Evening journal., 1894-04-25
MILLS TARIFF VIEWS.
Doesn't Like the Wilson Bill,
but VIII Vote For It.
HIS DEFENSE OF THE INCOME TAX

He Says the Worlsingmen Who Arc Coming
to Washington should Turn Back and
Appeal to the Ballot Box-AppropriRtion
Bills In the House.
WASHINGTON, April %. - The closing |
speech Of the so called general debate on |
the tariff bill was made in the senate by |
Mr.. Mills of Texas for the Democratic |
party. The galleries. which had been de |
serted during the morning, filled up, and !
number of representatives came over |
from the house. A number Of Republican !
senators also gave Mr.. Mills close atten- |
tion throughout.
Mr.. Mills appealed to his Democratic |
brethren TO pass the bill promptly and full |
I'll the party's pledges lie ridiculed the !
idea of a duty being imposed for the bene- |
fit of the workmen and said il was merely
n case of going from skin to core and
from core back to skin again, meaning
that the manufacturers got all the benefit
of the protection which was demanded in
the name Of the workingmen.
Air. Mills Speech.
At the outset he declared that legislators
often had to make "a selection between two
parliamentary measures, neither of which
meets their approval. It must necessarily
be so, for no man could frame a measure
to meet the approval of every one. Every
act Of legislature must be a compromise
measure, and no acU more so than one reg
ulating taxes.
"This bill does not meet my approval"
said he "and doubt II it entirely meets
the approval Of any gentleman on this side
of the chamber; but, such as it Is, it will
have my hearty support. might want to
offer some amendment to the bill, he con-
tlnued: but whether or not he was able to
secure its adoption, he would bow to the
will of his party and vote for the measure
as they ordained it should be. lt was
strictly party measure and had been a
party measure from the foundation of the
government and from the foundation and
organization of the Democratic party.
II he had been chosen to construct this
bill and had had the "A members on the
Democratic side of the chamber in accord
with his views he would have constructed
it on far different lines. He would not
have left coffee on the free list and would
not have put cotton, coal and iron on the
dutiable list. 1t had always been the pol
icy of the Democratic party to put tax
on those articles which were used by all
the people and would yield the largest
revenue at the smallest cost to the people.
The Republican promise Of an enlarged
| home market by high protective tariff
| had not been fulfilled. He would put on
/ the free list metals wool, cotton fibers,
iron and steel in pigs and all yarns-every-
| thing which required TO be manufactured.
| He would do this in order that the manu-
facturers Of the country might manufac-
ture their goods at the lowest possible
price, so that they could go into the mar
/ kets Of the world.
He declared agriculture to be the staple
| interest of this country, and no benefit
had been derived from a protective duty
| by this interest. He declared that no other
country could compete with us in agricul-
ture. Not even India could compete with
us in the raising OF wheat
It was ridiculous to say that man
plowing with the fork of a tree and yoke
of oxen, and who could not sickle an acre
in two hours. could compete with a man
who uses machinery in every stage; who
by the use of one engine could cut, thrash,
winnow and bag so acres Of wheat in a
day. He told of a farmer in California
who could gather 200 bushels of wheat
in day at a labor cost not exceeding .
cents per bushel. Yet the Republican par
ty had been trying to get up scare and
had been singing a little song:
Hush. hush. hushl The hogy man is comingl
| You've got no show you'd better lie lowi
He'll get you If he canl
The Home Market Fallacy.
The Republican policy, he said, was to
provide home market, but there was
s., 200, ,OOO, 600 worth Of goods made in this
country Where were the people 20 come
from to consume them2 In order TO carry
out the Republican policy people would
, have to be imported TO consume our sur
plus agricultural products. 1t would re-
quire ia 100000 people TO consume these
products and would require the importa
tion of Chinese, Japanese, Singalese, Nal
tese and chimpanzees to join CoXey army
of aborigines. Laughter
He had bees taught by pious mother
TO read the Bible, and he RENE 4 bered hav
ing read how Elijah had attaeNed the AK
prophets of Baal and slaughtered them.
1t had always been believed that all o
the false prophets were dead but he be
heved that some of them had come dow
I to our time. He denied that the presen
! condition of the country was due to tarf
agitation. 1t would have come three year
AGO but for the large crops of 1883, 1889 an,
and 1890. 1t did not come with the adven
-, | of the Democratic party, as charged, bu
= the people felt that the squall was coming
. on Nov. ., 1892 because the crop of ls3
. was falling below that Of 1891, and tn
- crop of 1891 was below that Of the preced
y ing year, so that the country was just il
the same place as in 1850.
1t was the exhausting Mckinley tax AM
the exhausting Instructions to agricultur
, that prostrated the farmers, and ms the
!, fell they threw out their arms, rs Sam
- son did, and pulled down the whole stru'
= ture of the temple of national prosperity
: The farmers stopped buying when thei
4 crops began TO fail, and when they stoppe
= buying the manufacturers stopped pre-
- ducing, and when they stopped producn
:, they closed their mills and turned on
=, their mechanics, and this had brought o
NJ the prostration.
n "Emancipate our people, he said. Civ
them chance TO show their skill. the
genius. as a natural and heaven born righ
H. Give them back the ocean, and then tt
workingmen will not be coming to Wasl
ington TO implore the government TO d
something for them"
Y, Their proper resource was not TO come