The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-23
WALSH AFRIEND OF LABOR.
The Senator Explains His Bill on
interfering With Trains.

AeOopeFs ana NOT Railroad Men on
Strike-He Introduces an Amended
Billie Takes Occasion to Explain
His Views as to Labor's Rights-The
Tariff Bill Taken Up and Further
Amended.
Washington, May 22.-In the Senate
to-day Mr.. Walsh, of Georgia, rising to a
question of privilege, referred to the pub
lication in this mornings papers of dis
patch from st. Paul, lMinn., stating that
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
had adopted resolution condemning him
for having introduced into the Senate a
bill to punish with twenty years impris-
onment the obstruction of trains carrying
United States mails He had, he said, in
troduced no such bill Hehad introduced
a bill to protect the United States mail,
but he had no intention of fhavingit it apply.
directly or indirectly, to the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers or any other
com bination Of laborers.
RIGHTS OF LABOR.
He recognized that labor had it's rights
as well as capital or corporations Hav-
ing served his apprenticeship to the prin-
ter's trade, he had never seen the day
laboring people of this country He
recognized that they had a right to organ
i2e to protect their interests and to ad-
vance their material condition in life
de also recognized that capital had rights
just the same as labor He recognized
that labor organization had the right to
direct members of its order to discon-
tinue work, but he did not recognize that
1t had any right to interfere with the
right of other laborers if they saw fit to
go to work. Laborers had perfect right
under the laws to obtain redress of their
grievances.
NO RIGHT TO OBsTRUCT.
They had the right to work or not to
work, as they saw fit, but they had no
right to obstruct the ordinary affairs Of
business or of trade, and they had no
right to resort to violence to accomplish
their purpose. This was a land of liberty
but 1t was also the land of justice, of law,
and of order; and as long as the laboring
people of the country sought redress Of
their grievances in accordance with the
forms of law, as long as they sought to
work out in a lawful way their rights
and to accomplish their purpose, he was
with them to that extent, and no further.
HIS BILL.
The bill which he had introduced
might have been loosely worded and
might be liable to the construction which
the Brotherhood of Locomotive En-
| gineers had placed upon it, but neither
! directly nor indirectly had he contem-
| plated that any such construction would
| be placed upon it, or that, in case of It's
| passage, 1t would have any such effect.
| He, therefore, asked the privilege of in
| Producing an amended bill, and would
read it, so as to remove any possibility of
misconstruction of his intention.
| THE NEW BILL.
Mr.. Walsh then read the bill It's title
Is ITO Protect the United States Mail"
and it provides that any person who shall
rob or attempt to rob, or maliciously OBJ
/ struct or retard for the purpose of rob-
berry, the passage of any railroad train on
which the mails are carried, shall be pun
ished by Imprisonment at hard labor not
| less than one nor more than twenty years.
The bill was read the first and second
time and referred to the committee on
| postofdces and postroads.
THE TARIFF BILL TAKEN UP.
| At 1920 o'clock the tariff bin was taken
! up, the pending question being the amend
ment offered yesterday by Mr.. Platt,
rep, of Connecticut to increase the duty
on iron ore from 40 cents to 60 cents ton.
| MIR. Platt spoke for some time in sup
| port of his amendment. Then followed a
long discussion, or dispute, rather, upon
the subject of the delay Of the tariff bill
| between Messrs. Berry and Hoar.
Finally, on motion of Mr.. Harris, Mr..
| Platt's resolution to increase the duty on
| iron ore from 40 to 60 cents ton, was
laid on the table-yeas 49, nays 81. The
negative votes were all given by republi-
cans. Messrs Allen and PETER, pop,
and Hill, dem, OF New York, voted in the
| Affirmative.
| The committee amendment making the
/ duty on iron ore 40 cents a ton was agreed
| to, without division.
! The next question was on the Jones'
! amendment to paragraph ll0, making it
| read, Iron in pigs, lronkentledge, spiege-.
leisen, ferro-manganese, ferro silicon,
| wrought and cast scrap iron or scrap
steel, "a per ton. ,"
In the course of the discussion on this
paragraph a suggestion on the part of
! Mr.. Aldrich that the amendment was in
| tended to benefit the pig iron industry of
Alabama was denied by Mr., German,
! who asserted that it was more for the
benefit of the pig iron industry north of
| the Potomac than south of it; and that
under the bill as it came from the House
every furnace IN Pennsylvania would
be closed and that the amendment was
| recommended by southern mem bers of
the finance committee
After a long discussion the Jones
amendment was agreed to--Yeas 55,
nays 4-Messrs. Allen, Mills, Palmer and
PETER. That disposed of item ITO.
IRON IN SLABS.
The next item was No. Ill, taxing all
iron in sla bs, blooms or other forms more
advanced than pig iron and less finished
than is iron bars, 25 per cent ad valo-
rem.
Mr.. Jones moved TO strike out the item,
and substitute for it the following:
Round iron in coils or rods less than
7-l6ths Of an inch in diameter, and bars
or shapes of rolled iron, not spec
tally provided for in this act.
S-10ths of a cent per pound; provided,
that all iron in slabs. blooms, loops or
other forms less finished than iron in
bars, and more advapced than pig iron,
except castings, shall be subject to a duty
of5-l0ths cent per pound, provided further
that all iron bars, blooms or sizes or
shapes Of any kind in the manufacture of
which charcoal is used as fuel shall be
subject to q duty of Sl2 per ton. He said
that the amendment followed the classi-
fcation in the Mckinley act, but that
the rates were lower.
MIR Sherman suggested that the item
was so complicated that IL had better lie