Los Angeles herald., 1890-09-03
RECIPROCITY TALK.
A Perfect Craze Has Struck
Congress.
Nearly All the Senators Shout
ing Reciprocity.
Consideration of the Sugar Schedule
of the Tariff Bill Begun.
This Brings Many Suggestions as to Mr..
Blaine's Policy to the Fore
Hale's Amendment.
Associated Press Dispatches. /

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2.--In the senate
today Evarts presented resolution from
the Buffalo merchants exchange favoring
reciprocity not only with the nations to
the south of the United States, but also
with that on the north.
The house bill in relation to lotteries
was reported from the postoffice COM
mittee and placed on the calender with
a notification by Sawyer that he would
ask its consideration as soon as the tariff
bill is passed.
The tariff bill was then taken up and
the sugar schedule considered. Carlisle
gave notice that he would move to strike
out all paragraphs relative to sugar
bounties.
Hale offered the reciprocity amend
ment of which he had given notice on
June 10Th and addressed the senate
upon it. The desirability of such inter-
change of products as the amendment
proposed, he said, had been a subject
which had given rise to the closest at
tention and had resulted in grave and
pertinent suggestions from eminent
public men of the United States during
the last thirty years. Whoever had
seen the gradual falling off of American
trade with Central and South America
and the isles of the sea, must have wit
messed those conditions with the great
est impatience. The people of all those
countries had common interest with
the people of the United States.
Abiding to the late Pan-American
congress, Hale said it proved that the
same considerations which had their in
fiuence in the United States were also
in the minds of the eminent men from
the sister republics who took part in
the proceedings Of that congress-, and
and that they pointed to one sure in
evitable end, an increase of trade be-
tween the United States and those peo-
pie. Those:considerationslw hich applied
to an extension of trade and an increase
of interchanges OF products, applied not
only to the nations of Central and South
America, but to the islands of the Span
ish main.
Hale assured the senators who repre-
sented sorghum and beet sugar districts,
that he was not in antagonism with
them. ii these senators objected to the
policy of trying to secure some benefits
from those countries for the repeal of the
duty on sugar, he asked them how much
more they ought to object to the unre-
served repeal of these duties. 1t would
be declared that the policy was not
much short of lunacy, to repeal the
sugar duties, unless the repeal was used
to obtain some benefits for the products
of American labor To him one thing was
as sure as the tides and sunrise, and
that was that the policy suggested by
the president and secretary of state, and
which had secured the attention and ap-
proval of the wisest statesmen in the
last thirty years, was policy that had
come to stay with the American people.
There never was a time more fitted to
try the plan or experiment than now,
and to his mind the amendment he Of
fered was the most fitting solution of the
question.
Allison made long statement of the
receipts and expenditures of the govern
ment, and the probable effect of the tar
iff bill on the finances. He said the
total expenditures for the current fiscal
year would be about SAIL ,O00,-
900, and the total revenues. including
postal receipts and everything, would be
$400, 100000. If there were no tariff bill
to be passed, and if the situation remain
ed unchanged, there would be surplus
of revenue over expenditures for the cur
rent fiscal year, of $4,000,000. He had
not included in the expenditures the
amount that would be paid for silver or
claims other than those which passed
congress. He figured out the increase of
$27 ,000,0 900 of revenue under our pending
bill, as against decrease of $60,0Oe, 900
from putting sugar and other articles on
the free list; that $33 800, 900 had to be
taken off from the surplus of $42 900, 900,
leaving some $15 100000 surplus at the
end of the year, paying nothing on the
sinking fund.
Taking into account the balance now
in the treasury ($107 100000 and this
surplus, Allison calculated that the sec
retary of the treasury would have $7S-
O00, 900 on the first of July, 1891, unless
in the meantime, he redeemed AZ per
cent bonds as he (Allison) hoped the
secretary would proceed to do without
delay. He declared that in his judg-
ment, it was wise thing to take off the
sugar duties. He had not the slightest
fear that there would be any danger
from it to the treasury; certainly not
within several years to come. He was
also in favor OF a further extension of
reciprocal trade, but hoped that in any
such arrangement it wonld be seen to
that the United States had its just share
of the bargain.
Gibson offered an amendment to the
sugar schedule, by adding the words
SYRUP OF beet, sorghum or sugar cane. :"
He made an argument against the sugar
bounty proposition, and said it was a
miserable dwindling away from Blaine's
broad and generous proposition of full
reciprocity.
Sherman expressed his views on the
subject of reciprocity, and spoke of the
difficulties in the way Of reciprocity by
treaty. The first proposition of Hale's
amendment was almost startling one
1t authorized the president of the United
States, without further legislation. to
declare the ports of the United
States free and open to all products
of any nation of the American
hemisphere, upon which no export
duty is imposed. Was Cuba, he asked,
a nation? He knew that Senator Hale
said today that he meant to include
Cuba. But was Canada embraced in
that list Of nations? He had asked the
senator that question. and the senator
had replied "No, no that is quite diff
ferent thing" And yet il any recpro-
cal trade arrangements were made with
any country they ought to be made with
Canada.
He went on to criticise unfavorably
Hale's amendment as one that would al