rate to be levied under the new cor,
poration tax shall be reduced from TO l
per cent, and that mutual life insurance
companies shall have certain allowance
pt lonO term con-
tracts. The Clapp amendment TO tne
CORPORATION tax, which applied to hold-
ing companies organized to hold STOCK
of other corporations will be eliminated
from the bill. 4o
The president was the early advocate
of the house inheritance tax, but ne now
fayors the senate corporation tax IN
preference to the house measure. lie
personally drafted the corporation tax,
and he feels it will give the govern
ment access to the books OF the large
corporations and help in their super
vision. The corporation tax Dill IS pc,
ing rewritten by ATTORNEY Genera
Wickersham, who Will incorporate .lc
amendments suggested by the presldent'
and return it to the conferees. There
seems to be feeling that the contereeSS
will further reduce the duty on coaI
which the house left with duty OF OF
cents per ton. The house still insists
on free hides which your Senator rage
advocated so intelligently before the
senate. The house conferees also stanu
firm for rough lumber at a rate OIL p
ner thousand. and for free iron ore
What they will finally get is burning
question The impression seems 70 pe
that the customs court ana maHlniua III
provisions will stand as the, senate ie1t
them. So far the house b1ll PROVISIONS ti
seem to have the advantage. with the
president advocating lower duties, but
It is impossible to tell just what VIII
finally be gained. The Payne bill was
woefullv scored when it left the house
as not in harmony with the pledge OF a
revision downward, but this all changed
when the senate began to increase the
schedules, and now the downward re-
visionists are hoping for restoration
of the house bill.
The bill passed the senate last Thurs
day night amid most spectacular scene.
The galleries were crowded and wheh IL
began to be evident that the hour Tor
vote was at hand there. was a hurrylng
TO and fro and everybody was III state
of expectancy At the last moment
senator LaFollette took the floor and
held it till he had spoken two hours,
when he was followed by Senators
Chamberlain, Gore, Stone Beveridge
and Knute Nelson, all of whom
E9bastedn the bill and kept the speccta-
Tors on IlIb-lOtS III dJ lcSt hJNh"''' -N
rich cot the floor. moved the passage of
the bill, and at Ills the tedious debate
was over.
The house Monday passed, the senate
Joint resolution providing for suDmls,,
sion to the states of cOnstltutlonai
amendment permitting the levying of
an income tax The debate lasted sew
eral hours and the vote was 317 to a.
Five New England congressman from
Massachusetts and Connecticut voted
against it. but the west and south lined
up almost solidly for the measure, the
democrats all supporting it.
The house also declined the. invitation
to the Alaska Yukon exposition. Some
idea of the magnitude of the work OF
congress can be had by noting that the
house had already nearly $4,000 bills
before it for consideration next winter,
and they are being introduced at the
rate of nearly 400 day, when the
house is in session.