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Show WHAT (DOES IT MEAN? The Treasury Department al Wash-, ingron is overwhelmed with applications applica-tions from collectors of customs and from porsoiiH whoso business interests arc involved in the new tariff bill, to iinu out wnat the various provisions of that bill mean, nnd there is no way, apparently, of getting at the matter and ascertaining just what any particular partic-ular point in this bill does menu. To take-the one point of the President's power under the authority given in this bill with respect to investigating' the cost of t ho production of various articles arti-cles of manufacture at homo and abroad, there seems lo be an exact opposition op-position in construing it. Senator Halo of Maine announces with much pleasure pleas-ure and positiveness that the President has no such power; special pains were taken, ho says, by tho House conferees "to avoid the use of language which could be construed as giving the President Presi-dent power to gather information on which an tariff revision could be based." On the other hand, Senator Aldrich announces with equal positive ness Homing saui noout pleasure) that tho new law does authorize tho President to gather such information. And there .you have it. Tt is u clear point, one that might fairly bo supposed sup-posed to be oasily ascertained nnd exactly ex-actly stated; and yet theso two exactly opposite opinions arc offered by Senators, Sena-tors, both firm supporters of the bill. As to the general effect of the bill, whether it settles the tariff question for the present or not, there seems to I be a universal expression of opinion that it not only does not settle the tariff tar-iff agitation, but that it is bound to renew it in even more virulent form than before. 'The Republican papers in tho East, so far as wo have seen, are unanimous in the nnJninn Mini wlmUi'n.. ,.., is to bo attributed to this bill is to bo credited to President Taft. The Xew York Tribune especially praises him for his great services in accomplishing accom-plishing whatever wns done towards meeting public expectation in this revision. re-vision. The New York Globe nnd Commercial Com-mercial also gives all tho credit to President Taft, and compliments hint becauso ho "wisely refrains from overpraise over-praise of tho measure;" .but it doubts whether tho country will concur with the President in agreeing that all has been done that could be done in the way of revision .downward; and it thinks (most Republican papers agrce- inp that hfi horrnn Ins cnnri'ivi fnf; upon Congress ' too late to effect all thnt was expected, or that wns obligatory obli-gatory upon the party. Theso are but samples of the general trend of tho Republican, press expressions. ex-pressions. There is evidontly an opinion opin-ion in the minds of tho Republican editors of the country that by reason of this abortive measure the tariff agitation agi-tation has been forced into a more acrid, bitter, 'and uncompromising channel chan-nel than it was before. Naturally, the whole Democratic party is against the bill as passed, and with the Democratic parly in this is. a. very large and influential influ-ential portion of the Republican party. Although the Republicans havo in the House a majority of forty-seven. ' t'hc vole on the" passage of this tariff bill was so close that tho change of three votes would have defeated tho measure. meas-ure. And tho worst of itis that those Republicans in the Houso and in thp Senate who were in opposition to tho bill had and continue lo have tho argument argu-ment all their own wav, there is nbso- lutely nothing to say on the other side except that the party whip was able to hold the most of the Republican mem-bors mem-bors in line, in many cases against their better judgment, and in all cases ngainst the weight of argument and of the facts. The new law, therefore, bo-ing bo-ing so evidently a betrayal of tho party pledges, and being put through by the party lash without regard to the best interests of the country or of tho party, it is not in tho least likely that the bo called, settlement of the tariff question ques-tion is one that will last much longer than until the next election for members mem-bers of the lower Houso of Congress. |