The San Francisco call., 1897-06-18
In One Week More the
Bill Will Reach the
ConfereeS.
Thirty Four Pages of the
Measure Disposed Of
in Two Days.
Republicans Retain the Majority
and Easily Defeat All Demo-
cratic Amendments.

same rate OF progress made by tue Senate
the last two days is kept up for another
week, the tariff bill will be in the hands
OF the conference committee. In those
two days no less than thirty-four pages
com prising eightyfour separate para
graphs, were disposed of. And now the
Senate has gone over about half of 1t and
reached schedule ], which has to do with
duties Oh fax, hemp, iute and their
manufactures. Two full schedules were
gone through to-day, schedule II, spirits
and wines, and schedule /, cotton manu-
factures. The usual attacks were made
on almost every paragraph by Jones OF
Arkansas and Vest, but not in a single
instance was there a sign of wavering on
the Republican side; and all aye and noe
votes taken down TO the last showed the
Republican majority seven to ten. On
the last vote, however, the majority was
cut 20 four, Teller and McEnery who had
been supporting the majority all day,
voting with the Democrats.
In the course of the day Vest delivered
one OF his EN- bIttered declamations in op-
position to the duty on natural m m.neral
waters. He spoke OF the necessity Of
those waters to many poor patients, and
imagined their being told 10 drink our
water or die,' and that it was better for
them to die than a great protective sys-
tenn to be sacrificed.
TilIman participated in the discussion to
the extent of inviting the Republicans 10
load the bill as heavily as they dared and
promising to help them in doing so.
Allison managed the discussion on the
Republican side, no other Senator taking
part.
1t was 11:05 o'clock when schedule H,
brandy and distilled spirits was taken up.
The duty on brandy and distilled spirits
not specially provided for was fixed at
81 25 per proof gallon, instead Of 81 80 as
in the House bill. The clause in section
2S9 as TO forfelting imported liquors under
certain conditions, which the Finance
Com mittee had recon- me nded be struck
out, was retained, Allison having with
drawn the amendment The committee
amendment to the other paragraphs was
agreed to. The committees substitute for
paragraph 295, still wines, was agl eed to.
1t makes the duty on still wines, includ-
ing ginger wine and vermouth, when in
casks containing IA per cent or less of
absolute alcohol, 80 cents a gallon; wien
containing more than IA per cent of
alcohol, 80 cents; when bottled, 81 90 per
case of dozen quarts or two dozen pints.
Paragraph 299 makes the duty Is cents
per dozen bottles on ginger ale and sim
liar beverages containing no alcohol. The
paragraph was agreed to.
Paragraph 800, putting duties on min
eral waters, natural and artificial. as
agreed to, reduces the House rates from
so cents a dozen pint bottles to IA cents;
from 40 cents on quart bottles 10 "A cents,
and in larger vessels from 80 cents gallon
TO % cents; and they require the designa-
ton of contents to be blown into bottles
after February l next.
When schedule l, cotton manufactures,
was taken up Jones of Arkansas and Mills
argued in favor of putting cotton yarn on
the free list so as to give fair field to
cotton-manufacturers who would then
DEFY all competition.
Vest spoke in the same line.
McLsurin attacked the bill generally as
being framed on sectional lines and sacri-
ficing the interests of the South to the
greed and avarice of the North.
The paragraph was agreed to. The two
new paragraphs reported by the Finance
Committee-one defining cotton cloth and
the other putting a duty of cents a
square yard and 30 per cent ad vaiorem on
silk striped sleeve linings-were agreed to.
Vest moved to reduce the duty on ready
made clothing paragraph 311) from so
per cent ad valorem to 40 per cent; also
to reduce the rates on pushes (312) Both
motions were defeated and the paragraphs
agreed to.
The committee amendments to para
graphs from 313 to 319 were agreed to.
Paragraph 317 was modified by making
the duty on suspenders and braces 40 per
cent instead of As per cent and by making
the duty on cotton labels so cents q pound
and 80 per cent ad valorem instead of 25
and 35.
A new paragraph was added on motion
of Allison making the duty on cotton
yarns and cotton manufactures from yarns
finer than No. 10, 10 per cent ad valorem
in addition to appropriate duties on cot
ton paragraphs.
Vest referred to this new paragraph as
compensatory tax and asked Allison
whether he would havo offered the amend
ment if tax had not been put on raw
cotton?
Allison replied that certainly he would
uot
Gray asked Vest whether he had ever
discovered if anything compensatory to
the consumer came in.
"Oh," Vest replied, "that is in the
clouds or somewhere else. The consumer
is merely compensated in general philan-
throplc declarations as to how much our
friends on the other side think of him.
Jones of Arkansas denounced the pro-
posed compensatory paragraph as an
aboninable fraud that ought to excite the
indignation of every Senator. The para
graph, however, was agreed to, 80 to 26
This closed the cotton schedule and
brought matters down to schedule J, fax,
hemp, jute and their manufactures. The
bill then went over.
nzuct IN IN