Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-09
CARLISLE INTERVIEWED.
What the Speaker of the House Has to
Say About the Morrison Bill.

What the Speaker of the House Has to
Say About the Morrison Bill.
A Washington correspondent of the
Louisville COurier-JOurHdl on the 9TH of
April sent the following to that paper: l
have just had a brief inverview with Mr..
Carlisle, Speaker of the House Of Repre-
sentatlves. Said l, ''Alr. Speaker, what
do you think about the prospects for tariff
legislation at this session.
In answer Mr.. Carlisle replied: "In
my opinion the Morrison bill, or a bill
substantially the same, will be passed by
the House and sent to the Senate. If that
body refuses to consider it or pass it, the
| responsibility will rest upon the Republi-
can majority by which it is controlled.
Some of our friends think we ought not to
pass bill in the House, be-
cause they say the Senate will not agree
to it; but | am not able to appreciate the
wisdom of this suggestion, and do not
think the people would indOrse it. In
the first place, we cannot possibly know
what the Senate will do until we send it a
bill. Under the constitution the House
possesses the sole power to originate a bill
to reduce tariff duties, and if it fails to do
so our political opponents will have a
great advantage over us in all future
discussion of the question. They
can truthfully say that it was i'm
possible for the body i'll which they have
the majority even to consider the subject,
unless the one in which we have the ma
jOrlty acted first. We could not answer
this. But, in the second place, it is not
the duty of Democratic House to refrain
from legislating upon an important pub
lie question simply because it may be-
lieve or fear that it would not be agree
able to a Republican Senate. If that is
to be the policy the House might as well
be Republican as Democratic, so far as
the interests of the party and the country
are concerned.
I'VE undoubtedly owe our majority in
this House to the popular demand for
reduction of tariff taxation, and to our
pledges to do all we could to secure 1T.
| do not mean to say that all the Demo-
cratic members were elected on that issue,
but | do say that without it we would
have been in a minority IN the present
House, as we were in the last. The pas
sage of the tariff commission bill, the de-
bate upon it. and the character of the
commission appointed by the President
clearly established the fact that the Re
publican party did not intend to make any
substantial reduction Of tariff taxation in
the interests of our manufacturing indus
tries and the consumers Of their products,
but that its purpose was simply to revise
the law in the interest OF particular lndi-
viduals and pOrations-principally cor
pOratiOns-engaged in certain kinds of
business. After this exhibition of its in
disposition to afford any real relief, it was
condemned by a great majority of the
people. If VIC are wise we will not follow
its example, but will proceed at once to
pass a bill through the House making all
the reduction we can at the present time"
Mr.. Carlisle said that he was satisfied
an effort would be made in the House to
take up the Morrison bill for considera-
ton at very early day, and that it
would be proceeded with from day to day
until a final vote was reached. He did
not believe that a sufficient number of
Democrats would vote with the Republi-
cans to prevent its consideration or to
defeat it on its passage. There were quite
a number of Democrats who had believed
that twas not good policy to attempt legis-
latiOn on the subject of the tariff at the
present session, but nearly all of them
were in favor of a reduction of taxation,
and on the simple question as to the time
when the attempt to secure the reduction
should be made, they could not, in his
opinion, afford to vote with the Republi-
cans against the declared policy of a 81 eat
majority of their own party friends.
'LegislatiOn in Congress-" said he, sis
necessarily slow. and our friends through
out the country ought not to become i'm
patient or discouraged on account of the
fact that the measure has not advanced
as rapidly as they desired