St. Paul daily globe., 1894-07-22
| BEST they COULD Do.
SENATOR HARRIS TELLS WHY THE
SENATE BILL WAS PASSED.
INTERVIEWS WITH GROVER.

He Claims That the President,
While Not Satisfied With tho
Measure, Thought 1t Wise to
Pass 1t, and So Advised
Louisiana Senators Have Sc
cured Their Limit.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. July 21,-The Com
mercial Appeal will tomorrow print an
authorized interview with Senator Har-
ris, by its Washington correspondents,
in which he says:
81 had several interviews with the
president during the pendency of the
tariff bill in the senate. l have under
stood him throughout the senate dis
cussion Of the bill to prefer strictly
revenue tariff measure, such as would
bill came to the senate. the
Democrats of the finance COM
mittee considered 1t and prepared
sundry amendments in the line of re-
duclng rates Of taxation. but when we
had prepared our amendments to the
bill we ascertained with absolute GER
tainty that neither the bill as 1t came
from the house or as the finance COM
mittee proposed to amend it could pos
sibly pass the senate. We Democratic
members of the committee set about to
ascertain the ultimatum of the four or
five Democratic senators who refused to
take the bill as 1t came from the sen.
ate committee, and, having learned
from these senators their smallest
concession which would secure their
support to this bill, and also having
aScertained that when the concessions
were made the bill in that form would
be vast improvement upon the Nc
Kinley law, we decided that, as obiec-
tionable as were these concessions even
with them, the pending bill greatly
reduced the tariff taxation, and that we
had better accept the bill with all it's
Objectionable features than to perpe-
trate the Mckinley law with its much
higher rates and multiform of
OBNOXIOUS FEATURES.
"The Democrats of the finance COM
mittee reported these concessions to the
Democratic senators In caucus and the
reasons why they had been made. all
the Democrats being present except
Mills and Irby, and. with the exception
of Hill, the Democratic senators unani-
mously agreed to make the concessions
and pass the bill. The concessions
thus agreed upon were Incorporated
into the bill. and in that form it
passed the senate. l had the two
interviews with the president since
their concessions were agreed to and
before the passage OF the bill, and one
interview after the bill had passed and
had gone to the conference committee
of both houses; and my most distinct
understanding was that, while the pres
ldent regretted, even as l regret. the
necessity for making such concessions,
he thought 1t wise to pass the bill, and
so advised. inasmuch as it materially
reduced the rates of tariff taxation im'
posed by the existing law"
Referring to Caffery and Blancha rd,
who are demanding further conces-
sions and threaten to defeat the bill if
they are not granted, Senator Harris
said, emphatically: "They have Sc.
cured their utmost limit. If they per-
sist in their demands, they will be suf
ferers. While they may delay the fna
passage of the bill thereby, they cannol
defeat it, for as certain as they purs ne
this course that certain will they lose
their differential sugar bounty alto
gerher. The finance committee will
now fight 1t on this line, if the present
session is prolonged indefinitely"