The San Francisco call., 1898-01-21
DEBATES IN CONGRESS


 rights would not be advantageous to them! What a pity that General Lee, Jefferson Davis and other Confederate statesmen were not informed that belig- erency would not aid their cause when l abroad!'
 Have the Cubans a government to rec i ognize"' asked DalZell of Pennsylvania.
 They have the same sort of govern | ment that other Spanish colonies had l when they were rebelling against Spain.
 Who is their President"
 Bartholomew Masso," interposed King 1 (DD of Utah.
 At Cubitas,'' responded Williams, as if answering a catechism.
 At how many places was the American | capital located during the revolution? l asked Clark (D.) of Missouri of Dalzell, | while others besieged him with ques. | tions as to the name of the President or | the United States during the revolution, | etc, until Williams time expired. when | he gave way to King (D) of Utah, who i has recently returned from visit to Gu ] ba, and who gave the House some of the results of his personal observations there. l lie described the narrowing conditions 1 there, characterized the scheme of auton- | omy as a delusion and declared that 1T | peace came on that basis spain would | double the war debt on Cuba. There | would be resistance, and once more the | fires of revolution would be kindled. Fer | lmanent peace could not come to the isl- ! and unless independence was achieved. King affirmed that those in Havana who 1 were openly committed to autonomy were | secretly helping to drag it down. In Ha- vana autonomy was derided and scorned on every side. In conclusion, he de- clared that the dream of those who be- lieved peace could come to Cuba without independence would be rudely shattered Johnson (R) of Indiana, in a fifteen the administration. The President, he said, had displayed good sense, sound judgment and exalted patriotism. Con- gress, he said. would not be warranted President md rushing the country rashly into war fraught with tremendous consequences. He warned members that we might be standing on the brink of a crater greater than we imagined. Spain might be old and impotent and incapable of oVercom- ing us, but we might goad her to that point where, in response to her pride and courage. she might involve us in great difficulties.
 Simpson (P) of Kansas. speaking for the third party, said he was not lying awake O nights worrying over the Gu ban question:" But he was satisfied, he said. that the real secret behind the at titude of the administration was the fact that the holders of the Spanish bonds, S400 900 in amount, were not satisfied that they would get their money. He said the bondholding interests were as much in control of the country as they had been during the Cleveland admins tration, and that no action would be taken until the payment of these bonds had been guaranteed.
 After some brief pro-Cuban speeches by Robinson (D) of Indiana and Coch- ran CD.) of Missouri. Dingley (R) of Maine took the floor to reply to remarks made during the course of the debate relative to the wage reductions in the cotton industry. After such a revulsion of business as the country had eXperi- enced during three years it was natural, he said, that recuperation was slow. In all but one industry (the cotton industry improvement was noted and wages had been advanced. Alongside of the 10 per cent reduction of wages in the cotton in I asar4 that in the WorSted industry. He ad- mitted, he said. that the depression in the cotton industry was unfortunate. but the case was exceptional. It was due to the sudden and unexpected decline in the price of cotton. In three months the price had declined % per cent because the Southern planters insisted upon growing 100000 bales more cotton than the world wanted Almost every cotton factory in New England had from six to eight months supply of & cent manu- factured cotton on their hands. In addition to this he pointed out the effect of the competition that had grown up in the South, where longer hours and lower wages were the vogue. Eventually the South would come up to the North ern standard. but the temporary present conditions gave the South the advantage. Protective tariffs could effect nothing if | the hours of labor in the several States were not capitalized. Dingley declared that the labor organizations would com pei an amendment to the constitution which would permit Congress to equaliZe | DlnGleV | a good deal of crOSs-firing with Southern | members. The Cuban question was tenn porarily lost sight of and for more than an hour tariff was talked to the exclusion of everything else Dingley said those who were still "chattering" about the lack of revenues under the new tariff law had better be prompt about it. For your opportunity to chatter will soon be over,' said he. "Yesterday our ! receipts from customs were $S50 900. The receipts themselves will soon silence these l critics"
 At o'clock the committee rose, under the arrangement made yesterday and re- ! ported the bill to the House. One of the l most dramatic and sensational episodes | of this Congress followed. The Speaker of the House and Bailey of Texas, the | Democratic leader, clashed on a question | of veracity and the excitement was in | tense. The Texan moved to recommit the | bill, with instructions to the committee to report it back with an amendment en- 1 bodytng the terms of the Senate Cuban belligerency resolution.
 Hit immediately made the point of or mane and was obnoxious to the rule ! aginSt new legislation.
 This point the Speaker promptly sus- tained.
 Bailey, surrounded by a group of Demo- crats, protested that the agreement yes terday included provision for a vote on l the motion to recommit.
 Hitt denied this, saying that the notice or the motion to recommit was given af- teTWIard; There vas much confusion
 
 cluded Bailey suddenly electrified the l House with the statement that he had | had a distinct understanding to that eff feet with the Speaker of the House 1 The chair states that the gentleman l from Texas is mistaken" retorted the l Speaker from the chair in the most em- | phatic tones. The Speaker looked the Texan straight in the eye and his voice quivered with emotion. .'The chair never agreed that a motion which was plainly out of order would be entertained The l gentleman notified me that there would | be no further opposition"
 And I make the statement" declared Bailey, without flinching, that we did have such an agreement" He, too, was evidently laboring under great stress of feeling.
 By this time the House was in an up- roar and the spectators in the galleries were looking on with amusement
 Bailey proceeded to explain the circum- stances under which the alleged agree ment was made. He said that some of | the members on his side desired to attend l the funeral of a distinguished ex-member l Ben Butterworth, yesterday afternoon but they desired to remain if there were l to be any votes. He had approached the | Speaker, he said, with the proposition of | vote the motion to recOrnmft Tho