Arizona republican., 1910-04-02
. A FOOLISH
 CURIOSITY Not To Be Satisfied By Cor pOratiOn Tax Law RECORDS ARE T0 BE PUBLIC
When the President Thinks That Public Interest Will Be Served By Ordering Publicity, According to a House Amendment

 poration tax will be amended to re- strict the operations of it's publicity feature. was virtually assured today when the house slightly amended a provision previously adoptet| by the senate for that purpose.
 As passed by the house today. the law provides that ali corporation tax returns shall Le open to inspection only on the order of the president, under the rules and regulations prescribed by the secretary of the treasury and approved by the president
 As prey iously provided by the sen ate, such corporation tax reports were to be made public when called for bN a resolution of the senate or the house or under the order Of the president when he decides that il is for the public interest The senate and house con- rerees soon will meet in an effort to agree upon a publicity amendment in which the views of both branches will bc harmonized.
 Just before the subject was disposed of MT Fitzgerald of New York at tempted to get d direct vote cn his mo- ton to recommit the bill under con sideration with instructions for the committee to report II with an amend ment repeating the Payne Aldrich tariff. By strict party vote of 150 to ll6. in which the insurgents lined up with the regular republicans. point Of order against Mir. FitZgerald's mo- ton was sustained
 The amendment adopted by the house today was introduced bv MT Gillett Of Massachusetts. Under the terms of the amendment. NIT. Gillett said he thought the president would rule that the records of corporations Of use or value to the public should be made public He said he thought the business of q majority of corporations ought not to be made public. as such records should not be open to the inspection of rival firms.
 MT Fitzgerald. combating the Gil lett amendment. said he was in favor of the fullest publicity of all corpora tfon affairs and he offered an amend ment providing simply that the reports required by the corporation tax law be open to public inspection and ap- prcpriating SJ0,0OO to classify such re- ports.
 This amendment. said Mir. Clark
 
 vision. should be entitled. An amend ment to get the republican party out of a hole Under this provision. no one will have access to these reports of corporations except the president and his advisers. which is a dangerous proposition Human nature has been the same since the time Adam and Eve were driven from Paradise. and in the
 |, I f. .Tss information for political purpose.
 Mir Payne said publicity could not be accorded in response to mere curi- osity. and he believed the Gillett amendmeu. would accomplish all desir- able publicity
 Mir. Hitchcock of Nebraska suggested that the head of Nthe department in which the information on corporations had been gathered had become the head of the republican campaign com mittee two years ago, and the great trust buster of ohio. Wade Ellis. had been taken from the prosecution Of corporations and placed i1 charge of the campaign in ohio. Those exam pIcs of activity in politics or men who possessed information regarding cor porations. he said, should be remem- bered when considering the pending legislation.
 Mir. Shirley of Kentucky. parting company with his party associates. de clarcd that the publicity feature of the corporation tax law could not be de- tended
 Bv vote of 1S2 to 1s3 Mir Gillott's substitute was adopted.
 MT. Fitzgerald introduced sensation into the consideration of the corpora ton publicity amendment by moving to recommit the legislative. executive and Judicial bill to the committee on ap- propriations. with instructions for that committee to report 1t with an amend mcnt repeating the tariff law.
 \ long search of precedents was re- auired to determine whether the reso- iution was in order. After an extended explanation of the parliamentary situ- ation. the speaker ruled the motion to recommit was not in order. MT. Fttz- gerald appealed from the decision of their chair. but the house. 150 to ll6 sustained the chair.