People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1894-06-01

WASHINGTON, May 24.-The. 4compro-
mise" tariff bill will not be tabled
but will stand or fall as it now is,
subject, of course, Ito amendments
by the conservative steering COM
mittee.' This was positively settled
by a test vote on a motion made by
Mr. Teller of Colorado to lay the bill
on the table. Even Mr. Hill and Mr..
Irby voted with the Democratic ma
jority against the motion and Mr..
Kyle of South Dakota arraved himself
on the side of tariff revision.
That there is more in Mr.. Teller's
motion than appeared ON the surface
is generally believed, and it would
surprise no one now to see the West
ern Republican senator's cease all OPP
position to the measure and even as
sist indirectly in It's passage at an
early date.
The avowed object of the motion
was to test the sense of the Demo-
cratic majority and see if the bill was
to be the measure which the Demo-
cratic majority intended to pass.
That it is would seem to be settled,
for the motion was defeated by,
with the exception of Mr.. Kyle, a
strict party vote of IS to 50.
MR.. GORMAN on THE TARIFF.
The announcement that Mr.. Cor
man would speak to-day upon the
tariff. brought out larger attend
ance than usual. After MesSrs. Jones
and Platt had discussed the "T' rail
amendment for time, Mr.. German,
pale from his recent illness, took the
floor. He spoke slowly and in low
tone of voice, He rehearsed the diff.
culties that had confronted the Dem.
ocratic party in dealing With
the question of tariff reform
not at all in opposition,
but internal disSension when
the fruits of victory had been secured.
Withal, he claimed that action BY
the present congress had not been un-
usually delayed. 1t was the last of
September before the president
signed the Mckinley bill. and this is
only May. The Wilson bill had been
reported to the house before its effect
upon existing industries could be prop.
erly studied; an imperfect measure
that not only failed to meet the treas
ury requirements but actually in.
creased the deficit created by the Re-
publican prohibitive duties. There
was no expectation that it would
become law unchanged. The
senate had always perfected such bills.
Yet, no sooner did the finance com.
mittee begin its work than the cry for
faction" was renewed with eXtraor-
binary vigor, and the Democratic
senators were informed that any
change would be set down as "betrav-
al OF the partys promises" and that
every senator who showed the least
concern for the interests of his own
state was traitor to the union and
his party; that the senate was no
longer coordinate body but its sole
duty was to ratify blinely the action
Of the house. He continued: 1T
would be idle, Mr.. President, to dwell
upon the manifest absurdities of
this outgrOwth of petulance. But
1t cannot be denied that the demand
for prompt action seriously impaired
the efficiency of the finance commit
tees work and ultimately became so
strong that revision was hastily CON-
pleted and the bill was reported to
the senate. ventured the assertion
in the course of the silver debate that
nowhere was the truth of the old
adage the greater haste the less
speed better exempliied than in
Legislation. So it proved then and so
it will now. do not propose to dis
cuss the merits or demerits of either
the original Wilson bill or the meas.
ure reported by the finance commit.
tee. 1t is sufficient for the Demo
cratic party
! THE COMPROMISE BILL DEFENDEb.
In answer TO the charges by the Re-
publicanS, Mr.. German asserted that
the bill had been constructed on the
Democratic theory of tariff for reve-
nue., with such incidental protection
as could be given consistently to the
industries Of the country. 1t fol-
lowed strictly the course marked out
by President Cleveland in his letter
OF acceptance upon which he was
reelected and the Democratic party
entrusted with full power. If there
had been the slightest apprehension
in the public mind of a radical over
turning of industrial affairs Mr..
Cleveland would not have been re-
elected. This was not free trade
measure, but it was a longer step for
freer trade than either the Mills bill
or the tariff act of 1888. 1t was not
protection for projections sake, but
| 1t did discriminate between raw ma
terials and manufactured articles to
the full extent of the difference
between foreign and American wages,
! nor was it a deficit creating
bill, such as the present law was or
the house bill would have been. It
was Democratic because it reduced
taxation to the requirements of gov
eminent 1t was Just; it was wise; it
was businesS-like; it was patriotic and
1t was prudent because it did not at
tempt to ignore facts in carrying out
theory. 1t was not perfect but it
was the most logical, most fair, most
broad, most timely and would prove
to be the most advantageous tariff
legislation enacted since the Repub-
liean party sprang into existence.
Mr.. German denied that any trust
had dictated any part or any schedule
of this bill. Justice to Louisiana had
required the retention of the sugar
bounty. That the sugar trust had