St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-08-02
PLUMB CHANGES FRONT.
The Kansas Senator Is No Longer
Protectionist.

PrOtectiOniSt.
WASHINGTON. Aug. lin the senate
Mr. Blair offered resolution, which
went over, to provide method of order
ing the previous question. The tar
iff bill was discussed further, and Oh
motion from the finance committee,
sponges and sulphate potash were put
on the free list, and the rate on sui
phate soda was made One-tenth of q
cent per pound instead Of 20 per cent
ad valorem Mr.. Plumb proposed sew
eral reductions in the rates fixed in the
earthenware schedule, but they were
voted down. Mr.. Plumb made bitter
attack on the. senate bill, particularly
on the schedule under discussion. The
whole tendency of civilization,
he said, was toward reduc-
ton of prices of all products of
human labor. To claim that the tariff
had been the sole or the main factor in
the reduction of prices of manufactured
goods was to ignore the forces of civil
ization. But as fast as the point was
reached where lower prices might be
expected, the manufacturer came to
congress demanding more duties, where
by the reduction Of prices might be
stopped. The tax on china was per
capita tax. because china was used on
the table of the rich and poor alike. He
said he spoke as he did, not with any
hope of influencing the fate of the bill,
because its passage was fOregOne con-
clusion The cohorts of protection were
organized and intended to push the bill
through the senate as it had been bolted
through the house. Manufacturers, he
said, had always had what they wanted.
They had the present law passed
by a Republican congress, on the
report of a Republican tariff COM
mission, designed to be helpful
to them, and now they were not salts
fed, but were asking that another bill
for their benefit be put through. He
charged that the pottery men of Ohio
had entered into an agreement with the
importers, by which they were to divide
the market. When structural beams
were needed for the state house at To
peka, and for the Texas state house, the
American manufacturers refused to
supply them at fair rates, and the con-
tractor had to import them, paying
duty of 1oS per cent. He thought the
senate owed something to the American
people as well as to the manufacturers.
The Democrats should have their full
share of the responsibility, he said, be-
cause in the house, instead of trying to
correct the iniquities of the McKin-
| ley bill they had sought to
evade the responsibility of their
votes. 1t was a continual fight for
political and for personal advantage,
| and between the two the great Ameri-
can people were being crushed and
ground. Mr.. Sherman replied to Mr..
Plumb. He spoke of the development
| of the crockery industry, and said that
1t should be accorded every reasonable
demand. Strange to say, the price of
chinaware to-day was less than the duty
which it paid ten years ago. The bill
went over without vote, MIR. Vest
having modified his amendment so as to
make it provide for rate of so per cent
on decorated and 40 per cent on plain
china. The senate adopted a resolution
of Mr.. Sawyer, calling on the attorney
general for information about the
| awards made under the Fox and Wis
consin river improvement. The senate
then. at 6 p. m. adjourned until 10
| o'clock tomorrow morning.