The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-05-13
CHAPTER IN HISTORY.
me WuGlN nIII . .nhl thn =.

tariff bill by the ~enstew as exceedingly doubtful We had but forty four demo
Gratis Hill We knew ws agsaa tt, frm the start and his support could moi
possibly he counted upon That lt u, forty three and 1t required that numtei
to pas the bill Then came u" knowledge that Maphy iorman Smith and
Brce each hAd demand. whi,h unless uy weNg granted would result in then
refusal to support ihs hall Th. hyame 50 evident the position Of those mn So
uncompwmAns t@i an,r several ~rA. nahtd that q surrender to them
~onld be 't~3ateF oo'@a1 Thea esHel Jones TO me one day
"joaes ISa4 Asrc hat aer ,hames f passing a tariff bill by the Fifty
thna oas7o~, ,~n oe ana a'os mat ban a-rrpt~a anhore for theblr lost
fa m"si @A' 'Sav oi2 81. to na sat a1 each oei th"r four senators to
rar oaaiu~ w@a sad ~ aG % item by item have thom point ont the pro
r@oa. 80 wasA ,Ay @5~t have rrm mako known their demands and then
proved " ''ra-" ihrm a'"" Z" III" last point which they viii omvl" Wcmn7t
taer agree ~luNTHnt ,ur desire, upon condition that they will 20 into the
6ehi st sagfst She omwtine "a the end
yas "a.
Pr the very good a sufficient reason IrpDd that it /. not probable
tha' eold mk with o"e Of those fellows ay" minutes certainly NOT ten until
1 woni become SO ipdEnat n the idea Of those for d II fellows standing out
against forty that would manifest it in a way to destroy all capuco Of conlro
mise ont you are " big robust good n'tF"l' m7 and can n@2otnt" with them
in way in which | can not
told him to dosn He took each Of the". men aud the process Of ,tmining be,
gan When 1t was finished he reported the result Of his ubor to The committee
pntnton as then made and it wos found that al average reduction Of about Il
per cent as compared with the existing law had been made and the bill was only
about 2 per cent higher than when it anne from the house It was next sub
mittd toa full caucus of democratic snatorsand received the unanimous pledge
Of support. with the exception # Hin It the. went to the senate and ON july 4
was passed receiving forty tire" yotrs including tb"scot the four senators who.
We then took the bin to conference In presenting if to the hons, ,onf.r,4
lmade an explanation. said to them that there was Dnt M way and only one
way by which a tariff bill could be passed by that congress told the situation
Isl had hecn found te ueccsity for making ccrtninr Concessions to tImsr onr
senator. then pointed those amendments out Now said + these must not
he changed They were made in good faith, they we're absolutely necessary the
ln could not pass without them, in exchange for them those senators pledged
their support to the bill they have kept their frth, they have voted with the
committee throughout and we ire under a solemn obligation to observe Our part
of the compact Leave these alone we AN not discuss them with you and it, at
last you find yon AN not agree to m amendments. then / will say we will yield
oyont If necessary, in every instance but these nmen1ncnsw which have pointed
ont we cn not change
mo definite understanding was reached then and consideration Of the bin
in conference proceeded This continued for several days When we would
rach ne OF the amendments made att the instance of NJ of these four senators
1T would be discussed at length aud finally passed over at the suggestion of a
house conferee with a purpose 10 return to It's consideration after the others had
h~n disposed OF nm continued "ul something nor" than n hundred amend
mcns had been taken mp when Mt length said, Gentlemen am not disposed
to wasea any more time with the consideration of this bill while the paramount
question remains" unsettled u !" useless y" Tp'n' another monent ," the bill
unless II be the purpose of the house confcrces to accept the amendments which
have pointed Mt as prerequisite to the passage of the bill some discussion
followed aud finally an adjournment, without amy agreement having been
reached The anne thing occurred II few days later 1t was late in the after
noon when made the same statement that was impatient and unwilling to
waste an NOR TIM Oh the bill Will" 'h"qn@ionnp upon which its passage hinged
was unsettled II You will agree to these amendments " G are ready to proceed
with the others and If necessary, to yield to you in every single instance VII
son remarked that III" house o"'a not accept tea amendments and the conmrces
adjourned.
