Morning journal and courier., 1888-07-10
Fiftieth Congress-!first Session.

| WASH1N3TOHy Ju4y Ss I SENATE.-A motion to refer to the commit | tee on pensions one of the vetoed bills wal made the groundwork of 8 speech by MT Stewart against the frequent exercise of tht 1 veto power by the President. There had been, he said, about two hundred bills ve toed by MT. Cleveland, most of them pension bills. As the average monthly pension was $12 the whole of these bills involved an ex- penditure of only about $2, 400 8 month. Ad- mitttng that they were all wrong, that the committee of both houses had been remiss in I their duties and that the two houses had been inattentive to their responsibility, still he asked whether the necessity was so great es ! to warrant the executive department of the government to assume legislative powers. No i reason could be suggested why the form of government should be changed to save such g pittance. He protested against the exercise of such powers by the President. l- Mir. Vest characterized Mir. Stewards prop osition as monstrous and he declared that the President was as much required, under his oath of office, to scIutinize the smallest pens sion bill and give it his approval or return it with his objections as he is required to do with the largest appropriation bills. To hold anything else in respect to the veto
 power would be to render that provision of the constitution absolutely nugatoIy and make the government that which Mir. Ham ilton intended to make it, government of unlimited congressional power. The novel proposition that the amount involved in 8 bill had anything to do with the construing of the constitution, was absolutely without foundation.
 The Senate then, on motion of Mir. Cullom, proceeded to the consideration of the Sem ate bill to amend the interstate commerce act.
 After discussion the bill was passed.
 MT. Blair gave notice that he would ask ac- tion tomorrow on the bill to settle and pay accounts of laborers under the eight-nour law.
 The House bill to regulate the liens of judgments and decrees of the courts of the United States with amendments was passed.
 The Senate proceeded to executive session and at 5 o'clock adjourned.
 HoUsE.-Mr. Adams, of Illinois, offered 8 resolution in the House to-day, reciting the resolution directing the committee on manu- factures to investigate the subject of trusts, stating that the scope of the investigation was so broad as to render it timpracticable for the committee to make it's report at the pres- ent session, and directing the committee to report immediately, with or without recom- mendation, all the evidence taken by it re- lati2g to the SOC called sugar trust, and also in separate report to report the evidence taken relating to the so-called Standard Oil trust. Referred to the committee on rules.
 Mir. Ford, of Michigan, offered resolu- ton reciting the allegation that the present immigration into the United States is exees- sive, artificial and injurious. and is encour- aged to satisfy private greed, and the further allegation that the law prohibiting the irn- portation of contract labor is being evaded owing to the lack of sufficient machinery to enforce it, and directing the Speaker to ap point special committee of five members to investigate the subject matter herein referred fn f0 foa referred to the committee on military affairs.
 The House went into committee of the whole on tariff bill, the pending question be- ing on the Cannon amendment.
 MT. Wilkinson, of Louisiana, desired to correct what he declared to be the misstate- ments made by gentlemen on the other side to the effect that the sugar industry of Louis jana was languishing. An industry which last year had produced $40, 100000 pounds could hardly be termed languishing indus try. It had been called corpse, but if that were so it was the liveliest corpse the world had ever heard tell of.
 MT. Fuller, of Iowa, offered and advocated an amendment placing all sugars and naolas- ses on the free list. He criticised the com mittee on ways and means for having re- tained on the protected list an article the production of which in this country was so insignificant, for the purpose of retaining
 
 denounced the bill es being illogically and badly constructed and @ having for it's chief characteristic it's extreme sectionalism.
 Mir. Cannon thought that this amendment ought'to be adopted, although he supposed it would not be. Gentlemen on the other side were not going to sacrifice the St. Louis plat- form in this particular, although they had been breaking is up in four or five places by changing the rate on wood screws, etc. But in the matter of sugar they would not break the platform because it would not suit the Louisiana sugar men and it would not suit the sugar trust.
 The amendment was rejected, 37 to 10S.
 MT. Dingley of Maine offered an amend ment fixing the rate of duty on sugar not above 13 Dutch standard, testing not above 75 degrees, at 70-100 of cent per hundred, an additional duty of 2.100 -of cent per pound for each additional degres or fraction of degree. He stated that the rate proposed by him was exactly one-half the existing rate and if his proposition were adopted he would follow it with amendments making similar reductions in other grades. The present duty on sugar was an ad valorem equivalent His proposition was to reduce the duty and make it an ad valorem equivalent of fl per cent. The dutiable list of the existing tariff afforded duty of 47 per cent. on the aver- age and the Mills bill proposed to reduce that average to 40 ger cent. The present average of AT per ceSt. was brought about by the high duty on sugar and if the duty on sugar could be reduced to fl per cent. 1t would bring down the average duty of the existing tariff to 401% per cent So that his proposi- tion involved giving to sugar larger equiv alent ad valorem than was given to all other articles-the average being only 401z per cent, while he proposed to give sugar Al per cent. He did not propose to set aside the protective duty in regard to sugar, but he proposed to retain on the dutiable list with a duty higher than that which was the ad va lorem equivalent on manufacturing goods. If the duty on sugar was made Al per cent. Congress would be doing for sugar what it did for every other article on the protected list and that too not withstanding the fact that after forty years trial there was not as much sugar pro duced in this country as there had been be- fore the war. But he was willing to assume that we could produce sugar and continue to try. Every cent of duty that was removed would reduce the revenue to that extent and every cent of reduction would ass1redly re- duce the taxes of the people.
 Mr. Bayne, of Pennsylvania, hoped that the Dlngley proposition would prove accept able to every Republican and Democrat on the floor. The present duty was S2 per cent. The Mills bill proposed 6e per cent. and the itself yves a high duty on necessary of life. The amendment would reduce the revenue $29, ,e0O, ,0e0. With earnestness and with zeal free salt had heen advocated by the gentlemen on the other side. If the whole of the duty on salt was paid by the consumer it would amount to one cent for every man, woman and child. If the amend ment of the gentleman from Maine was adopted it would amount to saving of fifty cents for every man, woman and child in the country. It would have the effect of break ing up the sugar trust, and if the Democrats voted against proposition to fix the rate at Al per cent. and adhered to the 68 per cent. rate, the people this fall would draw the ne- cessary and proper inference.
 After discussion the amendment was lost, s8 to 1Os.
 Mir. Webb, of New York, offered an amendment which, while not interfering with the rates of duty proposed by the bill, provides for new classification of grades. The amendment was rejected, s5 to 86.
 On motion of Mir. Mills the duty on mo- lasses testing not above 66o was placed at 224e. per gallon.
 Mir. FulIer's amendment placing sugar on