The Washington times., 1894-04-10
His Speech in the Senate Yesterday
Mainly Devoted to this Subject.
CLEVELAND ALSO CRITICISED
Hawaiian Policy Of the Administration De-
clared to Have Been Worse Than Blum
der-Gresham's Selection for Secretary Of
State Regretted Reduction Folly.

| S@~~-
every seat in the galleries was taken, even
the diplomatic corps being well represented.
| On the floor Of the Senate there were fully
as many Congressman as Senators, and the
rows of chairs behind the Senator'S desks
nearly filed the chamber.
Mr.. Hill was perfectly cool, and gazed from
time to time at the crowded galleries with the
unmistakable signs of satisfaction with which
every public man notes the admiration or In
terest of the public. At 2.05 he arose and
moved forward to Senator McPherson's seat.
In his speech he was clear, emphatic, and at
times almost eloquent in his denunciation oi
the income tax, to which his remarks were
addressed. He scored the administration
and Senator Voorhees, with telling effect. and
on the whole made one Of the best speeches
| he has ever delivered In the Senate. He
| promised to discuss individual features OF the
schedules later, but emphatically declared
| that the Democracy must pass tariff bill or
lose the Senate, the House in the Fall cleo
tions, and the Presidency in 1896.
The speech was devoted to an extensive and
bitter attack on the income tax feature of the
Wilson bill His opening remarks, however,
took a wider range.
"The political revolution" he began, (which
commenced in 1880 and eliminated in 1892 was
an emphatic expression of the popular Will in
behalf of certain governmental policies. Meas
ures and not men were largely the issues IN
volved in that movement hightly interpreted,
ii indicated the public sentiment in opposition
TO intrenchment upon the reserved rights OF the
states through odious Federal election laws,
some proposed and others then existing; 1t
voiced the general demand for a discontinuance
of the unwise and indefensible financial system
arnll Ia
well as menace to a sound and stable
currency: il manifested the desire for a better
administration Of public affairs, greater economy
in governmental expenditures, and the exaction
OF higher official standards in the execution Of
public trusts; it demanded more safe, dignifed,
aud consistent foreign policy, and 1t condemned
the use or perversion Of the taxing power Of
the government which Is known as the policy OF
protection for protections sake alone and de-
clared In favor of q tariff for revenue"
He then took up the foreign policy OF the ad-
mnistraton, saying:
at is not denied that some mistakes have oc-
Cured. Our foreign policy, especially that re-
lating to Hawaii, IL must be admitted has not
met with the expectations of the people. A
sense of humiliation prevailed when the project
for the restoration of deposed monarchy was
unfolded by the administration, and gratifica-
tion ensued when its abandonment or failure
was announced, influenced largely by an aroused
public sentiment
BLUNDER WORSE THAN CRIME
"That unfortunate contemplated policy was q
blunder, and blunder is sometimes worse than
a crime. 1t was, however, the natural conse-
quence which might well have been anticipated
from the other mistake In placing the Depart
ment of State in charge of n Republican states
man, distinguished and estimable though he
may be, whose public services have always been
identified in opposition to the Democratic party
who was without sympathy for its traditions and
purposes and whose political convictions upon
the disputed public questions Of the day, II
changed at ali, are carefully concealed
Al To- tIavtf fay
not have been able to find in his own party some
safe and honored statesman in whom he and his
party could have placed confidence, one of DEM
ocratic instincts and training, whose manage
ment of foreign affairs would have reflected
credit upon the country and would have avoided
the PRONUNCIATION of that un-Amerioan pUlicy-a
departure from Democratic precedents-which
was sought to be forced upon an unwilling peo-
pie In this view of the situation our opponents
must accept some share of the responsibility for
the blunders committed in our foreign affairs
.'In other respects the present administration
of our government affords scant grounds for just
criticism"
law fuifllment of the party's pledges and a
triumph for the ius5 doctrine of states rights
and indorsed the repeal of the Sherman law.
TARIFF REDUCTION AND THE DEFICIT.
Coming then to the main question, tariff re-
form, he said that revision should be approached
with crcumspection and with realizing sense
of the changed conditions of the country since
1887 and 1890
An extreme reduction of tariff duties at a
time when the Treasury was swollen with sur
plus of Sl00O0C,000 when tho country was reason
ably prosperous, when all our industries were
in motion and all our workingmen were en-
ployed, assumed a different aspect and pre-
sented different question when proposed now
with large and growing Treasury deficit, in
stead of a surplus staring us in the face with
our industries paralyzed. our manufactures
closed, our workingmen idle, and following upon
the heels of one of the most disastrous financial
panics in our history.
What was safe and prudent and wise then, Ii
would be criminal folly to attempt now.
The present was no time for partisanship, and
Democrats and Republicans alike should strive
TO solve existing problems in a spirit of broad
patriotism.
In the face of the prostration of private in
dustries, he continued, and in the presence of
such paralysis of all general business as the
Treasury deficit attests and prolongs, this bill,
as framed by its authors and as passed by the
House, sought to double the deficit by discarding
customs revenue and to fill the void with an
income tax.
UNNECESSARY, HL-TIMED AND MIsCHIEvoUs
The rest of his speech was given up to the
income tax question, and his opening words de-
fined his position in unequivocal and forcefu,
language.
Against such a scheme" he said, "unneces-
sary, ili-timed and mischievous, suddenly sprung
upon the country in the hour of its distress, un-
Democratic in its nature and socialistic in its
tendencies, l enter the protest of the people
of the state of New York They utterly dissent
from any proposal to get revenue for the gen.
eral government by taxing incomes. Their dis
sent is practically unanimous and altogether
implacable.
He intimated that the tariff bill was con-
structed on lines laid down by the administra-
tion, that ii was somewhat anomalous state of
affairs when the President should be able to give
Congress information as to what had occurred
in committee of the House, and said that in
these latter days the distinctions between the
functions and perorgativeS of the executive de-
partment on the one hand and the legislative
department on the other do not seem to be
always observed. The truth is that the first in
formation which Congress had of the alleged de-
tails of the proposed bill was in the message
itself
But the strangest part of the unprecedented
proceeding was that, in fact, at the very date OF
the message, to wit December 4, 1898, neither
the full Committee of Ways and Means nor
the Democratic members thereof had agreed
upon any income tax or upon other internal tax
alton.
But neither the President nor the Secretary of
the Treasury had advocated a general income
tax, but only a tax on income derived from cor
porations But Federal income tax, whether
limited, as suggested by the President and the
Secretary, or general, provided in this bill, is
equally Objectionable.
NEW yoRK's OPPOSITION.
New York's opposition to the tax was based on
the fact that in that state and in several other
states franchise" tax is imposed upon the
earnings of certain corporations, and an income
tax, such as is proposed in this measure, would
duplicate the taxation already imposed and
compel the states to abandon their state tax
alton. This Is a most important and serious OBJ
lection to this feature ofthe bill An income tax
was Objectionable, because from its very nature
it must be inquisitoral in its imposition and col
lection The senior Senator from Indiana (Mr.
Voorhees) calls this allegation a "noisy and re-
sounding charge" Let me tell him that it is not
half so noisy as the constant vituperations which
we hear on every hand from blatant dema-
gogues, who are abroad in tho land loudly in
Weighing against the wealth of the country and
impudently demanding its confiscation through
every means which their devilish ingenuity can
invent.