Evening star., 1894-04-11

Mr.. President, l desire, and in this / may
express a general wish, or, perhaps. what l
may call curiosity, that some Senator who
stands in the relation of sponsor to this bill
shall state to the Senate and to the country
the general theory or doctrine or proposition
or party dogma upon which the bill is
framed and presented TO the Senate. Going
more into detail, l ask that some Senator
who undertakes this task shall tell upon
what ground the Senate committee has
adopted certain changes which have been
made in the Wilson tariff bill as it passed
the House.
Can't Re cOncile the Bill and Platform.
For myself, Mr.. President, l am free to
say that while 1 am familiar with. and be-
lieve that L can fairly construe, the tariff
plank of the last platform of the democratic
party, as propounded by the Chicago con-
vention of 1892, and the letter of acceptance
of President Cleveland, which followed said
convention, 1 find myself hopelessly con-
fused and lost in the attempt which have
made to reconcile either or both of these
with the provisions u the bill, either as
Iassed by the House of Representatives or
as tinkered and manipulated by the Senate
committee, which has upon its back the
burden of the bill which is now before us.
Before, Mr.. President, going into details
touching the remarkable provisions Of this
bill, let me say that i, in common with
other Senators and with thousands of the
American people, have studied the bill with
painful attention in order to find out any
reason or cause for its provisions, and / am
compelled to say that from this study three
things become to me apparent.
Three Things Apparent.
First, it is a bill to protect the south and
to punish the north.
Second, it is a bill for the benefit of the
European manufacturer and producer at
the expense of our own manufacturer and
producer.
Third, and this touches my own state, 1t
is in every paragraph that deals with the
products of the Dominion of Canada, as
brought in competition with the products
of our own people along the Canadian bor
der, a simon-pure almost unadulterated bill
for the benefit of Canada and to our cor
responding hurt.
Senator Hale criticised the makeup of
the finance committee, charging that the
Wilson bill was committed to the hands
of three or four Senators from the south
ern states.
He then went on to compare the pro-
tected products of the south and to show
that the bill protected rice and sugar and
compared the protection given these ar
ticles to that given to hay and lumber.
He continued:
1.-The provisions of the bill, which strike
down the whole scheme Of reciprocity, un-
der which additional trade has been grow
ing up with foreign countries, strike most
severely at the northern wheat grower
and the northern miller, and will at one
blow destroy the trade which has grown
up with Cuba, and will besides shut out
from the German market the already es-
tablished and increasing expectation from
the northern packing establishments or
pork for that country
Reciprocity scheme Touched Upon.
1.-THE whole scheme of reciprocity and the
marked success attending it since 1t was
first adopted during President Harrison's
administration, and under the guiding hand
of Secretary Blaine in the State Depart
ment. will be fully aired later in the de-
bate.
'The merits of the reciprocity scheme
which has already increased our trade with
Cuba from S1lOO0,cO0 to S24,oOoNoO, ana
with Brazil from S1,000O00 to $l6O0,Oo,
without going into the figures in other
countries will be fully considered and thor
oughly discussed when that part of the bill
Is reached"
He asserted that the sugar schedule lad
been framed to catch two votes in the south,
and that, although other reciprocity treaties
had been stricken down, the Hawaiian
treaty had been saved in order that the vote
of the democratic Senators of the Pacific
coast might be saved. Discussing the bill,
as it affects his own constituency, Senator
Hale said:
Il come now, Mr. President, to the con-
sideration of that portion of the bill which
more nearly affects my own constituency,
and which falls with destructive force upon
ers of that entire portion of the United
States which stretches across the continent
from Maine to Oregon and Washington, AID
which finds sharp competition and a danger
Gus rival in the Dominion of Canada, which
lies along its entire border.
A Charge Of FavOring Canada.
'I do nC- hesitate to charge, that, s
affecting this region of our own country,
this bill is made up after fashion that
could not have better satisfied the Cana
dams had a committee of their own taken
this subject in charge and fixed cur
own schedules and duties. / am not un-
aware that in making this statement I am
assuming a grave responsibility, and 1 GER
tainly should not make ii il | did not be-
lieve that a study of the bill bears me out in
this strong assertion.
He discussed the probability of future
amalgamatiOn of the two countries, and said
Canada must come to us, would not
go to her. and asserted that the Mckinley
law was Fastening the union. He CONT lued:
THE Wilson bill and the amendments re-
ported by the Senate committee throw over
all this advantage and indefinit ely post pone
political union of the two countries, and, in
fact establish a policy favora Die to the
Canadians that | should look to see the
growing sentiment for annexation die cut.
and that in the generation to come We
should find ourselves with a growing and