The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-02
POLITICAL GAME
 WILL BE SPIRITED When the Parties Clash at
 Next Congress PROGRAMMES DIFFER Democrats Are Likely to Take Diff ferent Plan of Procedure From
 That Desired by Presi-
 dent Taft
PROGRAMMES DIFFER
Fly RALPH VI. WHITEsIDE

done in the next few months in Wash ington and they will play the game with all the skill that's in them. Tho people may or may not benefit by the struggle. It all depends on the point of view
 President Taft has made it pretty clear what he desires to have done by the special session. Here is the pro- gramme in brief:
 Passing of the Canadian reciprocity agreement.
 Making of the tariff commission per manent.
 Adjournment.
 He favors tariff revision but only after the tariff commission has had an opportunity to investigate and report.
 The demorcatic leaders have an en- tirely different programme which they will endeavor to carry out regardless of the Presidents views. They are will procity and may give him the tariff commission but they do not propose to postpone tariff revision; on the con- trary, it is the present purpose to take up first the wool schedule then cot ton: after that, the other affecting commonly used necessaries of life in the order in which it may be decided they are most important. That order has not been determined as yet The list, however, will include steel, lum- Der, sugar and probably some others.
 In fact, the democrats do not take much stock in the tariff commission r. ;- iment was tried in 1882 and was most dismal failure.
 After an expenditure of considerable time and money a report was submitted to Congress. It occupied nearly 5000 printed pages. There was no question as to the thoroughness and value of the work, and yet when 1t had all been done, Congress paid no more at- tention to it than if it had been a report upon the planet Mars. The facts figures and conclusions of the commits sion were absolutely ignored. This, too, in face of the fact that the commits sion reported that it had been gov erned solely by its own views of jus tlce, expediency and a regard for the Interests of consumers and the public sentiment of the country" To show how history repeats itself, it may be added that "early in it's deliberat tions
 
 substantial reduction of tariff duties is demanded, not by a mere indiscrip,- mate popular clamor but by the best conservative opinion of the country" and that such reduction of the exist ing tariff the commission regards not only as due recognition of public sentiment and measure of justice to consumers. but one conductive to gen eral industrial prosperity"
 This partisan comm sciop 1ilya the tariff board of today, placed the revision of the tariff upon the high plane of public welfare. but Congress. as If to emphasize it's disregard of the commissions labors, proceeded to en- act a tariff bill which was not based in the slightest degree upon the in- Vestisation which has been made
 Ii will probably be some time before Congress is organized for work. In ths first place, the republicans have yet | to make up their committee assign | ments for the House. As matter of | fact minority representation cuts little | figure in the House committies, but | for the sake of form it is necessary that measures should be passed on by full committees.
 Then the Senate committees are to be rearranged. The chairman ship of the republican caucus is made il vacant by the retirement of MT. Hale of Maine, that of the democratic eau II gus by the retirement of MT. Mooney of Nissississip. Retirement, voluntary and + otherwise, and death have brought about vacancies in the chairmanships | Of the committees on appropriations, finance, agriculture, contingent ex- penses interstate commerce, privileges and elections, interoceanic canals, irri- gation, mines and mining. public build iflcr ID d. rs..s Porto Rico and territories And the l filling of those vacancies will proba- ply mean new chairmen for the com mittees of census, civil service, claims, | fisheries. forest reservations, immigra- tion, Indian affairs. manufactures. mil | itary affairs and postoffices, as well as | ot minor committees.
 The changes which death and cleo | tions have wrought in the member ship of tie Senate make the organiza tion of the new Senate both republican | and democratic of more than usual inn | portance. The piums are many, and | there are many hats held up to catch 1 each individual plum as 1t drops This is ali going to take time.
 It will probably be a couple of weeks | before Congress gets into its gait.
 When l hear that Newell Sanders, the republican leader of Tennessee, is In Washington. I always recall one memorable trip he made here from home" remarked George Crumbliss. from the eastern Tennessee region. Some years ago, when Sanders was not so well in our state as now, he was on a train coming to Washing gton with Colonel Sanford, another eminent Although they had lived long in the state neither one had ever met the veteran democratic senator. Tsham G. Harris, whose home was at Memphis, in the extreme western end of very long and narrow state.
 On tho occasion of tleir. trll, they sat In the smoking room of the Pull man and discussed from a republican standpoint the sad lack of statesnan- ship Tn Tennessee. Possibly they were preiudiced and rather partisan, but they didn't fnince their metaphors q little bit in describing the democratic at Washington. As they gosatped a tail old man came into the compartment. took drink possibly of wster-and smoked cigar, Sanders and Sanford kept up their crit icism of tho Tennessee democrats ir lamenting that Senator Batc while q good old man. was too old for tho job and that Senator Harris wax a worn out old Confederate soldier who had no especial qualification for 0 place i- the Senate,
 "The stranger apparently had paid no attention to the talk until the yer bal castigatl0n of Isharn q, Harris, Then he arose and poured upon the ss- tonished Sa nders and Sanford the viais of fl pent-up wrath and then some A terrific fusilade of invectfVe dcnun- cistion and condensed dsmnation made sae car trembls as inc old man vented