Year: 1871

Congress Ycsferday-DcpOsttt0n OF senator


sumuer-Loading Down tho salt and Coal


Bin.


The great feature In the proceedings of Con-
gress yesterday was the debate in the Senate
over the action of the caucus remodelling the
committees ard dcposing Senator Sumner
from the craftsmanship Of the Committee on
Foreign Relations. The debate lasted all day
and attracted great attention. The result
was the triumph of the administration and the
defeat of Mr.. Sumner, who is thus. as mea-
sure of party discipline and as a penalty for
his opposition to the St. Domingo policy of the
President, degraded from the high position
which he has held SO long and filed SO ably.
When the vote came to be taken the republic
can Senators who had stood by Sumner in the
debate showed the white feather and retreated
ignominously into the cloak rooms and lobby,
leaving the democratic Senators alone to vote
against registering the decree of the caucus.
The vote stood thirty-three to nine.


The proceedings in the House were, if not so
personally interesting, of much g4eater import
ancs to the people at large. After disposing
of some preliminary business the House
resolved itself into Committee of the Whole
and resumed the consideration of the bill to
repeal the duties on salt aud coal Although
the five minute discussion was confined to
three quarters Of an hour, there were some
very important points eliclted. Mr.. Blair, of
Michigan, one of the most able and outspoken
of the high protectionists, admitted, in the
course of his remarks, that there was not q
single duty imposed in the tariff bill which,
standing alone, could be defended or justified
that the whole was an adjustment, and that it
was destructive to it, and unfair to select one
or two particular articles and repeal the duties
on them. The revenue reformers, on the other
hand, argued that that plan offered to them
the only chance for attacking the whole
system; that their policy was to divide and
conquer, and that, If they made war on q
grand scale instead of In what a Missouri
member-Mr. Burdett-described as the bush
whacking process, the ring" of protectionists
would be too strong for them. This same Mr..
Burdett admitted that the votes on Thursday
revealed the fact that the so-called revenue
reformers had the majority in the House.
One of the new Pennsylvania members-Mr.
Spear-charged that the attack on the coal
monopoly was made in the interest of still
greater onopolies-namey, the New Eng
land manufacturers and the Manhattan Gas
Company, and that it was in reality contest
between the labor and capital engaged in the
Pennsylvania coal mines and tae labor and
capital engaged in the Nova Scotia gold mines,
which were chiefly owned in New England,
and he warned his democratic colleagues that
the repeal of the duties on coal would result
in the loss of Pennsylvania to the democratic
party in the next Presidential election.


After the war of words came the flank
movements of parliamentary strategy. The
protectionisls, realizing that they were in the
minority, set to work to kill the bill by ind;-
rection. The first heavy blow that it sus-
tanned was the adoption Of an amendment,
offered by Mr.. Randall, of Pennsylvania,
putting tea, coffee and sugar on the free
list. Then followed another amendment,
also emanating from Pennsylvanian-Mr.
Leonard Myers-reduciug the internal tax





pound. Then, on motion of Mr.. Butler,
of Massachusetts,, potatoes were put on
the free list, thus carrying the war into
Maine, one of whose Representatives had
introduced the bill, and whose agriculturists
are interested in keeping to themselves the
of Mr.. Kerr, of Indiana, bunting was put on
the free list-the only mauufactory of that ar
tice in the United States being in Mr. Buffers
own town Of Lowell. While the bill was in
this top-haavy condition, SO weighted down as
to be wholly unmanageable, the coup de grace
was given to itby Mr.. Kelley, Of Pennsylvania,
who offered as an amendment the whole tariff
bill, the reading of which would occupy an en-
tire days session. After listening to the read
ing for FIVE minutes the patience Of memb ers
gave out, and the committee rose without any
further action on the bill.


It is quite evident, from the facilities which
minorities possess to defeat the will of majori-
ties, that there Is little chance Of the bill to
repeal the duties on coal and salt becoming a
| law at the present session, unless both houses
! abandon the idea Of an early adjournment.
It is certainly more important that the duties
be taken off those articles of prime necessity,
than that Senators and members, who draw
their mileage and pay and are expected to
attend to the public business, shall be al
liberty to shuttle off their responsibilities and
abandon their duties. -,
| The Hogan Will Case.


1
| An important will case for the past two
/ hoc 1ao - l.r~. r.