Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1903 — TARIFF IS OFF COAL. [ARTICLE]

TARIFF IS OFF COAL.

CONGRESS VOTES TO SUSPEND DUTY FOR ONE YEAR. Measure la Favorably Acted Upon by Both Branches of Congress, Together a Senate Amendment Putting Anthracite Permanently on Free List King Coal swept everything before him in_Lhe national capitob Wednesday. The House passed the bill admitting coal duty fi-ee for a year, there being only six votes against. Then the Senate sprung a surprise on the country. It passed the same bill within nine minutes after it was received from the House, without debate and without a vote in the negative. But this was not the greatest surprise the coal panic which had seized the statesmen produced during the day. z Representative Jenkins of Wisconsin, generally supposed to be a conservative* public man, and occupying the important post of chairman of the House judiciary committee, introduced a resolution aimed to prepare the way for government seizure of “all coal, coal beds and cqal mines in the United States and all lines of transportation used in carrying coal.” Mr. Jenkins believes the government ought to step in and take possession of every coal mine in the country and all the railroads which carry coal to market. Votes Off Coal Duty. In the House the bill providing for coal duty rebates passed in short order. The five who voted against it were Cushman and Jones of Washington, Gaines of West Virginia, Mondell of Wyoming and Patterson of Pennsylvania. The bill was considered under the operalion .of a rule which cut off opportunity to amend. The only opposition to the measure came from some of the members representing C'sugStates, who“expressed the fear that the admission of Chinese-mined coal from Canada Would injure the coal industry in their States. Both Mr. Dalzell of Pennsylvania and Mr. Payne of New York expressed the opinion that the bill would not relieve the existing distress. They said it would satisfy public demand for action and show the disposition of Congress to do what it could. The Democrats, although they all supported the hill, said that coal should go on the free list, and when the bill came back from the Senate with a provision which virtually placed anthracite on the free list they applauded vigorously. The Senate amendment was adopted without division. The Senate went further than the House, for it ■ adopted an amendment which practically puts anthracite on the flee list, by adding a section to prevent the imposition of a duty on anthracite after the expiration of the time provided for in’the bill.