The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-13
CUMMINs's sQUELcH OF sMooT

SoipNsi1iNo - oSOhbCrl Ol onoo .
They smooth things down wonder
| fully in the Congressional Record, as
for example in the incident between
Senators Cummins and Smoot The
Irrcvcrcnt reporter of things as they
actually occur showed that CnmminS,
tired of the fruitlcss. nagging inter
ruptions, intcriections and conspicuous
imbccillty of Smoot, told him 10 sit
down. and explained afterwards that
! he thought he was doing the Utah Sen
ator kindness in preventing him from
making further exhibition of himself,
The incident occurred when Senator
/ Cummins came to the paragraph that
raised the duty an oilcloth one hundred
per cent above the present tariff duty.
Cummins wanted TO know why, and
Bcvcridgc joined him in the request for
Information. Smoot wanted 10 know
which paragraph was referred 10. Cum
Minis said there was but one on the
subject, Smoot said he couIdn 4
answer in a minute, and afterwards
said that the House bill made the duty
on oilcloth 'undcr III feet but that
"wc simply made it o feet
OF course, that was no explanation
at all and Cummins rctoricd, :" that is
thc way you raised the duty without
anybody knowing anything about it
"And furt her. said CummIns, 90 /
make the charge that when you re-
duced The width you raised the duty,
without specially suggesting a raise Of
duty And when Smoot undertook
10 make speech on the principle of
protection, Cummins is automatically
reported as saying 81 did not yield
to the Senator from Utah for speech,
TO him. On which Smoot pouted, 81
viii never ask the privilege again, Mr..
Presidents; | was simply giving the
Senator the reasons. Which is pre-
ciscly what he was not doing.
The incident made a sensation IN the
Senate. not in The least warranted by
the mild language of the official re-
port, which. in the attention it evident
ly attracted, proves that there was some
thing harshcr than the official report
shows, said; for that sort Of thing,
1" | did not yield for a Speech is often
said and no notice is taken of the re-
mark by any Senator, But in this case,
Senator Gallingcr and Senator Burrows
thought Mr.. Cummins was too hard on
Smoot
it is clear. therefore, that Cum
minis was more severe on him than the
report would indicate.
Later, when it comes to the point
where the reportcr-of-fact said that
Cummins told Smoot to sit down, in
mercy to him, the official report makes
him say. 81 rather assumed, when |
said what seemed TO the Senator from
Michigan discourteous, that the Sena~
tor from Utah had really reached the
end Of his explanation, and was de-
lighted when ] interrupted him.
Which the context shows the Senator
from Utah decidedly was not.
But in spite of his declaration that
he would never butt in again, Smoot
couldp I keep from il. lie was at it
again directly, and undertook 10 cor
rect Cummins in his statement as to
the percentage Of the steel produced IN
this country by the Independent steel
Smoot claimed the cor
rect figure 10 be GO per cent. "a hit
tic less than that, | think, - said Cum
Minis "'That is near enough. anyway
retorted Smoot, and Cummins crushed
him by showing that 30 per cent would
be far nearer than the so per cent in
tcricction Of Smoot ''Thcy manufac
ture about s per cent less than that.
believe" replied Cummins patiently, as
to an obtrepcrous, ill-informed nagger,
And Smoot Immediately granted the
% per cent, while claiming that his in
formation which he had Just FASTENED
to reject 'tis about GO per cent. -
1t is an illuminating report all
through, and shows that Senate.
Smoot rrepressiblc inclination 70
butt in' was in exact ratio to bis
ignorance Of the whole subject.