The Washington times., 1913-07-23
TARIFF BILL BRINGS
SIMMONS TO FRONT
North Carolina Senator Has Big
Job in Engineering the Meas
ure Through Senate.

Senator Simmons OF North Carolina,
chairman of the Finance Committee
and director of the destinies of the tar
ifT bill in the Senate, has been much
In the public eye in the last TWO
months, since the tariff measure was
cent to the Senate from the House For
the next six weeks or two months, Sen
ator Simmons will be still more conspic-
uous. for the reason that the real battle
over the tariff measure in the Senate
IS Just ready to begin. 1t VIII open with
the debate on the Senate floor, and at
least six weeks are expected to be con-
sumed before a vote is taken. Then
will come the wrangle in conference.
leading up to final adoption Of the con-
ference report and enactment Of the
new tariff measure.
In all these proceedings Senator Sim
mons will be at the forefront. AS head
of the Finance Committee he will have
to direct the Democratic management Of
the bill and the defense against the Re
publican attacks. In the past two
months. In, the business of having the
subcommittee Of the Finance Commit
tee revise the House schedules, having
the majority side of the Finance Com
mittee receive the reports of the sub
committees and shape them up, getting
the bill indorsed by the caucus and get-
ting Ii reported to the Senate, Senator
Simmons has been busy, but he VIII be
kept still buster while the bill is being
assailed on the floor and while the
House conferees are endeayoring to pre-
vent many of the changes in the House
bill which the Senate will make.
Not to Blame for Delay.
Az the reward for all this effort, the
bill may go down in history as the Un-
derwood- Simmons bill; and then again
1t may not 1t may be known simply
as the Underwood bill. Some folks
are bent on calling it the Wilson-Un-
derwood bill. in recognition CT the fact
that the President has taken SO large
a share in handling it So it may fall
out that Senator Simmons will have
only his trouble for his pains. and that
any hopes that his name will be craven
in history on the title of a tariff law
will be blasted.
A lot OF complaint is heard about the
lack of Democratic leadership in the
Senate. The fact that the Senate DEM
ocrats have taken two months to get
the bill reported to the Senate is caus-
TO lay the blame for delay in eaacting
the tariff measure on the Republicans,
but they cannot well do it in the face
of this showing. In both committee
and caucus the bill has dragged its
SLOW length along.
However, Senator Simmins is not to
blame for this. He is doing the best
he can under difficult circumstances.
In the first place, he got into the
craftsmanship of the Finance Committee
L.. W =
the Administration did not want him.
At one time, they thought they had
him beaten for the job. But Simmons,
though a little man physically, is a
fighter and has undoubted ability as a
politician. and has the faculty of get
get the Finance Committee chairman
ship. Then, he had to prove that he
intended in good faith to live up to |
the Baltimore platform.
Opponents Are Active.
He succeeded in proving this so well |
to the President that he has been able |
to extract some good jobs for his po-
litical henchmen in North Carolina, par
ticularly the collectorship of revenue |
for his lieutenant, A D. Watts. Watts |
was given a fat and juicy political plum |
despite the fact that Josephus Daniels |
was trying his best to grab the plum |
for another, and enemies of Simmons |
in North Carolina were crying out that |
Simmons and Watts were twin reac-
tionaries. and it was out of the oues-
tion to do a thing for them. All this
while, Simmons has had to seek to
reconcile the clashing Democratic ele-
ments in the upper house on the tariff,
an almost impossible task in itself OF
course, the influence of the President
has gone far in this effort, through Sim
mons has been an important factor
To make his endeavors the more
Simmons opponents insist
on barking back always and everlast-
ingly TO that vote for Lorimer and
those evangelistic efforts in 1903, as
one of the apostles Of the sacred cause
Of duties on lumber. Simmons is try |
Ing to live these things down, but his
enemies refuse to let the past be yelled
Under all the circumstances it is a
job filled with tribulations, this thing
Of trying to engineer a tariff bill through
the Senate. Senator Simmons is do
ing reasonably well under conditions