The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1913-03-22

April 1 the house Immediately
" win elect a speaker to succeed
Champ Clark, and the chances are
that the man to succeed will be Mr..
Clark himself. Then when the COM
mittee memberships definitely are as
signed the members will get down at
once to tariff tinkering.
It is pretty generally expected In
Washington that the administration
will ask congress to take up currency
legislation at the extra session. but II
may be that the advice OF some OF the
elder members Of the banking and cur
rency committee OF the house and or
the finance committee OF the senate
will be listened TO and monetary iegts-
lation will be put over until the nrst
regular session. which begins the first
Monday In next December.
As for the tariff. the Democratic
majority says that II is not going to
tinker with IT," for the term implies
simply patching and repatching. The
Democrats apparently think that they
have already outlined tariff program
which will prove to be constructive
and which will stand the test OF time
and business. What the dominant
party fears more than anything else.
and its members are free to say so
privately. that some OF the provisions
OF the new tariff law, when they go
into effect, materially will hurt labor.
A good many Of the Democrats do not
express the fear in Just this way.
Some Of them actually believe that II
the excuse Of an experimental low
duty is offered that some great con-
Germs may discharge parts Of their
working forces. lay II to the tariff, and
trust to the discomfort which Is
aroused to reopen the whole tariff agi-
tation and possibly to bring back high
tariff conditions once more.
House Majority for Reductions.
The Democratic house leaders In
the congress just ended and who I'M
questionably will be the leaders in
the next house do not seem to be in
tn least disturbed about the ability
Of the Democratic party to put
through the lower chamber quickly
and in order" just such tariff meas
ures as the ways and means commit
tee shall outline.
Take the house all in all and a
vast majority of its members as the
body is at present constituted is In
favor of tariff reductions. There are
among the representatives, as among
the senator's, some Democrats Of high
tariff tendencies, but the majority OF
the members of that party in both
houses, and a great majority in the
lower house, are In favor Of reduc-
lions, and with them stand Republic
ans Of the house and senate of the
Cummins and LaFollette school. and
also the members of the Progressive
party, of whom in the new house there
are 10 and in the senate three or four.
II can be seen from this that the
house will have little difficulty In put
ting through such tariff measures as
the Democratic ways and means COM
mittee shall prepare. and it Is believ-
ed that the measures will call for
radical reductions in some cases and
have what may be called conservative
ly radical reductions in other cases.
The senate. however, as 1t will be con-
stituted, will not stand for the deep
cuts which the house intends to make.
and SO the chances are there viii be
a compromise.
Sounding New Members.
Members Of the new lower house
of congress are coming into Wash
ington in numbers day by day.
The Democratic and Republican lead
ers are sounding out the sent-
ments of the incoming members Of
their parties. primarily in a most del
icate way. to find out definitely just
what their fractional Affiliations" are.
The Democratic leaders want to know
whether the incomers are extremely
conservative. Just plain conservative,
progressive, or radically progressive.
and the Republican leaders are trying
to find out just about the same things.
The leaders Of the house Democ-
racy Is q man of marked conservative
tendencies. He says so and his acts
prove him so. It must not be under
stood. however, that he is not progress
sively inclined along lines which he
considers safely progressive. His op-
ponents In his own party say that he
considers few things safely progress
sive and that therefore he IL definitely
conservative. The great majority of
the Democrats in the next house will
be men who call themselves progress
sives and who are known at home as
such. This majority will have
marked influence on legislation and Oh
the upholding Of President Wilson's
policies. which everybody here be-
lieves will be advanced. 1t il not
thought In Washington that even the
leaders of Democracy in
the house will attempt to prevent the
passage of Legislation, that Mr.. Wilson
may recommend. even II 1t appears to
them to be "over radical"
Aside from the tariff, which win
take up large part of the time of
the extra session. and aside also from
legislation, which may or
may not be given consideration, there
will be thousands of bills dropped into
the hopper" Of house and senate be-
fore ten days Of the extra session