OCR Text |
Show CANNOT SPEED UP CONGRESS House Committee Members Seem Defiant of President Presi-dent Harding By ROBERT T. SMALL Special Cojrrcspandeiit or The stami- nrd-Exa miner (Copyright, '.22 by The S' a ndard-Ex-amlner ) WASHINGTON. ArTil 15. All efforts ef-forts to "speed up congress have been of no avail thus far and even the tiimt optimists senators and representatives represen-tatives an- looking forward to an all summer session Gradually the tentative dates for adjoin nment have been moved forward for-ward At the beginning of the session theie was talk of completing the appropriation ap-propriation bills by April 1 and adjourning ad-journing to 1rly in May, so that "the buys ' could gel home and into the camp tiRn for re-elei tlon Vprll 1 has come and gone, how-ever how-ever :imi most f iio- Important appropriation ap-propriation bills remain to be passed. All thought of an early June adjournment ad-journment has been abandoned There is still some talk of congress getting away by Juno 1. but most of real hopes are pinned to August ). I'nle.ss the wheels begin t move h little fester tho date may even be moved Up to September 1. Congress has at least two months of steady work on hand, even If everything every-thing were plain sailing In a legislative legis-lative way But unfortunately serious controversy threatens every Important bill which remains to h. nxtdcri-d I A KIEF MEWS TKOllll K A tariff hill ,lu -,v ,,-,,,,.. w.V1 to the congress and Is such a slow moving object in the senate that Its progress can scarcely be noted from day to day. Weeks upon weeks h in-been in-been consumed upon tariff hills In the past when tho only difference between senate and house wu in rate- ausi ftp-1 ftp-1 1 bio of comparatively easy adjustment. adjust-ment. Rut this year there is a fundamental difference between the two branches of congresH and Judging from th( statements given out Just after the presentation of the bill In the senats this week, the differences would afl-peai afl-peai to be irreconcilable The house passed a tariff bill bo-sr-d upon the American valuation of imported products. prod-ucts. The senate has entirely re-written the house bill and provided for a continuance of the old plan of valuing imports to the cost abroad Chairman Fordney of the house ways and means committee Is ajaxing the senate on this l6suo and if the Fordney bite Is anything like the Fordney bark, many a summer sun will come and go before be-fore thr Fordney-MrCvimber tariff hill becomes the law of the land. 0 IRDING FN TI R E.NTION Already there Is talk of President Harding b'-!nn asked to inter , ene in this as vel as In behalf of a dozen other disputes brewing In congress The president's troubles appear to be largely with the house of representatives represent-atives a branch of the national legislature legis-lature which ordinarily would be expected ex-pected to work in close harmony with the titular head ot the partv in an election year. The house committee members seem partlculnrly defiant or the president The ways and means committee refused re-fused to give heed to hla warning that any soldior bonus bill reported must provide its ov. n means of raising the money to pay the bonus. The committee on naval affairs refused re-fused to listen to his advice as to the j size of the- navy under the treaty agreements entered Into at the Wash- j Ington conference. Tlv re is r.v ry Indication that the committee on naval affairs will refuse to provide an army personnel considered consid-ered adequate by the administration. DP TO SEN YTE Hope for the army and navy seems to lie entirely with the senate Rut if upper branch departs widely from the house bills the conferences on each measure are likely to be stubbornly fought out affairs House leader Mondell Mon-dell is in thorough sympathy with the small army and navy bills, particular-J particular-J ly the lntter He goes on the assumption assump-tion that the people of the United States want to "visualize" the results Of the Washington conference, and the only way they can see the benefits of I that gathering 19 in greatly reduced appropriations for the two armed services ser-vices of the government. In addition to the tariff, the bonus, and the army and na" squabbles, there remains the legislation for a merchant marine. President Harding Is in deadly earnest in recommending this legislation He wants action by the present congress Tho next session ses-sion will be a short one short bo-cause bo-cause the constitution savs it must end March 4. 1923, and there will be lit-I tie opportunity for considering anything any-thing but appropriation bills The president believes It Is now or never with the merchant marine He will use all the influem e at his command to hold congress in session until the subsidy sub-sidy bill l acted upon. Meantime the senate meanders along, finding it difficult to shake off its deadly habit of procrastination. oo |