OCR Text |
Show TOLLS CONTROVERSY SURPASSES I ANY PROBLEM IN RECENT YEARS I Fight Transferred to Senate After Passing Vote of 247 to 162 in House O'Gorman to Lead Fight Against Bill Final Result Considered Very Uncertain Senators Lewis, Reed arid Owen, Each Have Tolls Resolutions H Awaiting Action. H WILSON GRATIFIED BY HOUSE ACTION I Effort Will Be Made to Amend House Repeal Measure With fl Clause Asserting Sovereignty of United States Over H Canal Zone One of Most Protracted and Compli- cated Contests Ever Faced by Senate Is Fore- H casted Will Not Reach Final Issue in H Less Than Six Weeks. S Washington, D. C, April 1. The Panama tojl.s .controversy surpassing in interest any. problem that has absorbed ab-sorbed the- attention of congress in recent years; 'was transferred (o tht senate today, from the house, Where last night tho tolls bill repealing the toll exemption clause of the Panama canal act was passed by the vote ol 1M7 to 162. The corrected count of the vote in the House yesterday, repealing the exemption clause, as announced in the Congressional Record today, is 247 for the repeal and 162 against it, a majorityofSo for the administration. administra-tion. Thocouut as announced last night was 161 votes against it The name of Representative Dyer, Repub-1 lican, of St." Louis, Mo., who voted j against the repeal, was omitted in the list. I Howell .and Johnson .of. Utah voted against the repeal. . Roberts, ot Nevada, Ne-vada, the; state's lone congressman, .docs jioUappear. qa..the,xolLcalh" The measure's appearance was accepted ac-cepted as the signal for the beginning of one of the most protracted and complicated contests In the senate that that body ever has faced. Senators Sena-tors both for and against the repeal said they aaw no. hope of a final disposition dis-position of the issue within the next five or six weeks. O'Gorman to Lead Senate Fight. Senator O'Gorman, who witl lead the fight against the bill, today planned to have the Inter-Oceanic Ca nals committee of which he is chairman, chair-man, begin consideration of the measure meas-ure immediately. The committee already has made a report on other bills relating to the tolls exemption. It appeared today that the members are nearly evenly divided on the chief issue. How a vote will result is regarded as extremely uncertain at the present time, unless there is a change In the lineup the opponents of the repeal appear ap-pear to have a majority of one. Lewis Suspension Bill. Senator Lewis of Illinois has a bill empowering the president to suspend tolls by proclamation. Senator Reed has introduced a- measure which would repeal the toll exemption clause and grant to foreign vessels the rht to compete with American vessels ves-sels now engaged in the coastwise trade. Senator Owen's bill, identical with that passed by the House yesterday, yes-terday, it was expected, would be replaced re-placed by the administration's measure, meas-ure, its purpose to expedite consideration consid-eration in the senate having failed. There are other measures pending including in-cluding a bill of Senator Thomas of Colorado, and Senator Gallinger's resolution res-olution expressing-the 3cnse of congress con-gress that It has the right to do as it pleases with reBpect to regulating shipping lu the Panama canal. President Wilson Gratified. Gratified over tho success of the Panama tolls exemption repeal in the House, President Wilson and his supporters sup-porters turned their attention today to the senate. The latest poll brought to the White House by an administration senator who canvassed his colleaguos and excluded from his count those he considered doubtful, indicated that the president's contention would have a majority of at sixteen, Repub. licans as well as Democrats. , Senator Owen, the administration leader in the canals committee where the measure now is pending, was at tlie White House early conferring with Secretary Tumulty. Asked about the procedure in the senate and the length of time for discussion, the Oklahoma senator said: "It is natural to assume that If the committee does not report promptly, a motion will be made to discharge the measure from consideration of tho committee. There is to be no effort ef-fort at forcing, unnecessarily, but we want no dilatory tactic. - The committee com-mittee stands, 1 should say, against the president, and I think when the committee was organized, those who were in fayor of the tolls exemption wero in the majority. "A week in the committee would i I be ,a reasonable time for dlscnusslon. The president had no comment to make on the result in the House, but lot It be known that he cherished no Ill-feeling of those who, expressing their convictions, opposed the repeal. There was no comment made on the ?peech of Speaker Clark. May Amend House Bill, Chairman O'Gorman said today he would call the canals committee to meet Tuesday. Tt is apparent that ' an effort is lo be made to amend the house bill . with a clause asswt- ing the sovereignty of the United 'H States over the canal zone. Some .H senators who favor the repeal believe such amendment would not be con- sidered in the light or a compromise. Democratic senators most active for the repeal insist that the bill should prevail without amendment. How far Republican senators will figure In jH the result is the subject of very active 'H speculation. Estimates of the number of Dcrao-crats Dcrao-crats who will oppose the repeal Yary from eight to fourteen. Repeal Not Yet Won. tH "The repeal is not yet won by any means," said Senator Chamberlain, 'H leading the opponents. tH When . the canals committee will complete its work cannot be forecast now, but the general opinion ib that the issue -will not come formally be-fore be-fore the senate for at least ten days. jH - SeiHitorNorris,- .Republican, Intro-, Intro-, ducod an amendment to reaffirm the rlght of- the United States to grant an exemption if it desired lo do so, and to direct the president to begin negotiations lo arbitrate Great Brit- jH ain's protesL A resolution to postpone considera-tion considera-tion of the bill until President Wil-son Wil-son communicates to the senate, in confidence, if it so asks, the nature of the matters of "greater delicacy and nearer consequence" mentioned m fl his address to congress, was Intro-duced Intro-duced by Senator Polndexter. |