The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-03-05
THE MORRISON BILL.
Certainty of an Acrimonious Debate on the
Measure in the House.
70 tIa Tn


Measure in the House.
Special to the Indianapolis journal.
WASHINGTON, March 4.-There is reason to
believe that bitter fight will come up in the
House within the next three weeks. 1t is con-
fdently expected as soon the tariff bill is
called up That may be as soon as it is reported
from the committee. as all reports from the
ways and means committee are privileged, and
may be called up at the will of the man report
ing.
1t is said that Mr.. Morrison has reiterated his
determination to rise fall the issue of tariff,
and that he does not propose to permit his bill
to rest upon the desk of the Speaker very many
days after it comes from the committee to be
laughed at by the country people and to be
jeered at by politicians. He thinks it will fare
better in the eyes of the country if it is sus-
pended from the committee, and is the
| tongues of the House; in other words, he pre-
fers to have it going through the crucible it must
pass to resting where its quantity and destiny
are unknown.
Of course, there is no earthly show for the
passage of any bill that will tend to Illustrate the
present tranquility of trade. A fragment of a
bill, intended to reduce the income tax, might
executive stand with uplifted hand to strike
down any creation of the House that is likely
to put in jeopardy the institutions which
keep alive the business of our country Mr..
Morrison is in agony. He realizes the situation
fully and has intimated his desire to unload. 1t
is believed he will not grieve if his new-b born
theory is cut short of its existence in its youth
Mr. Randall has plan by which he will accom-
modate him.
1t is proposed to shut off debate on the tariff
bill as soon as its comes up in the House by the
exercise of a parliamentary rule. This has been
indicated as desire by Mr.. Randall, but he has
not yet pointed out his authority. If he thinks
he can do it, and attempts it, he will no doubt
succeed. Mr.. Randall is by far the best patia
mentarian He is a member of the committee
on rules. He deals in technicalities. Tue rules
have all been revised recently. There are many
new and untried features in them The an
nouncement that Mr.. Randall proposed to de-
feat the tariff bill by the rules of the House, by
cutting off debate and bringing it to a vote,
arouses suspicion, and amateur parliamentarians
here are delving into their Digest of the House
of Representative to get the cue Randall
claims a sufficient number of Democrats will go
with him to the Republicans to defeat the bill,
and that it will be out of the way--dead on the
shelf-within six weeks
General Slocum, of New York is of the opn-
ion that the Morrison scheme is nipped in the
bud and that it will die in committee of the
whole. General Slocum does not base his views
upon a mere cursory glance at the prospects but
he has given the subject careful and close at
tention and has made up his mind that the
Democrats will not follow Morrison's lead and
that no hope of support from the Republicans
will be realized.
"What policy in regard to the tariff will your
party adoptl" 1 asked one of the Democratic
leaders this evening.
''Well, as far as l can learn" was the reply
1--WE have no policy. There is, however, a we'll
organized opposition to any tariff legislation,
and l am inclined to think that Morrison has
about made up his mind that he cannot get his
bill through. You can see how he has changed
it, When he first introduced it into the House
there were quite number of articles that he
proposed to free-list. He was going to have all
raw materials free and some materials
that were not raw, Now he says that his free list
only includes three staples COAL lumber and salt;
and he told me on Saturday that he would not
insist upon salt if such a course would leopard
ize the West Virginia vote, and he would be
willing to let lumber go to save Michigan and
Wisconsin, and he not so rabidly persistent
about coal as he expressed himself early in the
session. On the whole, don't think Morrison
is a fool and I believe he would rather sacrifice
his bill than his party"
'Do you think those are the only alternatives"
''Weil, don't know that l can answer your
query directly; but l certainly think that if we
insist upon the passage of a tariff bill we might
as well sit on the fence quietly while the Repub-
lican procession moves on. Why, We can only
win as it is by the most extreme caution. The
chances are at least five to two against US, and
if we are fools enough to put ourselves on record
as willing to throw thousands of laborers and
mechanics out of work we are lost. Why if
Morrison was a Republican spy who had gained
ingress to our camp to destroy us, he could not
better serve the Republican party than by urg-
ing the passage of his murderous bill"