The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-24

The Senate yesterday. by vote of 30 10
Is. asreed to the conference report on the
81 .eO0. 600 Porto Rican Relief bill, after
debate lasting nearly two hours, in which
Messrs. Tillman and Spooner took the
most active part.
Mr.. Tillman said that he voted for the
bill as 1t passed the Senate, and. as
member of the Appropriations Committee.
voted in favor OF reporting IT, but that
he was bitterly opposed to the conference
report He expressed his regret that the
Senate conferees had yielded TO the con-
tention Of the House and particularly in
agreeing to enlarge the purpose OF the
measure by providing for the aid and
relief OF the people" of Porto Rico. Mr..
Tlllman declared that there were Two mo-
tives behind this bill-the first, the neces-
sity fcr the immediate relief by the United
States Of the Porto Ricans and the otner
was that the Republicans were uneasy
about the result of erecting a tariff wall
against Porto Rico which. he said, mad
TO he CLOSED over somewhat for the bene-
fit OF the people. He criticised severely the
plan Of supplying food to the suffering
people of Porto Rico and said that The
effect OF il would be 10 interfere with
the supply of labor in the island. -As
long as you continue 20 feed those peo-
pie down there" declared Mr.. Thlman,
you may feed them. So long as the
Freedmsn's Bureau was maintained in the
South the colored race there amounted TO
nothing. That's characteristic of the
race. So long as you give food TO those
Porto Ricans they will never do stroke
of work. This Government will set itself
lIp as an eleemosynary institution by the
passage Of this bill, and l do not believe
We should stand on any such ground
In reply 10 a question by Mr.. Spoouer,
Mr.. Ti!lman said he was in favor Of free
trade with Porto Rico. II do not believe
in one part of the United States taxing
another part" he explained. Referring to
the proposed uniform labor day. he con-
tinued There is already on foot an effort
10 discriminate against the industry OF
my State by Incorporating in the Constitu-
ton of the United States an amendment
allowing Congress to regulate the hours
of labor
Mr. GalIinger-Will the Senator explain
how there would be any injustice done to
his State by the policy of uniform labor
hours for laborers in this country? How
would that initiate against the interests
OF the people of South Carolina?
Mr. Tiilman-Because the climate is not
uniform in the United States. In my State
there are only three months OF winter, and
for half of that time outof door labor can
be carried on, whereas In some Of the
Northern States there are six months of
the year when outdoor labor cannot be
carried Oh. We have the advantage that
Ca1 hos 0it erlpShina and
not get around il. / am opposed to any leg
islation that interferes with local condi-
tons and I am opposed TO having one por-
ton OF the United States rob another por-
ton.
Mr.. Perkins enqulred IL Mr.. Tiilman was
ia favor of free trade with the Philippines,
knowing that those islands had the adyan-
tage of peon and Malay labor.
In Favor of Free Trade.
Mr.. Tillman-If we continue to hold the
Philippines will be in favor Of free trade
following the flag.
AIr. Perkins-The question OF holding
those islands is not under consideration.
We acquired them by treaty. and they be-
long to the United States as much as
South Carolina or California or any State
of the Union. Whether We will give them
away afterward or viii keep them, they
belong to US now. And is the Senator from
South Carolina in favor of the peon con-
tract labor there coming into competition
with American labor?
Mr.. TilImsn-There is an old legal axiom
that man cannot take advantage of his
own wrong, and those who voted to bring
into the country those islands with their
cheap contract peon and Malay labor were
told OF the results that would follow the
ratification Of that treaty. And you could
not get the votes necessary to make that
treaty law until you had bought some men
10 vote for it. / must, of course, bow to
The behest of majority. and If the Ameri-
can people next November shall decide
that we are TO have dependencies and colo
MES and turn Congress loose to rob these
people by sending horde OF carpet-bag-
gers and yagabonds there / cannot help it;
but. SO help me God. SO long as / have got
a voice | shall protest"
Mr. Tilmau alluded to the fact of Mr..
Beyeridges speech in the Senate having
been translated and circulated in the Phil
Ippine Islands and said that TO it might be
attributed the recent renewal OF hostili-
lies there. and the liveliness with which
the extinct rebellion was springing up
;.gsin.
These people" he said. have found out
at last that our professions of humanitar-
ism and philanthropy, and OF our desire to
raise them in the scale Of citizens. are
lies and that We propose to go there to eX-
plot them that We may get them TO fur
ish field where new set Of thieves can
20 to rob, and rob, and rob under the
American fag'
Referring to Mr.. sehurmsn. President
of the Philippine Commission, Ar. Tillman
said:
He warns you that If you are going to
treat Porto Rico in this way and refuse to
grant her people their rights that fact
will only increase the determination of the
Filipin0s to resist to the DEATH
In the course of further remarks. Mr..
Tillman, apostrophizing Republican SEN
ators, exclaimed: You are a very IN
happy family, and I sympathize with you
from the bottom of my heart. l only hope
that you will repent next November when
the American people will have taught you
that trade, and the flag and liberty and
the Constitution all go together
Warning to Republicans.
Mr. Tillman commented upon the recent
action of the Iowa Legislature. and said
it was a warning to the Republicans of
that State and elsewhere that there would
lie a day of reckoning
1T seems said he, that the avalanche
Of trouble which no one suspected month
ago, has broken loose and is now tumbling
about the heads Of my friends on the other
side, and they are now running to cover
and are trying to find some place 90 hide.
Is the President for free trade, or has
he surrendered 20 the dictates Of special
Interests? Is he prisoner OF war. so TO
speak. doing the bidding OF those who
baye certain interests in the products of
Porto Rico? VIII some Senator please
tell NE whether the President Is fnr free