The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-04-10
Blasts the Tall Sycamore" and Bitter
Iy Denounces the Income Tax Fea-
ture of the Tariff Bill.
HE WARNS THE DEMOCRACY
That Now Is Not a Fitting Time
to Pass Such a Measure,
And Predicts Its Adoption Will Be Fol-
lowed by a Serious Division and Pos
sible AnnihilatiOn Of the Party.

WASHINGTON. April 9.-Senator Hill to-
day unbosomed himself on the tariff bill.
His speech was the chief center of interest
in the Senate. That the tariff question has
not lost all its fascination was shown by
the large crowds drawn to the amb
The speech was mainly directed against
the income tax. although MI. Hill spoke
Of the Humiliation of the Hawaiian ques-
ton. which he attributed TO the fact that
the head of the State Department was a
Republican.
The political revolution" he began,
(which commenced in 1890 and eliminated
IN 1892 was an emphatic expression of the
popular will in behalf of certain govern
mental policies. Measures and not men
were largely the issues involved in that
movement. Rightly interpreted. it indi-
Gated the public sentiment in opposition to
intrenchment upon the reserved rights of
the States through odious federal election
laws, some proposed and others then eX-
listing; it voiced the general demand for a
discontinuance Of the unwiSe and indefensi-
bic financial system of silver bullion pur-
chases by the government instead OF the
coinage contemplated by the Constitution,
a system equally a hindrance TO the re-
turn to bimetallism as we'll as a menace
TO a sound and stable currency; it mani
tested the desire for a better administration
of public affairs, greater economy in gov
ernmental expenditures. and the eXaction
of higher official standards In the execution
of public trusts; ii demanded a mo-e safe,
dignified and consistent foreign policy, and
it condemned that abuse or perversion of
the taxing power of the government which
is known as the policy Of protection for
protectors sake alone, and declared in IA
vor of a tariff for revenue"
Senator Hill then took up the foreign
policy of the administration, SAYING: 1T
IS not denied that some mistakes nave oc-
CURED. Our foreign policy, especially that
relating TO Hawaii. IT must be admitted.
has not met the expectations of the people.
A sense of humiliation prevailed when the
project for the restoration of a deposed
monarchy was unfolded by the administra-
ten. and gratiflcation ensued when its
abandonment or failure was reluctantly an
nounced. influenced largely by an aroused
public sentiment. That unfortunate con-
templated policy was a blunder, and a
blunder is sometimes worse than a crime.
1t was, however, the natural consequence
which might well have been anticipated
from that other mistake in placing the De-
partner of State in charge of a Republic
an statesman, distinguished and stimabl
thoush ne 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. If
changed at all, are carefully concealed.
II is to be regretted that the President
should not have been able to find in his
own party some safe and honOred states
man in whom he and his party could have
placed confidence. one of Democratic in
stincts and training, whose management
Of foreign affairs would have reflected
credit upon the country, and would have
avoided the PRONUNCIATION of that Nun-
American policy-a departure from Demo
cratic precedents-which was sought TO he
forced upon an unwilling people. In this
view OF the situation our opponents must
accept some share OF the responsibility for
the plumbers committed in our foreign af-
fairs. In other respects the present adj
ministratiOn of our government affords
scant grounds for just criticism"
TIME FOR RADICAL CHANGES.
The Senator spoke OF the repeal of the
federal election law as a fulfllment of the
- - Il.
doctrine of States rights, and indorsed the
repeal of the Sherman law. Coming then
to the main question-tariff reform-he said
that revision should be approached with
circumspection and with a realizing sense
of the changed condition of the country
since 1887 and 1890. An extreme reduction of
tariff duties at a time when the treasury
was swollen with a surplus of a hundred
million dollars, when the country was rea-
sonably prosperous, when all our Industries
were in motion and all our woFkingmen
were employed assumed a different aspect
and presented a different question when
proposed now with a large and growing
treasury deficit instead of a surplus staring
US in the face, with our industries par
alyzed, our manufactures closed, our work
ingmen idle, and GLOWING upon the heels
of one of the most disastrous financial pam
les in our history. What was safe, and pru-
dent. and wise then it would be criminal
folly to attempt now. The present was no
time for craftsmanship, and Democrats and
Republicans alike should strive TO solve ex-
listing problems in a spirit of broad patriot
ism.
In the face of the prostration of private
industries he continued. and in the pres
ence of such a paralysis of general bust
ness as the treasury deficit attests and pro-
longs, 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"
was devoted to the income tax question,
and his opening words defined his position
in unequivocal and fOrceful language.
Against such a scheme" he said. 'un-
necessary, ill-timed and mischieVous-Sud-
denly sprung upon the country in the hour
OF It's distress, undemOcratic in its nature
and socialistic in it's tendencies enter the
protest of the people of the State of New
York. They utterly dissent from any pro-
posal to get revenue for the general gov
eminent by taxing incomes. Their dissent
Is practically unanimous and altogether inn
placable." He minated that the tariff bill
was constructed on lines laid down by the
administration; that it was an anomalous
state Of affairs when the President should
be able TO give Congress nformation as to
what had occurred IN a committee of the
House. and said that in these latter days
the distinctions between the functions and
p~rerogatiVeS of the executive department
on the one hand and the legislative depart
ment on the other do not seem 10 be always
observed. The truth is that the first infor-
details OF the proposed bill was in the mes
sage itself. But the strangest part of this
Unprecedented proceeding was that. in fact.
at the very date of the message. to wit,
Dec. I. 1893, neither the full committee of
ways and means nor the Democratic mem
bers thereof had agreed upon any income
tax or other internal taxation.
\ SLAP AT VOORHEES,.
The Senator from Indiana OHr. Voor-
hees) calls this allegation a noisy and re-
sounding charge Let me tell him that it
is not half so noisy as the constant vituper-
Grafton which we hear on every hand from
blatant demagogues who are abroad in the
land loudly inveighing against the wealth
OF the country and impudentIy demanding
! its cOnfiScatiOn through every means which
their devilish ingenuity can invent.
1.-The public should not be misled into the