The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-04-13
SENATOR HILL AND HIS rRADuCEns.


The Sentinel denounces Senator Hill as a
traitor and reads him out of the party be-
cause of his opposition to the Wilson bill
II says: The Democratic party is devoted
to one great principle above all others, and
that is the reduction of the taxation Of the
masses by tariff reform" and it adds: I'VE
believe that the people of New York are
thoroughly misrepresented in the Senate by
Hill and Murphy"
The attempt to make support of the VIII
son bill in it's present form a test OF De-
mocracy is a piece of superserviceable cuck-
ooism. In the first place. IL is absurd to
claim that the Democratic party is united
on the tariff question. 1t was not united in
the Chicago convention and it is not united
in Congress or throughout the country. In
the Chicago convention the vote to substi-
tute free-trade resolution for the modi-
fled protection resolution reported by the
committee was 5S4 to S42 There was a mi
nority of fifteen nays in Illinois and hf-
teen In Pennsylvania. which were counted,
under the unit rule, with the majority from
those States. If these thirty votes had been
added to the nays. where they rightly be-
longed, that vote would have stood 372. II
thus appears that considerably more than
two-ffths of the delegates were opposed to
the platform as 1t stands. OF the manufac-
turing States, Maine. New Hampshire, YER
mont Rhode Island Connecticut New Jer-
sey and Pennsylvania voted solidly against
the free-trade resolution. Not single del
egate from either of those States voted for
it. The New York delegation was dragooned
into voting for IL as a Cleveland measure
though one knows to this day whether
he favored the change or not The deter
mined opposition in the House to some feat
ures of the Wilson bill and the still more
determined opposition in the Senate shows
how far Democratic members of Congress
are from being united in support of 1t.
Many members of the House voted for it
under protest, and only refrained from
openly denouncing it because they had not
as much courage as Senator Hill. This d.
vision of sentiment extends throughout the
country. The New York Sun, the Cinein-
natl Enquirer and other Democratic papers
oppose the bill. and prominent Democrats
like Hon. NJ. E. Ingalls,, Ex-Governor Hoad-
ly and others pronounce 1t stupid and sui
cidaI. In short, there is a strong protection
sentiment in the Democratic party, and the
passage of the Wilson bill will drive thou
sands of voters out Of the party, as the ag-
itation in favor of it already has.
But Senator Hill based his opposition to
the Wilson bill largely on the fact that 1t
imposes an income tax. Nobody has q right
to read him out of the Democratic party
for opposing this measure. The Chicago
platform did not declare in favor of an in
come tax, and no national or State Demo-
cratic convention has done So 1t is doubtful
if Mr.. Cleveland favors it or would approve
a bill containing it, and if it does become
law it will contribute only less than the
Wilson bill to the disruption of the Demo-
cratic party. 1t is probable that Senator
| Hill knows the sentiments Of the people
OF New York on this question rather better
| than those who are reading him out of his
party. He is not a model of political con-
Gle hui hof c fool