The Daily Texarkanian., 1894-04-26
MILLS GREAT TARIFF SPEECH.
The Noted Texan and Famous Tariff
RefOrmer Urges the Senate
to Act.

washington yesterday was the
great tariff speech of Senator Rog-
er G. Mills, of Texas, delivered in
advocacy of the measure before
the Senate on the day previous.
The principal details of the speech,
as contained in yesterdays tele-
graphic reports of Congressional
proceedings, are thus given:
Promptly at 1 o'clock Senator
Mills took the floor. At the outset
he declared that legislators often
had to make an election between
two parliamentary measures, Meth
er of which meets their approval.
1t must necessarily be so, for no
man could frame a measure to meet
the approval of everyone. Every
act of legislature must be com
promise measure, and no act more
so than one regulating the taxes.
'This bill does not meet my ap-
proval," said he, "and I doubt if it
entirely meets the approval of any
gentleman on this side of the cham
Der, but such as it is it will have my
hearty support.
He might want to offer some
amendments to the bill, but wheth-
er or not he was able to secure their
adoption, he would bow to the will
of his party and vote for the meas
ure as they ordained it should be.
1t was strictly party measure and
had been a party measure from the
foundation of the government and
from the foundation and organiza-
ton of the Democratic party. If
he had been chosen to construct
the bill and had had the forty-four
members of the Democratic party
in accordance with his views, he
would have constructed it on differ
ent lines. He would not have left
coffee on the free list and would
not have put cotton, coal and iron
ore on the dutiable list.
He would put on the free list met
ais, wool, cotton fibres, iron and
steel in pigs and all yarns-every-
thing whicn required to be manu-
factured. He would do this in or
der that the manufacturers of the
country might manufacture their
goods at the lowest possible prices,
so that they could go into the mar
kets of the world The Republican
policy, he said, was to provide a
home market, but there we're five
billion dollars worth of goods made
in this country. Where were the
people to come from to consume
them? In order to carry out the
policy people would have
to be imported to consume our sur
plus of agricultural products, 1t
would require 114,0OO,00 people to
consume these products, and would
require the Importation of Chinese,
Japanese, Singalese, Maltese and
Chimpanezese to join CoXeys army,
Laughter.
Mr., Mills devoted a large part of
his speech to a discussion and de
Tense of the income tax. He laud-
ed the action of the committee in
reporting tax on incomes Why
should wealth be taxed. The object
of all just governments was to Sc
cure to all its subjects all the rights
with which they were endowed by
nature, and protection in the en-
joyment of those rights in which
they we're guaranteed by their gov
ernment
"Mr. President" continued the
Senator, earnestly, "there is a duty
devolving on this body which can
not be evaded, We must pass this
bill, make it as good as we cln first,
but pass it we must,
eve must not only pass it but
we must stop talking about it. The
American people demand it. They
sent us here for that purpose; they
did not send us here to drive the
criminal of the tariff out Of the
country to restore the country to
its natural rights. / do not care
whether the traditions of this body
are observed or not, l am in favor
of limiting debate, In the early
days of the country there was no
such thing as tilibustering, but it is
here now in full force, / say that
if the forty-four Senators on this
side of this chamber and the forty.
fifth in the presiding officers chair
were of the same opinion as ], ii
would pass this bill in forty-eight
hours"
The close Of Mr. Mills speech was
greeted by a hearty round of ap-
plause from the galleries and his
Democratic colleagues crowded
around him to extend their con-