Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-02-15

| Orbitant tax on a prime necessity OF
! life / offered an amendment to reduce
the differential by $3.50 per ton, ano
the following extract from the Con
| gressional Record shows what hap
pened.
Mr.. CLARK of Missouri-Mr. Chairman
| I offer an amendment.
| The clerk read as follows;
Amend by inserting in line s, page q
| after the word aforesaid the following
Except on Philippine sugar there shall
after the approval of this bill by the pres.
| ident of the United States, be levied. col
| lected and paid in lieu of the duties now
provided by law on all sugar above No.
| Is Dutch standard and on all sugar which
| has gone through a process of refining.
| Imported into the United States S25-100t
| cents per pound
Mr.. Payne-Mr. Chairman, | make the
point of order that the amendment is moi
| germane.
Mr.. Clark of Missouri wish you would
reserve it.
| Mr. Payne-I will reserve it for five
| minutes in the interest of my friend.
Mr. Clark of Missouri-Mr Chairman, ]
have no desire whatever at this stage OF
| the proceedings to infliet speech upon
| this house, but / want to explain this
amendment very briefly. The total diff
ferential on refined sugars imported into
this country amounts to $3.50 ton. This
! amendment cuts off $3.50 of that differen-
tial and leaves $3.50. If I had followed
my own inclination I would have offered
an amendment to cut it all off; but. yield
ing to the Judgment of some of my
friends, have offered the amendment
which takes off $3.50 Of that differential.
They say and therefore say, express
AL hale r,E
| off no possible injury can be done to the
producer of raw sugar in the United
| States, and it still gives the American mar
ket to the American manufacturer. But
| it does reduce the price of refined sugar
to the American consumer, and, so that
you cannot have any doubt about it,
| will tell you how. Last year we imported
and consumed 1851, 160 tons. The reduction
that this amendment gives would amount
to IS, 81, 905 a year-that is, 1t cuts of that
much annually of the enormous and UNI
just profits of the sugar trust and gives
it to the So, 0o0,O 900 American consumers OF
refined sugar.
Now, gentlemen, not only on the Dem
ocratic side, but the Republican side-and
/ would not say anything to hurt your
feelings because / like you all-tine and
time again on that side of the house and
in Republican stump speeches and In Re-
publican editorials we have heard the
American sugar trust denounced in the
severest terms that man can pronounce
in the English language. Now you have
an opportunity of proving your faith by
your works, and if you vote against this
amendment forever and eternally here
after hold your peace about the extortion
of the sugar trust
Now, one word more. For the seven
hundredth time, I think, the gentleman
from New York, chairman of the COM
mittee on ways and means, has referred
to a speech I made here in the spring Of
1887. want him to get that right, for
what l said was classic borrowed bodily
T from Sir Walter Scott's .Afarmion.'' That
was that / would destroy every custom
house in the United States from turret
to foundation stone" Now, I will tell
you what [ nave to say about that. One
OF my predecessors in this house. along
back in the sixties. was a man of splendid
/ genius-Colonel George w. Anderson He
had boxed the political compass complete
ly before he died. He had belonged to
every political party that was. organized
| in his time, except the Prohibitionist. He
was born a Democrat in Tennessee. He
became a Wing, a Know Nothing and a
/ Repu bican; served four years in this
house as Republican and then, return
ing to the Democrats, was made a judge
by appointment of a Democratic governor
| and died finally in the odor of Democratic
sanctity While he was running for con
gress the second time he was opposed by
| a very able man, Colonel William F
| Switzler the Nestor of the editorial pro-
fession in Missouri. In the debate Colonel
| Switzler took an entire hour to prove that
| Anderson was inconsistent. When An
derson's time came the only reply that he
ever made to the charge of inee .sstency
| was. Fellow citizens cons stency be
oh tar
| | would repeat those words here today;
| but, being a church member and being
| afraid of getting turned out of the church
| for swearing, l will put it this way: ]
had rather be inconsistent and be right
| than be consistent and be wrong.
II the Republicans want 1t, / will pre-
| pare an illuminated edition of that speech
that l made in the debate here in 1897 and
present every one of them with copy OF
| it to frame and hang on his wall
| Mr.. Payne--I renew the point of order,
| Mr.. Chairman.
| Mr.. Clark of Missouri-Now, Mr.. Chair
man, on the point of order
/ The Chairrnan-The chair will hear the
gentleman from Missouri on the point OF
order,
Mr.. Clark of Missouri want to say
| this: / am afraid, to use a very common
western expression, that "tle horses eye
is sot." But l want to say this (of course
the chairman understands that that is
just a figure of speech for / hold him
personally in high esteen): On the Cuban
reciprocity bill. I think it was, Mr.. Nor
ris of Minnesota offered this same amend
ment, word for word. The chairman OF
the committee on that occasion [1r.
Sherman], a splendid presid51g officer.
| ruled that it was not germane. Mr.. Nor
ris or somebody on that side-I think ii
| was Mr. Tsfwney- appealed from the de-
cision of the chair. BY a very large ma
/ jority the house of representatives, large
| " Republican in its character. overruled
| the chair and established the precedent by
a very large vote that this differentiai
| amendment is germane. believe 1t is
eermane. The chief feature of this bill
IS sugar. We have all talked sugar for
| twelve days 1t has been sugar, sugar all
the time, and this amendment deals with
! sugar Mr. Chairman, take it with all
| due respect to the present occupant Of the
| chair, or any other man that ever occu-
| pied the chair or ever will occupy it, that
| the house of representatives is greater
| than any chairman of it ever was or ever
. <1r1;1 1fof