New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-09-08
Fun At A TARIFF HEARING.
THE PROC EEDINGS ENLIvENED ny AN IN.
CONSCIOUS HrMORISr.
MIR PRESTON AND HIS TRAGIC MANNER KEEP
THE Committee ~ AN UPGO,I-oIL
CLOTHS THE SUBJECT OF DIS ussioN.

MIR PRESTON .Np HIS TRAGIC MANNER KEEP
THE Committee IL AN UPEOAE-oIL
CLOTHS THE SUBJECT OF DIS ussioN.
I8r TELEGRAPH III 1nE TRIbuSE'I
Washington Sept 7-.s,obody who attended the
hearing before the Ways ana Means committee
tbi. afternoon will complain that 1t was dull or
tediou. and tho democratic members OF the COM
mittec who were absent missed rare anu unique
entertainment The preparation OF tarin DILL
even when Mr. Springer Is chairman OF the ways
and Means Committee. Is usually reea'"eu az
rather serious matter. and the co"'e"P'"'o" anu
cons1erat ton OF various rates OF du'y' 'pee"c ana
al valorem and mixed. on grea' '"''''' VI ar
ticles well the efforts 10 har"'''.e GOT"
nicting and contradictory statistics OF producton
Importation prices and wages. are not 'asHs W pe
treated lightly Under the pressure or great ana
unnrecedented provocation. however, the members
OF the committee to-day yielded anu io' a." "'"'
the proceedings were hilarious, w H"' Wv 49,
Chairman Wilson. whose sense OF the "u'''o'ou' W
ludcrous IL less keen than that vi 'o'"e y. '''a
colleagues repeatedly shook with the e',n'e"'
.,, - .,n,, tried 70 suppress, and his Demo-
cratic associates appeared to ENJOY u.
thoroughly az though II was not had AT 'he eA-
nense of a semi-ofcial envoy OF the Treasury "e
partment. ,.,,.a hi,.r,,v
Tho couss and victim OF the unrestraineu "i'a'ny
that 40 suddenly and Unexpectedly Drohe INV VIZ
.vervbodv present, except the victim anu M Gu,
,,.ar into commissions OF laughter, was Jon" +
pras,o, Of baltimore who said that ne was
lowvar Mr. Preston is a rather siha" "'
ceedingly nervous person. WIN '''o'e -.
and desire toward the tragic in manner Bes'u' anu
voice. In a tragedy tone he began ny sas"s
81 appear before you, gentlemen Wy '"' -
ton of the honored chairman oil inns co'''' ,
and in accordance with the desire an
of
"Do Won appear as the representative u wv
Treasury Department. asked Mr.. burio"S.
"Not in an Official capacity, but at the suggestion
Of the Acting Secretary Of the Treasury, W. .,,
lin before whom / laid the document VIM" "o
IN INV hand and which he transmitted 10 'he c'a"-
man Of this committee. come WIZ" '
prov5i and at his suggestion ,.
I, a yranduoauent voice. and with az Impressive
an air as Sim Tappertit was wont 10 aS'"'"' VII
momentous occa sions. Mr.. Preston eoii''''''
81 come also in behalf OF ana as Tue iep'
tive OF sixty-odd millions oil people u
..y,u represent the odd millions prihcipa''y'
,,.s,me " drvly interjected Mr.. Reed VINO was
p'9u , ,,h onen mouth as well ears, and an
ro,s;op of rant attention. He then moved that
the orator be allowed to omit ms eNol"'"n nm,
peroration Mr.. Hopkins. however his'9'eu nc
Mr. Preston should not be deprived OF 'he PRIMES
NJ ornamenting his facts with the rlch anu is'.
