The times., 1898-06-02
Debate Oh the War Revenue
Bill Drawing TO a C.oSp.
MR. CHANDLfR'S B0MBSHEhL
The New Hampshire Senator Bitter
Iy Den0unces the Republican Gold
Standard Policy and Calls the
President and other Party Lend
crs to Account.

TO make. Yesterday several of the COM
mittee amendments were agreed to and
the proposition 70 impose direct tax
upon the gross feceipts of corporations
as expressed in the German amendment
was defeated by a majority of seven
votes.
Later on Mr.. White took this amend
ment up and condensed it so that it ap-
piled only to companies engaged in the
business of refining petroleum or sugar,
owning controlling any pipe line for
transporting oil or other products. reduced
the tax from IL to Ia of l per cent on
the gross receipts over and above $25e. 600,
and the Senate agreed to It. Just what
fine distinction there exists between the.
corporations engaged in the business that
Is thus taxed and those other monopolieS
which the Senate refused to tax is a ques-
ton that some senator must yet explain.
Mr.. Whites amendment received the af-
firmative votes of Messrs. Baker, Carter,
CulIom and Perkins on the Republican
side OF the chamber and the negative
votes of Messrs. Caffery and McEnery on
the Democratic side.
Briefly stated, the other important re-
suits of the day consisted of the adoption
of amendments putting the special license
taxes into effect July l, reducing the tax
on manufactured tobacco back to the IL
cent rate of the House and increasing the
tax on cigars from $3.50 to $780, and the
concurrence of the Senate In about one
half the stamp taxes imposed by the COM
mittee, the remainder of that section 10
be disposed of today.
1t was believed during the afternoon,
after things began to move along so swim
ingly. that the final vote on the bill might
be taken today before adjournment. but
this IS not now likely. Senator Butler Is
| booked for speech on one of his amend
ments. and the bond feature OF the bill,
which may be reached very soon. IS also
| liable to draw out some OF the opponents
! of that idea. Then. too. the heavy taxes
| imposed upon proprietary medicines Will
meet with much opposition, and may lead
to some irritating discussion. All things
: considered. therefore. It looks as If the
bill would drag along through the re-
| mainder of the week.
| The days discussion was devoted to an
entertaining speech by Mr.. Chandler. In
which he held the Republican party up
( to its record. and showed much of the
| Inconsistency of the party and such Of its
prominent leaders as President AcIEin-
| ley. ex-senator Sherman and Senator
1 &alilouIi, OI l4le iuDHcy question: his
! speech was a strong plea for bimetallism.
and during the course Of its reading-for
| IL had been carefully prepared-Mr.
| Chandler made the statement that the
Supreme Court had been packed In order
| to insure a decision in favor of the con-
stitutlonality OF the greenback-
| This statement, together with other pro-
voking assertions Of the caustIc and witty
senator from New Hampshire. brought
Mr.. Hoar OF Massachusetts, To his feet
in defense of the acts of Grant and his
Administration. and the Massachusetts
| senator. with his. penchant for scolding.
| asserted that Mr. Chandler's intimation
that the court had been packed was "as
vile a SANDER as ever thrust its dirty
head upon the stump"
The debate OF the day wound up with
an attack on the gold standard men by
| Mr.. Stewart and a philippe against an
issue OF bonds by Mr.. Bate
Fifteen minutes were consumed in Sc
| curing a quorum. Mr. Chandler then took
! the floor to talk on the war revenue bill
! THE present war has acquired no such
exfgency as to authorize an Increased is
| suance OF greenbacks,' he said. In re-
gard to the coinage OF the silver seigniOr-
| age in the Treasury. Mr.. Chandler beIiev-
ed the proposition to do so was a good
one
Mr. Chandler's declaration of principles
IN reference the war revenue UledSGF
! vas 20 first enact a moderate internal
| revenue tax; second. authorize the Presi-
dent to make a moderate 3 per cent. loan,
and third, to declare 1t not to be the policy
of the United States to commit the eoun-
try more thoroughly TO the gold standard.
but that the effort of the Government is
| to secure the use of silver as we'll as gold
for money and to secure and maintain a
parity between the two metals.
| Nv eoil n TO n; hot
this declaration against the single gold
standard ought to receive the unanimous
support Of the Senate. He then went
back over the history of the Republican
party in regard to the money question,
| showing that 1t had heretofore been in
favor of the double standard He spoke
of the visit of the commission to Eu-
rope and declared that their work was
made a failure by the utterances of Sec
retary Gage to the effect that we were
not sincere In our efforts.
7 Mr.. Chandler then had a letter read
which he had transmitted to President
Mckinley on September q. 1897, in which
he urged him to make public statemen;
of his abandonment of the st. Louis
platform or denounce the Injurious ut
terances which had defeated the work OF
the European commission.
.'I received no reply to that letter" said
Mr.. Chandler, "and no public statement
was made by the President.
Secretary Gage had many allies among
| Republicans in Congress, and in the cur
reney bill which Mr.. Gage advocated al
this session of Congress he declares ir
the very first sentence that it is to COM
NIT the country more thoroughly to the
gold standard
Mr. Chandler then showed the absur-
dity of the record of Republican senators
in their vote for the Stanley Matthews
resolution twenty years ago and against
ii now. He declared that the Republican
party had packed" the Supreme Court
to secure decision that United States
notes were constitutional. In view oi
this fact he declared that il was very
inconsistent for them to declare now that
it was unconstitutional to use both money
metals on which those notes were based
as the money of the nation.
Mr.. Chandler declared that he believed
that if the United States would make a
determined and sincere effort to secure
| bimetallism, England would assist the
| movement "But the search for interna-
tional agreement will be without avail
if Secretary Gage is allowed to stab the
movement at every turn
zone thing is certain, continued he
France will never yield to a single gold
| standard, and it. is my opinion that a
successful establishment and maintenance
of the double standard can be secured
by the United States, France and the
Asiatic nations.
Turning his attention to the effect OF
| the single gold standard on the price OF
| commodities, he declared that IT'S effect
was TO continually lower prices and thai
the people in this country had not ex-
perieneed its full effect on account of the
short crops of Europe which had boil
/ Sfered IN Ollr DrioeS4 He Ga Ii that If thie