Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-02-10
NO FREE SALT ALLOWED.
THE SENATE WILL NOT RELIEVE
IT FROM DUTY.

Pension Bills Passed.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9.-In the Senate.
at the close Of the morning business, Mr..
Ferry Rep, Mich, moved to take up the
post route bill. Mr.. Morrell (Rep.) op-
posed the motion, and it was lost by ayes
q, nays 80. The tariff bill was then
taken up.
The Committee on Commerce reported
1aVorably the bill to relieve ships and
other vessels from compulsory pilot fees.
This measure, introduced by Mr.. Hale
Rep, Me. }, was amended so as to make
Its application universal within the waters
of the United States. 1t provides that no
owner, agent, master or cOnsignee of any
ship or vessel shall be compelled to take,
employ or pay pilot not voluntarily en-
ployed on entering or departing from any
port or harbOr ON entering passing
through or leaving any channel, passage
or strait within the waters of the United
States.
The Committee on Foreign Relations re-
ported favOrably with an amendment the
joint resolution providing for a termina-
ton OF articles Is to % inclusive, and of
article 3 Fisheries articles of the treaty
of Washington at the earliest time consis-
tent with the provisions of the treaty. In
presenting the reports. Mr.. Edmunds
Rep, VT. said he would call up this
joint resolution as soon as he could with
due regard to other pressing public bust
ness. To guard against misapprehension
he stated that the Committee on Foreign
Relations did not think it absolutely
indispensable that atermination should be
made by joint resolution. In his opinion
1t might be made by the President. by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate.
but to avoid all possible question the COM
mittee wished to have the joint resolution
passed if possible.
Mr.. Hale Rep, Me. }, from the Commit
lee on appropriations, reported the naval
appropriation bill. In making the report
he said that the committee had struck out
from the bill every particle of general
legislation, and had put none of its own,
so that the bill as reported was a clean
appropriation bill, confined to providing
for the wants of the navy, and that the
Senate committee had added about half
a million dollars to it.
The tariff bill was again resumed, and
the natural mineral waters and bottles in
which the same are imported, were free
listed. Several amendments were adopted
slightly reducing the duties on wooden
goods.
The reserved paragraph laying a duty
OF six cents per hundred pounds on salt in
bulk and ten cents per hundred pounds
on salt in bags or other packages. was
taken up. Mr.. Vance dem, N. c.,
moved to strike it out so as to let salt 90
upon the free list, and made a speech in
support of the motion. This bill, he
said, seemed to be framed upon
the theory of taxing all the necessa-
ries of life and letting luXuries come
in free, so that the poor man following
the plOW and rejecting ON the heavy
taxes he had to pay on his plOw and trace
chains, and his hat and his shoes and his
blankets, might console himself with the
thought that Congress had not been quite
conslderate, but to compensate for the
burdens had provided for free palm leaf
fans and fiddle strings, nuX vomica,
myrObalan, and, best of all, free skeletons,
so that hereafter every man might have a
free skeleton in his closet without paying
duty. Laughter
Mr.. Nance's motion to strike out salt
and let it go upon the free list was lost
by ayes %, nays "A. The duties on crude
opium, containing 9 per cent. of mOrphia
or over, was fixed at 81 pound, and the
importation of opium having less than
per cent. of morphia was prohibited. The
duties on opium for smoking was in
creased from So to $40 pound.
The Senate adjourned at 1910.
HOUSE PROCEEDINGS.
In the House, Mr.. Houk Rep, Tenn. ),
Chairman of the Committee on War
Claims, reported back the bill for the paw
ment of certain claims 4th of July claims J.
reported by the accounting officers of the
Treasury Department. Objection was
made to its present consideration, and it
was made a special order for Tuesday
evening next.
Mr.. Blackburn Dem, KY submitted
a conference report on the military acade-
my appropriation bill, and it was agreed
to.
Private business was then dispensed
with and the House at u o'clock went in
to committee of the whole on the tariff
bill. The following changes were made:
Fixing on boiler or sheet iron not thinner
than No. 20 wire gauge at one and two
tenths cents per pound; thinner than No.
20 and not thinner than No. % at one and
three-tenths cents; thinner than No %
and not thinner than No. 80, III cents
thinner than No. 80, and on black taggers
80 per cent. ad valorem, reducing the duty
on tin plates to one cent per pound, strik-
ing out the clause imposing duty of one
and nine-tenths cents ON corrugated or
crimped sheet iron or steel.
Mr.. Muldrow Dem, Miss moved to
except cotton ties from the duty of one
and twO-tenths cents per pound imposed
upon hoop iron. In advocacy of his
amendment he took occasion to deny
statements made recently by Mr.. McKin-
ley, of Ohio, that cotton ties were sold as
cotton, and read letter from j. S. Moore
declaring that statement to be simply
lneXcusable. The amendment was lost.
Various other amendments reducing rates
Of duty on this item were offered, and
severally voted down.
The moment the next clause, imposing
a duty of l 40 cents per pound on cotton
ties, was reached half dozen members
from the Southern States were on their
feet claiming recognition.
Mr.. Mackey (Rep., 5. G.. } was the fortu-
nate man, and he moved to reduce the
duty to 30 per cent, ad ValOrem, He was
as much in favor of protective tariff as
any man, but he did not believe
increasing the duty on cotton ties
would promote the prosperity of
the country. On the contrary, it
would throw a burden on millions of
lObOrers engaged in the projection of cot
ton manufacturing, and every cotton tie
that was needed in this country would
not give employment to more than two
hundred and fifty men for about six
months in the year. Certainly it could
not be cOntended that for the purpose of
giving this small number of men employ
ment an injury should be done to the cot
ton labOrers of the South.
Mr.. Blount (Dem., Ga.) said that an
effort had been made by gentlemen from
Ohio, Rhode Island and Massachusetts
Mckinley, Chase and CrapO-tO create an
impression that, while the farmer of the
South paid from four to five cents apound
for cotton ties, in the sale of his cotton he
was actually paid ten cents for
them, thus receiving bonus of five cents
from the manufacturer. He denied this,
and aueried whether it was natural that
the shrewd and intelligent business men
of the East would buy cotton ties at the
same price they paid for cotton. The fact
was, that the price of cotton was not fixed
in this country, but in Liverpool, where
the weight of the ties and bagging were
taken into account in determining
the price. There was nothing for the
South in the pending bill but burdens;
there was not a single item of protection
for the labor of the South, which had to
compete against the slave labor of Brazil
and the fellah labor of Egypt. If Congress
had any regard for Southern labor, in the
name of heaven. let it alone in this little
item of cotton ties.
Pending action the committee rose, and,
at $3.50, the House took a recess until
O'Clock, the evening session to be for the
consideration of the pension bills.
In the eS'oaning large number OF PEN
sion bills were passed, and the House adj
journed at -10:10.
Abandoning a Hopeless Contest
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