The Washington herald., 1909-04-30

When the Senate Committee on Finance
meets to-day Senator AidriGh. the chair
man, in behalf Of his Republican col
leagues. VIII present amendments en-
bOdying The administrative features Of
the pending tariff BILL
II is expected that ths Democratic
members viii not raise any insurmount-
able objections. and that the committee
VIII decide 10 report them
The provisions OF the present law for
the allowance Of drawback on articles
manufactured in this country for export
ont CT imported raw material viii be Of
fered for adoption. Another amendment
vii provide Tor creation Of a permanent
tariff bureau under the Treasury Depart
ment. 10 consist of the present bureau
OF Manufactures and Statistics Of the
Department Of Commerce and Labor, the
Customs Division Of the Treasury De
partment. and the Bureau OF Trade Re
Iations CT the State Department.
Another amendment viii give authority
10 the President Of the United States 10
employ tariff experts 10 inform him
whether any foreign countries are dis
terminating against this country IN tariff
matters.
In addition 10 an amendment providing
for the imposition Of the maximum ta-in
rate OF . per cent. the members Of the
Finance Committee will have before them
an amendment providing that certain
articles carried on the free list OF the
Senate tariff bill shall be assessed AZ
specific rates when they are imported
from countries that discriminate against
the United States and which are made
subject 10 the maximum tariff.
Nelson on Lumber.
Except for Senator Rayner's brief
speech on the general aspects Of the
tariff question. all OF yesterday was
given Up by the Senate 10 a discus
son Of the duty on lumber. Senator
Nelson opened the debate and was
subjected to much Questioning. The
course OF his speech indicated he be-
Eeved lumber ought To be on the free
list. but just before he concluded he
avowed himself as ready 10 vote for a
Guty Of 81 a thousand on rough lumber
imposed By the House bin. Nobody knows
yet just how much the Senate COMMITTEES
on Finance will tax lumber. but It was
evident from the debate that q duty Of
hands OF the Senators
The unusual spectacle Of several Re
publican Senator's Offering high duty on
lumber. and replying to The speech Of
Senator Simmons. Of North Carolina. de-
I!vered yesterday. in favor OF retain
Ing the DingIey law duty OF s. on lurn-
Der, while avowing himself as utterly op-
posed 20 protection. was one OF tie
anomalous situations in party politics
and adherence 20 platform declarations
which the tariff discussion has disclosed.
The debate fa*l'y ended in an amusing
cOilOqUy hetv F Senators MCCumber. OF
North Dakota. and Page. OF Vermont. on
the one hand. and Senator Smith. OF
Maryland. on The other. as 70 how rough
lumber was converted into planed and
tongued ard ETOoved- Senator NcCumbar
insisted that the finished product followed
directly upon the first process Of manu-
factGTe. Senator Smith. who insisted he
had been in the lumber business for more
than thirty years. and ought 10 know.
SAID there was an interval between the4
saving Of the boards from the green tim
Der and the process Of planning. tongue
ing. and growing, during which the lun-
Der had 20 be seasoned OF dried
The cOlloquy became rather exciting,
and Mr.. Smith intimated that Senator
McCumber was not a practical lumber
manufacturer, and was not prepared 70
discuss the subject. This provoked Sen
ator Page. Of Vermont, into an interest
ing detailed statement concerning the
manufacture OF hemlock lumber IN Yer
mont. in which he upheld the contention
Of Senator McCumber. Senator Smith
seemed disguised with the turn the de-
bate took. and concluded b. observing
that lumber manufactured IN the way in
which Senator Page had described must
be Of an inferior quality
Agreement May he Reached.
In the course Of the debate Senator
Aldrich took occasion to challenge Sen
ator NcLaurin. Of Mississippi, on the
lumber duty. and intimated that an agree
ment might be reached by which an ad
valorem duty Of per cent could be
placed on lumber. which Nj McLaurin
had figured out was equal 10 81 q thou
sand levied as a specific duty. The Mis-
sissippi Senator replied that he was will
ing 90 see a general reduction made on
al articles In the protected list &c a
purely revenue rate Of duty.
Senator Aldrich responded with trib-
Ute TO the growing industries Of the
South. and offered 10 Join Southern Sen
atOrs in extending protection to those in
dustries 10 bring about q development
that would startle the country. The Sen
ator from Mississippi warned the chair
man Of the Finance Committee that he
could not protect the South in its in
dustriai development by putting a tax
on products OF which Il was the exclusive
producer. He invited Mr. Aldrich TO re-
move the duty from cotting bagging and
Ties. and in that way save the South from
S4000000 20 s, ,oo0,000 annually
Later in the day Senator McLaurin. in
commenting on the colIoquy. EXPRESSED