The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-24
THINGS AT CAPITAL. ARE RATHER MIXED May Run Whole Gamut of
 Tariff Revision
  TO CAUCUS TUESDAY Underwood Expects to Start Cotton Bill Debate Thursday-Investi-
 gating Committees Face Busy Week

Washington, July 23.-The removal of Canadian reciprocity from the congress sional stage has left things at the cap itol In a decidedly mixed condition. The Senate will launch into the wool tariff fight at noon tomorrow. but It is ex- pected the session will not stick closely to wool, but will run the whole gamut of tariff revision.
 The House democrats will caucus Tues day and the cotton tariff bill, with their indorsement. is expected to come into the House "Wednesday. The House Is going to pass it's cotton tariff measure, but the fate of the wool bill in the Senate still is a matter of conjecture.
 Democratic leaders in the House, some of them al least. still are skeptical as to whether the Senate will pass any of the tariff bills now before it. They have tried to obtain some definite information from Senate leaders as to what will be done, but little Is forthcoming.
 The Senate situation refuses to unravel. Democrats want a wool revision and so do the republican insurgents. but they cannot agree on the kind. The demo- crats want to pass a democratic meas ure, if possible, but above all, they want to pass some kind of a bill, in the hope of embarrassing the President. who has characterized the Payne-A Aldrich wool tar if rates as .indefensibe"
 If they cannot get their own bill through the democrats may support the LaFollette insurgent republican bill, which was defeated Saturday as an amendment to the reciprocity bill. but which will come in again this week as an independent measure. With demo- crats end insurgents united, the LaFol- lette bill might easily be passed.
 Parliamentary Trouble
 But at this point the parliamentary bugbear intervenes. The democratic wool bill is officially before the Senate and the LaFolletse bill must come in as a substitute. Under the rules of the Sen ate the substitute must be voted on first If the democrats vote for 1t they lose a chance to vote on their own bil. and if they vote against it they confront the certain defeat of their own measure on the next vote.
 Either the democrats who favor adopt ing the LaFollette bill in order to be sure of some revision, will win out in a democratic Senate caucus this week or it will be determined to put the wool revision in again as an amendment 10 the Tree llSt Dill. Ac fNp'i HPNV N'iiiS' next Thursday hy aei gasrt. the free list vote ,the following Tuesday, Au- gust l.
 If the wool bills are both voted down Thursday the subject probably will come back as an amendment to the free list bill The democratic leaders much pre- fer however that President Taft be com pelled to deal with the wool revision as a separate and distinct proposition.
 Senator Pomerene of Ohio expects secure definite action tomorrow on his resolution instructing the Attorney Gen. eral to begin criminal prosecutions against the officials of the Standard Oil and the American Tobacco companies.
 Democratic Leader Underwood expects the House debate on the cotton bill to begin Thursday and run four or five days. The Senate LorimerF election com- mittee will resume its hearings tomor- row. The House Investigating commit tees will be active part of the week. Tomorrow Attorney General Wickersham will be heard by the House judiciary committee on Delegate Wickersham' s charges of deliberate failure to prose- cute Alaska contract frauds The House steel trust committee will resume work tomorrow and meet Thursday In New York city. The House sugar trust com mittee is in New York. The Controller bay, Alaska, land inquiry is dormant.