Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-03-10
TARIFF ORATORY.
q Wordy Contest Begun on
Free Wool and Such.
TIE BATTLE OPENED 81 mMTLLIU,

Wades into aEcKinIey's Bill with Viyo-.
and Winds up With Brush with Reed
-Dingiey Lets Loose the First Eerubli-
can Gun and is Pounding away at Adj
journmeut-iaSsaG by the Senate of
the Pure Food Eiil-Harter Calls ON
Hin to stand up and oe Counted as to
silver.
WAsHTNGToN, March i0.-The debate on
the free wool bill. etc. began Yesterday.
McMIiiin opening for the Democrats IT,
l. hard To see how anything can be gained
by Ions debate on this subject but cam
paign literature must be had, and both
parties are primed Tor the oratorical tuss!e.
McMillin said that the duty on wool. in
stead OF increasing its value to the farmer
had decreased it, and that the thing the
Mckinley hill had taught the American
people WIS thar the tariff was a tax That
law had materially affected our com
merce to its disadvantage, as we only car
ry, he said, l2l5 per cent. of our own COM
merce i'll American bottoms.
The Elections of 1890.
He then tackled the elections of 1890 as
follows: Whatever may have been the
situation before, the American people have
come to know that the tariff is tax, and
have dealt with those who increased the
tax in the last congress accordingly, by
administering to the authors of the high
rates we now have to pay the greatest re-
buke that was ever administered to any
party in this county, turning Republican
majority into Democratic majority of al
most threc-fourthS. But it is sometimes
said by the friends OF this excessive taxa
tion that the Waterloo visited upon the
Republican party in 1870 was not on ac
count of the tariff bill passed. If not,
what was the cause of it,
McMiIlin Asks Some Questions.
viii the distinguished gentleman from
Massachusetts [Lodgel admit that it was
rebuke to him and his followers for pass
ing the force billg Will the gentleman
from Maine, the eX-speaker Of the house,
admit that it was not the tariff, but was
the result of his administration of affairs
here? VIII those gentlemen who We're
in charge of the appropriations admit that
1t was on account of the prodigality of
that congress- These had something TO
do with it doubtless, but the greatest fac
tor that entered into the overwhelming
defeat was the tariff law that we are at
tempting TO amend"
Another Amendment Needed.
He said that the provision allowing those
who were able to go to Europe to bring
in free of duty quantities OF clothes
made abroad should be amended 4 rich
man could go to Europe and bring back
with him4ree of duty goods for himself
that if he brought them for some poor
man would cost that man from $50 TO 1900
duty. There should be n limit on the
amount of goods thus admitted free Re
curing again to the 1880 elections he said:
From Maine to California, from the lakes
to the gulf, people rose almost as one
man. They condemned it in bulk and in
detail. They relegated to private life the
lesders who had conceived it and the fol-
lowers who had executed it An arrogant
majority was converted into an insignifi-
cant minority. New England sent ma
jority of Democrats here; the whole north
sent majority; the south sent major ity
Some Results of the Voting.
$50 overwhelming was the defeat that if
you divide the country into two sections,
north and south, and remove every Demo
crat from the south the Democrats from
the north would still be in the majority
II Ou lt4iIONt every l(tHiOtIdb lTOlll the
north, those from the south would have a
majority over their opponents. Rank and
file were smitten hipand thigh. until to-
day there are but a handful of those who
favored the bill left on this floor. On the
other hand, among the Democrats who
opposed it, only one in the United States
who was renom;nated was defeated by the
people"
Exchanges Eetorts with Reed.
In conclusion McMillin referred to the
peroration of Reed on Monday replying to
Williams of Massachusetts, declaring
that the triumphant march of truth
was exemplified by the ascendancy Of the
Democratic party after twenty-five years,
and the releGation of Reed to the floor
VIII ere he could only cry and curse.
Reed was not IN his seat, but entered the
hall in time TO hear the concluding SEN
tence. In accounting for his absence, he
said THAI ii was due to the fact that Nc
Nillin was speaking. Laughter
McAIillin repl-d that he was glad to an
nounce to the gentleman from Maine that
the Democratic party arrived in his city
LPOrtlandl Tuesday. Laughterl.
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