The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-10-29
A BIG TARIFF SCARE.
Talk about Fighting the Mckinley Act In
the Courts.

Talk about Fighting the Mckinley Act
the Courts.
WASHINGTON, October 23.-A nun
Der of newspapers this morning pul
lish articles foreshadowing attempts
contest the legality of the Mckinle
tariff upon various grounds, one bein
clerical errors and omissions ID the eE
rolment of the bill with the conferenc
committee changes.
Concerning these publications Secre
tary Window said this morning h
knew nothing officially about protest
against the legality of the Mckinie
tariff bill. "I do not" he said "regar
it as the province Of an executive off
Ger to question the constitutionality o
Acts Of Congress. It is Tor him to en-
force the law as he finds it and not t.
determine questions affecting its legali
ty. lam therefore executing the Nc
Kinley Tariff Act as find it-approv
ed by the President Of the United
States and certified as correct by the
President of the Senate and Speaker o.
the House of Representatives, and
shall continue to do SO unless a compe
tent legal tribune, such as the Supreme
Court, decides that the law is uncon.
stitutional. 1t is not for me to Ques
tion the validity of any Of the sigma
lures to the bill as enrolled, neither is
it for me to determine whether the bill
signed by the President did CT not, in
fact, pass the lower house. Much less
is it for me to determine whether omis-
sion of the tobacco drawback section or
any other provision Of the bill invali-
dates the law as a whole. AS l under
stand it the Act of October l, 1890, is
the law of the land. My duty, there
fore, IS plain and | shall execute its
provisions to the best Of my ability.
Its constitutionality IS question for
the Courts and until they decide
against it shall be governed by it as
it stands"
Attorney General Miller positively
declined to discuss the question in any
of its bearings, saying it would be
.manifestly improper for him to do so
unless it came to him in an official way.
The commissioner of internal revenue,
Mr. Mason, who is specially charged
with the execution of the tobacco pro-
visions of the law, confined his remarks
in regard to the alleged illegality Of
the law to the following:
II will obey the law as certified by
the Secretary of State. 1t is not for me
to say whether ornot the omission OF
the tobacco rebate provisions vitiates
the law. Being merely an executive
officer Of the Government | must en-
force it as find it. Anyhow, the to-
bacco schedule does not take effect un-
til January l, so that if Congress de-
sires to refund the two cents pound
on all tobacco on hand when the law
takes effect it has ample time to legis-
late to that end"
No alarm is felt here among the
friends of the Mckinley bill as to the
legality of its enactment. An old and
experienced employee of the House
said to-day:
"Precedents of unnumbered yeats
leave no doubt that an error, whether
OF omission or commission, IN the en-
rolment of a bill passed by Congress
does not yitate any part of the measure
except that part to which the error re-
lates. Errors of some kind occur at
every session Of Congress in at least
one or more important bills, and to
hold that the omission or insertion of
any paragraph, word or punctuation
mark inyalldates not only the part of
the bill to which the error is relevant,
but the entire measure, would estab-
lish chaos in the affairs of the Govern
mcnt and compel Congress to remain
constantly in session to correct i'm
mediately on discovery errors in bills
signed by the President in order that
the operations of the Government
might be carried on. 1t is safe to say
that an error occurs in at least one ap-
preparation bill during each Congress,
and yet there MS never been any doubt
entertained by the accounting officers
OF the Government, or by any one else,
as to the validity of all the appropria-
tions except the particular one affected
by such error. In the enrolment OF the
Tariff Act of 1883 q comma was i'm
properly used in the fruit plant para
graph, and the manifest intention Of
Congress thereby defeated to the great
loss of the customs revenues, but there
was no question as to the validity of
other provisions of the law when it
was passed upon by the SuprT me Court.
During the very last session of Con-
gress an error was made in the enrol
ment of the river and harbor appropIla-
ton bill by the omission of two cipherS
in the amount appropriated for the i'm
provement of the Illinois River, so that
$1,000 instead of 100000 WAS appro-
priated. \ week or more after the bill
became law the error was discovered
and Congress promptly passed joint
resolution to correct it. The fact that
in this joint resolution, as IL numer-
ous others passed for the correction OF
similar errors, Congress enacted no pro-
vision to give legal effect to the re-
mainder of the bill shows conclusively
that in the opinion of the legislative
branch of the Government an error in
one part of the measure does not Wit
late it as a whole"
Senator Hamptonts Position.
COLUMBIA, October 1.-THE follow
ing statement OF Senator Hamp-
tons position in the present political
crisis is made with authority by Col.
John w. R. Pope, editor of the Colnm-
bia Register: senator Hampton, who
came o the city to-day for the first time
since his return from Washington, was
asked his opinion on the political situa-