Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-29
It Goes on With Renewed Vigor in
the Senate.
IN THE SUNDRY CIVIL BILL.
The House Still Considering the
Senate Amendments.
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
SENATE.
The Senate met at IL q. m.

The Senate met at IL am.
After a call Of the roll, in order to procure
the attendance of quorum, Mr.. Morgan pre-
sented resolutions adopted at public meeting
of republicans in Birmingham, Ala, against
the passage of the election bill
Mr.. Sawyer, from the post office committee,
reported back Senate bill to establish limited
postal and telegraph service. Placed on the
calendar.
EARLY HOURS.
Mr. Sherman offered a resolution (Which
went over till tomorrow for the daily meeting
of the Senate at 10 am.
MIR. ingalls, introduced bill to establish
department OF communication. and said that it
was prepared by and introduced at the request
OF the Wage Workers Alliance.
THE TARIFF BILL
was taken up, the pending question being on
Mr.. McPherSon's amendment, offered yesterday,
to reduce the duty on acetic or pyroligneous
acid not exceeding the specific gravity of
47-1OOO from one and half cents to one cent
per pound, and exceeding that gravity from
four to three cents per pound. The amend
ment was rejected by party vote-yeas, 20;
nays, 27.
The clerk proceeded with the reading of the
bill but had only got through two lines when he
was stopped by Mr.. Mcpherson with the re-
mark that he was moving little too hastily.
He (Mr. McPherson) had something to say
about the first line, fixing the duty on boracic
acid at cents per pound. At the present rate
a cents pound) the duty on boracic acid was
1873 per cent, and now it was proposed to make
1t 81. 81 per cent ad valorem. 1t could be put
on board vessel in Italy at cents a pound,
so that the proposed duty would be rs Der
cent. He quoted statement Of Mr.. Niedring-
haus before the finance committee to the effect
that boracic acid could be produced in Calef at
cents pound, so that the proposed duty
would amount to 225 per cent ad valorem.
MR. NJ 'PHERsoN's AMENDMENT.
He moved to reduce the rate from five cents
to three and half cents pound Here, he
said. was an article manufactured in natures
own laboratory, requiring neither steam power
nor fuel, nor anything in the world but Gods
sunlight and air. A little water taken from
lake and exposed to the sun and air gave a
residuum Of borax and boracic acid. 1t costs
only two cents pound (according to authentic
testimony and yet duty of five cents
pound was to be imposed upon it. And for
what purpose? To protect great trust and
combine which had agreed to limit the produc-
tion of borax and boracic acid to the amount
which the market would take.
MIR. Stewart remarked that when this article
was on the free list the price was twenty cents
a pound.
Mr.. Hiscock referred to boracic acid as illus
trating the effect of specific duties He said
that when the present duty was imposed in
1883 it represented only an ad valorem rate of 5
per cent, but the cost of the article had Snce
then been SO reduced by home competition
that the present duty now represented an ad va
lorem rate OF about IS per cent.
Mr.. Aldrich also made some remarks in the
same line, and said that when borax and bo-
raclc acid were on the free list before 1883.
borax cost 80 cents pound (it was now cents)
and pure boracic acid from so to IS cents Gt
was now from IA TO 16). If borax could be pro-
duced IN this country at cents pound it was
very peculiar that with a duty of 4 cents a
pound Its importation was increasing. He
quoted from letter OF Gen. Rosecrans, written
in 1888, stating that the duty on boracic acid
ought to be 10 cents pound.
MR.. BLAIR EXPLAINS.
Mr.. Blair referred to the illusions in vester-
days discussion to the profits of the Amoskeag
Company in New Hampshire and said that the
dividend rate of 10 per cent was on the original
capital and not on the existing value of the
plant The prosperity of the city Of Manches-
ter, n. H., was absolutely the creation of the
protective system and the Amoskeag Company
was the benefactor of the working people and
was not to be arraigned rs company engaged
in a raid upon their interests
MIR. Morgan argued against the increase of
the duty on borax and boracic acid as bearing
with strong discrimination against the iron
industries OF Alabama, in which borax and
boracic acid were largely used. He was in
favor of the reduction proposed by Mr.. Nc
Pherson and thought that if justice were to be
done boracic acid should be put on the free
list.
THE AMENDMENT REJECTED.
Mr.. McPherson's amendment was rejected by
a party vote-yeas, 25; nays, 80.
AGAINST THE BILL.
Mr.. Jones (Ark.) addressed the Senate in on
position to the bill, which he charac terized as
the most radical and extreme measure of pro-
lection ever presented. It was a practical
declaration on the part of the republican parry
that the war tariff was never to be reduced
but that exorbitant taxes were to be permanent.
and to be declaration Of war against foreign
commerce. He had seen in the morning papers
a statement that in the republican caucus of
last night it had been determined that the Sel-
ate should meet at 10 o'clock every day and
should remain in session indefinitely, the pur-
pose being
TO BREAK DOWN THE OPPOSITION
to the tariff bill by physical exhaustion. The
republican Senators were to sit silent in their
seats and to refuse to discuss the bill. Demo-
cratic Senators, he said, had interposed no
objection to having early hours fixed for the
daily meeting of the Senate and had remained
in their places until the republican Senators
had moved to adjourn. They had consumed
no time unnecessarily. But they believed that
they had the right and that 1t was their duty to
discuss fairly and reasonably all measures
presented. II 1t was the purpose of
the majority to deny Senators that
right and attempt to force the tariff bill
through the Senate without debate the ma
jority would have to take the responsibility,
Senators on the democratic side of the cham
Der would endeavor to preserve the right of
free speech in the Senate of the United States
The tactics Of silence on the part of republican
Senators might prevent the full discussion of
the iniquity Of the measure in the Senate, but
II they hoped to prevent its discussion in the
country they might as we'll abandon that idea
and begin to cast about for apologies for this
most unreasonable of tariff bills.
QUOTING SAM JOHNSON AND THE BIBLE
There was tribunal before which they
would be compelled to speak. The people,
their masters, would have report Old Sam
johnson had once in his dictionary defined
patriotism as 1.-The last refuge of scoundrels,"
and, in view of the pending bill and
OF the reasons assigned for IL. he
Mr.. Jones) was compelled to admit
the wisdom and sagacity Of that old
philosopher. He imagined that some such
spectacle as was presented in connection with
the pending bill had caused that outburst ON
the part Of the sturdy and plain-spoken old
Englishman. Quoting from the Bible he said:
as swords, and their Jaw teeth az knives to de-
YOUR the poor from Of the earth, and the
needy from among men"
REFERRING TO THE FARHxRs' ALLIANCE,
no declared that that man read the signs Of