Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-16
TIRED OF TARIFFTALK.
Members of the House Taking Less
Interest in the Discussions.
SOME FUN AT THE EXPENSE OF ONE.
A Congressman Relieved of His Watch Just
When He Needed 1t.
URGENT DEFICIENCY BILL PASSED

WASHINGTON, March 15.-The tariff di.
cusslon is beginning to tire the House, an
there was lack of interest in the proceed
ings to-day until Mr.. Walker, of Masss
chusetts, who has a very strong personalit
and expresses his views in a radical fashion
took the floor. A number of Democrat
stirred him up with a continuous cross-fr
of questions. During his speech he allude
to the decline in the price of watches, an
drew out his own timepiece for the purpos
of making an illustration, and laid it on hi
desk until the time should arrive for him t,
make his point, but some fun-loving mem
Der appropriated it, and when Mr.. Walker
desired to refer to it it was missing, and h'
was greeted with the suggestion that h
was fortunate enough to retain his chain.
On motion of Mr.. Durburow, of Illinois
Senate joint resolution was passed author
izing the Librarian of Congress to exhibit
certain documents at the Worlds Fair.
Mr.. Enloe, of Tennessee, from the Com
mittee on Postoffices and Postroads, re-
ported bill to repeal the mail subsidy act.
1t was placed upon the calendar and the
minority was granted leave to file minor
ity report.
The Urgent Deficiency Bill Passed.
Mr.. Sayers, Of Texas, presented the con.
ference report on the urgent deficiency bill,
and it was agreed to: As finally passed the
bill appropriates $479, ,641, being 81, 22s
more than was carried by the bill as il
passed the House, and S23, 344 less than il
carried as passed bv the Senate
The House then went into committee OF
the whole. Mr. Blount, of Georgia, in the
| chair, on the free wool bill. Mr.. Coombs,
| of New York, concluded his speech in favor
of the bill. The time had passed, he said,
when there was need for extravagant tariffs
He favored tariff policy by which the
financial condition Of this Government
could be so arranged that we should not be
forever collecting more than we spent-col-
lecting for one purpose and expending for
another 1t was for the interest of all de-
partments of manufacture and business that
the tariff question should be taken out Of
politics. They would be relieved of the
strain consequent on the uncertainty in
volved in political contests. With a re-
duction or abolition of the tariff on raw
material, an ability to compete with foreign
manufacturers on better terms would exist
No matter how this Congress cut down ex-
penditures, it would not relieve the taxpay-
ers of this burden so long as the present
high taxation remained
Unable to Make Prints Enough.
In response to questions put by Mr.. Ding
ley, Mr.. Coombs said that the cotton manu-
facturers of this country had SO much to do
to meet our ever-increasing trade that they
had not paid proper attention to the foreign
demand. Mr.. Blaine, while a member of
President Garfeld's Cabinet, said that the
cost of labor in cotton goods was as cheap in
the United States as in England. The rea-
son why we did not export more prints was
because We could not supply them to the
consumers when they wanted them.
Mr.. Walker, of Massachusetts, said that
the great body of statements made BY Demo-
cratic orators on the subject of protective
tariff was not even technically true. The
manufacturers of this country had not the
slightest interest, directly, in tariff It
was not of the slightest interest to the man.
ufacturers whether we had free trade or pro-
lection. They were satisfied with one or
the other. If the tariff was not in the inter-
est of farmers and wage workers. then he
would vote to repeal it and adopt free
trade.
Mr.. Dockery, of Missouri, asked whether
the gentleman meant to say that manufac-
Gurefs WOulO DC as prosperous unOcr Tree
trade as under protection.
Mr. Dockery-Then, under the theory of
protection the manufacturers merely be-
come disturbing agents.
MI. Walker-That is mere fiction.
Mr. Dockery-It seems to be the logic of
your position.
Not Legislating for Manufacturers.
Mr.. Walker replied that the manu.
facturers of the country (what was left of
them) would be more prosperous under free
trade than under protection, but Congress
was not legislating for the manufacturers.
1t was legislating for the farmers and wage
workers. The United States was the lowest
taxed country on the face of the earth.
Mr.. Harter, of Ohio. asserted that in
Canada the taxation was % per cent less
than it was in the United States.
Mr.. Walker replied that Canada was a
country which had failed to collect its taxes
for its expenditures and was burdened with
debts. We had collected our taxes and
paid our debts. Mr. Walker was proceed
ing to cite authorities in support of his po-
sition, when he was advised by MI. Harter
to consult Mr.. Blaine.
Mr.. Walker-You may consult Mr.. Blaine
as much as you like; I choose the men
wish to consult. Laughter. On bust
ness questions consult business men, not
politicians
Mr.. Walker then entered into general
defense of the Mckinley bill, declaring
that under it in one year our foreign trade
had increased $406, 600, 900, or q per cent
increase.
The Sugar Bounty Attacked.
MI. Scott, of Illinois, attacked the Nc
Kinley law. He held up its injustice and
as bearing on the consumer,
and laid special stress on the unconstitu- |
tionality of the sugar bounty provision.
Mr.. Chapman, Of Michigan, criticised the |
recent speech Of e1-Speaker Reed, and said !
that notwithstanding the decision of the |
Supreme Court, he was still of opinion that
the counting of q quorum under the rules
Of the Fifty-frst Congress was an unconstl-
tutional act. Turning his attention to the
tariff, he denounced the system of protec-
tion as being paternal system which built |
up the few at the expense of the many.
Mr.. Dockery, of Missouri, followed. He
said the Mckinley bill only increased the
burdens of the farmer, and the Blaine
scheme would prove fallacious.
It proposed that the natural laws of trade
should be disregsrded, and that commerce
should be regulated by correspondence be-
,ween State Departments.
The committee then rose and the House
adjourned.
The Military Academy Bill Passed.
The Senate Chaplain, in his opening
prayer to-day, alluded in feeling manner
TO the dangerous illness of Senator Morrill,.
ustment of the rights Of the Indians in the
Indian Territory, with view of having
hat Territory admitted as Q State. Re-
erred