The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-03-28
SHERMAN'S BILL SHELVED
EIS ANTI-TRU5T BILL SENT TO
THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE.


1t is to be Reported Back in Twenty
Days-Messrs. Edmunds and Platt
Advocate Monopolies on Constitu-
tional Grounds = Agricultural De-
preston Comes Up.
WAsHINGToN, March 27.-In the Senate
to-day the House bill to amend the census
act Of March 3, 1889, was reported from the
census committee, the effect Of it being to
allow special agents So day for subsistence
when travelling. After an explanation by
Mr.. Hale it was passed.
Mr.. Hawley, from the committee on mill
tary affairs, reported back the House bill
authorizing the purchase of $500 tents by
the Secretary of War for the use of the
people driven from their homes in Arkan-
sas, Mississippi and Louisiana by
the present floods, and appropriating
$4,000 for the purpose. Mr.. Ed
munds, while declaring himself in
favor OF the bill, called it 10 the attention
of the senators, who were troubled about
the constitution in appropriating money for
objects not specifically named in that in
strument. Mr.. Hawley, assuming that the
remark was partially directed at him, said
that he considered that this bill, and not the
Blair bill came within the clause of the
general welfare.
After a brief discussion, in which it was
stated that there had been no request for
tents from either Arkansas or Mississippi.
and only Indirectly from the governor Of
Louisiana, the bill was passed.
Mr.. Frye, from the committee on COM
merce, reported the Senate bill suspending
for one year the statutes that require steam
ers to be provided with certain life-saving
appliances, guns for throwing lines, rockets,
etc. He spoke of the bill reported by him
| on the same subject two or three weeks ago,
| and which proposed to repeal the law. That
| bill, he said, had been reported on informa-
tion received from the treasury depart
ment. 1t had attracted the attention of the
| people interested, and he had received since
then such information as left him in doubt as
| to the proprietY of passing it. The commit
tee had therefore agreed to a bill suspend
| ing the law for q year, and there were rea-
sous why it should be passed Immediately.
| After this statement the bill was passed.
THE ANTITRUST BILL.
The antitrust bill was then taken up. and
| amendments to it as reported from the COM
mittee Of the whole were brought before
| the Senate.
The first amendment that gave rise tc
discussion was provision excepting from
| the prohibitions of the law combinations of
workmen and farmers. Mr. EdmundS op-
| posed it incidentally in a speech thar was
| mainly in opposition to the bill itself. He
| illustrated his objection to the amend
| ment by relating the story OF q
case which occurred here only a few
months ago, when skilled printer, 9
| citizen of the United States, a man of good
| character ana with little money such
things sometimes went together, even il
| the Senate of the United States applied tx
the public printer for employment, anC
although he was just the man who was
wanted to fill vacancy, the public printer
was not permitted TO employ him, because
he was told that if he did, nine-tenths of thc
printers employed in the office would cease
work, aud the country would go to destruc-
ton, because it could not read to-day wba
had been said in congress yesterday. And
this was because the man did moi
belong to q particular combination. Ii
that was not tyranny Mr.. Edmundsldid not
know what tyranny was. The tyranny Of
a thousand mon was infinitely worse than
the tyranny of ono man, just as the tyranny
of the commune in France was worse than
that of the monarch who had been over
thrown.
| ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION.
Looking to the iron industry for another
illustration, Mr. Edmunds we ut on to argue
that if labor combinations put up the price
of wages fifty per cent, the people whC
owned mines and furnaces and forges had {
right to combine to protect themselves 81
as to get such prices as would make up for
the increased cost OF production. He wa:
willing to go as far as congress had the
power to go in the way of breaking up the
great monopolies that existed to the detri-
menr of the country. 50 far as th'
constitutional question went. he believed
that the safety Of the nation depended
more largely on the preservation of wha
were called the rights of the states than OF
any other one thing. He therefore shoulC
be slow about voting for any act of con
gress which he thought went over tn
boundary which the constitution prescribed
He believed it to be better to endure tn
partial evil of even the most grinding
monopolies than to attempt to step by on
inch over the clear boundary line that hat
been established and maintained betwee
congress and the legislative power Of tn
states.
| PLATT ATTACKS THE BILL.
Mr.. Platt made an earnest attack upo
the bill, as bill that was aimed at ever
business in the United States. There wa
but one constitutional provision in the bill
and that was an amendment Offered
by Mr.. Reagan, which confines
the bill to persons engaged i
| TRANSPORTATION. That was the effect of tn
amendment aud it would uproot the inter
state commerce law. Mr. Platt gave tn
business figures for last year of eight repre-
sentative wooden establishments in Connect
cut showing a net loss OF $4 ,971 and sal
that under the bill, if the owners of thes
establishments came together and com
blned to get a fair living profit on thei
business, that the agreement would be un
lawful and void.
THE BILL REFERRED.
Mr.. Walthall moved to refer the bill an
amendments to the4judiciary committe
with instructions to report 1t back withi
twenty days, The motion was agreed tC
the vote being yeas 81, nays %. The reput
lican senators who voted in the affirmativ
were Messrs. Cameron, Higgins. Plat
! Stanford. Stockbridge, Teller, and Wolcott
The democrats who voted in the negativ
we're Messrs. Berry, Cockrell, Pugh, Turpi'
Vance, and Voorhees,.
AGRICULTURAL DEPRESSION.
Mr.. Edmunds sent to the clerks desk an
had read the report Of j. r. Dodge, stati
! ticlan to the agricultural department, {
. agricultural depression and its causes-a
5 | abstract Of whic has been already pu
lished. Mr. C0ckrell d MED tho correctne
J OF the report, and Mr.. Voorhees, added tn,
: it had been got up for an occasion, and
= serve purpose.
r PENSION BILL
, The Senate then proceeded to consider