The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-04-25
SENATOR VORO HE'S SPEAKS.
A Letter Explaining His Attitude on
the Tariff Bill.

WASHINGTON. D. c.. April 1S. 1894
My Dear Sir-Let me thank you for your
kind favor Of several days ago, and assure
you that it would have received an earlier
acknowledgment but for the unceasing
and unsparing demand there is here on
every moment Of my time. For several
months past my labors have been harder
and more constant day and night, than
ever before in the whole course Of my life,
and my correspondence has, to my great
regret been much neglected. At times my
mail has brought more than a thousand
letters a day. This must be my excuse 10
you and other cherished friends for not
being more prompt to answer.
l send you full and correct copy Of my
speech of the ID in the senate. 1t seems
that in certain quarters L am to be assailed
for all that is done or left undOne by the
senate of an unsatisfactory character on
the subject Of the tariff. To begin with.
the senate committee on finance is COM
posed of eleven members, six of whom are
democrats and five republicans In order
to be able to report a bill OF any
kind on the tariff you see that there must
be an absolute agreement between the six
democrats constituting majority of that
committeeman member of that majority,
including the chairman. having his own
vote TO cast and no more. Any bill on the
subject Of revenue for the support Of the
government by tariff taxation from the
ment between men in regard TO business
and labor interests of the highest import
ance.
One OF the greatest compromise meas
ures which marked Henry Clay's long
and brilliant career was that OF lS52 on
the subject, the terms and the details of
the tariff In fact it must be admitted
that everything Of great value i'm the
history of this government, including the
constitution of the United States itself
and all the leading enactments of our
legislative history, comes from the spirit
of concession. and the work of compro-
mise. OF course, the right OF a majority
TO govern must be conceded or our form
of government must be abandoned. No
one man in committee, in the senate, or
anywhere else can have his own way re-
gardless of others while liberty remains
regulated by law. There are several feat
ures in the bill now pending in the senate
which / did not desire to have in il, but
because l Overruled on these points
did not therefore feel at liberty to join the
republican members of the committee, re-
port no bill at all. defeat all proposed leg
islation and thereby leave the Mckinley
law remain on our statute books. You
will see that the bill we reported reduces
taxes nearly seventy millions per annum-
&3,5O0O00 of that amount being taken OF
the wearing apparel OF the people. say
TO you with the utmost frdnkneSS ana
sincerity that l fought hard against any
thing at all being put on sugar, iron or
coal, but when il was demonstrated in a
full three days Woodworking caucus OF
all the democratic senator's, as VOL as IN
the committee, that bill with these ar
ticles absolutely on the free list could no
more pass the senate than a ship of lead
could navigate the ocean, | came TO the
conclusion after anxious and painful solicit
tude that il was my plain, clear ana eX-
plicit duty to the laboring masses Of the
country. and especially to the democratic
party of Indiana, TO support the bill as IL
now stands; to make sure of the immense
reductions in tariff taxation which 1t
guarantees and then continue to night Tor
further progress and reform hereafter.
cannot help remembering that the world
was not made in a day. although there
was no want of a reliable majority on That
occasion. If 1 have made mistake in the
discharge of my duty as one of your SEN
ators, it is in believing that the bill we
reported and which is now pending Is
greatly to be preferred to no Legislation, az
we stand pledged to repeal
But | think much is being said and writ
ten now in absolute ignorance OF what the
senate bill as well as the Wilson bill actu-
ally contains. Are the people OF Indiana
aware of the fact that the lowest average
in this country since the Walker tariff OF
1916, and its subsequent democratic amend
ments in 1871. Is the rate, now Proxlae{R 1oI,
TO report to the senate Oh the 10Th cay OF
March, and which Is now pending This
statement is true. notwithstanding the
transfer of certain articles from the free
list in the house bill to the dutiable list
in the senate bill. l repeat that the aver
age rate of duty, or of tariff tax, as IL may
be better described, in the pending senate
bill, with sugar, coal ana iron al charged
mn to t. is lower tnan the average rhle Oh
duty or Of tariff tax in the Wilson bill as
IL came from the house with those articles
Let me give you, In this connection, a
few treasury statistics which are officially
reliable, and may be of interest at this
time. -,
dutiable imports:
lSo0-The Mckinley bill. ............. 495S
iSSS-The Mills bill, proposed. AZ ~
1S94-The Wilson bill .......-............. So2z
lS94-The senate bill. .........-............ Bl9
Nothing could be farther from my wish
or purpose than TO say word in criticism
of the Wilson bill, or Of any OF the work
OF the house with its reliable democratic
majority of nearly hundred. At the
same time l am hardly willing to be
dubbed to DEATH or read out Of the demo-
cratic marty I'm the name Of the Wilson
bill by those who are totally ignorant OF
its most important provisions. The inn
uerfotis demand that the senate shall pass
The Wilson bin without further amend.
ment is a burlesque on common sense
There is not an intelligent man in the
United states with information on the
subject who has for a moment though
the Wilson bill was to pass the senate
without amendment It's own authors and
supporters have never expected anything
of the kind. When it came over 10 the
senate II was followed by many of its