The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1911-02-09

Pensions-stiii Prospects of an tx
ira Session OF Congress-initative
and Referendum In Oregoa-Case
before the United states Supreme
Court.
Especial 10 The Caucasian
Washington, ID. c.. Feb. :, 19ll.-+
IaIt mas won great vic
tory in the House in putting through .
that body the measure which he has
so strenuousiy advocated providing
for a permanent taTiff Doara or com .
mission, with broad powers, TO gath
er facts as to the difference in the
cost OF production here and abroad. /
The argument was so overwhelm-
ingIy in favor Of this rational solu-
tion Of the tariff question as a great
American policy, that thirty-three
Democrats broke away from the ma
jority Of that party of inaction and
negation and voted with the Republi-
cans.
Another Serious Democratic Split.
Last night a Democratic caucus
was held to consider what position
that party would take in Congress on
the new reciprocity treaty with Can
ada. Only about hundred Demo-
cratic members attended, and those
present split wide open on the ques-
ton at issue. Some were squarely
for free trade; some were out and
out for protection as the great Amer
lean principle.
Between these two extremes there
were all kinds of varying Democratic
views, apparently covering the forty
nine different known varieties of
Democrats. Some of the most mark
ed differences in these varieties were
that one would be for free raw ma
terials and for moderate protection
on manufactured articles, while an
other would be either for moderate
or high protection on raw materials
and for moderate or no protection on
manufactured products.
AS an illustration, Congressman
Webb of North Carolina announced
that he was opposed to the recipro-
city treaty, because it would affect
the present tariff duties on some raw
materials which he had promised the
protect, while, at the same time,
Congressman Kitchin took exactly
the opposite position, in that he had
voted against any duty to protect
lumber, and that he was opposed to
protection in any form on the raw
materials of his State and the South,
or on anything else.
The majority of the caucus, how
ever, voted to endorse the reciprocity
treaty, on the ground that it lowered
some of the present tariff duties,
even though it will, if it becomes eff
fective, hit very hard some Of the raw
materials of the South.
Still Prospects of an Extra Session
| of Congress.
President Taft announced, when
his proposition to have permanent
| tariff board provided for by Congress
seemed to be doomed to defeat, that
if that measure failed he would call
an extra session of Congress imme-
| diately after the fourth of March.
Whether that position of the Presi-
dent Influenced many votes in favor
of the Presidents policy or not, is
not known, yet the situation as to
the success of the legislation for such
tariff board at once became more
favorable.
It is now thought that the Presi.
dent may also call an extra session
if the reciprocity treaty with Canada
should fail.
The Pension Problem.
There has been agitated for some
time in Congress proposition to pay
a pension of some kind to every per.
son who served in the Union Army
in any capacity during the late wal
between the States. The scheme te
increase pension bounties has been az
strenuously urged by Northern Dem
ocratic Congressman as by Republi
cans for many years.
The war closed forty-six years ago
A quarter Of a century after the wal
closed, the amount OF money paid fol
pensions by the Government was only
about one-fourth of the amount paid
to-day. At that time it was thought
that the appropriations for pensions
would rapidly decrease each year
and no one dreamed that at this late
date there would be as much as ter
million dollars to be paid in pensions
to Union soldiers.
There are not living to-day one
tenth as many Union soldiers as there
were twenty-five years ago, and YET
the pension rolls have doubled, trip
led and squadrupled To-day, ever
many OF the cooks and body-servants