New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-26
TO SHELVE THE HATCH BILL.
SENATOR wCIGOTT MOVES TO RECoMMlT
IT.
THE MOTION GOES OVER TILL To-D,Y-sENATofs
GEORGE AND IT1NToN ARGUE. FOR THE BILL


uon of tho Hatch Ant-Opuon bill a. involving
wcansome and useless prOlon1tlOn 81 the seSS'o'
will make another effort tomorrow 70 suo'e e
present unfinished business by referring back 10
the Finance Committee Tor a report next De'."'oe'
Mr. Wolcott. OF Colorado. las taken The leha III '"e
movement 10 end the contest the iia'ch soneo'
which promises TO be of great length ana iate
This afternoon he Offered the motion Of reference
which, IT Is hoped. will s,ear the WAY TOT "uIo"'''
mcmt. In view Of the small number Of 9'h"'orS ~
the Capitol when the motion wa' entered " ""H
agreed 70 postpone vote until to morrow VIM o'
undoubted quorum will be hand. only h'he'eeh
or twenty Senators opposed taking II? Tire An" cp"on
bill ten DAYS ago. the friends OF an e''y NV
lournmcnt will have to make decided gam 10 us
place the pending measure. II the motion 10 r'er
Is defeated the debate win probably b. coh'lhueu !"
tho tlmckilllng and unsatisfactory WAY
The supporter, Of the Hatch scheme had IL al uer
own way I'm This afternoons debate. though oo'" '"e
speakers Mr.. George Of Mississippi and MT. hu"on'
Of Virginia rather damned the bill with hln' praise
than gave It genuine support Mr.. George u'''''''
the Hatch unconstitutional. and offered s'o9l''
tutc draft of his own to cvadc and cover UP the con
stitntional difficulties which Mr. Hatch and Mt ""S"
burn have boldly dismissed. Mr.. Iiunoh "'so Va
pressed some uncertainty abont the use maze !" ''o
bin OF the Federal taxing power. but sad nv "ou'u
give the projectors OF the scheme the behcn' vi '"'
doubt.
himself almost exclusively to the eject N '"'"'o
dealings on the cotton industry which was the inan
industry OF the state which he In part represented
This year cotton had reached the lowest point OF p'
reached by II I'm many years. II was. ne siiu' inc
system OF futures and options that had pronu'o .n's
effect The principal cotton mart Of the united
states was the Cotton Exchange OF NewOrleahs lih'
Institution dealt solely In futures and options and was
composed about 800 men-not ono Of them cotton
phnter The only other cotton mart OF the 'nl''d
states was the New York Cotton Exchange NO man
who was engaged either in producing cotton OF III
consuming cotton-no man who was at either end OF
the line production consumption, was member Of
either Of these exchanges. 30 that II the bill became
a law IL would not Re much Of restriction on the
natural right Of American citizens 10 deal In futures
Il would interfere only with 300 gentlemen IN New
orleans and about the same number (he snppse'' ID
New NOrk-mcn who never raised cotton. nor ihhdcd
cotton in any wav. In the year 1901 these two
cotton exchanges had sold 35.OOOOoO bales OF cotton.
while the actual crop n little less than 100000
lie had the figures OF daily sales In tho Ncw-> ork
Cotton Exchange, which showed he said, that on one
dav I'm February, 1891. 800 bales Of mythical
phantom" or wind" cotton sold. 10 the one
bale Of real cotton Was that he asked real. genuine
commerce. or II gaming
Having described the operation Of Futures and
"options7 he asked senators whether they would say
that these not gambling contracts. The men
who took part in them might be, he said. privileged
hy their wealth. their responsibility, their church and
sunday school connections. To Do gambling business
wltlOut being called gamblers; and so he should not
call them gamblers.
lie referred 10 the fall In the prices OF cotton
which followed the passage OF the Hatch bill by the
House Of Representatives. and treated IL as an attempt
on tho part Of the cotton exchanges Ia browbcat Con
rrcss for doing It's duty Ia the American producer.
That. he said showed two things. 1t showed Oh"
Will and Il showed the power on the part of these
IL. ,.tif NOT ulp
away from the WILL but lie should do his best 10
take away the power.
Mr. George th,N addressed himself 10 The legal aud
constitutional questions involved. The pending bill
proposed. he said. 10 use the taxing power for the
purpose Of suppresSing the evil. Iis believed Thai
that was an Improper " tho taxing power and
was so unconstitutional that he should feel obliged 10
vote against the bill unless divstd Of II. What had
been s.dd by the Senators from New York Virginia.
Missouri and Louisiana (Mesr-. HScock. Dinici. V"',
ard Whtel this point be indored In the main. then
The serious que ton r.naind Whether IN The face ~
that great evil tho American OIngTs remained power
less to protect the American people from The evil
with which thoy wore afflicted. lie believed land The
substitute whci he lad offered IN accordance
with that belief that C,rgrcSs had. under the com
mcrcial clause Of the Constitution, ample power 10
deal with the matter directly, honestly. fairly.
That substitute (ofer,d behalf u himself and
Messrs. Coke and Pugh. OF the minority OF
the Judiciary Committed defines the words
options and futures. and makes them relate FOR
the purposes Of that bin. TO the cotton, hop,
wheat corn. oats. rye barley. wheat -four pork, lard
and bacon "opons- and futures" declared 10 be
distinctions 10 and restraints upon interstate ana foreign
commerce. and b" Illegal and void. A party t.
thcm either n buyer or seller. Is to De deemed
guilty Of IA dismcanor punishable with fine and I'm
pn s0nment. Boards Of Exchange. other ass01a
lions through which options futures made,
regulated adjusted. are declared unlawful combina
lions TO Obstruc commerce. The prohibition and
penalties also to apply 10 all persons who In the
United States shall by letter. telegram other com
muncaton carry on such contracts With persons IN
foreign countries.
III conclusion Mr.. George said that he would be glad
TO support the bill 1t now stood II that ncc"s
say but there wrong equal 10 the wrong OF a
violation OF the Constitution lie believed that In The
substitute offered by him there was u plain and
constitutional path. That path he was willing Ia
tread aud lie hoped that the friends VI the pending
bill would see their way clear Ia join him.
Mr.. WOlcOtt then submitted IA motion, which went
without action, to refer the bill to the Committee
Finance. with Instructions to report the next
session some looking the relief sought or
in the pending bill and H., amendments.
Mr.. iunton addressed the senate. lie said that the
bin would tend to suppress gambling In farm products
and would possibly tend To Increase their prices /!
such bcnccent result could be predicted for It, then
senators should pause long before they voted against
it, Tho condition Of the agricultural community Of the
country dcplorablc In the extreme something to
remedy that condition could be done lie was far from
charging that that condition OF affairs bad been brought
about by dealings In futures and options alone. Tina,
OF the causes. but probably OF the least
Of them. There should bc strong reasons given for
voting against the bill Among the given were Its
uncOnstutOnality. That would be n good reason. II
true, because benehcent he considered the bill to
be- It's bcnchcencc would Jan II It involved a violation
~ the Constitution lie was satisfied that the eubsti
tute offered by Mr.. George would accomplish the same
purpose. and would probably I've more acceptable to
those who denied the consttutionality Of the bill.
Mr. Coke obtained the floor.
Mr. Allison moved 10 lay on the table Mr. Wolcot's
motion 10 refer but after some coloquy he withdrew
the notion
IA nl.Es IN ARIr Az Az