Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-04-06

asw taisphone. editorial Office 1s1:
Addrees the Courier Printing Com
.pany. Ottumwa, Iowa.
Entered a. second class mat al.
October II. 1908. ct the postonice,c ~
lumwa, Iowa, under the Act Of Com
1rsss OF March :, 1879.
WILL THE EXTRA SESSION TEAR
OPEN THE TARIFF.
It IL not safe to throw q stone III
\ some parts Of the Alps, as one editor
Naptly remarks, because you never
know what kind Of an avalanche 1t may
bring down upon you. This Is the way
the Literary Digest prefaces sum-
mary Of newspaper opinion on the
forthcoming special session Of con-
eress, According to many papers, the
Digest goes on, especially those which
claim to feel the pulse Of the nations
y "buainess interests" somewhat sim.
liIar state Of unstable equilibrium AMI
suspense will result from President
Taft,s converting Of the sixty-second
congress in extra session on April 4.
'lf congress opens the discussion OF
the tariff in any form, apart from tne
reciprocity agreement, admonisnes
the Wall Street Journal (Ftn) 1T 10
liable to find itself involved with the
entire tariff problem before It Is con-
scious Of the fact" The president, In
spired dispatches tell us, will confne
his message to Canadian reciprocity
and the establishment Of q permanent
tariff board, In the hope that further
revision will not be attempted before
the regular session meets. But 1t Is
abundantly evident that the demo
cratic leaders do not share this idea.
1.-TWO things you can say emphatical'
w." said Chairman Underwood, OF the
ways and means committee, to a
Washington correspondent Of the New
York Herald (Ind.) zone Ia that the
house will surely pass the reciprocity
agreement at the extra session, and
the other, that It will pass legislation
reducing the tariff" The same paper
quotes speaker.elect Champ Clark az
predicting that his party in the house
will take advantage Of the extra ses-
sion to pass, in addition to the Cana
dian Reciprocity Bill, ''other tariff leg
islation." ut seems pretty well under
stood" Mr.. Clark goes on to say that
the democrats viii adopt the schedule
by-schedule plan.... ~As to the tariff
board" he adds, II do not think we
democrats are going to wait on any
board to do our revising" Even to his
praoticed eye, however, the situation
remains, by his own admission, puz.
znng one. He says:
ADuring all my sixteen years expert
ence In congress never knew a ttmo
when It was 30 hard to guess what was
going to happen as 1t is now to guess
what the sixty.second congress Will do
in the extra session is q pecu-
liar situation-with democratic ma
4ority Of 81 in the house. senate that
ia republican by only 8 and mighty near
democratic when you consider the Is
or 20 insurgents and with republican
5@Jesident who has said half-adozen
Imes that part Of the tariff at least
1'ghould be reduced"
Y IN view Of these facts, Mr.. Clark
concludes, there is no guessing what
this congress will do in the long run. "
On the same point he is quoted In a
Washington dispatch to the New York
Commercial (Com.) as saying:
II think the majority Of the people
want US to get at the worst schedules
first and clean them UP. How far we
can 70 at the special session does not
depend solely on the house. 1t will be
determined by the sentiment and dis
position of the senate.
"There is much bitterness among the
republicans, while the democrats are
united, and will remain united"
The big figure in the situation, ac-
cording to more than one Washington
dispatch, says the Digest, is William J..
Bryan, who has outlined in the Com
moner, q legislative program for the
guidance of the democratic house.
"The pregnant fact that stands out as
big as a thunder-cloud in June" de-
clares the correspondent of the New
York Press (Ind. Rep) lis that Bryan
will be recognized in the special SEES
sion of congress as the national leader
of the democracy, and his views will
nreyail." "All the new democratic SEN
ators except Watson Of West Wiz
rinia." the same correspondent in
forms us, "will accept his advice"
while in the house "he has every DEM
ocrat of influence except Fitzgerald of
brooklyn" And the correspondent of
the New York Evening Post qnd.) also
assures us that Mr.. Bryan is "the po-
litical mentor, guide, and light-bearer
for the majority members Of the new
congress" Mr. Bryan's recommends
tions to the house in extra session are
as follows:
"First-Let 1t ratify the reciprocity
aereement-the failure to ratify which
brought the special session.
"second-Let 1t admit Arizona and
New Mexico.
"Third-Let it submit a constitu.
tional amendment providing for cleo
ton of United States senator's by direct
vote.
"Fourth-Let it reduce the tariff
schedule by schedule, and either re-
Heve the people or present an issue
for the president and his party to
meet"
Still another and fuller statement of
the democratic program, derived we
are told, from sources SO close to the
leaders as to be authoritative" is pub
lished in the New York Times (Ind.
Dem.) Here we read:
aFirst of all. it is planned by the.