Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-06-26
WATSON RESC|NDS
MOTION TO BLOCK
FARM AID MEASURE
ACquieSceS to Presidents
Plea for Consideration
of Fess Plan.
EXECUTIVES SUPPORT
GOES TO CO-OPERATIVES
Democrats Seek to Bring Tariff
Fight as One Way of Re
lieving Producers.
BY 6. GOULD LINCOLN.


With the buck passed squarely to
Congress by the President on farm
relief legislation, Senator Watson of
Indiana today withdrew his motion TO
lay aside the farm bill now pending
before the Senate.
Senator Watson explained, in with
drawing his motion, that it was con-
sidered better to permit consideration
of the legislation which the President
favors, the Fess bill, but that he (Sen-
ator Watson) differed with the Chief
Executive as to the merits of the FeSS
bill.
Yesterday afternoon at about
o'clock, the President of the United
States issued a statement saying that
he favored the so-Called Fess amend
mend, or the passage of the Fess
BILL" said Senator Watson. II did not
know at the time l made my motion
that the President favored that or
any other Of the farm measures. But
he has made the statement. While
do not favor the Fess bill and shall
not support 1t and do not believe that
1t will help the farmers, l will not
seek to prevent a vote on the bill in
which the President says he is in
terested. Therefore. l withdraw my
motion"
Almost Immediately after Senator
Watson had withdraw his motion. the
Senate by unanimous consent tenn
porarily laid aside the farm bill to
give consideration to the World War
veterans bill. The request for this
unanimous consent was made by
Senator Reed of Pennsylvania. The
agreement contemplates the resump-
ton of the debate on the farm bill as
soon as the veterans bill has been dis.
posed of. The radio bill will follow
the farm bill under the terms Of the
agreement.
Holds Farmers Opposed.
The Watson motion was offered
late yesterday, and his explanation
for moving to sidetrack the farm bill
was that the Senate had defeated the
McNary- -Haugen bill, the only meas
ure which the farmers themselves
wanted, and that there was no pros
pect of the Senate being able to agree
on any other measure.
When the motion was offered il
could have been carried by a con-
siderable majority. Senator Watson
said today. 1t was introduced more
gave his statement to the press urg-
ing the passage of the Fess bill be-
fore the adjournment of the present
session of Congress.
At a conference of Senators favor
ing the McNary-Haugen bill this
morning in the Office of Senator Wat
son there was a difference of opinion
as to whether Senator Watson should
withdraw his motion or force it to
vote. Many of the Senators. both
Republican and Democratic, do not
wish the impression to go to the coun-
try that they ditched farm relief
legislation without taking a vote on
the Fess bill when the President
was still urging that something be
done about it.
Virtually Tincher Bill.
The Fess bill, which is virtually the
Tincher bill which was reported To
the House. but withdrawn before it
was ever voted on. will not pass the
Senate. in the opinion of a number of
Senators.
The farm bloc. which has so
strongly supported the McNary-
Haugen bill. insist that the Fess bill,
which provides for lending 100000.
900 to farm co-operatives to help them
handle their own surplus crop prob
lem rather than have the Govern
ment do the job, is not what the
farmers want; that the farmers do
not want to borrow more money, for
they have already borrowed more than
they can pay. What the farmers
want. the bloc insists, is the establish
ment of a system which will accom-
plish for the farmer what the protec-
tive tariff has accomplished for the
American manufacturer.
The determination to go ahead with
the debate on the F'ess bill and other
farm relief proposals may delay ad-
iournment considerably, although
limitation still exists on the debate.
The Democrats are anxious to debate
the Republican protective tariff, which
they insist is the cause of the
farmers trouble. Others are desirous
of attacking the Esch- -Cummins trans
portation act. which they say has in
creased freight rates greatly. to the
farmers disadvantage. Amendments
are now pending, offered by Demo-
Gratis, to instruct the Tariff Commits
sion to report to Congress at it's next
session regarding the lowering of
tariff rates. and also for the repeal
of the rate-making section OF the
Esch- -Cummins act.
The Fess bill. which has the sup
port of the administration, will be at
tackled violently by supporters of the
McNary- -Haugen plan. Some of these
Senators see an opportunity to make
political capital against the President
and they will not fail to seize the
opportunity.
President Coolidge. in making public
his position on farm-relief legislation
late yesterday. after n series of con-
ferences with Secretaries Jardine and
Hoover and with party leaders in Con-
gress, declared:
"Must Attempt Relief"