The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-22


/ The Mills bill passed the house Yesterday
/ by mn ioritY Of thirteen. 1t has under
! gone comparatively few changes since 1t
/ left the committee room Of the ways and
means committee 1t has been amended
/ in some Of its minor parts but all OF It's eS-
sential features are the same.
/ The nassageof this bill is a great triumph
+ for the democratic party 1t IS also a sur
prise for the republicans, who freely pre-
dictcd, when the bill was first reported to
/ tie house. that it would never pass that
/ bolv. particularly if the free wool clause
were retained That clause was retained,
however and the bill now goes to the senate
/ for its action.
The democratic leaders in the house de
serve great credit for the success which has
attended their efforts They have shown
good generalship and remarkable skill in
handling the measure. They succeeded in
satisfying their party associates, and in
overcoming the opposition of the Randall
following. Indeed, the final vote showed
that that following had about disappeared
In the beginning Of the tariff debate it was
! estimated to be anywhere from thirteen TO
| eighteen, but if it was that large at that
! time it dwindled maryelously as the debate
progressed 1t was hardly worth noticing
when the time came for taking sides for or
against the bill. Mr.. Mills showed himself to
be much ADLER leader than it was generally
supposed he was When he was made
chairman of the ways and means commit
tee, and consequently the leader of the ma
| joritS, 1t was pretty broadly iatinated that
| Speaker Carlisle had made a mistake, aud
that the house would pass no tariff bill. The
| speakers judgment of Mr.. Mills capacity
as leader has proven to be nearer correct
| than that of most Of the other democratic
congressman, and the wisdom Of his choice
has been shown by the outcome of the great
tariff struggle. 1t is true that Mr. Mills
has a rather hasty temper, and he some
| times makes mistakes which men Of cold
and calculating natures avoid, but
his merits are greater than his faults,
and he deserves the reputation he has made
| in connection with the bill which bears his
name
| But great as the credit is which tie
democratic leaders Of the house deserve for
securing the passage of the bill, it is not as
great as that to which the president is en-
titled. He not only marked out the lines
upon which the bill was drawn. but he
stiffened the backbone of his party sutfi-
GENTLY to enable it to pass the bill. He out
| lined the work to be done and he marshalled
the forces that did it. The majority in the
house followed his lead and the national
| Of I tIo
port which he demanded. The clearness
and prominence of the tariff issue in this
campaign are due to him, and the country
recognizes the fact that they are
| The question which now presents itself is
this What will the senate do with the
| bill9 There are two theories. One is that it
will pass it with some notifications, and
the other is that it will present a substitute
for it, There does not seem to be any
doubt that the finance committee is now at
work upon a tariff bill. When the republi-
cans saw that the Mills DILL was pretty GER
tain to pass the house, they recognized the
necessity for doing something to avoid be-
| ing put in the position before the country of
refusing to reduce the surplus. They I'M
derstand that they would be at
|
great disadvantage if they at
tempted to conduct presidential campaign
with a record like that In framing tariff
bill, however, they have great difficulties TO
overcome, not the least of which is the lack
of harmony among themselves respecting
the articles upon which the duties should be
reduced or repealed. The republicans of the
| house tried TO agree upon bill and failed,
and it is not improbable that the republicans
of the senate will also fail If they do,
there is a bare probability that a few of the
northwestern senator's will join with the
democrats and pass the Mills bill with modi-
| fications There is strong tariff reform
| sentiment i'll the northwest even among the
republicans, and the republican party is GER
| tain to be the loser if it permits congress to
adjourn without a reduction of the tariff,
and consequently a reduction of the sur
plus.
But whatever course the republican sem
ate takes the democratic party can now 60
| before the country with record that shows
it has done all it could to reduce the danger
Gus treasury surplus. 1t has passed bill
which reduces the revenues and gives the
| people cheaper necesssries of life, and il
now depends upon the senate whether or
not that bill becomes law. The responsi
bility for the surplus has been shifted from
the shoulders of the democratic to those Of
the republican party.