Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-02
Senator Squire's Speech on the Ques-
tion of the Tariff.
MEASURE AGAINST TEE PEOPLES WILL
Damage That the Bill Has Already
Done to Business.
THE DOOM OF HIGH WAGES

I'VE must pass this bill" He took issue
with the Texas Senator. and declared that
II some measure of tariff reform had been
formulated and passed Immediately after
the advent Of the present administration
1t might have been said that the democratic
party was complying with the will Of the
voters expressed In the election Of 1892. But
such a measure had not been prepared. and
the feast to which the people had been in
vited had actually grown cold. The people
also learned that there was poison In the
feast offered. He spoke Of the changed
times and the expressions Of the people
In recent elections. No other question had
come up to change their votes and the
results were to be charged to the proposed
tariff changes. He declared that the facts
which the election returns had presented
ought to convince every reasonable man
that the attempt Of the democratic party to
change the system Of revenue In respect
to protection to American industries was
not what the people wanted.
''Is 1t the duty Of this Congress-" he
asked, ito carry out the contract with the
people which has been annulled? Will the
democratic Senators take advantage Of the
terms Of the party platform Of 1892 to
favor the wishes Of extremists and doc
trinaires?" and continued:
To Defy the VIII of the People.
''The disposition Of the majority seem to
be to defy the will Of the people, as at
present indicated. All the appeals Of this
sorrowful and terror-stricken country are
to have no effect; all the suffering of labor
ers without employment are unheeded; men
and women may suffer for food. and bodies
Of unemployed persons may tramp over the
country in search of relief; every considera-
tion having In view the development Of the
country. the diversifcation of its indus
tries; all that touches our personal pride
and patriotism in making ourselves a great
and powerful people with the ability to
compete in every field Of legitimate skill;
all these Important matters go for naught
In the wild, frantic scramble to overturn
the fabric Of governmental policy under
which we have prospered SO long. so as to
try q theory and turn 1t into political capi-
tai. For this reason millions Of dollars in
vested in manufacturing are to be render
ed valueless; hundreds OF thousands of men
and women are to be turned out and kept
out Of employment, and thousands In many
walks of life in my own state are to suffer
from q palsy Of their business and employ
ment. and We will gain. We are told, q
cheaper dinner pail or shirt I do not be-
lieve II, and even II It were 30, our laboring
people will not have the money to buy be-
duction Of duty on foreign clothes will be
mainly for the benefit Of the rich"
A Radical Change for q Political PuF.
pose.
He said 1t was not right to the country
to make such q radical change as was pro-
posed simply for political measure and a
decent regard should be given to industries
established. He discussed the amount Of
revenue needed. and the appropriations. and
claimed that the indirect method OF raising
revenue was least burdensome and insist
a1 hot fDd uhn f.xrn foh
protection to our industries. The pres
ent system was now to be supplemented
by two extremely odious features, one an
inquisitorial income tax and the other a tax
on every breakfast table These burdens
are prepared simply that taxes may be
taken OF the foreign goods sent here to
compete with the products of American
forests, fields, mines and factories. The
ought not to be the foot ball Of political
parties. Changes affecting the whole peo-
pie ought not to be violent and sudden.
Business should be taken out Of politics.
Extreme measures like this should be sup
pressed and he hoped that eventually a bill
would be agreed upon more reasonable In
its provisions.
He asserted that from the letter Of ac-
ceptance OF Mr.. Cleveland that many peo-
pie believed that no radical change, such
as here presented. would be proposed
A protective tariff. he said. to be useful
must be universal. 1t must not protect the
manufacturer alone. but the producer He
then discussed at some length the import
ance Of tariff revision. For the first time in
thirty years the democratic party had gain
ed control Of all branches of the govern
ment and signalized their return to power
by bill which ought to be entitled "a bill
for the destruction Of American industries" !"
ana In doing 80, he asserted. 1t was in op-
position to the best interests of the country
and false to its own doctrines as enunciat-
ed by many Of its leaders. In the early
existence "a a H.
policy OF the democratic party, and In SUD-
port OF this assertion he quoted from a
number OF democratic platforms Of the past
and drew a picture of how the spirits of the
democrats Of Jackson's time would have
felt had they been able to receive a tele-
phone message from the convention hall
giving them the wild screed" on tarin as
announced in 1892
Destruction the Bill Had Arr..s
Caused.
He then went on with an extensive state-
ment of what the Wilson bill had already
done, even though it had not passed. to
destroy commercial industries, and claimed
that similar results had followed low tariffs.
III the bill became a law, Great Britain
would profit by 1t, and in support of this
which approved the bill.
Should this bill become a law" he said.
the day on which the President shall affix
his signature to it will be the day of doom
will take the trouble to acquaint himself
with the facts can be blind to the truth
that the country has prospered under the
policy Of protection, and that labor has. as
a general thing. been well paid and con-
tented"
A considerable portion of Senator Souire's
speech was devoted to a criticism of the
income tax.
The discussion Of the schedules he de-
voted mainly to those that affected his own
state, and said:
'F1e lumber mes ms the sacrifice of our
lumber industries to these of British CO.
lumbia- Free coal, even with the Senate
amendment means poverty for our miners
Free iron means the postponement of the
development of the magnificent deposits
within our borders. Free wool means the
destruction and abandonment of the sheep
industry. The reduction on hops from fif-
teen cents per pound to 20 per cent ad
valorem leaves our hop growers at the
mercy Of foreign producers" In the same
line he spoke of prunes as growing in
dustry of the Pacific coast. He then took
up these various items and discussed them
at length. and he concluded by saying that
he believed that many Of the amendments
that had been made by the Senate COM
mittee were merely intended as traps to
catch votes enough to secure its passage
by the Senate with the idea of killing
them in conference.