The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-15

not convinced that his charges were dis
proved.
At a later period Of the discussion Mr.
| Wellington was advocating free trade be
| tween the island and the United States
| Mr. Hanna endeavOred TO show Mr.. Well
| ington the "fallscy' OF his arguments. anc
| said that he believed he could convince hin
a show Of petulance that-he was following
in the footsteps of the President He told
| Mr.. Hanna that the man he ought TO con-
vince was the President
! Il believe in free trade with the island '
1 said Mr. Wellington, and in that belief
| | stand just where the President of the
| United States stood until ne unfortunately
changed his opinion, for what cause ! do
! not know. ! believed the President was
! right when he sent that message to Con
/ gress, and l do not believe he was right
when hs sent his second message. II any
I one is in error, il is the President and if
( you wish to convince anyone you must go
to the White House and convince the Presi-
| dent
| Mr. Hanna did not persist in his efforts
| to convince Mr.. Wellington that he was
| wrong in advocating free trade with Porto
! Rico.
/ senator HaIe's Opinion.
| Senator Hale suggested that the Senate
| nor the country would lose anything by a
full and free discussion Of the whole sub
I ject The Senate he said. was a conserva-
! tive body and had been accustomed to de
liberate consideration of all subjects that
came before it. There was no need OF at
tempting to hasten through the Senate the
final disposition of this subject The Sen
I ate was not a body to be swept off its
feet by popular clamor and it was not in
! the habit of acting without careful delib-
/ GRAFTON He suggested that the immediate
needs Of Porto Rico would be conserved by
the immediate passage Of the bill refund
ing TO the island the customs collected
since the Spanish evacuation. Then the
Senate could go ahead and consider this
subject of what should be done in the flu
ture conservatively and carefully work
out result to bring to the island the
greatest good and make its prosperity and
happiness permanent.
Mr.. Mcmillan spoke in much the same
strain. He couRseled moderation. 1t was
apparent to him that at the present time
the Senate Republicans were divided on
this question. Time might eflace some of
the differences, and he expressed the hope
that time would be taken in reaching a
conclusion so that mistakes might not hap
pen for which the party might be called
to account in the future Mr.. Mcmillan
made a strong argument for the provisions
of the bill. He favored the imposition OF a
tariff against Porto Rican products coming
into this country. Speaking with great
frankness. he said 1t was often a hard
matter to keep the small party majority in
the House in line, and now that bill had
been passed by that House providing for q
tariff. he believed il would work to the
great injury OF the party if that work was
interfered with by the Senate Mr.. Nc
MILAN stated that the members Of the
House from Michigan had received letters
ard kilograms from their constituents pro
testing against the way they had voted on
the bill, and he expressed the belief that
If they had the chance to again vote On
the measure they would repudiate what
they had previously done.
Mr.. Elklns took the ground that the
thing to do now WIS to do nothing The
bill could be debated along In the Senate
until the party had reached a conclusion
that would enable them to pass a bill that
would meet with the approval Of all ele-
ments. He depl0red the idea OF the party
washing its linen in public places. It would
be, he contended. folly to go before the
country and the Senate with quarrel on its
hands. The easiest way out of the whole
bill for a time. and. meanwhile, endeavor
10 patch up some sort OF an arrangement
that would meet the approval Of all par
ties and all shades OF opinion
Mr.. Beveridge was again prominent in
the discussion. He made no speech but
asked many questions. all Of which tended
TO show that he had not receded from his
position Of free trade and his fear that
his State would be lost If the party did lot
OF h
Ar Hoar who is known to be in favor
Of free trade with the island. emphasized
this fact again yesterday. He also dis
cussed many Of the provisions of the ad-
ministrative features OF the civil govern
ment propositions. He advocated partic-
ularly an amendment which. It is under
stood, was finally agreed to. making the
federal courts OF the island a separate dis
trict with the right OF appeal directly to
the Supreme Court OF the United States.
instead Of the Federal court sitting In the
District OF New York
The Governors Salary.
There was also much discussion as 20
why the Governor Of Porto Rico should be
paid 81. 000 a year salary when the salaries
Of the Governors OF such Territories as
Arizona and New Mexico were only s., 800
each This discrepancy was not satisfac-
torily explained ana IT is probable that
the bill in this respect Will be amended be-
fore il passes the Senate
Senator Frye took much the same view
as did Alr Hale. He counseled conssrya-
tism and urged the members not to seek
70 reach too hasty conclusion on a sub
ject upon which there was such a wide d.
yergence Of opinion as was manifested in
the conference. lie believed that In time
ms party could arrive at a conclusion
pleasing to all For that reason he sug-
gested that the debate run along upim
peded for some time. Personally he was
In favor Of the tarin that had been i'm
posed by the House bin and he hoped
nothing would be done TO weaken the party
strength in the House This he was con
hdent would be the result II the House
we're again given the opportunity to vote
on the straight proposition Of free trade
or a customs tax.
One Of the most prominent Senators who
attended the caucus stated after adjourn
ment that it was apparent TO him there was
a conspiracy on foot in the Senate TO pre-
vent the passage OF the civil government
feature OF the Foraker bill in the interest
OF protection. He said that il the island !
were given civil government. as provided
in the Foraker bill even without the Dele |
gate in Congress, the next or a future Con-
gress would grant that Delegate This /
would be followed by Territorial form Of /
government. That would make the island /
a part Of the United States and give it alb
solutc free trade with the whole country. /
This the Senator referred to declared .
was the thing which protectionists feared
In this connection the Senator pointed
out the fact that Herbert J. Myrick OF
New York. alleged to represent protect