Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-02-28
The --latest RadicaI Dodge.

The action If the House Republicans in
faYOring the Reed resolution, providing
for the taking up of the Senate tariff bill
for the purpose of nOn-cOncurring in the
same and referring it to a conference COM
mitete. shows the straits to which the
majority has been brought. The manly
course would be to say to the Senate that
il is the province of the House to Origi-
nate revenue measures, and that the SEN
ate in framing the bill in question in
fringed on the privileges of the House, and
therefore the latter body will let the bill
quietly slumber.
But the Republicans having failed to
pass a bill reducing taxation, see in re-
ferring the Senate bill to a conference
committee a chance to doctor the meas
ure to the satisfaction of the protected
interests and, possibly, delude the people
into a belief that the Republican majority
i'm the FOrty-seventh Congress had met
the public demand in the premises. The
Senate bill has little to commend it to
revenue refOrmers. Indeed, it is quite
satisfactory to most prOtectionists, but
does not please the Pennsylvania iron and
steel men or the Ohio wool growers. 1t is
for the purpose of altering the bill to meet
the views Of these discontinued interests
and otherwise changing its provisions
that the Reed resolution was proposed.
This resolution is a novel proposition in
that it takes away from the House the
right of choice between concurrence and
inconvenience in the Senate bill, and
limits that bOdy's action upon it to non.
concurrence, which would send it to a
conference committee. The effect of such
action would be to send a bill based on the
report of a packed commission, as the
Tariff Commission cOnfessedly was, to
packed conference committee. In other
words, the prOtectiOnists were given the
jury, and are now to be given the court
Of review. The claims of the great mass
of tax payers are ignored.
Keifer, Robson q Co. may succeed in
this, their latest scheme, but there is con-
ISOLATION in the thought that the days
of their power are numbered, and that,
no matter what they may do in their des-
perate attempt to delude the people, the
real representatives of the people will re-
view their action and yet render justice.
The very fact that the Radical leaders
hug the delusiOn that the people will be
satisfied with the work of a packed con-
ference committee upon this great ques-
ton of taxation proves that they realize
the terrible mistake they have made, and
their desperate endeavOr to retrieve it.
The judgment of the people upon the
FOrty-seventh Congress has been passed,
and is irrevOcable-it is imbecility and
failure throughout its career.
OF the eighty-twO screw steamers on the
list of the navy, there is only one first
class vessel, the Tennessee, which can be
called serviceable, and that not for war
purposes. OF the fourteen second-rates,
only seven are capable of making a voy-
age with safety; and of the twenty-five
third-rates, only half of them are in actual
service, or capable of any service. Our
irOn-clads number thirteen fourth-rate
vessels. The dOuble-turreted monitors,
one of which, the Miantonomah, has been
completed after a term of twelve or fifteen
years, are third and fourth rate vessels.
only fit for harbOr defense, if abundantly
equipped with torpedo boats. Three or
four worthless wooden screw iron-faced
ships are on the stocks at the navy yards.
Besides these there are several wooden
sailing vessels. We can intimidate no
civilized nation with our ships, for they
all have formidable navies; but some of
our ships can shell defenseless Indian
villages, as was shown not long ago ON
the Alaska cOast