The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-11
WOOL CONFEREES
 NEAR AGREEMENT 2h Per Cent on Raw Wool
 Separates Them
FULL MEETING CALLED
Underwood Raises To 27H and La Toilette Comes Down To 30 With Prospects Fair For Agree.
 ment Today

Washington, August 10.-With a meeting of the full committee of the two houses on conference on the wool and free list bills, called for tomor- row, Senator LaFollette and Represen- tative Underwood, who constitute the working sub committee of that organ ization, spent most of today in an en- deavor to place themselves In position to make a full report. They made ma terial progress, but when the two houses adjourned late in the day diff ferences still existed.
 The conferees were apart only to the extent of 21@ per cent on raw wool and there was a fair prospect that they would bridge the narrow chasm be- fore tomorrow's meeting. MT. Under- wood was willing to go to 27A per cent on ordinary raw wool and MT LaFollette was willing to come down to 30 per cent and to make other com pensatory concessions.
 There will be little difficulty about agreeing on the free list bill, if MT. Underwood's wish for another Senate vote on the House bill is refused. With modification eliminating corn from the articles coming in free from Cam ada, the Senate amendments will be accepted and the Senate will decline to retain the House addition placing lemons on the free list.
 MT. Underwood, as chairman of the ways and means committee, called the democratic members of that commit tee for a long conference this after noon and after long consideration or the full situation they indorsed his at- titude in conference.
 No Promise Made
 There was no positive promise when the call for the meeting was issued, that an agreement will be forthcoming, but the demand of the full committee was such that it could not be resisted, and in addition there was other work to do. MT Underwood wanted to re- port disagreement on the free hst bill so as to afford the Senate an op- portunity to recede from its amend ments to that measure, which he thought 1t might easily be induced to do in view of the fact that the originai House bill failed in the Senate by tie vote. If this request is presented IL will fail. as the Senate conferees, in- cluding Senator LaFollette and the two democratic members, were among the opponents of the House measure
 Senator LaFollette has an offset to MT. Underwood's proposition in the shape Of proposition to include informally in any agreement that may be made as under standing that tFfere shall be d vote oit the House cotton bill during the present session. He has been assured the demo- crats will interpose dilatory tactics to prevent a vote but it is known that some of them rely upon such disap- pea rance of senators after the disposition of the wool and free list bills as to rem der a ballot impracticable before the close of the session.
 Mr LaFollette's anxiety in the matter is due to the fact that he and his fellow progressives desire to use the cotton Dill as a vehicle for amendments carrying lower duties on steel, rubber, sugar, etc.
 An important bone of contention has been the classification of raw wool in the LaFollette bill, which took many Of the coarser long woos from the second class of the Payne-Aldrich law and placed them in the first class. MT. Underwood has demanded from the first that they be restored This concession was made to- day The effect is equivalent to ma terial reduction on the wools and a low ering of the average rates of the La- Toilette bill.
 Mir LaFollette said that if his political supporters would agree he would come down to 29 per cent on raw wool, but after consultation he found they would not do so, and he returned to the original proposition of 30 per cent where he stood when the Senate adjourned for the day. There was much pressure on the House to yield.