The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-07-20
At 1917 O'Clock This Morning
the Tariff Bill
As Reported by the Conference
Committee Was Passed.
VOTE WAS 1S5 TO lis.
Not a POpulist Supported tn
Bill.
Sugar Schedule Furnished Mat
ter for Sharp Debate.

house presented an animated appear
ance long before the speaker raped
that body to order yesterday. Mem
bers stood about in groups and dis
cussed, sometimes in excited tones, the
result of the conference agreement on
the tariff bill. The final conference re-
port on the general deficiency appropri-
alton bill was adopted.
This out of the way, Mr.. Dingley
arose, and, holding aloft the report and
a great mass of papers, he said:
Mr.. Speaker, L desire to present the
conference report on the tariff bill"
Rounds of applause from the Repub-
licans greeted this announcement. An
effort was made to secure an agree
ment for vote. Mr.. Bailey said the
minority desired three days. but, know
ing they could not obtain them, would
be satisfied with two.
Mr. Dingley refused to agree to this,
saying: Talk at this time is very ex-
pensive. 1t costs the treasury 100000
a day"
mot so expensive as the ten days
you spent in arranging this schedule
with the sugar trust retOrted Mr..
Bailey, amid counter round of APP
plause by his followers.
Mr.. DingIey, in reply, pointed out
that never before in legislative history
had a tariff bill been in conference SO
brief time. The Mckinley bill had
been in conference two weeks, land our
friends on the other side,'' said he, ad-
dressing the Democrats, Gin 1894 were
ing an agreement"
1.-THE trouble in 1884, retOrted Mr..
Bailey, was that we were trying to
run the Democra tic party with lot of
mugwumps in command daughter
and applause on the Democratic side0
Mr.. Dingley continued his efforts to
during the discussion crying: vote,
vote, vote"
Il suggest we wait until sugar stock
goes up a little higher" said Mr.. Bailey,
ff~,n1 Io- n
share since the agreement was report
ed
All efforts to reach an agreement
having failed, Mr.. Dingley opened his
speech on the conference report. He
took UP each schedule, explaining in
detail the changes made and following
closely the formal statement given out
by the committee.
Concerning the sugar schedule, Mr.
Dingley read from the official state
ment, adding brief comments. BY the
new arrangement about six millionedol-
lars increase of revenue would be re-
allied, as the increase had been placed
ON raw sugars at the point where reve-
nue. would be received and at the same
time the beet sugar industry would re-
ceive substantial benefit.
When Mr.. Dingley referred to the
elimination of the stamp tax Mr.. Todd
Oem., Mich) asked him if he then
'confessed'' that they had abandoned
the idea of taxing the stock gamblers
of Wall street.
MOI at all, repl1ed Mr. DlnSley.
I'VE discovered that the sales on Wall
street could not be followed. No rec
ord is kept. The machinery of collec-
tion would be too complex"
Mr.. Cooper Rep., Wis., wanted an
explanation of the net result of the
change in the sugar schedule.
Mr.. Dingley explained it along the
lines of the statement submitted by the
conferees. The differential to the re-
finer, he said, was exactly the same as
the house bill. This started a volley
of questions about the sugar schedule.
Mr.. johnson (Rep., Ind) wanted to
know if the increase in the rate on re-
fined sugar would not increase the
profits of the trust on the anticipatory
importations of raw sugars.
Mr.. Dingley explained the impossi-
bility of preventing these profits.
Mr.. Dingley, after a calculation, af-
frEled that the refiner of sugar under
tial of 221a cents per hundred pounds,
as against 121a cents in the pending bill
as agreed to by the conferees. AS to
the question of revenue to be raised
by the bill, Mr.. Dingley pointed out the
difficulty resulting from the large an
ticipatory importations. The bill next
year, he calculated, would raise $225,-
900 900, SIS, 100000 more than the pres
ent law. Over $40, 000, 600 had been lost
in this years revenues by the importa-
lions of beet sugar and other things
duty on which was raised in the bill
so that he calculated that the bill this
year raised $1S5, 900. Mr.. Dingley
declared that there was no doubt that
the revenue produced by the
to meet the expenditures Of
the government, but allow a Repub-
lican administration to begin to pay off
the principal of the public debt which
had been increased by the late admin
istration. In conclusion Mr.. Dingley
received round after round of applause
from his Republican colleagues by pre-
dieting a result of the enactment of
this bill rise of prices and a restora-
tion of prosperity.
Mr.. Wheeler Dem., Ala) opened the
debate for the Democrats, criticiSing
the bill as the most vicious and burden
some ever imposed the American
people. In particular he discussed the
serious effect of the measure upon the
laboring classes and agriculturists. Mr..
Wheeler referred to the advance in
sugar stocks in the New York market
and said this was the clearest evidence
of the benefits conferred upon the SUI
gar trust.
Mr.. Swanson ,(Dem.) a member of the
ways and means committee, to whom
Mr.. Wheeler yielded a portion of his
time, devoted his attention to aSsailtng
conferees.
He asserted that the proposed sched-
ule gave sugar double the protection re-
ceived under the present law, and it
has been loudly proclaimed, Mr.. Swan
son said, that the house conferees had
won a brilliant victory over the senate
on sugar and ne mad seen IN the morn
ing papers pictures of the speaker of
the house with the sugar trust crushed
and bleeding under his feet.
He then compared the two schedules
to show that the duty on refined sugar
in the senate schedule and in the new
schedule were exactly the same, and he
figured out that the trust would receive
a differentia1 on refined sugars Of 80
degrees (the average of sugars import
ed) Of cents per 100 pounds more than
the house schedule
I'VE might be mistaken here" con-
tinued Mr. Swanson, 1--WE might not be
able to figure out this complicated
schedule, but there are those who make