New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-04-03
VOORHEES, OPENS THE BALL.
HE TALKS FOR SEVERAL HOURS TO COM
PARATIvELY EMPTY BENCHES.

"A STUMP SPEECH WITHOUT FIRE AND WITH
OUT 1oG1c-THE REVISED TARIFF BILL HE
SAYS WILL CREATE 4 SURPLUS. But HE
Is RESIGNED TO SUCH CONDITION
ADMIRATION FOR THE INCOME TAN
,pr TELEGRAPH TO TIL rIIBrNEl
Washington. April MIR. voorhees, opened the
tariff debate to-day with a speech characters
tic of It's author. In other words Il was d"
s,umn sne4ch. Asan argument. It was unworthy
the Senate. and as al appeal to the passions anu
pretudices OF mixed audience. it lacked IRE
and the appearance Of conviction MI voorhees,
"a Young no longer and the absence oil the
energy and enthusiasm that once disuh-
euished him robs has oratorical efforts or
the sole merritt merit It be-they ever pos
scssed II Is difficult TO be carried away
even where your sympathies are enlisted IN
the cause champoncd by a speaker when
that speaker reads his speech from manuscript
resting on a pile Of books. while he gesticula;es
like an automaton and suffers from cold In the
head Worse is il when the speaker as was the
case to-day attempts to defend policy to which
he brings but a half-hearted support OF which
he is incapable of weighing the effects. and in
behalf of whca he is compelled TO DISCOURSE
fustian with his own shadow"
As drawing card" Mr.. VOORHEES, wasn't n
success either The galleries were only moderate
" crowded and at no time did the number OF
Senator'S actually present the floor OF the
chamber outnumber the vacant chairs INTO
which members Of the other house would
occasionally drop for a minute or So only to beat
q precipitate retreat after discovering the hope
lessy commonplace character Of the speech
At the close of the "performancs"-and II lasted
nearly three hours-it was difficult to determine
which was the more exhausted, actor or audi
ence. Mr.. Voorhees, was persplr1ng freely and
ewaying to and fro in the attempt to appear
overcome by his own eloquence. while those Of
the audience who had had the hardihood to sit
st through gave alarming signs Of distress.
Mr. Harris, to VIII )se untirng energy and
watchfulness earlier IN the day was due the de-
feat of some reprehensible scheme of parlia-
mentary legerdemain concOcted by wicked Repub
aicans like Allison Aldrch and Hoar felt elated
by his success that he more frequently even than
usual felt the need of consulting constituents"
in his commitee-room. and as consequence
robbed Mr.. Voorhees, Of the moral support his
presence would have given him. Mir Vest looked
more glum than he did in his life when Mr.
Voorhees, pretended to have discovered in him an
active listener and began shaking his finger at
him to emphasize some Of his most novel propo-
sitons Mr. Blackburn quilted the chamber early
manner has not materially been modified by rub
bing against Frenchmen and diplomats turned
his back upon Mr. Voorhees, long before tina,
great orator had caught his second wind When
the Indiana statesman entered the homestretch
there were present by actual count fifteen Sen
ators one Vce-President. nine pages. three clerks
and two members Of the House doing on bench
in the rear OF the seats.
BY far the most important information con-
veyed to the Senate by Mr. Voorhees, was his as
sertion that there would be a substantial surplus
at the end of the next fiscal year. This surplus
Mr. Voorhees, estimates in round numbers at
$50 900 900 and he adds that he is not scared by
the prospect of having it on hand. Not bit
of It, on the contrary, he promises that the
Democratic party will take care of (which no
one seems disposed to doubt. Then he discussed
eeriatm the income tax. the sugar schedule and
the proposed duties on woollen manufactures l
Upon each Of these subjects he had an INFINITE
deal of nothing" 10 say. He said 1t. too, with
great seriousness and 10 the accompaniment OF
peals OF denunciatory thunder. He exhausted
the vocabulary OF epithets in describing the
greed and lust of robber barons grown rich by
years of blackmail levied under the guise OF law
upon a defenceless but now thoroughly aroused
people. He grew by turns melancholy and up
roarious as he depicted the misery Of the under
paid laborer Of the United States or gloated over
the prospect of getting through the income TAX
a whack at millionaires and other people in the
habit Of wearing clean linen. In fact, Mr.. Noor-
hees out-Heroded Herod in his bid for Populst
support while Messrs PETER. Kyle, Stewart and
their friends sat smilingly enjoying the cOnsld-
Grafton paid them. A more humiliating spectacle
has rarely been witnessed in the United states
Senate
While no single statement of facts or argu-
,nents in the speech of Mr.. voorhees, was com
plete it was naturally expected that he would
be very explicit In his alysis OF the sugar
schedule In this. however, he completely as,
appointed his audience. Instead, he touched
with more or less acerbty upon recent charges
made in connection with the sudden rise IN
Sugar Trust certificates-a subject when ne
could have afforded TO let alone. But here, too
ne was strangely indefinite. only showing that
the charges though perhaps uniounded, sun
rankIe An emphatic denial, supplemented by
the reasons which governed the construction OF
the sugar schedule and the difficulties in the way
of speedy adjustment. would nave peeh nm
ni,eiv more effective than the gasconadng |
threats and denuncations uttered by him in the
nnnrse Of this remarkable speech.