Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-04-23


low tariff people than to the advocates of
! protection. 1t was stated that 1t was but
4 little more than u recurrence to the
! Walker tariff, the only difference of i'm
portance being that specific duties were
inserted instead of adj velorem rates The
house passed the measure, but the. senate
decided TO postpone consideration until
the next session. jefferson Davis favored
the Morrill, bill. asserting that 1t was a
/ more Democratic tariff than the one of
1857. and adhered more closely to the
rates of the Walker tariff.
When the second session of the thirty
sixth congress met the senate put 1b6
/ amendments onto the Morrill, bill, 155 of
which were accepted by the house, and
the measure went into effect in April,
1861. After this came a succession of tar
if acts for raising funds for the prose-
| cution of the war. One was passed IN
August. 1861, and carried with 1t an IN
come tax, as well as a direct tax OF
So. 100000. Another placing new rate OF
duty on tea, sugar and coffee, was passed
during the following December. In 1852
the tariff was raised even higher, and
only ninety-nine articles were left on the
free list In 1864 still further increases
were made and the free list curtailed even
below the ninety and nine articles. In
those days the statesman who could sug-
garded as a patriot.
Immediately following the close Of the
civil war the burdensome internal reve-
nue. taxes were repealed, and Justin 5.
Morrill, led a movement for a revision or
| the tariff-upwards. He felt that WOOL
and woolens especially needed additional
protection. The house passed his bill
The senate thought the matter too I'M
| nj he
consider the measure so late in the ses-
sion, SO they put the bill in cold storage.
The following winter, the senate amend
ed il and passed it after midnight on Feb
ruary 1, 1867. In the house, meantime,
Morrill, had drafted a new measure ana
presented it as a substitute for the one
already passed.
But at the critical time he withdrew his
substitute, and through an effort TO set
tie the matter through a suspension Of
the rules everything was lost. bill
passed under a suspension of the rules
requires a two-thirds vote, and Mr.. Nor
rill has reckoned without his host in pre-
Stunning that he could get such majority.
In the course of the debate upon the
measure Thad Stevens said that it sa-
vored too much of free trade for him.
Another member remarked that If that
| was Tree LrdQS DILL Dy the I1Oiy San
ors he would hate to see one that was
a protection measure" Another man OBJ
jected to the repeal of the duty on cof-
fee. why" said he, I'VE need protec-
ton for coffee. Do we not make great
deal of It? There are many worthy man
ufacturers of coffee in the United States.
They make it of chicory, beans, peas,
rye wheat, dandelion roots and many 9TH
er things. They need protection
Although the general tariff bill was
defeated, the woolens schedule, against
the wishes of the wool producers and
manufacturers associations, was segra-
gated in a separate BILL and after much
complicated procedure in the senate and
house. was passed in substantially the
form of the schedule of the big biz. 1t
was about the only time on schedule was
ever passed to the exclusion of all 9TH
ers. Even after weathering all the storms
of the legislative sea it seemed that the
woolens bill was to fail to make safe
anchorage in harbor. Andrew Johnson
was president and he and congress were
sadly at outs. 1t was the last day of
the session. The president had gone to
the capitol with his cabinet, and was in
his room off the senate marble room.
For three hours the friends of the meas
ure awaited news from him. They knew
that powerful influences were at work
to prevent his signing the bill. At last,
with but the fraction of a minute be-
tween it and the eternal pigeon-hole
where defunct bills are entombed, the
president signed 1t.
There was nothing done toward revis-
ing the tariff after this until S170. Gener-
| al Schenck, the chairman of ways and
means that session, reported a measure
with revision downward as its keynote.
The free traders opposed II because they
did not think II went far enough. 1t was
soon discovered that the measure could
not stand on it's own merits, so it was
coupled onto the internal revenue bill,
and in that shape IL went through the
house with flying colors. 1t did not en-
counter serious obstruction thereafter and
was signed by President Grant in July,
$50. There was additional tariff legisla-
ton in 1872, during the consideration of
which the senate and house were at log
gerheads over the constitutional prerog-
alive of the house to originate revenue
Legislation.
At this time, however, it was to the
interest of the house leaders to uphold
the senate, even to the extent of amend
There was as much parliamentary spar
ring over the bill of 1872 as ever there
was over any tariff bill of it's kind that
congress has passed.
| Again in 1875 a tariff act was passed.
1t repealed the 10 per cent reduction that
had been made by the act of 1872. Party
lines were ignored in both branches of
congress when the measure came up.
The late Senator Allison and Senator
John Sherman were among those who vo-
ted with the Free Traders on this bill.
From 1876 to 1881 the house of repre-
sentatives was Democratic, and from
1879 to 1881 the Democrats also controlled
the senate. During those years and the
two that followed, there was much ma
neuvering for position on the tariff ques-
ton, but as one of the three branches
of government that must concur in leg
islation was always of the opposite po-
litical faith, there could be nothing &C
complished. William r. Morrison, who
afterward drew the celebrated horizontal
bill, brought forward a measure in 1876
that never got further than the talk
stage. In the next congress Fernando
Wood. of New York, introduced a meas
ure that was considered in the house, but
a motion to strike out its enacting clause
WAS carried and the measure WAS TINS