Evening star., 1909-06-05

no change at all.
The American people are willing to be
robbed" said Mr.. DolIiver, but they
. are not willing to he fimhammed'
First he proposed to read the testi-
mony of the merchants of the country,
among them Marshall Field of Chicako.
He read from letters in which 1t was
claimed that increases have been made.
Then he read one from a manufacturer
who said increase in prices to con-
sumers would result from thesr changes
on cotton rates, but admitted hat GER
' tain increases were made by the Aldrich
bill.
And yet" he declared II am de-
batting with gentlemen who claim no
raises have been made"
Persian Rug Points Moral.
He characterized the recent defense of
the committee by Senator Smoot as re-
sembllng a Persian rug he once bought.
1t looked fine at night. but the next
morning it was evident that the figures
were all jumbled up.
He said he called in the rug merchant.
who told him that was proof that II
was real Persian, for Ii showed that
the whole family had been working OF
it
This wtticism put the Senate in good
humor. and it was several moments he
fore the laughter died down sufficiently
TO permit Mr.. Dolliver to proceed.
He denied that Mr. Smoot was right
when he defended high cotton duties on
the ground that only the poorer kinds of
cotton cloth are manufactured in this
country. Mr.. Dolliver asserted that the
very best cloth is made here. and, be-
sides, machinery for making it is sent to
England
The senator from Utah" he declared,
said the committee had merely equalized
the rates on cotton goods.
1T has done il by not raising the rates
nI4o ,loa Sl,nr1
on the higher priced goods. which he ad-
mitted were absurdly high. That is
fine way of equaiZing rates, but | under
take TO say he will find it hard to ex-
plain to his constituents
Tillman Smells Out Two Laws.
Mr.. Tillman remarked that there were
apparently two Dingley laws, and he
wanted to know which was the real one.
Yes said Mr.. Dolliver. There is
one on the statute books and another in
the imagination of the senator from
Rhode Island.
We have five witnesses, the importer,
the promoting manufacture, the statistics
of the government, the goods them
selves. and our own officials assessing
the duties, all saying these duties have
been raised.
But my friend from Rhode Island says
all these things are not important.
MY friend from Rhode Island says
these manufacturers don't know anything
about the customs house. Why, bless his
innocent soul. they have their agents at
the customs house every morning. and
sometimes. perhaps. they have them on
the pay rolls.
from Rhode Island lay aside his sena-
torial dignity and rest his case on a GER
tifcate from an insignificant government
clerk.
He said he thought he could show that
men whose testimony had been cited In
this case have spoken both ways on the
question. He mentioned Mr.. Parkhili, an
empioye OF the cotton division of the
New York customs house az being in this
category.
Gives Credit to Experts.
Senator Dolliver paused in his discus
sion of rates to pay tribute TO the serv-
ices of the late George C. Tichnor, one of
the statistical experts of the government,
and TO express his thanks to Col. Itch
nor's son. who, he said, had recently aid
ed him in analyzing the cotton schedules
Recalling the speech of Mr.. Smoot i'm
which that senator claimed recent court
decisions had robbed the government of
legitimate revenue under the Dingley
law. the Iowan asked the Senate to listen
to what the effect of those decisions real
ly was. Nearly half OF the cloths in aues-
tion had not been affected at all by these
decisions. he claimed
He took each kind OF cloth in turn and
attempted to show that what he said was
true. In many cases where it appeared
as If the courts had reduced rates, he
claimed, thes New York appraisers had
CLASSIFIED the goods erroneously, and did
not carry out the intention of Congress-
Combating further the arguments OF
Senator Smoot, Mr.. DolIiver said lie
intended to prove that whatever changes
years were brought about by no de-
oisions OF the court.
"The Shabbiest Exhibition"
Il intend to prove 1T in a way that the
finance committee ought to have done In
the first place." declared Mr. Dolliver
That was the shabbiest exhibition l have
ever seen in this floor. when the leader of
the republican party gave up the attempt
10 explain this schedule and. departing
from his own manuscript. read certificates
Of character for his bill from the offi-
cial underlings that have been loafing
around the finance committee for the
past few weeks"
Senator Crawford OF North Dakota
asked Mr. Dolliver whether any wage
earners had got less money or any manu-
facturers had been injured by these de-
cisions of the courts.
Certainly not" replied the Iowan.
Revises Aldrich's Figures.
Referring to Mr.. IAldrich's speech last
night. he added:
Il heard a certain man say last night
that the government had lost 100000 by
q recent court decision
He told of going to the Treasury De-
partment and learning by long-dstance
telephone that the amout refunded on ac-
count OF this decision was only $4,000.
That is the shadowy fortune the gov
ernment has lost" he shouted. DO you
know what | think of all thisr i think
there has been dust raised to conceal
transactions that need the attention of
every United States senator"
He charged Mr.. Aldrich with ap-
peaiing, with mock heroics." to save
the United States Treasury from raids of
hundreds of thousands of doil.-- when
the only loss could not possibly be greater
than = per cent on about $}O0.0O
And yet he went on, here are these
green goods-for that is what they have
become in this chamber-advertised here
before admirins eyes to create the i'm
preston that the government has lost
millions OF dollars
Who Is Bamboozlingp Tillman Asks.
All this was listened to closely by Mr..
Tillman After bit he got up and
demanded that Mr.. Dolliver cite a de-
cision of the courts SO that the Senate
could have something to go on"
Either the senator from Rhode Is
land bamboozled us last night or the
senator from Iowa is bamboozling us
today" cried the South Carolinian Il
want 10 get it straight"