The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-16
Harmony Is Expected to Prevail In Coming Im-
 p0rtsnt Meeting
TARIFF REVISION WILL
 BE DEMOCRATIC SLOGAN
While Committee Memberships Will First Be Settled the Tariff Will Come in for Its Part in the
 Legislative Plans

washington, January 15.-Democratic members of the House of Representatives are busily engaged in preparations for the unique party caucus which Is to be held next Thursday night and which all dem ocratic representatives-elect are expected to attend. The actual effect of the eau GUS is intended to commit the democratic majority of the next House to an organ ization to be perfected next winter. It is expected that q committee on ways and means, the body which frames the tariff laws in their initial stages, will be chosen; the method of designating the personnel of the standing committees will be determined and selection will be made for speaker of the House. The se- lection of Champ Clark of Missouri, the present minority leader, for the speaker ship apparently is foregone conclu- sion as more than majority of the dem- ocrats of the next House already have pledged themselves to his election. Nearly all of the democratic leaders favor the selection of the ways and means committee in order there shall be no delay in the work of tariff revision to | WnlCn tne uemOcTdls are pltu6cu. ihS
 majority of the committee expects to
 tegin work at once. although the repub- lican minority leaders will not be chosen
 until the new House is organized next winter This delay will not be a handi- cap to the democrats, however. as they | intend to follow the custom of excluding . the minority from the committee during | ho fro o,,,iy, oF i1 aS a h.
 licans did when they were. in majority, excluding the democrats until their bill
 was ready to report.
 Underwood Is Leader
 The slate which seems to find favor v{jtI, most of the democratic leaders gives ! the chairmanship of the ways and means committee to Underwood of Alabama, and disposes of the remaining places as follows:
 Peters of Massachusetts, Harrison of New York, Palmer of Pennsylvania, ! Dixon of Indiana, James of Kentucky. l Hammond of Minnesota, Hughes of New Jersey, Shackleford of Missouri, Randell Of Texas Brantley of Georgia, Kitchin of \ North Carolina, Hull of Tennessee and
 Rainey of Illinois. The selections, aside from reasons of fitness, have been made
 along geographical lines.
 The metnOQS or SeleCtlHB cOIlIIlltteeS IS
 not expected to be disposed of without
 a contest. although the declaration is ] freely made by many leaders that two 1 thirds of the democrats of the next House ! favor the selection by caucus of com mittee on committees" Fitzgerald of New | York, ranking member of the committee ! on appropriations, who was appointed by l Speaker Cannon to his present place on | the committee on rules. after breaking l with his own party, probably will intro 1 duce a resolution providing for the con-
 tinuation of the present methods of hay
 ing committees appointed by the speaker.
 Harmony Will Result
 It may be that the members of the House will come back from the harmony l conference In Baltimore, which Is to be l held on Tuesday, in such a complacent mood that fight over the appointment ! of committees can be avoided. although 1 few are sanguins of such a result. In connection with the naming of a I committee to frame tariff bill. the sit- l nation in the Senate is interesting. In that house the tariff measures are han dled by the committee on finance, the personnel of which will undergo con- siderable change in the next session. AL l though the Senate still will be republican, 1 four of the republican members of tho 1 committee as now composed expect not 1 to be members of the next Congress. II Those who will drop out at the end of N ehis session are Chairman Aldrich, Bur
 rows, Hale and Flint There will be changes also in the democratic member ship. as Senators Money and Taliaferro have not been elected to the next Con gress and there is vacancy because of the death of Senator Daniel. The total membership of the committee is only 1 IA and therefore In the next session half 1 of that number will be new to tariff making.
 Demands of Insurgents
 insurRent senators are planning to de- mand places on the finance committee on the ground that their selection Is neces-
 sary to secure downward revision. On
 this issue they confidently count upon
 democratic support in the event they are
 excluded by the republican committee on
 committees which nominates for commit
 tee places. If the committee on com
 mittees of the Senate should recommend
 for places on the finance committee only
 such senators who believe next year is l too early for revision of the tariff the
 prospects are that there will be con-
 test on the Senate floor over the adoption | of the committees report A committee ] of insurgent republicans and democrats,
 it is conceded. might easily overturn re-
 publican control of the Senate and allow
 the democrats to revise the tariff as they
 please. Fl
 Veto Is the Only Hope
 Administration senators have given
 no little thought to the situation. In
 case of combination such as has been
 suggested in cloak rooms and corridors,
 the only hope of senators who oppose
 radical tariff revision Is said to be for
 the executive to veto any tariff meas tres passed. There is little doubt that the House, which will have an almost
 unwieldy democratic majority, would promptly pass the bill over the Presl-
 dents veto. This would not be so easy in the Senate for, although democrats and insurgent republicans could muster
 majority 1t Is extremely doubtful
 whether they would be able to get the
 necessary two-thirds to pass a tariff
 measute over the veto of republican
 preiident. H
 Some of the democrats do not hesitate
 so say that such contingency. from
 their point of view. presents an oppor-
 tunfty to them devoutly to be wished
 These democrats say that no issue | would so forcibiy argue the necessity . of turning over to them the reins of | government and would aid them in the
 campaign of 1912. Administration sen | ators will avoid being drawn Into such