The morning call., 1894-04-14
CONSTITUTIONAL HERESY.
Dangerous as Was the Doctrine
of Secession.
CONGRESS CONTROLS COMMERCE
That Principle Must Be Established
in Our Government Once and
for All Time.

the Senate met to-day, and about hall as
many more Republicans.
Senator George gave notice that on Tues
day next Mr.. McLauren would address the
Senate on the tariff bill.
The urgency deficiency bill was taken
up and discusse antIl o'clock, when 1t
was displaced by the tariff bill, and PETER
resumed his speech At its conclusion,
Senator Mitchell OF Oregon was rec0g-
niZed. and in the beginning OF MS speech
described the events and policies which
produced the Republican party, and on
which that party still stood. Mitchell be-
gan with a declaration that the passage of
the bill would be legislative recognition
OF most dangerous economic and const-
tutional heresy. The condemned doc
trine of the right OF secession was fraught
with but little more danger 10 the repub-
lie. In the platform of 1856 the Dem0-
cratic party had committed itself to
the doctrine of free trade, and people
had made the fearful mistake of electing
Buchanan on that issue. As result the
treasury was almost bankrupt, the ma
tional credit was shaken aud the very life
of the republic was placed iD danger. In
hurled the Democracy from power and in
dorsed protection. History frequently re-
peatS itself, and he imagined itrequired no
uncommon gift of prescience or prophecy
TO either see or predict repetition of as
complete an overthrow of he Democratic
party in this country in 1894 as befel ii in
1860. He quoted from history to support
his assertion that the present evil times
bear no comparisons in disastrous conse-
Quences to the experiences through which
the people passed before the adoption of
the constitution, when the country was
overwhelmed by English exports, the cir
culating medium was contracted. the spe-
Gle drained away and wages and prices
went down.
He said: "These historical references
give some idea of the condition of our
country during that period, when there
was 10 constitutional power in the Con-
gress to regulate commerce with foreign
nations and among the several States, and
ii is to such a condition our country and
its people will be again driven if the fear
ful heresy that there is no constitutional
power in the Congress OF this new nation
TO regulate commerce with foreign nations
by imposing restrictive and even pro-
hibitory customs duty should ever find
substantial expression on the statute books
of our country"
Mr. Mitchell condemned ths adoption of
the ad-yalorem system in the pending bill,
asserting that the principle had been
denounced Dy none more severely than by
the great Democratic leaders, and he gave
numerous extracts from the utterances of
public men, Secretary Manning. President
Buchanan and others, in proOf,of this.
A great rart of the speech was given up
TO a discussion of the wool schedules,
which. lie declared. were arbitrary and
unjust placing this great industry on the
altar and Offering it up as sacrifice to the
avarice of the foreign wool-gro wers. and to
some extent tu the greed Of Eastern manu-
facturers, and transferring 10 their Golfers
the bulk of the So, zoo, 900 invested in sheep
and wool Such bill. which vouchsafed
protection to the manufacturer and refused
to extend it to those engaged in the sheep
industry, which favored the foreign pro-
ducer at the expense Of the home producer,
was one which Disseminated uDiustly, un-
necessarily, merciessly and cruelty against
the agriculturist and in favor of the manu-
factuTer, against the American and in
favor of the foreigner. No State in the
Union had in proportion to population so
much money invested in sheep and wool as
Oregon, amounting as IL did to S31, to ~
head of sheep and TO IS pounds of wool for
each man, woman and child in the State.
California had over 4, 500, 600 head of merino
sheep within her borders, had invested
SIS. 900, and employed over $4,000
people in the industry. BE argued that no
greater falIscy was ever entertained by the
visionary theorist than that of placing
wool on the free list. The clothing of the
masses of the people would be cheaDened
That was the sole reason assigned By the
Democracy for its action.
Arguing against this assumption Mitchell
said: ''The whole history and the practical
effect Of the doctrine of protection afford
conclusive answers to this heresy. And
the very fact that all kinds of wooden
clothing are to-day infinitely cheaper in
this country than they were prior to the
levying of the Mckinley tariff on wool in
1890 is OF itself a sufficient answer to this
argument. But the real answer is to be
found in the logical economic deduction
which must follow. and which Invariably
does follow in the wake of policy which
subordinates the great wool industry of
this country to that Of the foreign pro-
duceIs of wool. whether In Australia, the
Argentine Republic. the South Sea Islands
or elsewhere"
He further contended that by the de-
struetion of our own wool industry we
would be placed at the mercy of the foreign
producers and be obliged to double our
importations. AS a result prices would
increase far beyond the present scale, a
great wool trust would be formed to
oppress us, and the country would be
drained of more than $50, 100000 annually
to buy wool. and the people, by the de-
struction of the sheep herds. would be
deprived OF a cheap and nutritious food.
Barley and hops, Dlums and prunes. all
produced largely in his section of the
country, also received share of MitchelPs
attention and he asserted that by the pend
Ing bill paralyzng blow was struck at
these agricultural products. In fact. all
kinds of Western agricultural products
fell under the ban; fax and hemp, vege-
tables. dairy products. horses and cattle
and eggs-not one escaped the blighting
influence of the Wilson bill. BY its pro-