The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-06-17
NO FAvORS FOR
SHIPS AHEAD OF
FARM BENEFITS
IIlinoisans In Congress Hesitate at
Rushing Subsidy Bill; Mann
Next Chairmani
Washington News Buresu.
Rock Island Argus.

washington, ID. c., June H.
With, the adjournment of congress
apparently less than month off,
Illinois representatives find them
selves in the greatest quandary OF
the whole session. They knew
they were in it when President
Harding announced last week that
unless the ship subsidy bill passed
before adjournment, he would call
special session in the fall to con-
slider it.
So with their campaign before
them, they must decide whether the
will of the president is compatible
with the desire of constituents
back home, and their own intuf-
ton is practically their only guide.
A poll taken this week showed
that a large majority of the down
state delegation in congress will
favor the subsidy bill, though they
will scan its provisions critically
and perhaps demand changes in
some of them. Not more than one
or two Representatives from large
farming communities, are expected
to vote against the measure.
AS the committee on merchant
marine has just made its final
draft of the bill, none of the Illi-
nois congressman had studied 1t
thoroughly before the interviewer
talked with them. But not single
one expressed even mild enthusi-
asm over the prospect of having to
force it through this session.
The views of the majority seemed
we'll expressed by Congressman
| John c. Mckenzie, ElizabethtowT1,
sub-chairman of the committee on
military affairs, who said that 1t
was very fortunate that a matter of
such importance had to be consid-
cred in haste Mckenzie is one of
| those who will study the scope of
| the bill most carefully. He is par
| ticularly interested, because OF his
! connection with the military al
| fairs committee, in the reported
statement of Chairman Lasker of
the shipping board that army trans
ports and every other branch of
American shipping will eventually
| be turned over to private concerns
under the subsidy plan.
ANY such plan would be ex-
| tremely boolhardy," said McKen-
zie. l am in favor of ship sub
sidy with limits, but l am dead
against any plan which would put
military troop movements into the
| hands of private shipping inter
ests''
Representative l., E. Wheeler,
! Springfield, is another who favors
| the principle of the subsidy but is
going to be certain that the pres
ent bill conforms with his ideas
before he votes for it. He does
not believe that private shipping
| interests should be given too wide
dispensation by the government.
The sentiment among Illinoisans
| from Agricultural districts is that
shipping interests should receive
no more favors from the govern
ment than the farmer has during
his hard times. They compare the
proposal that the government shall
make loans to ship owners up to
70 percent of the value of their YES
sells at percent interest with fed
eral loans to farmers up to so per-
cent of the value of their land and
5 1-2 percent interest and are I'M
able to see where the maritime
| forces deserve such an advantage.
1t is said that Representative
| Frank Funk, Bloomington, is
among those who will vote against
the bill if the allowances it gives
to the shipping interests are not
modified radically. Representative
Edward J. King. also a strong sup
porter of the agricultural interests,
has not yet made up his mind
whether to support the subsidy.
He, too, feels that it allows private
| shippers more than their due.
There is nS disposition among
the Illinois delegation apparently
to criticize the presidents action.
His views on the question simply
| differ to a degree with theirs. And
they are waiting for the debate on
| the floor of the house, with its OPP
portunity for amendments and
changes in the subsidy bill. to
clear up the situation and give
| them arguments to take back to
the voters in their districts.
| A firm conviction that Represen-
/ n.
may have another chance at the
speakership when the next congress
convenes has been voiced here re-
] Gently by a number of influential
Republican congressman.
Facing a greatly reduced ma
| jority in the Sixty-eighth congress,
more than a few G. o. P. forecast
ers have predicted that demand
| for a new speaker will become en-
| phatic once the new members take
their seats. Just how emphatic
will depend on the narrowness of
! that majority, for the present
| speaker, Frederick H. Gillett,
Massachusetts, while not regarded
as a powerful figure, is popular
with his colleagues.
Veteran Republicans, however,
realize how essential a strong man
in the house chair is to the full
exercise of party power. Those
who are now mentioning Mann's
name do not believe that, if the G..
o. p. majority is considerably
| thinned, Gillett can hold his place
against a stronger candidate.
An objection frequently voiced
since Giilett took the leadership,
and one apt to throw the votes of
many western representatives
against him at the hext congress is
that his occupancy of the throne
gives Massachusetts the gavel jim
both houses, as Vice-President
Coolidge presides over the senate.
This, together with the fact that
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Ia