Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-03
IN CONGRESS TODAY
Senator Chandler Makes a Speech
on the Tariff Question.
DEMOCRATIC INCONSISTENCY SHOWN
Protection Continued CONTRARY to
the Party Platform.
RIVER AND HARBOR BILL

The republicans varied their program
when the Senate met today. Although it
was evident a quorum was not present no
republican made the point and the Senate
proceeded Immediately with its preliminary
routine business. The House bill author
tzing the wearing Of a distinctive army
and navy badge on public occasions was
passed on motion Of Mr.. Mitchell (Wis.).
Mr.. Hunton (Va.) asked unanimous con-
sent for the consideration of a bill to re-
init the penalties on the dynamite cruiser
Vesuvius. Mr.. Chandler IN. H) objected.
On motion of Mr.. sherman (Ohio) the
House bill to authorize the commissioner
Of the general land office to issue patent
for Mace Clements survey 1886, in the Vir-
ginia military district in Ohio was passed.
At this point Mr.. Morgan refused TO allow
morning business to proceed further. He
moved. in conformity with the special order
made ten days ago, that the Senate go
into executive session to consider the Chi
nese treaty.
The motion was agreed to and after the
doors were closed the motion of Senator
Mitchell (Oreg.) to consider the treaty in
open session was considered first
The Tariff Bill.
The executive session lasted less than
half hour. The doors were reopened at IL
o'clock and on motion of Mr. Harris the
tariff bill was taken up Immediately.
MIR. Allison suggested that the amend
ment under consideration Ito change the
date when the bill should go into effect,
from June 1 to June 30t fn the first line of
the bill, which has been ostensiby the
pending subject of discussion for ten days.
should be passed over. The date on which
the bill should take effect he said, could
be fixed best later.
Mr.. Harris agreed to pass over the
amendment in order to make progress.
Mr.. Quay. who was entitled to the floor,
then yielded to Mr.. Chandler IN. H).
Mr. Chandler's Tarin Views.
matchmaker began his remarks with some
humorous illusions to Mr.. Quay's III health.
which compelled him to repeatedly yield the
floor to other Senators on his side. He went
on to give his idea of what the tariff bill
would have been had the democrats been
! true to the principles laid down In the Chi
cago platform. The platform declared for
| a tariff for revenue only. According to
treasury estimates s2o0OOO.0C0 of the reve-
nue. must be raised from customs duties.
Imports to the value of about $500, ,000, coo
came through our custom houses annually.
II the democrats had desired 10 make
genuine, honest revenue tariff to meet the
demands of the government they had but
TO lay uniform duty of 20 per cent upon
the one thousand million dollars worth of
merchandise imported.
A free list of any description was not con-
sistent with the doctrine of a revenue tariff
In the present situation, no one could tell
what sort Of bill was to be passed. Over
| 300 amendments were being prepared. They
would be acted upon, as would hundreds of
others. There was no means of determining
row to what sort of bill the business of the
country must be adjusted. After IL was
phssed, II II ever was passed, a grand prize
should be offered to the person who should
first discover the underlying principle upon
which the bill was framed-if there was
any, which he doubted.
An Extraordinary Performance.
Mr.. Chandler proceeded to discuss the
spirit in which the bill should be framed.
He called attention to the words of Mr.
Cleveland-the greatest statesman of his
party-inveighing against selhshness and
personal ambition in the preparation of the
bill. Despite this warning to sink local in
terests In the common veal, the country
had witnessed extraordinary performances
at both ends of the Capitol while the bill
was in committee. The agents of the pro-
tected industries swarmed the lobbies led
introduced and backed by democrats who
were committed on their platform to the
doctrine that all protection was a robbery
and unconstitutional
Even Mr.. Cleveland's own appointees
were here pleading for protection. District
Attorney Poucher of New York, nominated
by the President, confirmed by the two New
York Senators, had been before the ways
and means committee appealing for prohi-
bition duties on barley and barley malt
Had Chairman Wilson been made of the
]
scourged from his committee room. In
stead, the House had fixed the duty on bar
ley at ID per cent, He did not know when
Mr.. Poucher had been before the Senate
committee. but he did know that when the
bill emerged from the committee the duty
had been raised to ~ per cent. The high
duty is to be levied in order that the brew
er5 of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and
Illinois may have that protection which the
democratic platform declared was unconsti-
tutional. All this. when the humble request
of the wage workers for hearings were de-
Eied.
Lime and Coal
He then took up the duty on lime, show
ing how, upon the faith OF the democratic
platform, Mr.. Jones of New Hampshire had
invested largely in lime kilns in Canada.
But the sinister motives that the noble soul
of Mr.. Cleveland would scorn prevailed. The
Wilson bill placed a duty of 10 per cent on
lime; the Senate bill IL per cent.
1t sort of paralyzed him, he said, to try
to reconcile the democratic party with its
prir ciples, it's professions with its prac-
tices. How die the democrats reckon 100
per cent duty on rice with the idea of
revenue tariff? He understood and believed
that there was rice trust, at the head
of which was Mr.. Benedict, son of Mr..
Cleveland's friend, +. c. Benedict. that
met with its manipulations every attempt
to reduce the duty. All this perfidy would
certainly break down Mr.. Cleveland's faith
in human nature. Then there was coal
free coal, the great boon to be given to
New Ei gland by tariff reform. Why had
a democratic Senate abandoned this dona-
tion TO New Englandf Mr.. w. c. Whitney,
a true devotee of the Chicago platform, an
nounced far and wide that New England
should have free coal. He had gone fur
| ther. He had proven his absolute good faith
by becoming heavy partner in the Domn-
ion Coal Company. What influences mad
Induced the Senate to put Il duty of 10
cents on coal while they were now active
J In having II increased still further to 10
cents? He did not believe the bill as II
stood now could pass. Could the democrats
of the Senate vote for protection duty
coal and iron and at the same time place
wool, the product of the farm, on the free
+ list?
Free Wool.
Mr.. Chandler then drifted into an elabor-
ate argument against free wool. in the
] course of which Mr.. Perkins tCal), who
was familiar with Pacific freight rates. de-
clared that the cost of transportation of
wool from New Zealand to Vancouver or
San Francisco would not exceed one-half
cent per hundred pounds about the cost
/ of its subsequent transportation across the
continent. With Australian wool trans
| ported to Boston for one cent per hundred
pounds, he maintained that II was self
evident that American wool could not COM
pete with the foreign article. Continuno.
Mr.. Chandler said he thought public senti-
ment would prevent the democrats oi the
Senate from placing coal and iron ore an