The Van Buren press., 1894-09-01
INSIDE HISTORY.
senator Jones Tells Of His Efforts In
Behalf Of Tariff Reform.

senator Jones Tells Of His Efforts In
Behalf Of Tariff Reform.
Senator J. K. Jones in q com.
munication to The Gazette explains
at length the part ne took in
preparing the Senate tariff bill.
He says that the Senators
representing the sugar trust were
so persistent in their demands for
q tariff for sugar that to obtain
their support for the bill the
committee was compelled to yield
to their demands. He says that
he consulted the president and
the secretary Of the treasury and
both indorsed the plan agreed to
by the committee to frame q tariff
bill that would receive the vote OIL
forty.three democratic Senators.
To accomplish this purpose he
says that it was necessary toI
change the sugar schedule from a
specific to an ad val0rem duty,
and that at no time was Senator
Hills vote considered as at all
likely to be cast in favor of the
bill.
"My first step after considering
these facts" he says, "was to see
and consult Mr.. Carlisle. After
laying before him fully and in
detail all oftle proposed changes,
/ asked his opinion as to what
we should do, and he answered
promptly and positively that if
these changes would give the bill
forty.three democratic votes he
thought we should agree to them
without q moments delay; that he
would do so if he were charged
with the responsibility of passing
the bill.
~ next saw the president and
submitted the entire matter to him
as the head of the party and the
chief executive Of the nation, and
asked his opinion. He expressed
himself with great earnestness in
favor ofaccepting the propositions
aud passing the bill, saying, at
the same time, that he hoped we
could ultimately get free coal and
free iron ore out of it.
Immediately after this I asked
the chairman to call the demo-
cratic members of the finance
committee together, aud l laid
the whole matter before them.
"After full and careful examina.
tion, they unanimously determined
to submit the proposed amend.
ments to the democrats in caucus
for their action. The caucus was
called, about forty democrats
being present, and after full con-
sideration every democrat except
Senator Hill voted for the agree.
ment, and I, as the organ of the
caucus, proposed the amendments
in the Senate.
"From May Z, when the amend.
ments were offered, to July 8,
when the bill finally passed the
senate, the forty-three democrats
stood together like a stone wall
and redeemed their pledges like
men,"
Senator Jones says there are
many things in the Senate bill that
are not satisfactory to him, and
that if he could have had his own
way he would have raised the
revenue needed from incomes,
whisky, beer and tobacco and not
from sugar or from wooden goods;
and when imposing a tax on sugar
he would not have imposed an
extra tax on refined sugar.
II resisted all these changes
with all my power" he says, ''as
did my colleague of the sub.com.
mittee, Senator Vest, and we made
them as small as possible, and at
last only accepted such as were
absolutely necessary to the
passage of the bill. The bill as
passed is, however, a great
departure from McKinleyism, and
is a great measure of tariff reform.
l speak deliberately and advisedly
when I say that it will reduce the
burdens of taxation hundreds of
millions of dollars annually while
it Increases the revenues of the
government. It is the very
reverse of the Mckinley bill.
That reduced revenues by increas.
ing taxation, while this will
increase revenues by decreasing