Words & Waste

In six months of debate on the tariff, Senators spoke 4,219,000 words, which cost $131,900 to print in the Congressional Record. Democrats spoke for 221 hours, Republicans 158 hours, Insurgents 148 hours. Such were the statistics given the Senate last week by that master statistician, Chairman Reed Smoot of the Finance Committee, nominal pilot of the tariff bill.

All these words, all these hours, all this money spent on the tariff appeared last week likely to become so much waste. The coalition of Democrats and insurgent Republicans which had been ploddingly revising the regular Republicans bill, suddenly disintegrated under a series of log-rolling trades among the Regulars.

Under the Senate's parliamentary practice, tariff amendments by the Finance Committee have priority over all others. Time after time during the past six months, the Coalition voted down the Committee's provisions, substituting amendments of their own with lower rates.

But then, when the Committee's proposals had all been dealt with, individual Senators were free to start the voting all over again by proposing amendments on their own.

In January the Senate voted 4840-38 not to raise the duty on sugar as proposed by the Finance Committee. Last week when Senator Smoot offered an individual amendment to increase the world sugar rate from 2.20-c- per Ib. to 2.50-c- (Cuban: 1.76-c- to 2-c-), the Senate reversed its position and adopted 47-10-39 the Smoot Amendment. Reason: legislative trading. Washington's Senators Jones and Dill, for instance, reversed themselves to get a lumber duty. Oklahoma's Senators Pine and Thomas did likewise to get an oil duty. Arizona's Ashurst and Hayden switched for a long staple cotton duty.

In January the coalition-controlled Senate voted 4-to-35 to put cement on the free list. Last week it flopped around and adopted 45-0-37 an amendment by New Jersey's Senator Kean to levy a 6-c--per-lb. cement duty. Reason: more undercover trades.

Once more in command, Old Guardsmen were prepared to force fresh votes on lumber, aluminum, hides, shoes, leather, oil--all the items on which the Coalition had won primary victories, and on which it now faced ultimate defeat.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.