Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-25
failure OF TARIFF
LAID TO PRESIDENT
Shouse' Says Congress Lack
ed Leadership in Special
Session.


gress to enact into law q tariff bill at
the special session just closed was laid
at the door of President Hoover by
Jouett Shouse, chairman of the execu-
tive committee of the Democratic ma
ttonal committee, In a statement issued
today.
Congress" said Mr.. Shouse, has ad-
journed with the Republican majority
that accompanied Herbert Hoover into
ONCE shattered into fragments, each one
of which declares 1t represents the
Presidents views.
The extraordinary session has end
ed in failure for the administration
plans-whether those plans were cor
rectly mapped by the old guard, with
which the President has most frequently
consulted, or represented a departure
from the purposes of the official leader
of the party.
According to precedent the press
agents of the administration are blam-
ing Congress, and particularly the Sen
publican party smirched by the Bing-
ham Eyanson incident, the Grundy
cynicism and the other revelations of
the methods by which the high tariff
fers have reached their schedules.
But why should a shattered army
be blamed for the discontinue of a
leader who refused to lead?
Not Place for Blame.
"Why blame even the Senatorial Old
Guard for failing to carry out the Presi-
dents policies when nobody can more
than guess at what those polices were?
THE special session was the outcome
OF political expediency. Mr.. Hoover,
during moment of panic over the dis
he thought threatened his election,
promised it to enact farm relief. At
that time there was no thought of tariff
revision. The Department of Com
merce, from the headship Of which MIR.
Hoover had just resigned. testified In
its reports that the business Of the
country was remarkably prosperous.
"On his inauguration Mr.. Hoover de-
livered his message to the new Con-
greSs, but instead of limiting it to farm
relief he put in the unfortunate subject
of tariff rH\ion. True, he said that
this ought to be limited to a few in
dustries that were suffering from for
eign competition beyond their capacity
to meet Nevertheless, it opened the
door. and all the favored interests
| rushed in with demands for increases
in duties.
There has never been any, doubt Of
the Presidents control Of the House Of
Representatives. To oblige him the adj
nlnistration leaders clamped on GER
tain rules which barred out matters ex-
traneous to the subject matter Of his
message.
when the bill was completed 1t was
taken to the White House in advance
Of presentation to the House of Repre-
sentatives. All the engineers who had
framed it were there present-Speaker
Longworth, Leader Tilson, Chairman Of
the Rules Committee Smell, Chairman
OF the Ways and Means Committee
Hawley and Secretary Representative
Newton. They returned from the con-
ference with the President with the bill
| intact, ran a steamroller over the op-
position and produced the bill to the
| Senate. Never by so much as a word
did Mr. Hoover indicate his dissatisfac-
ton with any phase of it.
Conferences with Smoot.
During the long secret sessions Of
the Republican members of the Senate
nnance committee the President had
conference after conference with Char
man Smoot and Leader Watson and
others OF the group who were incubat-
| ing the Snoot-Hawley bill. The Presi-
| dent maintained his utter silence until
! the bill reached that stage on the floor
when the Democratic Senators and the
Progressive Republicans struck out Of
| the measure that provision of the
| flexible tariff under which the President
was permitted to exercise the purely
| legislative function of fixing rates. Then,
indeed, he found his voice.
Gould it have been a matter Of any
| surprise that the country was forced to
the conclusion that he would be con-
tent with any tariff bill, however ex-
orpitant, as long as there remained in
his hands the authority to vary rates
an authority which in the history of
tariff changes for the last seven years
operated IN only one way-upward?
"It was the indefensible character Of
the Smoot- Hawley bill that prolonged
the extra session beyond reason and re-
suited IN the disintegration Of the Re-
publican majority.
! Congress was not here because It
wanted to be; It was in session because
the President called it and laid before
it certain legislation. That the legisla-
ton sought was contrary to the oSten-
sible purpose of his message can only
be explained by one Of two hypothesis:
Either President Hoover was absolutely
lacking in the quality of leadership that
should have directed the deliberations
OF a Congress, in both houses of which
he had an overwhelming majority; or
else the language of his message ex-
pressed no thought he was anxious to
have carried out.
1.-THE Hawley draft would never have
been submitted to the House of Repre-
sentatives had he Signif1ed his distaste
for it. The revised monstrosity would
never have issued from the Senate
finance committee had he advised his
Senators there that it was contrary to
his wishes.
THE assailers of those who have
prevented the enactment of the Smoot-
Hawley tariff raid had no word of
criticism for the Senate when it baked
the effort of woodrow Wilson to bring
10 In AtNaYac kNsN swA ~
Nations, or when 1t checkmated tbs
attempts Of his successors to have the
United States join the World Court.
Nor was insurgency regarded SIS a crime
by them when certain Democrats aban-
doned their party's policies and thus
enabled his enemies to wreck the prof.
ects Of Democratic President"