Norwich bulletin., 1921-10-11
WASHINGTON AFFAIRS


 Washington, D. C., Oct. 10.-Th4 re- publicans of the senate have at least temporarily adjusted their difference over the pending tax bill, and the leaders of the several factions agreed on compro- mise, along the line of half loaf being better than none. When the democrats ] threatened to split republican ranks wide l open by forcing on the senate the Shoot substitute and then voting against the | entire bill, the republican factions quick ly got together and now the way seeras paved towards a harmonious settlement of the trouble and passage of the tax bill at a reasonably early date Senator Lodge, and other New England senators took the lead in bringing about an ad- justment and are being warmly congral- ulated by their colleagues for their pa tience in dealing with vexed ques- tion.
 Senator Mclean has taken a leading part in pending debates and faced the on- slaughts of Heflin, Harrison, Watson of Georgia, Caraway and other vitriolistic democrats, without yielding iot on the position he has taken. MT. Mclean said firmly he believes the return of the coun- try to normal business conditions will be more quickly brought about by a relu..- tion in sur-tax than by any other method and that such reduction vii. increase, instead of decreasing the amount of tax. To this the democrats took vic lent exception, and when MT. Carraway of Arkansas had the floor he drifted from tax and twftted the New England member of the senate with the recent Ledoux incidents going back tc slavery days and showing an inclination to wave the bloody shirt in his reference to sell inc 41a Of XIhi p,- 1 ton Common.
 Hef1in of Alabama, lifting his hands | to high heaven, protested against the methods of the republican party, and tke i methods of MT. Mclean in particular. 1 but his extravagant and sensationa! ut | terance, fell on inattentive ears or empty ] chairs, and his remarks got but scant 1 attention.
 Several members of the New England ] delegation in the senate met this week 1 to consider informally a plan put forward | by Senator Shoot regarding a plan for 1 the assessment of duties on commodities l or ad valorum duty. Under the Shoot l plan as it will be presented to the f. nance committee, exports from countries ] where exchange is greatly derreciareJ 1 would take an additional compensatory ] duty equal to an arbitrary fraction of I ation of the German mark, is approxl- l mark is approximately 96 per Gent., sup posing 1-3 the discount is the rata. i'm ports from Germany would be g Ter cent. This would be assessed as an eX- tra compensatory duty. The BritiSh l pound sterling being off about A Der | cent. imports from Great Britain would take 8 per cent. This plan of equalizing exchange is thought to be a simple enc and easy of administration, and IS re- garded as a possible solution Of the diff f1eulties in which the republicans now find themselves.
 Congressman Tilsen has recently re l ceived work from the state department that the American consulate a. Paris is
 making a careful investigation of the case of Charles Russell, of New Haven
 in the American naval servica, now T France sentenced to ten years in soii. tary confinement. Russell was charge. and convicted of attempted murder ane attempted theft. He was heavily sen. fenced by the presiding judge but later
 the jury which had convicted him, Is
 sued a statement saying they believed the sentence too heavy. The state de
 partment took up the matter at the re
 quest of Col. Tilson and an effoT+ will bt
 made to have the sentence 1igntened. An amusing incident of the ease with
 which a mountain is made out of a molt
 hill where the president is conc arned, wa
 shown a few days ago down at the Whit
 House. Of course anything that nap pens there is a national event and tha day an eminent New Yorker waosr pres tige in the political and business we7,, is widely recognized, called to see Pres ) ident Harding, and spent a half horl : with him. When he came out news
 paper men locked 'roun51 him thick 2 , honey bees in August. But the eminen man merely smiled and assured ther that his visit was personal and "ha
 no political significance" Now that the usual answer when something : great news value has actually occur
 red but is not ready to be given out fe I publication. So the newspaper men di 8 not take any stock in the answer an s a day or so afterwards, when they wer a received by the president at the usus
 bi-weekly conference he grants member of the Press Gallery, one of the me
 asked if they might be informed as t
 the purpose of the eminent mans visi
 The president shook his head, locke y thoughtful and then said slowly: Nc r don't belbVe I care to talk about it t Then the men looked knowingly at or q another as much as to say, q told yo
 so-it is something big" and one (
 them put out another bid for informatio
 saying, "Nr. President, won't you giy
 us just an inkling" Then the preside1 e smiled broadly and said, Well, if yc T must know, he called to challenge me
 a game of golf accepted the chaIlene
 and he beat me by two strokes" Ar Il so the mystery of the eminent mans vi l. it was solved and the president enjoye
 the joke "a had nlava6 or bA frhoI-s
 by his assumed air of reluctance to tai ,e It is a pretty sure thing that thel $ will be an adjournment late in Novea,
 Der to give brief breathing spell
 congress between the end of the speci If and the beginning of the regular sessio
 which later date is automatically fxc
 for the first Monday in December. Flo,
 Leader Mondell thinks it will be for br
 a week, but others in position to kno y believe it will extend at least two week Il and perhaps more.
 President Harding is quoted as n
 desiring a recess. That is hardly u e- situation, as we have heard-hin Q. t press an opinion of it. It is nev IS permissible to directly quote u
 president, but at one of the recent new
 paper interviews which your correspen ts ent attended, it seemed quite plain tn n while the president would not ask co
 gress to recess on account of the comi1 conference, it would not be displeasil
 to him if congress was not in session
 that time. The administration does n le wish in any way to dictate the action 'n congress in regard to a recess or a h. journment, but it is very apparent tn
 the president wants the big work f
 which he called the extra session COT