Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-03-22
A BIG JOB IN FIGURES
LAID OUT FOR THE PROPOSED CON-
MISSIONER OF LABOR.


the Sons of Toii-Heard Enough About
the American Hog-Denis kearney Talks
to the President-Elestric shock To tho
Capitol Building.
| WASHINGTON CITY, March 22.-The inter.
| ests of labor occupied the greater part of the
time of the house Wednesday, the first move
being into committee of the whole on the bill
referring TO the court of claims for adjust
ment the accounts of lahorers workmen and
mechanics arising under the eight hour law.
| Quite number of short speeches for and
against the bill were made Tillman of South
| Carolina said the passage of this bill would
| give the court of claims all il could
| do for the next five years, for rs
| far back as 1884 the claims amounted to near
| ly $30,0O0,0O0 He stigmatized the bill as an
attempted raid on the treasury.
TaIsney Of Michigan declared it was re-
| voting proposition that men sent here to
| make laws should themselves publish to the
country that they ms representatives violated
the very laws they told their constituents to
obey He stated that the committee ON labor
had given careful hearing to the mechanics
| and laborers, who asked that which should
never be denied in any civilized country
| the right to go into the courts of their
country and have their rights and the duties Of
| the government defined and placed on record.
| Tarsney then moved that the committee rise,
| stating that his intention was to let
| the bill go over until April ID
| in order that the gentlemen who We're shoot
| ing at bird that they didn't see, and that
wasn't there, might have an opportunity to
examine the record and become better in
formed as to the merits of the case than their
speeches indicated them to be-
mi t1aat laan MI tl,a
over, and shortly afterward the house again
went into committee of the whole on the bill
to establish department of labor, and long
and at times exciting debate followed.
Buchanan of New Jersey moved to strike
out the clause charging the commissioner to
ascertain the cost Of producing articles at the
time dutiable in the United States, in leading
countries where such articles are produced,
by fully specified units of pro
duction, and under a classification
showing the different elements of cost or ap-
proximate cost of such articles of production.
Buchanan said that the commissioner would
DO unable to gather the information with the
force at his disposal, and if the force were in
creased sufficiently to enable him to do so, the
expense of the department would become so
great that he feared congress would refuse to
appropriate the money.
Mill of Texas regarded the clause as the
most important feature of the bill. The peo-
pie 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 nots He
wished the clause to be left in the bill so the
commissioner could get the information.
Randall of Pennsylvania offered an amend
ment, which was adopted, extending the in
quiry to be made by the commissioner of
labor to the amount of wages paid in various
industries. A number of other amendments
extending the scope of the inquiry to be
made by the commissioner was also adopted
so as to include information as to whether
any convict made goods are imported into
this country, and from what countries; the
profits of the manufacturer and producer of
dutiable articles the comparative cost of living
in this country and Europe, and the kind of
living; the effect Of the protective tariff in the
United States on agricultural industry, and
especially as to its effects on the mortgage in
debtedness of farmers.
Milliken of Maine offered an amendment
requiring the commissioner to investigate the
Mills tariff bill, and to report what effect
it would have on tho labor and industry of
the United States and on foreign industry,
and on the profits of foreign manufacturers
and the markets OF tho American i, rmerS,
but the amendment was not acted upon be-
fore adjournment.