1T was then about & O'Clock, and in leaving the capitol said to Jones
Jones hadn't we better Z" md see Cleveland and try to get him to use his iun
enea and tone the house confcrres DOWN Jones replied that probably it would
be wise then teephon"l Thdrher and asked him if Jones and myself could
have an interview with the president ut some hour convenient to him that oven
ing Thurber replied that the president had gone out driving and he had noidca
next morning told him we had an engagement ODE at conference meeting at
iooclock, but if he would arrange for II call at O'Clock we would be there. He
said all right; he would arrange for the president to see us at o'clock
The following morning Jones and myself went to the white house and saw
the president We explained Ito him the difficulties with which we were labor.
ing told him of the necessity of the house accepting certain amendments, re. !
that miles,. thc4e amendment. should he \" agc"I tn y" to h "n W.T." VII , ,F I 1,
could be passed. by the fifty third congress He assured us. a plainly n citber of
us thought possible that he appreciated perfectly the situation and would aid lis
by using his influence in getting the house confervs in line |.
I'VE left the white house and as we drove to the capitol Jones and | con.
graduated ourselves upon having enlisted such II powerful ally rs the president |
We concluded that the wise thing to do would to move an adjournment Of the 9
for a flew days ho order to give Cleveland a chance etc get in his work l.
and tone down the house conferees Accordingly an adjournment was taken in !
definitely, After few days thinking that Cleveland had brought his influence
to bear in the meantime, called the conferees tognther.
Wilson moved that the confcrces report their dhagreements to their respcc.
I've houses lamended that by the suggestion that each report a general dia
without detailing the disagreements because, otherwise each di4o |e
would @a distinct subject for debate My suggestion ws adopted
and the conference adjourned q
Following this the house confcrecs returned to the housc. and Wilson in
making his report of a general disagreement reached N his pocket and broupt, a
out Cleveland letter written think, on July . in which he INDUCED in rerG Il
dy IN dishonor and a few other choicest cpthcts in speaking of the senate bill
~ following thu proceeds narrowly and on the following morning when ri
picked NJ the Record to see exactly what had occurred and read TINT letter. of !
could not have been more stounid had n cannon been frd off n
beneath my window there The effect of the reading of that letter wnsi mmrdi II
plain
when he contcr"s met again simply said to Wilson. The conanct Of =.
yourself and Cleveland IN connection with this bill has been such NJ to make ifs. |,
passage low possible OF only m contingent and that is the house agree to the -
bill III 1.-THE precise form that 1t came from the senate. The house must accent |,
Just as passed the senate amendlnent. for amendment wurl for word letter
tr letter punctuation mark for punctuation mark for if that hill is changed one
ota and goes hack to the senate those four senators will defeat it La
Wilson said, They can't stand n yea and nay vote said Not mA,e am d,
said again, Thos" senators "a not stand n year and nay vote In reply to that W
SAID wilson am hardly patient that You, who scarcely know those men /,
'h"'d presume to contradict me n statement ms to what they will do when III
ave elb'wed them for Ax and twelve aud perhaps eighteen ears say they e.
eager fora yea and nay vote but will tel. You what will do | will with. Ina
"a ne house conferesa and bring those senators here and Introduce them then La
ave on '" ascertain whether they will stand the vote He said all right and
returned to thu senate chamber and took these gentlemen to the conference IL
presented them to the house conteres and withdrew the ma ercnnrees l.,
n about n hmlfh hour Wilson sent for me The senate confereesa and nyniy 70 n.
wilson assured Nc | was right and admitted it would ut do % let ia. L.
MI 20 back to TIT senate and agreed that u general concession to all senate i,
Wfhhmeh Was n only course open to the house That agreement hinr :,
Na'hea me conference ceased and the senate bill went to ,c house v
a Few unNs aHert hat called aU e white hnnse nm IL ,,.,,..,s IuS,.