The Portland daily press., 1894-04-24

Simpson ILL.,
Washington, April Ex-senator oorhees,
chairman of the finance committee OF the
Senate, who has been criticized in his own
state for granting concessions in the pend
ing tariff bill, has just replied to some OF
these criticisms in long letter to Hon.
John B. StoI of South Bend, Ind. In the
course of it he says:
stThere are several features in the bill
now pending in the state which did not
desire to have, but because 1 was overruled
on these points l did not, therefore, feel at
liberty to join the Republican members and
report no bill at all, and leave the Mckinley
law on our statute books. I fought hard
against anything at all being put on sugar,
iron coal, but when it was demonstrated
in full three days hard working caucus OF
all the Democratic Senators, as well as in
the committee, that bill with these
articles absolutely on the free list could no
more pass the Senate than ship of lead
could navigate the ocean, came to the
conclusion, after anxious and painful sollc1-
tude, that it was my plain duty to the labor
ing masses of the country, and especially to
the Democratic party in Indiana, to support
the bill as it now stands, to make sure OF
the immense reductions in tariff taxation
which it guarantees and then continue to
fight for further progress and reform here
after.''
Mr., Voorhees, expresses the opinion that
much that is being done and said in his
absence is due to ignorance of what the bill
actually contains, and then proceeds to
show that the pending measure gives the
lowest average rate of duty since the
Walker tariff bill of 1876 and it's subsequent
Democratic amendments in 1857. In regard
to the insinuations against his Democracy,
Mr.. Voorhees, says: Nothing could be
further from my wish than to say word in
criticism of the Wilson bill, or of any of the
work of the House. At the same time. am
hardly willing to be clubbed to death. or
read out of the Democratic party in the
name of the Wilson bill by those totally
ignorant of it's important provisions. The
| imperious demand that the Senate shall
pass the Wilson bill without amendment is
burlesque on common sense. There is not
an intelligent man in the United Stat es
with information on the subject who for a
m oment thought the Wilson bill was to pass
the Senate without amendment. Its own
authors and supporters have never expected
anything of the kind. When it came over
to the Senate, it was followed by many of
ing out to the Senate committee where and
in what respect it could be improved by
amendments"
Mr.. Voorhees, next calls attention to one
feature of the bill, which he characterizes
as ssof immense and overshadowing import
ance, which could not be heedlessly ig-
nored.' This, he said, was the fact that
| while it professed to raise revenue it
| created a deficit of almost thirty millions of
| dollars 'sThe fullfilment of the pledge in
| the title of the bill,' continues Mr.. Voor-
hees, ''cannot be left in any doubt. If a
deficiency should occur.the actual cash..must
be raised to meet it, by issuing treasury
| notes or interest bearing government
bonds, the latter being thing most abhor-
rent to the Americanspeople. Rather than
knowingly and consciously aiding bill
which aimed to provide revenue for the
| government but in reality provided for a
| deficiency and a consequent increase of our
| interest bearing bonded debt, would glad
| " leave my seat in the Senate and see my
| self forever as far as possible from public
| disgrace. I do not claim perfection for the
| Senate bill but under all the tryingscircum-
| stances I am willing to stand or fall by a
| bill which makes far heavier reductions on
the necessaries of life than the Mills bill,
| the Morrison bill, the Wilson bill, any
| other proposed Democratic measure since
| the amedments to the Walker tariff and
| which too while making such reductionssand
giving such relief, also increases the
revenues and places the credit of the gov
| ernment on secure foundations"