The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-22

THE HOUSE GIVES THE DAY TO
THE INTERESTS OF TOILERS.


tion in 1884, and at that time be
had estimated that the bill would
involve an expenditure of $50. 900 900.
| He declared that whenever labor bill was
brought into the House it stampeded the
members as a hawk stampeded pigeons in
| a dove COTE
| ALWAYS MADE THEM FLUTTER.
The most humliating thing to him in
| connection with his Congressional labors
was the way the way the members
fluttered whenever any proposition
came up relating to labor The
| pending proposition was one to give man
ten hours pay for eight hours labor in
| order to create an arstocracy of labor and
give to claim agents % or 30 per cent. of
| the amounts they might recover.
UTTERLY AT SEA.
| Mr.. Taulbee of New York, declared that
| the House was utterly at sea as to the
| amount involved in the bill He admitted
| that the question of expenditure did not
| enter into the equities of the case, but it
| tended to impress upon the members the
| importance of an inquiry into the bills and
| he maintained that the language of the
measure was virtual acknowledgment on
| the part of its trainers that there was no ex-
| isting law, equity or good conscience upon
| which these claims could be based.
THE BILL GOES OVER.
Mr.. Tarsney, of Michigan, earnestly sup
ported the bill He stated that the Com
mttee on Labor had given careful hearing
| to mechanics and laborers, who asked that
| which should never be denied in any civil
| lied Countrywide right to go into the courts
| of their country and have their rights and
| the duties of the government defined and
| placed on record. He then moved that the
| committee rise, stating that his intention was
to Lei. the uill go over until April l6, in order
| that the gentlemen who were shooting at
| bird that they did not see, and that was not
| there, might have an opportunity to exam
| inc the record and become better informed
as to the merits of the case than their
speeches to-day indicated them to be.
! The committee then rose and the billEwent
| over
RULING OUT CONVICT LABOR.
Bills were pa sed to prevent the product
of convict labor from being furnished to or
| for the u,e of any department of the gov
| ernment, and from being used in public
| build ngs or other public works and to pre-
vent the employment of alien labor on pub
| lie buildings and other public works, and
in various departments of the govern
| ment.
LABoRs DEPARTMENT.
The House then went into committee of
| the whole on the bill to establish Depart
| menU OF l1hDOI. ne pIoNlSlUH LOT an AS
| sstant Commissioner of Labor was stricken
| out.
| Mr.. Buchanan moved TO strike out the
| clause chapfing the Commissioner to ascer-
| tain, whenever industrial changes shall
make it essential, the cost of producing
articles at the time dutiable in the United
| States in the leading countries where such
articles are produced, by fully specified
units of production, and under a classifca-
| ton showing the different elements of cost
| or the approximate cost Of such articles of
| production.
AN EXPENSIVE UNDERTAKING.
| Mr. Buchanan said that the commission
| would be unable to gather the information
with the force at his disposal and that If
| the force were increased sufficiently TO
| enable him to do so the expense Of the de-
partment would become so great that he
feared Congress would refuse to appropriate
the money
Mr. Mills regarded the clause which it
| was proposed to strike out as the most i'm
portant feature of the bill. If it were
| stricken out there would be nothing left in
the bill The people were told that
the wages of labor on the other
side of the ocean were less than those on
this side, and that the cost of production
was less in Europe than in America. Who
| knew whether that was true or not7 He
wished the Commissioner TO get the infor-
nation from men thoroughly equipped for
the work.
WOULD PREVENT DECEPTION.
| Then when Congress came to legislate
upon the tariff question, the gentlemen
would not be able TO deceive the
| people who would be able to
see for themselves what was the labor cost
| of production in European countries. Let
| the gentlemen come up to the scratch and
| have this matter Investigated. The gentle
men should not tell the people that the tariff
| was intended for their benefit Every line
of it was intended for the benefit of trusts.
Mr. Reed expressed wonder whether the
chairman # the Ways and Means Commit
tee if he got the information; would allow
it TO be read 20 the committee.
Mr. Buchanan's amendment was rejected
Mr.. Randall offered All amendment to eK-
tend the inquiry 10 the amount Of wages
paid in various industries, accompanying
his amendment with the remark that I'VE
all stand on the question Of labor"
The amendment was adopted.
GETTING IT DOWN FINE
Mr.. Mills offered an amendment to insert
the words ''per diem, weekly and other
wise" after the word wages in Mr.. Ran
dalPs amendment. The amendment was
adopted.
On motion Of Mr.. Mckinley an amend
ment was adopted, adding to Mr.. Randalps
amendment, the words, land the hours en-
ployed per day.
The following amendments, offered by
the gentlemen named, extending the scope
of the inquiry were adopted:
BY Mr.. Buchanan-Whether any convict
made goods are imported into this country
and whence.
By Mr.. Bland-The profits Of the manu-
facturer and producer Of dutable articles.
BY Mr.. Washington, OF Tennessee-The
comparative cost of living in this country
and Europe.
BY Mr.. Milliken-And the kind of living.
EFFECTS OF THE TARIFF.
Mr.. Browne, of Indiana, offered an
amendment extending the inquiry as 20 the
effect OF the protective tariff in the
United States on agricultural Industry, and
especially as TO its effect on the mortgage
indebtedness If farmers TO this amend