The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1909-08-12
DOWNWARD REVISION A FAKE.
Champ Clark Says the Average Rates
are Higher Than the Dingley
Law

ment to-day rcfuting the published
assertion that the Democrats had IL
within their power To defeat the tar
iii bill on the day the vote was taken
in the House ON the report of the
coufcrees. He declares that there
is not n syllable of truth In the
charge that had the Democrats not
been absent in large numbers, UNI
paired, the report would have been
rejected.
Mr.. Clark also takes another swat
at those who attempt to make 1t ap-
pear before the country that the
new tariff law is revision down
ward. He says that when the max
imum provision becomes effective,
March 81, 1910, the average rate will
he - per cent higher than the nv
eragc of the Dingley bill.
The statement follows:
"Thc old saying that habit Is sec
ond nature never was more strik-
ingly illustrated than by the fact
that many newspapers-Pencrally
Republican or near Republican-and
ore individuals keep mouthting
about the disscnsions among House
Democrats and the perfect unity
among House Republicans, notwith-
standing the truth known Of all men
who care to know 1t that the House
Democrats came out of the tariff
| fight more thoroughly united on tina:
question than they have been in IA
generation and the Republicans
came out of II worse scattered than
ever before.
"Some papers, either through
carelessness or malice, have gone 80
far as to say that had the Demo
Gratis not been absent in large num-
bers impaired we would have de-
fented the conference report on the
tariff bill. There is not syllable
of truth in it and to so charge IL
either unadultorated malice or Grim.
inal negligence.
"Now mark how plain tale will
put them down: Upon my motion
last spring, to roconmit the Payne
bill with instructions that constitute
IA comprehensive Democratic plat
form 50 far as the tariff Is concerned
all Democrats voted for it, except
four. On the Payne bill itself, vOteC
on Immediately after my motion t.
recommit was defeated, the Repub
Leans lost one vote and the Demo
Gratis lost four, n net loss To tn,
Democrats of three--a more nearly
unanimous Democratic vote thar
has been east on a tariff bill In I
generation
True, that on some of the item'
u few Democrats flew the track, bu
80 did more Republicans.
Let's examine into the compare
tive unity among Democrats ant
Republicans. On Mr.. Payne's mo
tion to recommit the conference re-
port, all the Democrats, except one
voted for it and twenty Republican,
voted with us, so that the Repuhli
can machine was victorious by only
five majority, although they had /
majority of forty-five in the House
In that vote there were absent siN
Democrats and five Republicans
Among the abscntees four Demo
Gratis were paired with four Repub
Leans, leaving two Democrats anC
one Republican absent without
pairs. If the two Democrats absent
without pairs had been present and
had voted with us, we would have
been defeated by three votes. Had
the one Democrat who voted with
us, we still would have been defeated
I by one vote. On that vote to re-
commit the conference report, the
Democrats voted more solidly than
they ever voted on any tariff qucs.
ton since the Civil War while the
Republicans were worse split up.
son the vote on the adoption ni
the conference report the House
machine won by twelve majority
only. There were absent six Demo.
Gratis and four Republicans. As on
the motion to recommit, four Demo.
Gratis were paired with four Repub.
lic8ns and two Democrats were alb.
sent without pairs and two Demo.
Gratis voted with the Republicans.
"lf the two impaired Democrats
had been present and voted with us
the machine majority would have
been reduced to ten, and If the tive
Democrats who voted with the Re
publicans also had voted with us
the machine majority would have
been reduced to six. That was q
close call for the machine.
"The reason that Mr.. Chairman
Payne moved to recommit was thai
he fooled himself into the belief that
we were going TO offer motion Il
recommit with instructions. and n,