The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-05-06

Confined from Page One

district in the country is without
some interest in some schedule OF the
tariff. and every one of the 391 Repre-
/ sentatives and every one Of the nine
| ty~two SenatoTs-there are but ninety
one with the vacancy from Illinois
are watching out and trying to get
| something put on or something taken
off That IS hardly true of any other
measure than a tariff bill befors
/ either the Senate or the House. And
i at no other time on no other measure
| is there such a rush of citizens to
| Washington, for no other measure af-
] fects so many people so directly as a
raising or a lowering of tariff sched-
| ules
There is one more phase of The leg
| islative situation. That is the execu-
tive President Taft nominally is sup
posed only to send a tariff message tn
Congress. when it assemblies to revise
| the tariff. and to sign or veto the
| tariff bill, when it is completed and
| Placed before him. But no President
in the last fifty years has been able
tc go through a period of tariff legis-
Iation without having many troubles.
/ All the people who come To town on
tariff errands with Congressman also
want TO talk about their errands at
the White House. Many of the SEN
ators and Representatives also want
to talk il over with the President.
This state of affairs prevails while the
bill III before the House and again
when it is before the Senate, and still
again when the conference report on
the bill is being framed.
Thus it happens that President
| Taft's tariff duties are doubled and
trebled and auadrup1ed over those of
any man of Senate or House or any
| member of its tariff committees. And
while the talk that fills the air around
one end or the other of the Capitol
day in and day out is tariff, tariff,
| tariff. the talk around the White
House offices is also Of the same p1r-
port The House IS stepped in tariff
talk for three. or four months. the Sen
ate for quite as long q. time. but the
t White House has it for five or six
: months And President Taft had
much of it for two or three months
D before he became President.
i While he withheld from many of the
2 duarrels and contentious over partic-
A ular duties. the President has done
much to shape the policies and prin-
ciples guiding the revision. There
have been conferences with him time
: and again. No important step has
E been taken without a complete un-
= derstanding with the President. Fol-
!, example, he made a compact during
: the presidential campaign with the
= beet sugar men for the limitation OF
= free imports OF sugar from the Phil
!. / ippines 10 the amount of not over
100000 long tons annually. He insisted
| that the Ways and Means Committee
| should recognize that agreement
a which they did, and the same propo
9 sition was put before the Finance
: Committee with similar outcome.
But the President is hardly hal
= | through his tariff troubles. AS the
4 Senate debate PROGRESSES, the confer
: enees with him will continue as new
. and knotty problems develop. The
q House leaders will be taking yaca
n | ton for month or six weeks, but
the Senate leaders viii be trotting
i over to the White House almost every
o morning for a word with the Presi
o dent about this and that tariff mat
! ter. The Western Senators threaten
/ to make trouble. II they carry out
their threats, the President will have
to take hand at tanning them. jusI
a las he took hand in tanning the
$ | Western insurgents in the House. He
lis not only President, but the leader
of his party. The political aspects OF
\ the various moves which contendins
| interest make must be considered By
/ x.~Eo
in given instance is decided upon
4 he speaks the authoritative word Hs
can bring recalcitrants back into line
when all others can not.
The Republicans of Senate and Hous,
i are politically very sensitive about crit
). ieisms of the tariff bill Parties have
been thrown out of power in the Houst
! more over tariff issues in the last TWEEN
ty=fxe years, than for any other cause
: Whenever the old time Republicans il
I Congress get to thinking about the long
: and interrupted control the party ha'
:. enjoyed in the two legislative branches
= they feel superstitious about the effec
apon the country of the passage of thi
Payne bill. After all, it might be tbs
enactment that would arouse the e0un
q try, bring in Democratic House TIVE
years 4fOiu now anu make. the mex
Presidential election problematicai. Fo
, If the new tariff does not please th'
II voters and does not bring revival Of
business the outcome viii be a blow
!, to the administration.
FL The Mckinley tariff law, enacted b,
n Republican Congress brought in
Democratic House and undoubtedly hat
much to do with the election of Demo
cratic President. On the other hant
the Wilson tariff law. enacted by {;
s Democratic House of Representatives
n brought in a Republican House of Rep
resentatives and two years later gav'
~ the Republicans great advantage il
winning the Presidential election o
1895. And all in all. the failure of tn
Wilson law to work satisfactorily to thu
people proved such setback TO thu
Democratic parry nationally that it ha
been used against them TO some degree
in every biennial campaign for the las
twelve years.
Probably no tariff law has been mor'
severely criticized than was the Ding
ley law, although II was the creates
and most satisfactory revenue produce
nf any tariff bill ever enacted by al