The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23
Will Not Force Senate to
 TaketActi0n
ATTITUDE OF MIR. TAFT
Generally Believed He Will Veto Tariff Bills on Ground That Re- port of Experts Has Not
 Yet Been Made
By RoDERrcK CLIFFORD


 call halt in their plans to undertake a general revision of the tariff at the ex- tra session, this recent decision being based upon the apparent attitude of the senate not to vote upon any tariff legis- lation other than that which is now be- fore it.
 The ways and means committee of the | House is now at work on it's bill revising l the cotton schedule, and this measure will be probably brought into the House and passed This does not mean, how l ever, that the House will insist that the Senate take action on the cotton bill before it adiourns. The democratic body will be content in the event the Senate votes upon Canadian reciprocity, the wool bill and the farmers free list bill.
 There is a general understanding at both ends of the Capitol building that the Senate will have to take action upoa these three measures before adjournment Is possible. The passage of Canadian reciprocity is assured and It is by no means improbably that the Senate, through a coalition of democrats and in- l surgent republicans, will also pass the bill revising the woolen schedule of the Payne-Aldrich law. and the farmers free list bill. These two latter bills however | are apt to be amended in the Senate by | some of the insurgent republicans, but | it is not believed that the amendments will be such that all differences cannot be straightened out in conference. l On the other hand, there is a report which follows President Taft's recent cruise with number of the Senate lead CTS of both parties. that the President will veto all tariff legislation attempted at this time. As an excuse for this &C., l tion it is understood that MT. Taft will plead that the tariff revisionsts should | await the report of the tariff board. Be that as it may, the democrats of the | House are bound to demand action al the hands of the upper body on the l three bills named. It was first intended | by the democrats that their legislative | programme would not be considered com | pete until the Senate had taken definite action upon the cotton schedule, the steel l schedule the sugar schedule, the fron schedule and others. It is only within the past week that the word has been passed among the House democrats that ] they are willing to halt operations tenn porarly if the Senate will make some | disposition of wool and the free list. | This does not mean, according to the democratic leaders of the House, that | the tariff revision plans of the demo- | crats are not to be taken up with re- | newed vigor at the beginning of the reg | ular session in December. In the event | that it becomes apparent that a repub- lcan Senate and a republican President
 will frown upon all further attempts to
 amend the present tariff law, the House
 democrats simply will bide their time, and will begin right where they left off, once the new Congress is reassembled. The democrats feel that a prompt re- t vision of the cotton schedule is necessary, ? but the farmers free list bill and the / bill revising the much denounced sched- ! ule K, the woolen schedule of the Payne s Aldrch bill is deemed of paramount inn ) portance. The House democrats propose 3 | to stay here all the summer rather than miss an opportunity to put on record the action of the Senate on these two inn l portant schedules. Representative Un- 4 derwood, the chairman of the ways and
 Means committee, on the other hand, has
 let it be known that his party will con-
 sent to an adjournment, even though
 the cotton schedule Is temporarily side
 tracked, in the event the Senate gets
 down to business and votes on the wool bill and the free list bill.
 This latter plan, however, does not in dicate that the House has stopped work ; on tariff revision. The ways and means committee is now hard at work on the
 
 cotton schedule will be ready for re-
 port within a few days. and 1t will mean | a cut of about 70 per cent in the present
 rates on all cotton goods and laces. The bill will be acted upon by the democratic
 caucus, and will be brought into the
 House and rushed through that body irrespective of what reception 1t may
 later receive in the Senate.
 The hot weather in Washington has
 practically precluded the chance that the Senate will consent to remain longer in session after 1t votes on reciprocity,
 schedule K and the free list bill The latter two bills have now been over at the Senate end of the capitol for two
 months, while the debate has dragged
 along on reciprocity which was sent there soon after the extra session con- vened in April The Senate realizes that it must either pass or kill the wool bill
 and the free list bill at this session. It
 is willing to compromise with the House
 and take action on these two measures
 in the event that the House, in return,
 will agree to adjournment after such action is taken.
 | The democratic leaders of the House, while they are wiling to sit out the hot , summer in Washington, are neverless
 willing to make some concessions to the
 perspring Senate. and, as a consequence
 the cotton bill will probably go by the |
 bodies. on the eve of presidential cam
 paign, will start in for another hong Legislative seige.
 The situation has been thus summed
 up by one of the democratic leaders of
 the House:
 '"The democrats were successful at the
 polls last November because the country
 wanted tariff revision, and because it particularly demanded revision of the iniquitous schedule K. We have revised
 this most obnoxious of schedules, and we have also passed the farmers free
 list bill to recompense the farmer for any damage that may accrue to him a through the Canadian agreement The . House and the country will demand that s the Senate take some action upon both i those bills. We would prefer to have ? action upon the cotton and other sched- ues also but we have received inti- e nation that the Senate proposes to stop
 work within a short time. We will go ahead with our tariff revision in the House, passing our bills as fast as pos-
 sible, and demonstrating to the country that the democrats are willing to keep faith. When the Senate calls for an y adjournment. we will probably consent to a cessation of tarin revision-provided. g of course, that some definite action shall have been taken on wool and the free !, list. We are not willing to leave Wash I ington until these bills, which the Senate a has had for weeks, have received con- y sderation."
 Present prospects are that the Senate
 will vote all these three bills prior to
 August 10. If is then expected that an . agreement will be reached whereby fur
 ther tariff revision will be postponed un-
 til next December.
 -9.-