The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1912-05-14
WASHINGTON LETTER.
BY c. II. Tavenner.

patters in the Senate going tt
chloroform the tariff reduction
bills that have been passed by
the Democratic House at this ses.
sion of Congress?
The House passed the steel tar.
if bill January 20, and it emerg.
ed April 5 from the Senate Fl
nance committee, with an ad-
verse report. Nothing much has
been heard about it since. On
FEBRUARY 81 the House passed the
bill to revise the chemical SEIZED
ule. The next day this bill was
sent to the Senate Finance COM
mittee, and there 1t still reposes.
On March 10 the House passed
the excise income tax law, which
proposed to shift a part of the
burden of government expense
from the shoul ders of the psor
onto those of the rich, and the
Senate Finance committee, to
which that measure was report
ed, has taken no action en- it..
The bill to remove the tax on
sugar, which would relieve the
common people of this nation of
an annual burden of more than
500, 600, 600 a year, passed the
House along with the excise in
come tax, and it, too, rests in the
Finance committee, which is
controlled by the last remnants of
the Senate Old Guard. The
wool bill, which passed the
House on the first day of
April, was turned over to the
same Senate committee the next
day, and there it still sleeps, ap-
parently as far from action as
ever.
The chairman of the Senate
Finance committee is Boise Pen
rose of Pennsylvania, and the
next ranking member on the
committee is Shelby Cullom of
Illinois. Both of these Senators
were rebuked at recent primary
elections in their states.
These two men, and especially
Penrose, have the word, just
now, onwhat is to be done with
these various bills, all of which
were designed to check the trusts
of this country, and all of which
constitute fulfillment of the
pledges made by the Democrats
when they sought election. In a
nutshell, the people put the Dem
ocrats in power on their specific
promise to enact these measures
into law. They did their work
exactly as they promised, and
now having gone as far as they
could, these Democrats have to
stand by and see a couple of
thoroughly discredited standpat-
patters nullify their years work.
Of course, there is yet time,
but it is pretty generally admit
ted around Washington that
there is well defined scheme on
foot among the standpat Sena-
tors to simply forget these bills.
just now the country is greatly
wrought up over the campaigns
for delegates to the national con-
ventions in June, and it is known
that the reactionaries plan to
take advantage of this situation
to once more block the enact
ment of measures designed to
give the people relief from the
high cost OF living.
Now comes the discovery that
Burdette D. Townsend, one oil
Mr.. RoosevelPs special trust in.
vestigators, was assigned, ir
1906, to investigate the harves
ter trust, and that he reported
that it was a monopoly in re
straint of trade; that it was hold
ing up farmers; receiving rebate:
from the railroads, and that al
the plans for the organization oil
the trust had been drawn up anC
executed by George w. Perkins
This report was suppressed
The public never heard Of it. 1
died by the chloroformine pro
cess, in the office of the Attor
ney General of the United States
with the acquiescence Of Mr.
Roosevelt. There is every indi
cation that Mr.. Roosevelt per
iii. \ - a. III r "a D