Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1890-07-26
A Breezy Tariff Debate

4 Breezy IarlH Oe0ate
The Washington correspondent ofths Ba:-
timo7o Sun writes ''SsaaIo: P;uu-5, Of
Kansas, ia responsible for very lively de-
bate in the Senate Yesterday gro"ing out
Of The consideration OF tho tGrifb IL was
the intention of hs brother republicans 60
preserve "dead sileDca" during tha genera!
debate, and allow the democrats TO 10 sill
the talking. They would have probably
carried cut theIy programme ii thia respect
had nc. Senator Plumb become mutlnous
and asked the members Of the tiuance com
mittee = number OF questions as TO the elect
of ths proposed bill upon the revenues OF
the government He Charged tnat the bill
was so drawn as to confuse he average
mind, and frankly admitted shet he could
not tell by what out Of courtesy to The COM
mittee was called g report" whstheT there
will be surplus or deficit. His qpesticne
were thrown cut in that crisp, breezy style
FOR which be is noted and sometimes feared,
end the result WAS be bad all Of the repGbij-
can members of ths conmittao OF their feet
trying to satisfy his curiosity. They did
not succeed veyy we'll, for he wss in Lnood
not to be convinced. He had probably
heard from the republican conventions in
Nebraska and Minnesota iaVoring low tariff.
Senator Vance Of North Carolina, Wss
first recognized to deliver 3 est speech
against the tsritf bill. The republicans ep-
peared TO take no Interest IN what he had
10 eay, and the msj ofity OF them Waot CT to
the lunch-room or their committee roOms.
The democrats gave him respectful! bear
Jog, aud he we'll rewarded them for their
attention, az be wac not only instructive but
exceedingly interesting, Before he coz
Guided many OF the republicans came back
into the chamber gnd heard bin expose, In
bis characteristic style, the inequalities OF
the measure the republicans arc trying to
impose upon the country.
Senator Plumb thea took the haor and
proceeded TO intsrrogate the members Of the
finance committee. They were not diposed
to break the "Quay-iike" silence which is
said to have been sgreed upon at one cf the
recent csncuses, ard Senator Morrill,, the
venerable chairman OF the committee, went
over to the ipquisitive Senator from Kansas
aud attempted to give him some information
on the subject quietly, With the did OF the
handsomely bound report" This did not
satisfy Mr.. Plumb, aud Senator Mcpherson,
q democratic member Of the committee. VOL
unteere0 to impert some information for the
benefit Of the Kansas Senator, and also for
the entire countr7. He dea!t .as republi
cans some very severe blows and charged
them with attempting to increase the duty
far beyond what it was during the war.
When he declared that tho war terif wes
about 81 per cent, and that the proposed bill
increases it to 80 per cent. Senator Sherman
could not retain himself any longer. and
Jumped up and tried 10 snow that the Sens
tor from New jersey Was mistaken. Then,
for the next hour, there was the livelieet
kind Of debate, in which Messrs. Sherman,
McP herscn, Allison, Butler. Hiscock. Cor
Dan, Mitchell, Morgan and Plumb took part
Senator Sherman remarked tbat the tariff
question was an old subject snd had been
debated sufficiently without requiring any
thing further from the republicans, and be
was willing to rest upon the speech he made
when the tariff was last considered In tbs
Senate His statement was regarded as az
excuse for the republican Silence nD to .het
point. go Senstor Mcpherson fred another
broGdside into the msj ority. which called
forth reply from Senator Allison. He at
tempted 10 embsrrass !he Jerseymsn by in-
sinuating thet tha latter had on previous
occasions been regarded sa protec;onist,
aud said he marveled at bis sudden change
of heart. He also inquired whether the
reduction in the duty on pottery and glass
ware, an industry in which the New Jersey
Senator is supposed TO be interested Quick
as flash the latter replied that no would
willingly vote for G reduction of Is per
cent on that class of goods, and be further
stated that an effor. would be made by The
democrats to reduce the duty en- every aTti-
Gle on the dutiabe list.
This rejoinder confused Senator Allison
for minute, and he changed bis tactics in
to whst he imagined was safer direction.
In passing be mentioned several articles,
and asked the Jersey Senator II he would
submit to reduction in the duty or them.
In every instance the answer Ias "Yes
Unfortunately for Mr.. Allison be mentioned
sugar. but promptly corrected himself by
saying, II will not dwell upon sugar" In
stsntly tbere was a chorus from the demo.
cratic side OF The chamber excaiming: 'Oh,
yes, let Us dwell upon sugar" Mr.. Allison
at once saw that he was on toe wrong trail,
50 he soon afterward yielded the floor to
Senator Plumb, who resumed bis lnYeetiga-
tion as to whether there will be env chance
to reduce the tariff after all the approp.is-
tions made by the present Congress- are pre-
vided for.