The Forrest City times., 1894-08-17
THE END OF THE FIGHT
r' wilson's Closing Words in the t,r..,
 Tarin Struggle.


 lln oiii by the house on Monday. august l3, Mir. William l.. Wilson. cnairman of the ways and means com. mittee, spoke briefly upon the passaU Of the bill as follows:
 MT speaker, have made the motion which nave sent to the clerks desk. not on my own responsibility or from my own volition bu, as 'he omcial organ of the caucus of my associ- a'cs on tnls side of the house and by their di- rection shall say very little myself on ,h,s occasion Tn advocacy of the motion. and shall be sincere and frank in what I shall suhr,,, ,o this house '0''' 'o
 uo not pretend that l am gratifed at the oueeoihe or this prolonged controversy I uoh pretend that up to lhe very las, moment nad not cherished the hope and the faith that we should reach another and better and n more satisfactory conclusion of this conflict oo'"eeh the two houses of the American congress l had hoped and believed until there seemed to be no ground scarcely fo. nope and belief that in such contest tnis house backed by the American peo- pie and enthusiastically sustained by the democratic party, would be able to achieve some honorable compromise between the two houses which We could have accepted not from sense Of duty. but with sense of satisfac- ton and feeling that we had responded to the
 
 But, Mir. Speaker. we have simply realized Tn this great fight the fact so we'll stated by the great leader of the tariff reform fight in Great Britain-that when the people have gained victory at the rnlls they must have a further staud-up and knock-down fight with their own representatives And we have real ized If nothing else, the salatary lesson of the intrenchment of the protective system in this country under thirty years of class Legislation ter of tar ie matter of insignificance. and the great oues- ton presents itself Is this to be government py seif-taxing people or government by trusts and monopolies? Applause on the dem- ocratic side. If we have taken out of this fight no other lesson than that 1t has been to us great. an inspiring and valuable lesson. If we have not been able to get all that the mandates of the people told us to get all that the high enthusiasm of the people expected us to get we have brought this dangerous fact face to face with American freemen, and we have msie some breach in the protective sys- tenn through which the hosts of American free- men will continue to march. Applause on the democratic side.l
 My attention has necessarily been so con- constantly and so steadily directed to their de- merits that 1t would require some experience to learn what the merits are. Laughter and appiause.l But whatever the measure of short coming of this bill in its present form--what- ever b. it's demerits in mere schedules--this I do know. that 1t Is better than the Mckinley bill Loud applause on the democratic side. l This do know, that in a part of 1t 1t does sf- ford some relief to the taxpayers of this coun- try and does clip the wings of the gigantic mo- nopolies that are now expressing them and blocking legislation.
 Take even those portions of the bill over which this contest between the two houses has been waged: take iron ore and coal upon which we have confronted and to n certain ex- tent unsuccessfully confronted the great rail- road syndicates of the country; yet we have re- duced them both nearly 50 per cent. below the Mckinley bill. Applause. Take the sugar schedule over which the greatest of all the contests between the two houses has been waged. Vicious as 1t may be. burdensome to the people 1t may be. favorable to the trust as it may. 1t Is less vicious, less favora- ble to the trust less burdensome to the people than is the Mckinley law, under which this trust has grown so great as to overshadow with its power the American people. lApplausel
 If for no other reason, then, those who be- lieve that when they cannot take the full step which they desire, when they cannot do that which the people commissioned them to do, they must take the best they can and step as far as they can, may find some Justification for an unhesitating choice between the two bills"
 Mir. Hudson (pop) of Kansas-I should like to ask the gentleman whether he has investi- gated fully so as to be able to state definitely that this bill as amended by the senate will furnish suf1cient revenue to meet the entire expenses of the government:
 Mir Wilson-That is 8 question, which no man, perhaps, certainly not l. can answer In definite language. But have no difficulty whatever in saying that when the schedules of the bill with the senate amendments get into normal operation 1t will produce sufficient and more than sufficient revenue for the support of the government
 ..l should add to the answer that perhaps in the beginning the bill will not produce as much revenue as will result from 1t later on under its ordinary working. because. am h. formed whether 1t be true or not, don't know that the sugar trust. in anticipation of the passage of the bill. has imported about slUO OOO 900 worth. or, 1t has been said, even in excess of that quantity, of raw sugar
 MT Hudson--Will the passage of .hls bill, in your judgment, save the country rom the further issue of oondsT
 Mir Wilson--I think have already covered that question in my previous answer It may be in the first few months of the operation Of the bill, because of this great accumulation of raw sugar to which have just referred, that the revenue of the government Will not De sul- ficient co meet the expenditures of the govern ment: but it is my belief, in view of the large amount of imported goods in bond and also In view of the fact that ttere will be larger inn portations when the tariff rates are definitely known and fixed that if the necessity does not exist to-day it will not exist after the passage of this bill:
 Mir. Dingley (Me) Win the gentleman par don me just on that point: l understand him to say that the sugar trust has already import ed sl0O. 900 900 worth of sugar If so, inasmuch
 staf Q ad last year. will not all the revenue that We get from sugar under the operation of this bill for the first year be missing!
 Mir Wilson-I did not intend to give the figures that sIOO. .0O0 900 of raw sugar had been imported. I stated that I had been informed the sugar trust had imported that amount and have even heard it stated that IL was in ex- l.a1. hx.axa tf at a=