Birmingham age-herald., 1894-07-26

! leagues. MT. Berry said, however, that
 he knew if Mir Villas voted for the propo-
 sition it would carry and he would vote to
 strike it out. Otherwise hs would cast
 aside his own political chances and vote so | as to pass the bill, for he wanted some sort | of a tariff bill passed, even if it did not en- | tirely suit him. MT. Brice remarked that | his name came next to that of Mir. Berry | and that if he voted to strike out the diff | ferential he, too, would vote the same way, | for he believed in free sugar, both raw and !! refined.
 Mir. Brice reminded Mr. Villas of the | trouble the finance committee had in get | ting bill that would command the sup l port of the necessary forty three votes, and said that as a member of the steering com | mittee he had at the outset analysed the
 vote in the senate and found that bill | could only be passed by carefully consider | ing the concessions demanded by the sena- | tors who represented the manufacturing and industrial states.
 Much of the discussion consisted of in- | terrogatories between MT. Villas and other senators, the bent of all being to get the Wisconsin senator to agree to withdraw his motion, which was looked upon as | putting the bill in jeopardy. ID one of | these cross fires Mr. smith recalled to MT. Villas a speech he formerly made in the caucus, in which he pleaded for unity and harmony and insisted that the democrats get together upou some sort of bill so
 that the party could keep it's pledges. MT. Smith is said to have reminded Mr. Villas that he was one of the most persistent sen- ators in asking senators to pledge them selves to stand by the bill that was agreed upon, so that it might safely pass the sem ate. MT. Villas admitted making this speech, hut said that he did not consider that those pledges bound the senator after the bill got out of the senate and into the conference. This re-
 ply irritated Mir. Smith, who retorled that that sort of "mugwump logic'' might be effectual in some places, but it would not do in cases where men pledged themselves to stand by measure and see it through. The men who entered that caucus, Mir. Smith insisted, were as much bound to stand by their bill in conference as they
 were in the senate, and then he reiterated his threat that if that sort of an argument was to prevail the bill was dead then and there, and would never get back into con- ference.
 ''The men who opposed your income Ianf ffd MT. Smith, "but who fiually
 &ed under the influence of pledges fhade here in this room, will not submit to it, and l want to say again that any at- tempt 10 make the changes suggested means a motion to ind, fl nitely postpone the conference report now before the sen- ate. If that motion should be made on the democratic side of the chamber it will prevail. n
 In the further discussion, participated in by Messrs. Vest, Smith and Brice, it was shown MT. Viias, as these gentlemen viewed the situation, that the bill was weaker today than when it passed the sem ate by its very small majority.
 "With your own vote for the bill counted, - said one senator, addressing MT. Villas, 'tthere is today but forty-two votes solid for the bill, which is now on the vice. presidents table. And yet you propose to push a motion that must, that will inevitably drive from us more of our votes.' This was intended, as one senator who described the situation said, to refer to MT. Murphy, and particularly MT. Irby, both of whom declined to enter the caucus and who are looked upon as least iukewarm in their friendship for the bill, although both of them voted for it before.
 The subject of coal and iron ore was again brought up, but they did not cut much of figure in the debate, which ragged chiefly over sugar. There was a hint that 1t would be wise for the senate to reduce the duty on coal and iron, but Mir. Pugh at once took issue with this sugges- tion and reiterated what he said yesterday, telling the caucus that if these two mat ters were touched neither he nor his col league would vote for the bill.
 Finally, as the hour of o'clock ap- preached and MT. Villas was contin nually pushed for an answer to the question that was on the mind of the democrats present, he said that he had become possessed of good deal of information that was news to him. He did not want to defeat the bill, he said, but was earnestly in favor of pass- ing bill as soon as possible and ending the trouble and giving the country rest and quiet. He said that he would take the matter under careful advisement, aud would decide it in his own mind in the morning.
 senator who described the situation said that Mir. Vilas' manner and the way he spoke indicated that he was impressed with the statements that had been made and knew that if he pressed his motion he was opening the door for defeat. This sem ator said the impression the rest of the caucus got was that MT. Villas would con- fer with the president and be guided by what Ee advised. Then by unanimous consent the resolution that the bill be sent back to the conference without instruction was agreed to and the caucus adjourned. It is the programme to have this done to- morrow. A prominent senator who took an active part in today's caucus said to- night that the result meant defeat to the senate bill.
 The sugar schedule may be changed in its language so as to make the specific duty given refined sugar au ad valorem rate, but II this was done, be said, 1t would be the equivalent of the specific rate and would not jeepardse the bill. Coal and iron ore will not Ee changed, and the indications are, indeed, it was said in the caucus to- day, 1t was known that the house would ultimately yield and accept the senate bill with some qualifications. Among the re- ports current in the house today was one that the democratic leaders of the house and senate had agreed to bring joint reso- luton within the next twenty four or forty eight hours adjourning congress on Satur- day, Aug. 4. This. it was said would result in expediting the work on the tariff bill, so that whatever report might be agreed upon by the conferets $ must necessarily be passed within the next ten days. The story found many believers, but careful inquiry failed 10 discover any leader of the house who would acknowledge it's correct n(ra.