so,.rs of fancy and rhetoric which he had c"i'eu
for the occasion. ~ lin,
rr. t,n COON become fast and furious. by amt
., 1,rsct ouestions the Republican members eA-
tracted from Mr. Preston the intormauo" mo. "
IL an attorney who has been ehPioSeu Wy -
importers of oilcloth to appear before 'he "e''e'
~ the Treasury and the Ways and Means ON
mlttee and submit arguments III pena' " a"
amendment which M said ~ aPp'o'e' ''
A., so,s,orv Of the Treasury. to re-
ducs the duty Oh oilcloth worth not eNceeu"s
., CENTS square yard from ~ per cent HI 'A'o' e
IN 10 Der cent. His expenses ana professional "
on account Of these services are paul os wv "
porters as appeared from his answer 10 "e pu
,ior Are YOU paid By the importers OF Ny "e
WV ,,i. moss. whom you say you also repre-
sent" ,,,. ,,a
The reply. which began in ia''''' "a'''"s .O'',
and ended in a tragic one. accompanied y! s
blow upon his left breast with MS r's"' nun" "1
| "A posture OF defiance. was;
II am paid by the impor e's anu INV
nv own conscience
Az nobody applauded this Decentralization eve"
Democratic member % the c'mmitt-e-Mr' Heeu
hun,aney suggested that the words great APP
piause" be inserted at this point.
Messrs Burrows and Daizell succeeded IN enc
uing the fact that Mr.. Preston knew nothing
ohout the olcloth industry or the operation oi 'c
tariff laws relating thereto. except from ms emf
blower and from what he styled documehtatE
evidence" The latter con slsted OF certain "uNe'
tisemcnts and paragraphs clipped from trade i"'r-
nails which related 10 lIII' N'i'"'o III ~"
used I'm the manufacture of oilcoth. OF copy OF
the Reform Clubs tariff bill and quotation from
Thomas q. Shearman. Mr.. Preston read with stea'
gus,o a Est OF the American manufacturers OF OH
cloth giving the commercial rating oI eaCh' anu
showing that their credit Is good He dwelt with
special empia upon the awful fact that the hrn
of Deborah Powell x Sons. Of Lansingbury, y y,
the pioneer oilcloth manufacturers OF the tinted
States. which began TO make that article IN 1884,
seventy-six years ago is nov rated at sl.ooO.WV
"The firm began with nothing and the first OIL
cloth was made in the shade Of tree in door
ward and to-day il is worth million, exclaimed
Mr. Preston after he had found the right para
graph i'm his manuscript. In tone which showed
how deeply he had been stirred by contemplation
OF the enormity Of the crime that he described
He dwet too, upon another heinons oHehce OF
which the oilcloth manufacturers OF this country
have been guilty 1t appears that they have actual
" bought labor-saving machinery and set 1t up IN
their factories In order still more severely 10 goad
and oppress the "tolling masses" whom Preston
represents. Still worse one OF the manufacturers
had the audacity offer a standing reward Of
$4,000 to any genius who would Invent machine
that would print patterns on linoleum and assign
the patent TO him. and this same 'robber baron
had b:utally declared that II he should succeed In
getting such a machine he would hold and control
the patent one would suppose that audacity had
exhausted itself In such declaration but II appears
that this same OF his kind actually succeeded
ip his iendish purpose ana not content WIN seths
up two Of the machines in his factory. has actually
doubled the number and added still more heavily
TO the burdens Of his tax-ridden countrymen who
use oclo,h BY reducing the cost Of the article TO
lower figure than was ever known before. To expose
clearly the enormty Of this mans crime against the
''sixty odd millions" Mr. Preston gave his hearers
the benefit OF some computations which would have
wrought Colonel Mulberry Sellers into frenzy
of admiration. and before which the 'eye-watcr"
speculation would have faded into insgnihcance.
Preston's figures showed that the four machines
alone are capable OF turning out no less than o.
400 coo square yards Of oicloth in 800 working days
Mr. Burrows thought this must be a mistake. and
that Preston probably meant 100000 square acres.
and Mr. Reed suggested That square miles would
sound better than square yards. and probably be
az accurat.. The victim appeared neted. and ex-