The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-27


 pass the two Morrison tarff bills did not deter the Democrats in the House In the Fiftieth Congress from repeat ing their former efforts in the direc- ton of low tarin. The Democratic majority had been dwindline, and was now down to less than one-fourfh Of what it had been when Morrison tried to pass his horizontal bill." Presi- dent Cleveland came forward with preEedent-breaking annual message. Its every word was devoted to the tar in, which he sought to have made the issue of the presidential campaign, then only some even months away.
 The erect of the message on the Democrats in Congress was remark- able, and brought down to i've the number of those opposing the policy Of their own party. Under these con ditions 1t was easy to see that the third effort to drive a low tarin measure through d Democratic House would succeed. Roger c. Mills of Texas. a dyed-in- the-wool low tariff advocate. was made chairman of the Ways and Means He and his committee took four months to report new tarin bill. The measure was in reality only partial revision of the tarin It ex- tended the free list. substituted many ad valorem duties in the stead of spe- cific duties, and reduced most of the high tarif schedules. Wool was ad- ded' to the free list, most lumber and lumber products were put there. Wool ems were given duty of 40 per cent. Cotton goods came in for a like duty. MT. Mills got figures from the Bureau of Statistics. going to show that the total remission of duties under the Mills bill would amount to $50,000,OOO, of which $30.0oo,000 would result from reductions in duty; the remainder from additions to the free list.
 The House debated the bill for more than . month. The Republicans at- tackled 1t on many grounds. for the tarin had now become a full-fledged party issue. First, they asserted. that 1t had been framed by farmers, anS that the manufacturing States had next to no representation on the com mittee that drew the bill. They claimed, furthermore. that 1t had been and that the minority had been ig- nored until the time of reporting the measure. They got together list of articles affected by the bill. and from that showed that the cotton" States produced them to a value of $s1,000.000. while the other States produced them to the value Of $1,710,000,000, nearly twenty times as much. Then they charged that free trade pamphleteers had written the measure. and that clerks were detailed from the Treasury Department to assist in making 1t as harmful to manufacturers as possi- ble.
 The Democrass responded by calling to mind what the Republicans had said in 1883. At that time the Demo- craas were plainly told that the Re- publicans were responsible to the country for what Congress then did, and that they were not going to per- init the Democrats to thwart them in their efforts to live up to their re- sponsibility. Now 1t was the Demo- crats who were telling that same thing to the Republicans. Republicans re- piled with taunts to the effect that the South had not reduced the tarin on articles in which 1t was interested, and was not willing to practice itself that which 1t was preaching to the North
 Most of the debate was in opposi- tion to the bill. There never has been tariff bill considered in the House where the majority. was more lenient with the minority than the Democrats were with the Republicans in the consideration of the Mills bills. More than hundred times the Com mittee of the Whole took the parlia- mentary journey to the House and back in order to limit the debate on particular Amendment, but then only after that debate had gone on for a reasonable time. The Republicans tried their best to amend the bill, but Mills held his forces together as seasoned general upon the field, and not once could the opposition get an amendment past him.
 While the bill was pending in the House the National Conventions met. The Democrats were about as badly divided over indorsing the Mills bill in terms as they were over the propo- ton specifically to reaffirm 16 to l at Kansas City. But there was no Bryan to lead them. The bill was unani- mously indorsed by the convention. but that indorsement was not made part of the platform. It was sort Of Parker gold telegram" promulgated, however, by the whole convention in- stead of by the nominee. The Republi- cans denounced the Mills bill and came out for the Randall idea of re- pealing high internal revenue taxes ins tead of lowering tarif duties. Some of the newspapers enclosed Whiskey and tobacco" in brackets after the phrase internal taxes" and thereby made the Republican platform seem q declaration for free whiskey."
 After the convention period was over the House continued its consider ation of the tariff bill. and finally passed 1t on July 21. with only four Democrats voting against 1t. Samual J. Randall wanted to be paired against the bill, but was not. After this the scene shifted to the other end of the Capitol, which was Republican, The Senate was bitterly opposed to the Mills bills. The Finance Committee got hold of 1t, and ostentatiously did the things the Ways and Means Com mittee failed to do. The committee accorded the fullest hearing, allowed the minority--this time the Democrats ito participate in its deliberations, and, in short sought to make the course of the House Committee look petty and unfair by contrast. The bill was kept in the Finance Committee until Oct. 8, when 1t was reported back.
 Fundamentally speaking. 1t was the same bill. Actually, however, 1t was as if blue pencil had been drawn through every word of 1t except be IL enacted" and new bill substituted. The measure was then perfunctorily discussed until Oct. 20, when Congress adjourned. No effort was made by the Senate to pass its bill The two party measures, the House bill and the Sem ate bill had been got before the coun- try, and that was all anybody had expected-even if a few did hope for more. Congress had been in continu- ous session longer than ever before in the history of the nation--321 days. A possible exception to this state ment might be made of the Congress which recessed from time to time dur ing the Johnson administration, and was only technically in session.