Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-08-12
PROGRESSVES AND
DEMOCRATS TRY
| TO GET TOGETHER
Overtures Made from Repub-
lican Side for Compro-
mise on Tariff.
MAJORITY SEEMS WILLING
TO AID q. o. P. DISRUPTION
Hitch, However, Likely to Oo-
cur Over Agricultural
Schedule.
Star Bureau,
Metropolitan National Bank Bldg,
WASHINGTON. Aug. 12.


WASHINGTON, Aug. IL.
AS the vote draws nearer on tariff
revision in the Senate there is grow
ing evidence of desire on the part OF
both Democrats and Progressive Re-
puhlicans to get together on the bill.
Overtures have been made by the
Progressives on the Republican side,
and the Democrats have responded
that they are perfectly willing to try
to find a plan that will enable them
to add to the ajority for revision
and to further disrupt the Republican
party.
There are enough Democratic votes
in the Senate to pass the tariff re-
vision without help-just enough-a
majority of one vote. If more cannot
be had the bill will be passed with
this bare majority in it's favor If 1t
is possible to get Progressives on the
other side to Join in. however, the
Democratic leaders will be very glad
of the help. Both Democrats and
Prosressives are gradually finding
tina. thev cannot well afford to quar-
rel over this measure. and that CO.
operation will help them on both
sides.
In the present Senate minority
there are seven men. Republicans and
Progressives. who voted against the
Payne-Aldrich tariff. LaFollette,
Cummins, Crawford. Bristow and
Clapp voted against it in the Senate;
Norris and Poindexter in the House.
Some of these Progressives have
seemingly made the sudden and re-
cent discovery that for them now to
"a nd
going to put them in the position of
voting to perpetuate the present
tariff, which they repudiated and de-
nounced four years ago.
Find Themselves In DiienHa.
Even hv picking splinters and flaws
In the present bill these men realize
1t is going to be difficult for them to
explain and justify such a record
On the other hand many Democrats
are waking up to the fact that the
fight made by this handful of Re-
publican Progressives opened the eyes
of the country to the perf1dy of the
Payne-Aldrich enactment, and paved
the way TO Democratic victory. For
them now to jam through a tariff by
narrow majority, which is con-
demned bv the same Progressives
who condemned the Aldrich bill,
would put the majority leaders into
an embarrassing position they do not
care to occupy.
Besides these seven Progressives on
the Republican side there are two
more recent recruits to Congress
Kenyon, of Iowa. and Works, of Cali
fornia who have evinced a wish to
Join in making a tariff revision that
will relieve the country from the op-
preston of the present trust-made
duties.
While there has been little discus
sion of this situation on the open floor
of the Senate it has been talked over
very seriously in cloak rooms and
committee rooms by senator's on both
sides for some time past Despite
their action in the finance committee
and in the Democratic caucus many
majority senators say frankly that
thev would like to have the votes of
as many of these Progressives as pos
sible for the bill, and that II the
Progressives can show them how to
improve the bill they will be glad to
do so.
When Senator Kenyon a few days
ago pointed out that aluminium,
aIumna and bauxite are practically
controlled by trust, and that the
reduction in duties leaves large pro-
tectlOn TO tfllS trust, he Hldue II pro-
found impression upon the Demo-
Gratis. His appeal to the majority
members to leave this and other
items in the bill open and to agree
to put all trust controlled products
on the free list has been tacitly
agreed to, for the present at least,
and Democrats are generally i'm
pressed with the necessity for in
some way meeting Kenyon's objec-
tions.
Farmers Main Difficulty.
The main difficulty in the way of
compromising the Democratic and
Progressive Republican differences in
the pending tariff bill is in the agri-
cultural schedule. Most of the Pro-
gressives in the Senate-in fact, all
of them-come from farming dis
tricts, and are anxious to retain some
proportion of protective tariff for
farm products. Some of them frankly
admit that they doubt If the farmer
derives any benefit whatever from
protection, but they urge that, since
a measure of protection is left on
manufactures, the farmers should not
be denied the same consideration,
whether 1t is of benefit to them or
not.
The Democrats want to teach the
farmers lesson. They believe most
of them, that protective duties were
placed on farm products by the Re-
publicans wholly for the sake of
bamboozling the farmers into sup
porting the protective doctrine and
the Republican party, and that the
sole benefciaries of the tariff have
been the manufacturers. So the
Democrats have put practically all
farm products on the free list, be-
leving that the change will make no
difference in the value of farm
products and that by this demonstra-
tion the farmers will be convinced
that they have been the catspaws of
the manufacturing interests.
If this difference on the farm
schedules can be arranged to satisfy
both sides, it is more than an even
chance at present that the Repub-
iican party will be worse disrupted
than ever by the vote on the tariff
bill. Whether this finsl test will
come when the bill passes the Senate
or whether final compromise will
be reached when IT gets into a con-
ference cor 'nittee is still an open
question. Certain it is that both
Progressives and Democrats would
like to get together on the measure
and that If they do SO the effect will
most Iilllev i- eliminate the tariff
as an issue - national campaigns
for many years 20 come, through the
ueter destruction of party tines on the
6pcstion. Ia. y. w.