White House Statement on Senate Inaction on Tariff Legislation.

THE PRESIDENT was visited yesterday by a number of Senators, all of whom called at their own suggestions, and presented to him the [p.363] grave situation that has arisen by delays in tariff legislation. They called attention to the fact that the Senate has had the tariff bill since June, with 15 schedules to work out, and has not yet completed schedule 1. It was pointed out that a large amount of important legislation must be undertaken at the regular session which would be prevented by carrying the debate into the next session. Some of the Senators considered progress hopeless as it appeared to them that the coalition intended to delay or defeat legislation, or did not intend to give adequate protection to industry. Others felt that some understanding should be attempted among Senate leaders by which the bill could be sent into conference with the House at an early date.

The President said, as he has uniformly stated his position, that campaign promises should be carried out by which adequate protection should be given to agriculture and to the industries where the changes in economic situation demand their assistance. He stated that he could not believe and, therefore, would not admit that the United States Senate was unable to legislate and that the interests of the country required that legislation should be completed during the special session.

The President has declined to interfere or to express any opinion on the details of rates or any compromise thereof, as it is obvious that, if for no other reason, he could not pretend to have the necessary information in respect to many thousands of different commodities which such determination requires, but he pointed out that the wide differences of opinion and the length of the discussions in the Senate were themselves ample demonstration of the desirability of a real flexible clause in order that injustice in rates could be promptly corrected by scientific and impartial investigation and put in action without such delays as the present discussions give proof. He urged the Republican leaders to get together and see if they could not expedite the early completion of the schedules and thus send the bill to conference with the House within the next 2 weeks.