National Republican., 1883-03-03

members Of the conference committee TO deny IT,
esk the chairman wheih or that is not true and 1
Will walt for an answer.
Mr.: Morrill,. Mr.. President the house. has not
acted, npon the tard portion of this bill. 1t re-
jected our amendments In gross.
Mr.. Harris. Had not the house q BILL and did
they not act upon the iron schedule2
the rate at so cents ton. II they had no bill and
no iron schedule TO present TO us, whore was the
disagreeing vote between the house and the SEN
ate, upon which this conference committee acted
Mr Morgan. There was none. That is the fact
about IL.
Mr. Beck continued at some length his COM
monts on the action of the committee in rela-
tion TO the iron ore duty, and then passed to
glass and crockery ware, calling attention to
tho proposed increase upon plain crockery,
and to the restoration of the duty upon the
glass bottles in which mineral waters are inn
ported. Under the bill the prices of glass
ware could not be kept within bounds, and it
was not intended that they should
The conference committee, in spite of the
senate, would give monopoly to the glass
manufacturers. The senate had refused TO
increase the duty on bottles above 20 per cent,
but the conference had placed It at about 100
per cont against the will of the senate and
in the interest of the bottle makers.
Taking up next the item of pig iron he in
Weighed against the action of the conference
committee in increasing tho duty of pig ion
to S0.12 per ton, when the senate had fixed
$3.50, and that, too, only after the senator
from Ohio (Mr. Sherman) had cracked the
party whip and threatened to vote against tho
bill unless the rate were increased from so per
ton. In regard TO steel railway. bars the
house had fixed the rate at S15 per ton, and
the senate at S15,6S. What did the confer
enco dO2 Purporting to meet for the purpose
of reconciling the disagrceing votes of the
two houses, IL had increased the duty 10 $l7,
If that was not an outrage on the rights of
NI,aN, ,,nN 81. e
sworn duties of the cOnferoes, he could not
understand how men could violate them.
Mr.. Harris inquired If IL was true that the
conference committee had exceeded the rates
agreed upon by each house.
Mr. Beck said it is 50 per ton over the rates
of the house, and S1.32 over those Of the
senate.
At this point Mr.. Hale reported the def
cheney bill, and IL was ordered printed
Mr. Maxey inquired whether Mr.. Beck in
his experience, had ever known q case where
a conference committee had exceeded the rate
fixed upon by both houses.
Mr.. Beck said he never did, and did not
suppose that any other senator ever heard of
it; but there never was a bill like this before
conceived in sin and brought forth in
iniquity." Everything that has been done in
IL has been done without the slightest regard
to the interests of the people or the revenue
of the country. | want some senator to ask
inc COnlerces why III was tney placed the TAX
So ton above the house rates. and 81 -
above what the senate imposed, unless it was
to enrich somo Of the great monOpolsts of the
country, whose support and whose aid they
looked to as being worth more to them in
their political ambitions than the welfare
of the great taxpayers of the country
Passing over hastily and with brief notice
some of the changes proposed, and remarking
that no supposed he would be lectured for
having the audacity to show the misdceds of
this august cOnclave, he passed on to the item
of " steel not otherwise provided for !" he re-
called tina action Of tho senate in fixing the
rato at 40 per cent. and the unsuccessful
efforts Of Mr.. Sherman TO have the rate in
creased to 45 per cent.
Yet the senator from Ohio went into this
so-called conference committee and restored
every provision upon which the senate had
voted him down. The senator was the brains
of that committee in regard to capacity, au-
dacity, and intellect. He was the driving
wheel of the conference. 1t required an au.
dacity which few men had to come back and
| insert into conference report every de-
feated amendment They should vote
against this report for this among
other causes. 1t wasa report made up against
the interest of the people and against the
will of both houses. If the senate rejected
this report, as it ought to do, his word for it
that the house would demand the ri ght to
the senate originally sent it, and it would say
to its conferees that they had transcended
| their duties in seeking to impose mere tax
on the people than either house had de-
manded. The change in the sugar schedule
gave the sugar refner an absolute monopoly,
and was the worst outrage in tho bill.
-He quoted from speech delivered by him
self in January in which he prophesied that
the bill would be fixed up in conference COM
mitteo to suit the high protectonists. He
had been about right, but he had not gone
far enough. He had supposed that they
would make the worst bill they could where
the two houses had disagreed, but it had
never entered his mind that any set of men
would have the audacity, where the house
and senate agreed on 90 cents per
| ton on iron ore, to add so per cent.
additional tax. That was an amount of
subsewiency to the great interests they serve
so well, that he was not prepared for A bogus
conference had to be gotten up-a conference
| tied down by threats from the house that the
senate was acting unconsttutionally and
illegally. And now, when the senator from
Ohio had got the woolen iron, and sugar
schedules as bad rs ever ii. B. Payne could
want, he was willing to vote on this bill.
Mr. MaXey inquired whether the instruc-
tions Of tho house did not practically mean
that II the rates on pig iron went up the
amendments of the senate were constitutional,
but that if they went down they were un-
constitutional.
Mr. Beck replied that there was no doubt
| of ii. The instructions meant, make il so
bad for the people and so good for tho mono
polists that even Messrs Sherman and Kelley
can vote for it and we have no constitutional
objection to it but make it good for the peO-
pie and against the monOpolists, and every
monopolst in the house will jump on his feet
and declare II UNCONSTITUTIONAL That was
the game that was being played now. The
proposition seemed to be how to take the most
money out of the consumer and put it into
the pockets of the monopoists. 1t was a cum
ningly devised scheme how to reduce revenue
by increasing taxation. If the senate adopted
the report there would be such lobby brought
to bear on the house by the wooden, iron, and
sugar men as would force II through there.
Mr.. Bayard characterized the report as
most lame and impotent conclusion of win
ter spent in framing tariff law. The bill as
1t passed the senate as compared with the
present scheme was as Hyperion to II Satyr'
committee, he declared ii to be without n pre-.
cedent. When before had conference been
appointed with halter around its neck and
the end of the rope in the hand Of the chair.
man of the ways and means cOmmittoe2 The
conference on the part of the house
was fettered from the beginning. 1t wa.
never full and fair. The senate had 10 yield
everything to the demand of certain pro
tective interests or have the measure straugled
by the force of house resolution ad Slted in
advance for the purpose of lettering and con.
trolling the action of its conlerees, The