New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-23
PRICE THREE CENTS
A MEMORABLE CONTEST ON.
THE TARIFF DEBATE BEGINS.
A TELLING ARGUMENT FOR THE BILL
MADE BY CHAIRMAN DINGLEY.
GENERAL WHEELER. or ALABAMA. LEADS OF
FOR THE oPPosTTIoS-A BIG AUDIENCE OF
INTERESTED SPECTATORS ~ THE
HOUsE-THE DISCUSSION CON
TINUED UNTIL LATE
tDY TELEGRAPH TO THE rarBrxE.I

tBY TELEGRAPH TO THE rarBrsE.1
Washington. March 22-The great tariff con.
test OF 1897, which everybody believes will be Q
memorable one and the outcome Of which every
Republican and many thousand. Of Democrats
well believe will be Of immense benefit 10 the
country. began in the H0use OF Representatives
/ to-day. Although the time appointed two
hours earlier than that which the daily sit.
tings usually begin. there pretty full At.
tendance OF members and the galleries were
/ filed with interested spectators. The audience
continued to Increase In size during the two hours
and more consumed By the clerks In reading the
/ BILL
/ Mr. Sherman. OF New-York who has been
honored with the charmanship OF the Com.
mit,ee Of the Whole proves TO be an excellent
! and most efficient presiding officer and his selec.
ton is regarded on all sides exceedingly
/ fortunate
OPPOSITION TO PROTECTION WEAKENING
As one looks down from the gallery and recalls
/ the scenes Of fourteen years ago when a general
/ Tariff bill was under discussion, he Is immediate
/ ly struck with the fact tha, the opposition to .
protective tariff is much weaker now than Il was
then--not in numbers. but in weight and force
Leaving out OF the question in the XLvfIth
Congress Samuel ]. Randall, who was never .
tariff reformer in the modern Democratic sense.
! there were Morrison, Carlisle, Randolph Tucker.
! s. s. Cox Abram g. Hewitt, Blackburn. Buck
! ner Culberson, Hammond. Of Georgia; Hatch,
/ Herbert, Knott Mills Oates, Reagan. Springer.
| Alexander H. Stephens. Turner, Of Georgia, and
a score Of other men whose faces are missing
/ from the Democratic ranks to-day.
McMilln. Bland Wheeler and Holman remain,
| but none OF them. with the possible exception OF
the first, has ever been regarded as a tariff re-
/ form leader and even he Is now obliged 10 SIC
below Mr. Bailey. Of Texas youngs,er Of only
six years service, who had Just been admitted 70
practice a, the Mississippi bar when the tarR
/ Of 1883 was enacted. Both these are IN their
/ places today and the gossips say there IL bad
/ blood between them and that McMillin has ex-
| cused himself from the chivalrous offer made TO
| him by his youthful and successful riyal-ths
privilege Of firing the frst gun in the tariff BAT.
tie which is about to open
DEMOCRATIC LEADERS AT ODDS.
The root OF the trouble between them. how
ever. is deeper than any merely personal feeling.
/ McMn the veteran. is a champion OF "untaxed
raw materials" and Bailey the young leader Of
the minority. is opposed 10 the free admission OF
so-called raw materials" in any case where q
/ duty is imposed on articles made therefrom. For
the last two three days the latter has been
/ struggling To prepare statement OF the views"
Of the minority in opposition 10 the Dingley bill
which all the Democratic members Of the Ways
and Means Committee can sign. The statement
/ is not ready when the House assemblies and it
is some hours later before II Is signed and sub
mitted
/ McMillin looks over the Democratic side. and
he seems sour and dscontented. as well dis
appointed as he notes what he regards as the
decentralization In the tariff reform ranks
Three years ago they were solid and enthusiastic.
and "untaxed materials was their chief
war cry How different now At least fifth
some say two-ffths-of the Democrats favor
duties on raw materials" and many Of them
also favor duties on manufactured goods and
finished products-duties as high as Randall ever
advocated. McMilin may even have overheard
the remark OF one of these men who said only
three days ago that I'VE have stood around John
c. Calhouns tombstone and in our own light
quite long enough"
And then as McNtillin's gaze waniers over the
faces Of the stralghtout Populist annex OF his
party he discovers nothing 10 cheer his soul He
realizes that they also are opposed 10 "untaxed
raw materials and in favor of tariff on in
ported goods Even the fact that they also favor
a graduated tax on incomes does not seem to
cheer the father # the income tax of 1884"
REPUBLICANS READY FOR THE FRAY.
Most Of the Republicans, including all the
Republican members Of the Ways and Means
Con nittee. are In their seats, and apparently
ready and eager for the fray. Chairman Ding
ley and his colleagues Of his own party seem
TO be as full of vim they were ;hree months
AGO. before they began the difficult and tedious
task whose result is about 70 be submitted to
the test Of Republican criticism and Demo
cratic assault. Not one OF them a member
of the Ways and Means Committee which
framed the tariff Of 1888 but two OF them
Messrs. Dingley and Payne-took a prominent
part in the framing OF the Act Of 1890 and three
Of them-Messr1 Payne Dalzell and Hopkins
were members Of the committee when Professor
Wilson and his Democratic colleagues framed
the bill which bore his name and some frag-
ments Of which are embodied in the existing law.
The House is ell attention Chairman Ding
ley rises 20 open the debate, and as he proceeds
with his luminous statement OF the provisions
Of The bill and the reasons why IL should be
enacted the interest deepens Governor Dngley
is not an orator in the ordinary sense. but he
is a man 10 whom the House always listens. and
In whom il reposes great confidence. His speech,
therefore is an effective one. and such as the
occasion demands, and he is rewarded with
liberal and hearty applause.
The interest wanes when II ls discovered that
the first gun in behalf OF the minority is TO be
fired by General Wheeler of Alabama NC
Mnlin is still sulking in his tent 50 TO speak
and Bailey is not ready TO speak. The DIS
ting,ished ex x-Confederate cavalry leader erects
q stout barricade of big, thick volumes upon MS
desk. from behind which he fires spiteful VOL
leys Of statistics and assertions. WHICH aPpesS
70 do no execution among the enemy.
Mr. Hopkins. Of Illinois. who nex' e'a'"s ~'o
.,,,.os tho ottenrion Of the House, succeeds
in provoking interruptions from the Democrats
ard slows his readiness and familiarity with
h,s suh,ec, bv getting the better OF every body
hv asking nrlssfiona