Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-23
NORRIS DIRECTS
COALITION ATTACK
AssaiIs Chemical Duties in
Proposed Tariff Schedules
as Senate Fight Opens.
BY the Associated Press.

| BY the Associated Press.
The flow of debate continued at food
| tide in the Senate today as the veteran
| George Norris took up the assault of
the Republican independent Democratic
coalition against the rate schedules in
the tariff bill.
Directing his onslaught specifically at
| the chemical duties, the Nebraskan with
| all the force his years Of senatorial
| training have placed at his command,
asserted the tariff on calcium carbide
was effected to protect the power
| trust"
His statement was made as the Sem
ate engaged in a general round of dis
| cussion and after it had developed that
| certain domestic carbide companies had
| gone to Canada to obtain cheaper
power, big cost factor in the produc-
| ton OF the chemical. which is used
primarily in the manufacture of acety-
| lene gas.
Hits Carbide Rates.
The present import rate on calcium
| carbide Is l cent a pound and while
the finance committee majority first
recommended reduction to p cent. it
| has proposed now to keep it at cent.
Protesting against reduction. SEN
| ator Golf, Republican, of West Virginia.
said II the tariff was sufficiently high,
| those companies which have opened
plants in Canada would be forced to
come back to the United States and
employ American labor.
He pointed out there were several
carbide plants In this country. located
in Michigan, New York Iowa, Minne-
sofa, West Virginia, Virginia and Ala
bama, and said 1t cost about $25 a ton
more to produce the chemical here than
in Europe.
Senator Vandenberg. Republican, of
Michigan, contending for an adequate
tariff" said the carbide plant at s;ault
Ste. Marie. Mich, paid nearly half of
me cltys taxes and large portion of
the city's population depended OH the
plants success.
Still maintaining the advantage which
enabled it to override the adninistra-
tim in the formulation of the admin
lStrative sections of the measure, the
Democratic Independent Republican
coalition found its first opportunity for
applying in practical fashion its funda-
mental tenet of increased protection for
agriculture.
Coalition Ranks Augmented.
In the first test of strength in voting
on the rate schedules the coalition
found its ranks augmented by five Re
publicanS not associated with the indie
pendent group, as contrasted with the
detection of but two Democratic mem
bers. Senators Jones of Washington.
assistant majority leader; Couzens of
Michigan, majority member of the
finance committee, and Robinson of
Indiana were included in those voting
with the coalition. Wagner and Cope
land of New York voted against their
Democratic colleagues.
The vote came late yesterday on a
Democratic proposal to cut the duty on
medicinal tannic acid from 20 cents,
the present figure, to Is cents per
pound.
The close of debate saw another ac-
cusation of filibustering and attempting
to delay final vote on the bill. This
came from Senator Reed of Pennsyl-
vania, a Republican, and drew from
Harrison, Democrat. of Mississippi the
assertion that Reeds appointment to
the delegation which will represent
America at the London naval confer
ence had gone to the Pennsylvania
Senator's head.
Reed VIII Fix Blame.
Reed declared that, even at the ex-
pense of little personal vituperation,"
he intended to point out each day just
where. in his opinion, responsibility for
impeding the bill rests.
Taking cognizance of published re-
ports that President Hoover will oppose
extending the tariff debate into the
regular session, should the measure not
~ finally disposed of before the close
of the special session, Senator Robinson
of Arkansas, the minority leader, issued
a statement last night asserting that it
was not within the Chief Executives
province to forbid such course.
In a general assault on the schedule
preceding the votes yesterday both
Senators King and La Toilette depicted
the big chemical corporations OF the
Nation as powerful giant that needed
no additional tariff protection.
Senator Kean, Republican, OF New
Jersey, in his maiden speech in the
Senate, pleaded for adequate protection
to the chemical and dyestuffs industry,
contending Germany had revived her
production to a point thai was threat
ening to capture the American market.
La Toilette claimed the big three"
chemical corporations-E. !. du Point
de Nemours, Allied Chemical & Dye
and Union Carbide & Carbon-with
net earnings last year of $l22,000,00O
and combined assets OF more than
billion dollars, Tould be the chief bene-
ficiaries of the rate increases proposed,
Scores Hoover Statement.
At one point in his speech Senator
La Toilette referred to President Hoo
vers message to Congress on the tariff
as a weasel worded statement"