Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-20
DELAY HELD SENATE
POLICY ON TARIFF
Sees Action of Upper House
Means of Escaping De-
feat of Measure.

Out of a number of conflicting cur
rents, the will of the Senate has been
expressed on the tariff and it Is en-
Veloped in the single word-delay.
The vote by which the Borah resolu-
ton to limit tariff revision to farm
schedules was rejected did not reflect
the innermost desire of the Senate. for
If it were not for the political pressure
back of the whole thing an inevitable
demand by certain constituencies for
action, the tariff bill would have been
unceremoniously dropped overheard.
Senator Borah may have won vic
tory despite the. fact that the count is
against him for the moment. He has
revealed that almost a majority of the
Senate does not like the House tariff
bill and that when it comes to the final
test the possibilities of an indefinite
deadlock are greater than ever.
Contrary to House.
BY taking a recess now, the Senate
has gone counter to the wishes of the
House leaders, who had insisted that
unless the Senate agreed upon a def
mite date for a vote there would be no
recess. But the Borah motion upset
this defiance, for it began to look as
If the tariff revision, so important to
many House members, would be i'm
periled altogether.
What President Hoover really thinks
about the tangle may be disclosed in the
near future, but certainly he can derive
considerable satisfaction from the fact
that the Senate has taken from his
hands the job of killing the bill that
passed the House. In a sense MIR. Borah
performed yeoman service for the ad-
OF
Inc Jones amendment, which would
have permitted certain protective duties
Tor industries that have recently been
depressed, really represents the Hoover
viewpoint or rather the politics as it is
borne in on the Chief Executive. There
are certain industries that feel entitled
to protection and to Mr.. Hoovers sup
port of their requests for increased
duties. The President has, In his
speeches. promised them aid If the
Senate, however, ultimately rules out all
except the farm schedules then the
White House Is powerless to initiate any
other policy for the time being.
May Compromise.
What may happen, of course, is that
some compromise may be presented to
the Senate, but it will require Demo-
cratic votes to bring it about. Mr..
makeshift majority and the tariff has
always provided the best opportunity
for an appeal to sectionalism rather
than party ties. Other Presidents have
won support from opposite parties on
the same basis.
The tariff movement, nevertheless,
has sustained q defeat-it has been
postponed. The Summer recess is, of
course, climatic affair. but the Sen
ate finance committee will make use of
the time to try to develop a new piece
Of legislation. Meanwhile the Demo-
Gratis will attempt to rally their lines
for new attack.
Efforts may be made to tie the farm
debenture plan into the bill in such a
way that it may make the whole meas
Republicans and thus weaken the
chances for any tariff revision.
More Delay Expected.
Delay has set in and will continue
until the Autumn. when more delay
may be expected. If the inside thoughts
Of the leaders could be revealed, 1t prob
ably would be found that they never
really wanted tariff revision and would
not be disappointed If it fell by the
wayside. but the responsibility for max
ing or breaking tariff bill is not easily
avoided.
Rather than have the bill that passed
asle House it is not improbable that Mr..
Hoover would prefer no tariff revision
at all, but he, too, cannot publicly side
track a measure which he originally
asked the special session Of Congress to
The legislative and executive branches
of the Government have found the tariff