The Daily Texarkanian., 1894-08-15
CHAIRMAN WILSON'S VIEWS
What the Author of the Great Tariff
Measure thinks of Senate
Amendments.

/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
Yesterdays dispatches, from
Washington, announce that Chair
man Wilson, author of the original
tariff measure, has prepared for the
Associated Press, a statement of
his views on the tariff question.
The statement is in Mr.. Wilson's
handwriting and gives succinctly
his position on the action of the
House in accepting the tariff bill.
It is as follows:
81 cannot see where we failed to
do anything we could do to bring
about Il better result. When have
done the best according to my ca
pacity and Judgment | must fall
back upon the consciousness of duty
done. The difficulty that the coun-
try must recognize is that on the
tariff question we did not have a
democratic Senate and whatever
has been gained has been wrested
from protection body. | have
been wiling to take any, even the
most desperate chances, that gave
the least hope of success in getting
rid of the most Objectionable Sen
ate amendments and would have
fought to the 4th of March with
any ground to stand upon and any
following to sustain me.
"We have been confronted by a
Senate with closed ranks, while we
have had divisions from the begin
ming that have been fomented from
the Senate, and the growing impa
thence of the members to get back
to their districts with anything
that might be called tariff reduc-
ton bill has made them unwilling
to stay unless promise could be Civ
en- of assured or most probable vic
tory. We could not honestly give
such promise and a man can not
continue a battle with his army
ready and eager to break away"
Representative McMillin, one of
the democratic House conferrees,
gave statement more in detail as
to the effect of the tariff bill which
would be enacted as the result of
Mondays action.
In effect he said: While the orig
inal House bill is a better measure
than that of the Senate, as amend
ed, yet the latter, which is now to
become a law is a wonderful i'm
provement on the Mckinley law
1t gives free wool, free lumber free
hemp, fax and jute and reduces
largely manufactured goods into
which all these articles enter. To
Illustrate, the average duty on
wooden goods under the Mckinley
law is SO! per cent. This has been
reduced more than half.
'There is a considerable reduc-
tion in all schedules and the aver
age on. all will be about 38 per cent.
as against about So per cent under
the present law, and in addition to
this Fare the very great addi-
lions to the free list, upon
which no tax is collected
at all The right of the President
to impose taxes without Congress,
is thrown away and given back to
the Congress, to whom it belongs
and from whom it was wrested by
the Mckinley law.
Much has been said concerning
the sugar duty. There is less bene-
fit given to the manufacturer by
this bill than by the Mckinley law
There is a very considerable reduc-
ton in this. While, as I stated in
the beginning, the Senate amend
ments leave the bill in less accepta-
BILE shape than it left the House,
there is no comparison between the
merits of the two,
ut should not be forgotten also
that the system recommended by
the House known as the income tax
is retained in the bill and becomes
a part Of our fiscal policy. BY this
it is proposed to tax what people
have in excess of their needs rather
than to tax what they need and
have not"