Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-02-08

OF Atcn OF new
BiIIs-The APPOrtIOnment Bill
Nominations.
WAsHISGTON. February I'm the Senate,
reports upon private measures relating to
pensions, relief Of official securities aud ain
dred propositions occupied the greater part
Of the morning hour. These included ia
vorable report upon the bill granting the
temporary use of the United States barracks
at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to the State In
slitution for the Blind.
The chair submitted, in response to the
.sena'e resolution Of inquiry, statement by
the Secretary of the Treasury Of the fees
and costs collected under the law from
American shipping during 1881.
Bills were introduced as follows:
By Mr.. Garland-TO grant to the Missis-
s'ppi, Albuquerque and sInterOcean Railway
Company the right Of way through the In
dian Territory.
By Mr.. Farley-To admit free of duty
steam plOw machinery adapted to the cult
VatiOn Of the soil.
Mr.. Morgan, from the Committee on For
eign Relations, reported favorably the bill
In relation to the Japanese indemnity fund.
Mr.. Hawley reported favOrably from the
Military Committee, the bill to retire Brevet
Brigadler General Meigs, with the rank and
pay of Major General.
On motion of Mr.. Davis a resolution was
ed Rted, calling for the report OF the Acting
Coz ssioner of the General Land Office,
Of A pA 25sh, 1881, in reference to the right
OF occupation by settlers of any portion OF
the Indian Territory.
n, - NJ ho -
bill Tor the delivery of one hundred and fifty
pieces OF condemned bronze cannon to the
Society of the Army OF the Cumberland for
the proposed Garfield statue in Washington,
was considered. The committees amend
ment, substituting a provision for the pay
ment by the Secretary of War OF $500 out
of the proceeds of condemned ordnance,
was agreed TO, and the bill as amended
passed.
The unfinished business, Mr.. Ingalls, reso-
luton approving the pension arrears law,
came up at 1:l5 and WAS laid aside infor-
mally.
Mr. Coke was then awarded the floor for a
speech upon the tariff, the Morrill, commits
sion bill being taken uD to allow him to
speak. He favored tar # revision by a
committee OF the two houses, and hoped
for a report from them and final action
thereon a tee present session. Upon the
general question he advocated 8 tariff for
revenue, with the addition to the free list of
every ar icle upon which tax for revenue
is unnec cessary, and charged that the Morrill,
system, by its monstr0us taxation, enriched
a few manufacturers while destroying the
revenue and burdeRing the people, espe-
callY the agricultural class.
He said that in carrying cut the novel and
dangerous theory that protection Of itself
and not revenue is the legitimate function
Of a tariff incorporated capital is seeking to
peTpetuate Indefinitely the high wsr du-
ties which had been tolerated only as tenn
pOrary expedients. Upon the Importance
az more intimate commercial relations with
Mexico and the obstacles in the way of our
sharing IN the Mexican trade, Mr.. Coke re-
| ferTed to the propositions aud appeals made
| by him in the Senate three years
ago for government aid in the
| building of railroads 10 the Rio GraDde,
the (Mr. Coke's) main object having then
been to attract private capital 10 the devel-
Opment Western Texas. Since then the
San Antonio and Laredo Road had been
built, and was now being extended into
Mexico ard Galveston. The CamargO line
is rapidly going forward. At FL Paso aud
Laredo we already hsVe rail commune alton
with Mexico, and at Eagle Pass will have It
within three months. These rail facilities
secured TO Us the speedy trans portatiOn o.
| troops and supplies for the protection OF
| our western border, and opened an avenue
To the Mexicln markets for our surplus
home manufactures. But our tariff,
in adding 45 per cent. tax to
The home market prices Of our goods
and the cost OF freight, excludes our
manufactures from the Mexican market, as
they cannot possibly make prof., unless
they can uudersell their European competi-
tOrs there. TIE high Mexican tariff is pro
hibitOry on some of our manufactures, aud
especially on cotton goods and the ike, and
as Mexican exports, being raw material,
are admitted free under the tariff, we have
nothing TO offer as an inducement for
Mexico to reduce her high duties.
Besides, II such reductions should benefit
our foreign competitors equally with our
selves, as it is probable they ", uld, In view
OF the feeling against US In Mexico, it would
not benefit us at all. These were the obsta-
cles In our way to the Mexican market, and
sre OF great importance in the future, and
while urging that the strongest efforts
should be made to facilitate com
mercial exchanges with Mexico, Mr..
Coke read from Mr.. Schlieckeris report
from the House Committee on Foreign r -
lations in 1878 to show that the outlook fer
their success was discOursgiDg. One RENE
DIV for this condition OF things as to Mexico
il the same tnat IL is as to other countries
We must have q low tariff at home, which
will eheapen our goods abroad, and will ad-
NIT foreign prOduc in exchange for cur
own. By no other means could
our manufacturers compete with or
undersell foreign. A recipi ocitY treaty with
Mexico should be urged as a means of abol
ishipg the "ZOna Libre" with it's smuggling
facilities, OF empowering our eiIiz-ns to
hOli and acquire Mexican border real estate,
Of represSlng border lawlessness and def
nitely arranging the RIO Grande boundary.
ILL . hn ea1F
water and the commercial distributing
points of Texas for the golden stream OF
irade, which, if invited under a wise policy.
would eventually flow into the United
States, Mr.. Coke proceeded to review and
reply to the points made in the ;sriff speech
of Mr. Morrill,. As to The claim that the
first tariff act of 1889 showed that the
Fathers were committed to the protective
policy, he preseute 1 the contrast OF the de
pendent aud dtfenseless colonies with our
present national superiority to show that
the srgments ard policies Of that day are
nov inapplicable.
He agree d with Mr.. Morrill, as to the su-
periOT excellence of our manufactures. and
claimed that this very fact was q sufficient
reason for doing away with duties of from
so to 80 per cent. with which We protected
such superior articles. The very necessities
of our extraordinary development made
foreign markets for our manufactures i'm
perative, and in order TO relieve an already
glut in the home market, we must under
sell fOreigR competitors. Our farmers,
who furnish 50 per cent. OF our
surplus for export, snd who
paw the protection tax upon all they eat
and drink, wear or use, realize less than
per cent on their capital, while our manu-
facfurers make dividends of from and 10
to % and 40 per cent. This claim that an
alleged over production of unsold mer-
cbsndise abroad would not have found q
market here in the panic OF 1873 but for our
protection policy was disputed by MIR. Coke,
Who asserted that but for the tariff tsxes.the
farmer would have made three dollars
where the manufacturers lost half dollar,
IL anything, in that year Of great foreign
demand for our supplies at high
prices. He denounced the protective
that vast legislation which had
created a railroad sristocracY, and bR It the
taxes on iron and steel burdened the farm
ers with high rates on their traffic, resulting
from the increased cost of railroad construc-
tiOn
As TO the assumption Of Mr. Morrill,, that
the manufacturing towns and States furn-
ished home markets sufficient to compen-
safe our farmers for the burdens Of the
tariff he cited statistics to show that such
localities, with the exception of the New
ENGLAND States, raised enough OF food pro-
ducts to supply their own markets, and that
the South was the only market for the sur
plus products of the Northwest. The ex-
teDsfVe manufacturing I'm the South