The record-union., 1894-08-27
Special TO the REcoRp-uNroN.

special 10 the KFCORD-UNION.
ST. LOUIS, Aug 26.-In special to the
Republic from Little Rock, Senator
James X. Jones gives history of the re-
cent tariff bill contest. The Senator, it
will be remembered, was member OF
the subcommittee to which the bill was
referred. He says in part:
'The bill as first reported back to the
committee by us may be considered as
an expression OF the opinion of our sub
committee, modified by the views of our
associates in the Senate. While large
majority of the Democrats in the Senate
were perfectly satisfied with this bill, a
number complained of different parts OF
it, and in the effort TO harmonic we pre-
sented another While there was changes
in the schedule of more or less import
ance. the second report of ours provided
for free refined sugar, free coal and free
iron.
''At the caucus of Democratic Senators,
which lasted three days, the Senators
from Louisiana, especially Senator White,
spoke against the bill. AT the same time
the Senators iD those States where sugar
retineries were located declared that they
could not support the bill without some
tariff OH refined sugar, if there was a
tariff on the raw.
THE result of this protracted and
stormy caucus was the adoption of reso-
luton sending the bill back to the COM
mittee, with instructions to amend it so
as TO meet the differences which had been
developed in caucus. In obedience to
this action OF the caucus, which was really
equivalent to an order to tax sugar and
iron ore, we brought in a bill with tax
of one cent per pound testing 80 degrees
by the polariscope and one cent additional
for each degree up to 80, and 2. i cents for
each degree above 80, and upon sugar
above l6 Dutch standard in color an ad-
ditional tax of per pound. The changes
with coal and iron ere, four cents per
pound, were sent to the Senate on March
10th. The changes gave no satisfaction,
and it became evident that the bill would
be defeated ii insisted upon. In this
emergency | decided to see if there were
not some means to save the bill.
$50 pass the bill wpuld require 43 votes,
hence it was necessary that every one of
the 43 votes should. ifpossible, be secured
Tor the support Of the bill. Several of
these had already openly declared that
they could not and would note vote for
the bill as reported, and it was decided to
amend il so as to secure their support.
These notifications involved changes of
the sugar schedule from a specific to an
ad valorem duty, the imposition of an ad-
ditional tax of one-tenth Of cent per
pound upon all sugars imported from
countries paying bounties and the bill
could not become operative until the first
day of January 1885. The taxes on iron
ore were put at 40 cents per ton, and
changes were made in the textile and
other schedules of more or less import
ance.
Before the amended bill was reported
back to the committee | consulted with
President Cleveland. Secretary Carlisle
and members of the Finance Committee,
explaining the necessity for making the
changes mentioned. They all agreed as
to the advisability of doing so, and a
caucus of Democratic Senators decided to
support the bill as amended. From May
1st, when the amendments were offered.
to July Sd, when the bill finally passed
the Senate, the forty-three Democrats
stood together like stone wall, and re-
deemed their pledges like men. with but
a single break.
''Many things in the Senate bill are not
satisfactory to me. If | could have had
my own way l could have raised the rev.
enue needed from incomes, whisky, beer
and tobacco, and not from sugar or
woollen goods, and when imposing tax
on sugar [ would not have imposed any
extra tax on refined sugar. The bill as
passed, however, is a great departure
from McKinleyism. and is a great meas
ure of tariff retOrmu