House Catch

The House last week squared away to receive the Tariff Bill from the Senate. As always, the House leaders--Speaker Longworth, Floor Leader Tilson, Rules Chair-man Snell--tried to set the House to catch the Bill so there would be no unseemly fumbling on the floor. Getting set consisted of passing a special rule for sending the legislation straight off to conference.

One section of the House--Democrats and midwest and western Republicans-- wanted special votes on at least three items: sugar, cement, soft lumber. It was their last chance to vote these rates lower than they are in either the Senate or House Bill. Another section of the House-- members from 13 beet sugar states-- combined to protest any vote on sugar, lest, somehow, it be reduced below the possible maximum (3-c- per Ib.) set by the House Bill. A third section of the House -- regular eastern Republicans -- wanted the bill sent directly to conference without any voting which might alter their expensive handiwork. Among these contending forces, G. 0. P. leaders struggled to effect an agreement.

Certain was the Bill to go to conference within the week. The House conferees would be: Oregon's Willis Chatman Hawley, Massachusetts' Allen Towner Treadway, New Jersey's Isaac Bacharach (all regular Republicans) and John Nance Garner of Texas, Mississippi's James William Collier (Democrats). The Senate conferees: Utah's Smoot, Indiana's Watson, California's Shortridge (regular Republicans) and North Carolina's Simmons. Mississippi's Harrison (Democrats). The conference voting will normally be 6-to-4 for high rates. The conferees will become the final tariff writers. In dispute between the House and Senate are 1,253 items in the bill. The only limitations on the conferees are the maximum and minimum rates proposed by either bill.

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