Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-29
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

Assuming the Democratic Progressive
Republican coalition retains control Of
the tariff bill in the Senate, the course
of the legislation. up to certain point,
can be outlined fairly clearly. Each
House will pass bill of its own. The
Senate will pass a version of the bill
which, stated roughly, will have four
characteristics. AS respects rates, the
two characteristics of the Senate bill
will be, first, very high rates on agri-
cultural crops and, second, relatively
quite low rates on manufactured prod
uctS. The rates on manufactured
products will be in the Senate bill, in
many cases. lower than the rates which
have been in existence since 1922. This
characteristic of the Senate bill under
the control of the coalition Is quite new.
Their intention to practice, as respects
many industrial rates. downward revi-
sion below the rates Of the past seven
years is expressed by their leaders fire.
quently.
Those are the two characteristics Of
the Senate bill as respects rates. It will
have two further important character.
istics The Senate bill will include the
debenture plan for giving an export
bounty on farm crops. The fourth i'm
portant characteristic of the Senate bill
is that it will take away the power now
possessed by the President to put into
effect recommendations for changes In
rates from time to time by the Tariff
Commission. The Senate bill will take
away this power from the President
and give it to Congress. This has to do
with what is called the flexible provi-
sion" The Senate bill will not. as is
widely assumed, do away with the fleX-
ible provision. It will merely transfer
the operation of that provision from the
President, where it now is, to Congress.
Xxx x X
So much for the four outstanding
characteristics of the Senate bill. To
turn now to the House bill 1t also will
have four outstanding characteristics.
same as in the Senate bill. The House
bill will make high rates in favor of
agricultural crops. This is one aspect
of the tariff legislation to which there
is universal assent. From this point on.
however, the other three characteristics
Of the House bill will be the opposite
of the characteristics of the Senate bill.
rates to manufactured products. The
House bill will exclude the debenture
plan. Finally, the House bill will retain
the present provision under which the
President has the power to put into eff
feet recommendations for changes in
the tariff from time to time by the
Tariff Commission.
At the end of the session, or when
ever the tariff situation comes to a
climax, there will be two bills having
three outstanding differences. The next
step will be conference between a
committee of the House and commit
tee of the Senate to smooth out these
differences and make bill which both
Houses will approve. It is at this point
that the strain will come. What nor
mally happens is that the two houses
make mutual concessions. In the termi-
nology of politics, they trade" In the
present case, however. the differences
between the two chambers are so con-
trasting that compromise will be diff
cially on the part of the Senate, that
there will be no disposition to trade
The practically universal expectation is
that compromise will be impossible.
Presumably the conference will be pro-
longed for a sufficiently long time to
make 1t clear that there can be no
compromise. What will happen then is
difficult to foretell. No such situation
ever arose before with respect to tariff
bill. The normal outcome would be for
each house to throw UP its hands and
announce that legislation is impossible.
In the present case, however, feeling Is
so strong, especially among the coali-
ton in control of the Senate, that the
outcome may be more complex than
that. Some of the coalition leaders say
they will compel tariff legislation, that
they will keep the subject before the
Senate until the bill is enacted. Just
how the Senate can do this II the House