Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-23
AT THE NATIONS CAPITAL
THE WHISKY BILL AGAIN UN-
DER DEBATE.

DER DEBATE.
Mr.. Clements Lends His Voice to the
OppositiOn-NO Vote Reached-The In
dicatiOns that the Threatened Split
will be Averted Still Growing Stronger
-Keifcr Compelled Tyson to Walk the
Plank.
WASHINGTON, March %. In the
House to-day the regular order be-
lug demanded Mr.. Belford, of
Colorado, appealed to the House to allow
one hour to be devoted to consideration of
the Senate bills on the Speakers table,
and the appeal proving Intellectual, sol
emnly declared that no more bills could
be passed during the remainder Of the
session. Under a call of the committees
the following reports were submitted:
BY Mr.. Wait, of Connecticut, from the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, for the re-
turn of the balance of the Chinese idem-
nifty fund. 1t was referred to the commit
tee of the whole.
BY Mr.. Vance, of North Carolina, from
the Committee on Patents, adversely, to
reduce the life time of patent to five
years. At the request of Mr.. Anderson,
of Kansas, the bill was placed on the
House calendar.
BY. Mr.. DOckery, of Missouri, from the
Committee on Accounts, to provide one
months extra pay to certain employees of
the House. 1t was referred to the COM
mittee of the whole.
MI Coz of North Carolina, from thv
Committee on Foreign AHaIrs, reported a
resolution calling on the President for in
formation as to what action had been
taken by the United States or Venezuela
on the provisions of the joint resolution
providing for new mixed commission,
4 a.. II, H.
to make the payment of any awards. The
resolution was adopted.
THE WHISKY BILL.
The House then, at 12:45 O'Clock, went
into committee of the whole, with Mr..
Reaan, of Texas, In the chair, on the bonded
extension bill.
Mr.. Herbert, Of Alabama, resumed his
argument against the BILL asserting that
it was only by holding distillers to the
law that Congress could expect to equal
ize production and consumption. Perma-
nent relief could be accorded to distillers
only by compelling them to conduct their
business on a sound basis. The passage
of the bill would lead to an overwhelming
demand for the repeal of the whole tax on
whisky.
KENTUCKY'S SOLID PHALANX.
Mr.. Clay, of Kentucky, said that the
whisky industry was made legitimate by
the government, and demanded the same
protection from Congress which was
granted to any other business or aYOca-
ton. He denied that the pending meas
ure embodied special legislation, and
maintained that, on the contrary, its OBJ
ject was to make a general law and put
whisky, beer and tobacco on the same
footing in regard to taxation. 1t was a
measure Of relief which would prevent a
crisis in the West. Hence Congress could
IL with nj fD ho 1.11lI Iif
| interest, and it should be done.
CRANKY sQUEAL.
Mr.. Thompson, cf Kentucky, supported
the bill, which, he said, presented the
question whether the government would
bankrupt one class of its citizens when it
did not require for any purpose the money
which would fall due for taxes. He was
not in favor of demanding a ''pOund of
tiesh,' and he expressed his surprise that
his friends from the South, Messrs.
Blount and Herbert, should uphold the
policy Of saying, I'm the name of the law
we demand the bankruptcy Of these peO-
ple.' The question of temperance was
not involved in the measure but if a few
temperance cranks in the House would
vote for the bill it would result in keeping
whisky in bond and out of consumption
DENYING THE SOFT IMPEACHMENT.
Mr. Milliken, of Maine, while denying
that he was temperance crank, inquired
whether, even if the bill passed. the
whisky would not be taken out of bond in
the course of time, to which Mr.. ThOmp-
son replied that it would pass into con-
sumption when it was called out by some
temperance cranks, for he had never seen
one of that class, who, before making a
speech, would not step behind a door and
''wet his whistle"
MR.. CLEMENTS OPPOSITION.
.,f( Go L Al.
bill on business principles and incidentally
declared his willingness to forward any
demand for the total abolition of the in
ternal revenue system.
MR.. BRECKENRIDGE PLEA FOR THE BILL
Mr.. Breckenridge, of Arkansas, spoke
at length in favor of the bill as measure
of justice and relief to the whisky INDUS
try. and portrayed the ruin and bankrupt
cy which would follow the failure of the
House to grant that relief. He denied,
emphaticallY, that there was any dishOn-
est ring organized to urge the measure
through Congress, but called attention to
the numerous petitions before the Com
mittee on Ways and Means, asking Tor
this legislation.
AWAY WITH INTERNAL REVENUE.
Mr.. York, of North Carolina, expressed
his desire to see the entire internal reYe-
nue. system wiped out.
THE GOVERNMENT A PARTNER.
Mr.. HiscOck, of New York, opposed the
bill. BY its passage the government
would be entering INTO partnership with
the distillefs OF rye and bourbon and
would be getting AZ per cent. as its share
of the profits.
THE NATION WOULD BE WHISKY
STOREHOUSE.
Mr.. Ray, of New York, opposed the
turning of the nation into a great whisky
stOrehouse, declaring that the bill asked
the government to become the wet nurse
of the big body of the whisky interest.
wHIsKY's BAD WORK.
Mr. Hepburn, of Iowa, opposed the bill
and made an onslaught upon the achieve
ments which the whisky interests had per-
formed, declaring that it had kept in the
field not the armies Of the Union, as had
been alleged, but armies OF paupers, of
crime and Of drunkenness.
MEETS MIR. FINDLAY's PAvOR.
Mr.. Findlay, of Maryland, contended /
that the measure was proper one, and /
because the relief which was accorded in
the bill, especially to the State
of Kentucky, was no reason why a
proper measure should be defeated. The /
bill was also in the interest OF temperance. /
There was now safely guarded in the |
reservoirs 70,O00,0O0 gallons of double |
distilled damnation. If the bill were de- !
feated all this fiery mass of corruption |
would be forced upon the market in one
fell disastrous overflow. Before the con-
clusion Of Mr.. Findlay's speech the COM
mittee rose.
Mr.. Hancock, of Texas, from the Com |
mittee on Appropriations, reported the |
pension appropriation bill, and 1t was
referred to the committee of the whole. I
At 5:15 O'Clock the House adjourned.
AT EETE1E7D,c E1E1OTrT-cr