Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-18


dent wrote the tariff of 1s42. That
year there were two bills reported to
the house, one from the committee on
manufactures, by Mr.. Saltonstall OF
Massachusetts,. and the other by Mr.
Fillmore, from the ways and means
committee. The Fillmore bill got the
right of way, although Saltonstall made
a hard fight to have his measure sub
stituted. Secretary Forward OF the
treasury department had assisted In
writing the Fillmore bill. Forward was
Pennsylvania by birth. and had pre-
viously served in congress.
Robert j. Walker was the author OF
the tariff of 1846. He was construc-
tive statesman, and was the father OF
the warehouse system" and the in
terror department. He refused the
Democratic nomination for vice presi-
dent in 1S44 and was made secretary or
the treasury In 1845 by President Polk.
His report on manufactures. written
from the low tariff standpoint, Is con-
sidered one of the tariff classics.
The tariff act of 1857 was written by
Senator r.. NJ. Il. Hunter of Virginia.
1t was passed as substitute for the
senate substitute to the house bill and
was signed by the president. Hunter
had served In the house for many years,
and was Its speaker for one congress-
He afterward became United States
ber of the Confederate States senate,
and was member of the peace COM
mission which met in Hampton Roads
in 1865.
Justin S. Morrill,, who wrote the tariff
that bears his name, was Vermonter,
and was chairman of the ways and
means committee for many years Af-
ter serving twelve years in the house
he was promoted to the senate In 1867
and remained there until his death in
December, 1898, having served more
than forty-four years in succession in
the congress of the United States, which
is close to IL not the record length of
service. Morrill, also had charge of the
war tariff acts in the house. He was
thus the author of more tariff meas
ures than any other man in the history
of congress.
William r. Morrison wrote two tariff
bills but neither of them passed the
house. He seemed to prefer to be the
power behind the throne rather than
wielder of the sceptre, and led the
movement to make Kerr of Indiana the
first Democratic speaker after the civil
war. Again, in 1888, he led the forces
which put Carlisle in the speakers
chair In both instances he was made
chairman of ways and means.
Roger Q. Mills Is now the only living
man who wrote a tariff bill that was
considered by both the senate and
house. All of the others have been
dead for some years. In recent times
there seems to be a singular fatality
attaching to the authors of tariff meas
ures. William Mckinley died within
decade after the passage of the Nc
Kinley law, and William L.. Wilson
lived no longer. Nelson Dingley lived
only a few years after the measure
which bore his name became the law
of the land. Today we have only one
eX-president and one author of his
toric tariff bill living. Mills went to
the senate after leaving the house, and
helped to frame the senate amendments
to the Wilson bill. He is still living in
Texas.
After Mills came Mckinley, to whom
the world gives the credit OF having
written the Mckinley bill. AS mat
ter of fact, the bill was largely a re-
draft OF the senate substitute for the
Mills bill, and Senator Nelson w. Aid
rich did more to frame that measure
than any other man. Mr.. Mckinley
was perhaps the only author of tariff
bill who has written book on the
tariff.
William L. Wilson was probably the
most scholarly man who ever wrote an
American tariff law. At the time of
his election to the house of representa-
tives he was president of the Univer-
sity of West Virginia. He was as
signed to the position of chairman OF
the committee on ways and means over
the heads of all those who had been
members of that committee. This was
done by Speaker Crisp as a compro-
mise and a recognition of the Cleye-
|, land Democracy in the house. Mr..
Wilson's after career is familiar his
tory. He left a university presidency
to take up the duties of public life.
and Immediately after laying down
those duties was elected president of
the historic Washington and Lee uni
versity, and died In this position.
Nelson Dingley, owner and editor of
the Lewiston (Maine) journal, was
perhaps the only editor of daily paper
who ever drafted tariff law. Dingley
was not a man of SURPRISING ability,
but he had wonderful capacity for
hard study. Not an orator, but rather
possessing weak, and not too pleas
ant voice; not of prepossessing personal
appearance, but slight and weak-look7
ing, he knew that the only way to sue
ceed in congress was to know what
there was to know concerning subjects
of legislation. A colleague who board
ed at the same hotel says of him that
he never visited Nelson Dingley's room
that he did not find him ensconced in
an easy chair with books and docu-
ments surrounding him and pad and
pencil in his hand.
Pig Iron Kelly, Samuel j. Randall,
Fernando Wood and many others might
be included in the list of those who
have written tariff bills. To write such
bill requires immense thought great
discretion, scrupulous integrity and
abundant lack of selfishness. Most of
those who have prepared the tariff
measures-successfu and unsuccessful
have possessed those qualities.
Copyright. 1903, by Frederic ]. Haskin)
TomOrrow-American Tariff Laws.
XXIII-As Political Issue.