Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-02-08
LAMAR AND PROTECTION.
MIssIssIPPrS SENATOR OPPOSES
THE DOCTRINE.

and a Revenue Tariff-The Country
Obliged to Accept One or the Other of
These COnditiOns-''Plg Iron" Kelley
and Pig Iron.
WASHINGTON, Feb. THE Senate at
the close of the morning business, on
motion Of Mr.. Edmunds Rep, Vt. }, held
brief executive session. When the
doors were reopened the tariff bill was
taken up. Mr.. Beck (Dem., KY moved
to strike out the paragraph embracing
woOiens and children's dress goods, coat
Innings, Italian cloths, and goods of like
description now and heretofore known
as worsted stuffs, the warp of
which is made wholly of cotton,
linen, ramie, China grass or other yege-
I table material, or Of a combination of
/ them, and weft wholly or in part of wool.
worsted, hair of the alpaca goat or other
like animal, and to substitute for it the
classification of existing low rates of
duty per square yard, being reduced one
cent.
Mr.. Lamar Dem, Miss made an ar
gument to show that the protective policy
is delusiye, and that its maintenance is
not necessary for the existence or devel-
opment of American manufactures. The
discussion and votes on the pending bill
showed clearly, he said, that it was i'm
possible to make any material reduction
of taxes and at the same time maintain
the protective system. The two
things were Incompatible. and one
or the other must be given
up. The peoples demand for the reduc-
ton of taxes had put upon the party in
power a delicate and difficult task, to the
performance of which that party had ad-
mitted itself unequal by the creation of
the Tariff Commission This eXpedient
{ no nd mn hnN hnn tod 30, Al
question had been the relation of taxation
to revenue.
There could be no easier or more CRATE
full task than that of lifting from the peo-
pie burdens universally admitted to be
unnecessary, and probably no other people
in the world were so needlessly taxed for
series OF years merely because their
rulers were unable to revise methods of
reduction. All through the present debate
the Senate had been concerning itself
not with the relation of taxation to
revenue, but its relation to
American manufactures, and as each
article came up the question asked was
not how low duty could be laid upon it,
/ but how high duty was needed to pro-
| Gates of protection had been for
years insisting that it increased
the profit of capital raised the wages of
labor and cheapened the prices of manu-
factured products, and they could not
take step in the direction of the popular
demand without contravening the doc
trines upon which the system rested, for
if it did produce all these beneficent re-
suits then to repeal or modify it would be
to diminish these blessings.
The time has come to deal explicitly
with the American people on this subject;
to tell them plainly that protection and
low taxation are incompatible; that a
] fnx- hsrrI, i a.,
tax so low as not to check importation is
not protective. The people of this country
were always willing to be taxed
in proper manner for any legitimate OBJ
ject. Therefore, why not say to them
plainly, il you want protection you must
consent to pay the cost of maintaining
that system and scOrn the allurement of
low taxes and cheap foreign goods.
Mr.. Lamar was warmly congratulated
| by his fellow Senators on the conclusion
of his speech.
All the rest of the wool schedule ex-
cept Weddings, gOrings, etc, embracing
carpets, druggets and bookings, and end
less belts or pelts was passed over to give
the Finance Committee an opportunity to
revise it. The silk schedule was then
passed without amendment.
A motion of Mr.. Vance (Dem., n. g.,
books, pamphlets and all printed matter,
engravings and etchings maps and charts
struck out so as to 90 on the free list. The
SundrieS schedule was then taken up and
the duty on diamonds was made % per
cent. .sad valOrem. The salt schedule was
passed over. When the free list vase
reached after $500 the Senate adjourned.
HOUSE PROCEEDINGS.
Mr.. Robson (Rep. n. j., from the
Committee on Rules, reported a resOlu-
tiOn that during the remainder of the ses-
sion the House shall, at $3.50 p. M. each
day, take recess until Z 80 p. m, which
was adopted.
Mr.. McLane Dem, Md introduced a
bill appropriating $4,000 for the erection
of a monument to the memory of Baron
DeKalb, in the Naval Academy grounds,
which was referred.
The House then at II 30 went into COM
mittee of the whole on the tariff bill, the
pending amendment being that offered by
Mr.. Kelley rep, Pa increasing the
duty ON iron ore, including mangahiferOus
iron ore, also drOsS or residuum from burnt
pyrites, from fifty to seventy-five cents
per ton. The motion, after a long debate,
was lost in ayes II; nays, 10S. Several
other amendments were also offered, de-
bated and lost.
At last, after the consideration of the
first item of the metal schedule for four
hours and a half the committee passed
away from it without making any change
of the rate of duty, which is left at fifty
cents per ton. Efforts TO change the bill
in regard to pig iron also failed, and the
committee rose while an amendment re-
ducing the duty on steel ingOts was pend
ing.
Mr.. Bingham (Rep., Pa. } introduced a
bill for the appointment of a commission
of seven members, three of whom may be
members of the present House and two of
whom may be Senators, to inquire into
the condition and value Of the plant of the
various telegraph companies of the cOun-
try, and report to the next Congress what
methods are at present available
to reduce the cost of telegraph cOmmuni-
cation, and whether any legislation is
necessary to carry out the power of Con-
gress to regulate commerce as applied to
telegraph communication; also, a bill
abolishing State compulsory pilot laws,
both of which were referred.
The House then, at 80 p. m, took a re-
cess until : 80.
In the evening session it was s O'Clock
before a quorum of members appeared.
AS soon as a quorum was obtained, the
House went into committee of the whole
on the tariff bill. The duty on ingOt steel
was fixed at 45 per cent. ad valOrem on all
except crucible steel. The next clause
embraced steel railway bars, pending the
consideration of which the House ad-
jOGrned at $3.50.