The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1894-04-18
Senator Camden-The Injustice or Class
ing Him With the PrOteetiOnistS.

senator Camden-The Injustice OF Class
ing Him With the PrOtectiOnistS.
A Washington correspondent
writing to this paper says: Those
who know the attitude Senator
Camden has steadily occupied tow
ard the tariff bill regard it as moth
ing short of an outrage that his
name should have been included in
the list of Democratic Senators who
are denounced as enemies of tariff
reform and traitors to their party
in the address which the Democrat
ic State Committee of Minnesota
has issued to the country. The in
Justice of thus blacklisting Senator
Camden, as it were, has only been
equalled of late by the New York
HeraIfs egregious blunder in in
Guiding a picture of Senator Berry,
of Arkansas, among those Demo
cratic Senators who were supposed
to be bulldozing the Finance Com
mittee in the interests of the pro-
tected manufacturers and the trusts
Instead OF being engaged 10 this
sort of business, Senator Berry, who
is one of the most ardent tariff re
formers in Congress, absolutely re-
FUSED to go before the Finance Com
mittee in the interest of certain in
dustries in his State that thought
they couldn't get along without
help from the government.
In Senator Camden's case the
facts are about the same. Senator
Camden declared from the first that
he was ready as a loyal Democrat
to support any bill the Democrats
of the Finance Committee might
present to the Senate. He made no
suggestion even that his support of
the bill would not be continued.
More than this, he never personally
asked the members of the Finance
Committee to put duty on any ar.
ticIe or to increase any duty. ALI
that he did in the matter of the coal
duty was to go with delegation of
Senators before the committee in
the interest of small duty on that
article. This request the committee
readily granted, as will be recalled
by those who remember the pro-
ceedings while the Wilson bill was
in the Finance Committee. All the
time the Wilson bill was under con-
sideration by the Finance Commit
tee, Senator Camden was active in
trying to harmonic the differences
between the committee and those
Senators who demanded concessions
to industries in their States. He
had constantly in mind the absolute
necessity that existed for the pass
age of tariff bill without prolonged
delay, and he sought to bring the
members of the committee and the
dissatisfied Senators together, advo-
eating mutual concessions and point
ing ont that it was of vastly more
Importance to the party and the
country that business uncertainty
should be speedily ended than that
a hair-splitting nicely in fixing
rates in this schedule or that sched-
ule should be observed. Senator
Jones, chairman of the sub.commit
tee that had charge of the revision
of the. bill, repeatedly recognized
the value of the services which Sen
ator Camden thus rendered to the
committee in bringing about reason
able understandings by inducing
the dissatisfied element to modify
their demands on the committee.
In fact, no Senator not on the FL
nance Committee, did more than
Senator Camden to settle the differ
ences over the tariff bill in commit
tee, and since the bill has been in
the Senate he has been repeatedly
consulted by the managers about
the best means of meeting the OPP
position on both sides of the
chamber.
In view of these facts, which can
be readily and fully substantiated
by anyone who has watched the
tariff struggle in the Senate, it can
be appreciated how great an in
justice is done Senator Camden in
CHASING him with the obstruction
lists. If there had been at any time
any doubt where the Senator stood,
there might be some excuse for
accusing him of hostility to the
Wilson bill. But no one acquainted
with the alignment of Senators on
the question, has ever had reason
to put Senator Camden even in the
doubtful column. He was always
recognized as a Senator who could