The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-24
THE MORNING NEWS.
} Esr1HLrsHED 1870. IscoRPoRAIED 1855.
]. II, ESTILL. President.
FLAWS In THE TARIFF.
A POSSIBILITY THAT THEY May
INVALIDATB THE Law.

The Clause Granting Drawbacks on
Tobacco Entirely Omitted-A Claim
that the Law Never Passed the
House in Its Present Shape-Win-
dom VIII Enforce 1t.
WASHINGTON, Oct. ga number of
nAvspapers this morning publish articles
foreshadowing attempts to contest the le-
gslity of the Mckinley tariff upon vari-
o,,s grounds, one being clerical errors and
omissions in the enrolment Of the bill with
the conference committee changes. Con-
cerning these publications Secretary Win
dom said this morning that he knew moth
ing officially about protests against the le-
gality of the Mckinley tariff bill. II
do not" he said, regard it as the province
of an executive officer to question the con-
stitutionality of acts of congress-"
HIS DUTY TO ENFORCE IT.
II is for him to enforce the law as he finds
II and not to determine questions affecting
its legality. l am therefore executing the
Mckinley tariff act as ind 1t approved by
the President of the United States, and
certified as correct by the president of the
Senate and speaker of the House of Repre-
santatives, and shall continue to do so un-
less conn petent legal tribunal, such as the
supreme court, decides that the law is un-
constitutional. 1t is not for me to question
the validity of any signatures TO the bill as
enrolled; neither is it for me to determine
whether the bill signed by the President did
or did not In fact pass the lower house.
THE OMISSION OF THE DRAWBACK.
"Much less it is for me to determine
whether he omission of the tobacco draw
al, ~ nf a
bill, invalidates the law as a whole. As |
understand it the act If Oct. /, $780, is the
law of the land. My duty, therefore, is
plain, and l shall execute its provisions to
the best of my ability. Its Constitutional
ity is question for the courts, and until
they shall decide against it, l shall be gov
erned by it as it stands"
MILLER DECLINES TO TALK.
Attorney General Miller positively de-
cEned to discuss the question in any of its
bearings, saying that it would be mani
festly improper for him to do SO unless il
came to him in an official way.
Commissioner of Internal Revenue Mason,
who is specially charged with the execution
Of the tobacco provisions of the law, con-
fined bis remarks in regard to the alleged
illegallty of the law to the following state
ment: 81 will obey the law as certified by
the Secretary Of State. 1t is not for me to
say whether or not the omission of the
tobacco rebate provisions vitiates the
law. Being merely an executive officer
of the government 1 must enforce it as
find 1t. Anyhow. the tobacco schedule does
not take effect until Jan. l, so that if con-
greSS desires to refund two cents a pound on
all the tobacco on hand when the law takes
effect, it has ample time to legislate to that
end"
HIGH TARIFF MEN NOT ALARMED.
No alarm whatever is felt here among
the friends Of the Mckinley bill as to the
legality of its enactment. The precedents
of unnumbered years, an old and ex-
perlenced employe of the House said to-day,
leave no doubt that an error, whether by
commission or commission, in the enrolment
OF bill passed by congress, does not vi late
any part Of the measure except that part to
which the error relates. Errors of the
same kind occur, ne said, at every session of
congress, IN at least one or more important
bills, and to hold that the omission or inser-
uon OF any paragraph, word or punctuation
mark lnvalidaIes, not only the part
OF the bill to which the error Is relevant,
out the entire measure, would esta biish
chaos IN the affairs of the government and
compel congress to remain constantly in
session to correct immed ately on dis qovery
errors in bills signed by the President, in
order that the opera lions of the government
might be carried on.
1 ERRORS EVERY SESSION.
1t Is safe to say, he added, that an error
occurs In at least one appropriation bill
H uurlng eacn congress, aud yet there has
/ never been any doubt entertained bv the
accounting officers of the government or by
any ono else as to the validity of all the an
preparations, except the particular one af-
iecteo oy such error. In the enrolment of
the tariff act of 1888 a comma was improp-
erly used in the fruit plant" paragraph.
and the manifest intention of congress
tnereoy defeated. to the great loss of the
customs revenues, but there was
no question as to the validity
of the other provisions of the law
when 1t was passed upon by the supreme
court During the very last session of con-
gress an error was made in the enrolment
ot the river and harbor appropriation bill
Dy the omission of two ciphers in the
amount appropriated for the Improvement
~ Ine ILLINOIS river, so that 81 900 Instead of
S1UU'OOO was appropriated, A week or
more atter the bill had become a law the
ERROR was discovered and congress
promptly passed joint resolu-
tlon to correct it. The fact. he
Cohtlnued, that in this joint resolution. as
" numerous others passed for correction of
l'nllar li errors, congress enacted no pro vision
=, give legal effect to the remainder of the
u! SHOWS co clusively that In the opinion
Vhe legislative branch Of the governments
~ error IN one part of a measure does not
lVlate it as whole.