The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-03-16
A DAY OF RIOTOUs FUN.

the Puerto Rican bill. 1t was a memo
rable battle between men Of parts, and
some made regulations that viii sur
IJ. A Holloman, the excellent Wash
lington correspondent OF the Atlanta
journal. that wit, sarcasm and elo
lquence flowed M the house rang again
and again with the applause Of the an
lt~agonizing sides. The report OF Mr..
lHolloman would fill several columns in
the Messenger-ive or more-and il Is
very interesting reading. We wish We
icould command space to reproduce at
least half Of his report, for it is spicy
and sharp and caustic and most enter
ltaining. Mr.. .Holloman says:
AT times the house would be in an
luproar of confusion. Sarcasm and
lburlesque and mimicry would be tossed
from n side to another. And then
some keen witticism would ave both
sides convulsed with laughter, and in
lanother moment the beautiful rhetorf-
lcal fight Of some well known orator
would provoke a reverential silence as
penetrating as the stiffness of a death
lcham5er.
at was simply remarkable"
Mckinley Topped and others of the
~easy-going gang Topped, and so the
circus performance went on and the
riders on the merry-go-round" were in
lecstacies and some in glory. We
quote:
Mckinley became alarmed, and he
WHISPERED a sacrifice of his conviction
to save his party.
Il believed that we should establish
free trade with the Porto Ricans," he
said, but that bill must now be
passed"
And still the democrats were in the
aggressive, with the republicans adj
mittedly whipped. Then, in disgust
land humiliation, the compromise was
decided upon. The tenure of the tariff
was made two years and the rate re-
Iduced from % to 10 per cent. This
pulled several of the boiling republic
leans into line and the leaders again
took hope.
IF it is unconstitutional for all time,
lit is for two years." declared the dem
I~ocrats. IF it is wrong to impose any
tax, the evil is not lessened by a reduc-
ton of the amount"
And so the debate raged-oratory
and argument, wit and humor, all
tossed together n interviewer into
one great battle Of words"
Representative SuIlLIlluSS, TIE IOlSO
member of the house from New York
city, a gifted journalist and alike
bright and able, trapped the republic
cans with easy tact, and made a fine
point against the traders and foppers.
He made an effective, earnest speech.
He opened strikingly and caught the
ear of all. New we copy from the re-
port:
believing this, after 1 had voted for
ls50, 000, 900 to be spent by the president
lof the United States to prepare us for
a war with Spain, and after voting for
the declaration of war, l stood here,
lrising above party, and voted for the
revenue bill which provided money to
Icarry on that war. In that same pa.
I%triotic spirit I declare here today, with
a full sense of my responsibility, that
I shall vote for this bill"
The democrats were horror-stricken,
They cheered and even yelled. Several
of them moved toward the speaker to
shake his hand and to embrace him.
But he continued, his arms raised, his
head thrown back
Eyes, Mr.. Chairman, l shall vote for
this bill provided it is amended as off,
Icially recommended by the president of
the United States to provide free trade
with Porto Rico!"
And then pandemonium broke loose
on the democratic side, and the repub-
Iicans laughed in their chagrin.
Judge Lacey, on the republican side,
was Immediately On his feet.
"Mr. Chairman, 1 want to call the at
.Itention of the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Cummings) to the fact that
there is a law in force in the District
of Columbia against obtaining goods
under false pretenSeS."
How did o get Porto Rico?" re-
Itorted the great journalist"
That is very lively reading and wha
a thrust the New York newspaper ma
cedents.
The poorest, meanest of the floppers
is that fellow Sibley from Pennsylva-
mia. He was a great silver leader, but
he now rests in the bosom of the great
est of fioppers-Bil Mckinley. He is
in a sad plight and is now "ft for trea-
sons, stratagems and spoils.'
Representative Pierce of Tennessee,
is a man OF sarcastic vein and keen
ness of sight. In his speech he said:
Mr.. Chairman, l did hope that there
was at least n question upon which
the president of the United States had
not put himself on both sides. = 1
did hope that at last there would be
some consistency in HI head of the re-
publican party; but it seems this hope
is not to be realized"
Mr.. Pierce then declared that the
president should be willing to treat the
Porto Ricans and the Filipinos with
the same consideration that he treated
his majesty, the Sultan of Sulu. Then
he read from an alleged interview with
Mckinley, in which the president is re-
ported to lave said:
Why, as ruler of the Philippine Is
lands and of Porto Rico, 1 feel the
weight of the great responsibility"
LAS a ruler!" Shouted the Tennes-
seean. We'll, ruler means, in the sense
he applies it, a kingly power. Let us
see. Ruler Mckinley and the royal
Dato Haber Dacker, or whatever else
he may be-Ruler Mckinley and the
Sultan of the Sulus dangling their feet
under the same table, and the three
hundred wives of the sultan peeping