ADAMS: THE CONTROL OF IHK PURSE. 205 



way from eighty to one hundred million dollars, and both houses were 

 preparing bills for a general reduction. The committee of Ways and 

 Means had thought that the question of a reduction of duties on tea 

 and coffee might very well be left for consideration in the general 

 tariff bill, but the House ordered otherwise. 



When the bill reached the Senate it was referred* to the Finance 

 committee and was reported^ adversely March 15 and indefinitely 

 postponed, but was taken up| March 26 upon the motion of Mr. 

 Scott. No sooner was the bill before the Senate for consideration 

 than one Senator after another moved to amend by adding some 

 article to the free list, and it became evident that it was the purpose 

 of the Senate to make this two line bill of the House the basis of a 

 general tariff bill. While these amendments were being proposed no 

 mention was made of the right of origination of the House, or of the 

 fact that a bill so materially amended had practically originated in 

 the Senate. Mr. Scott now offered an amendment to the tea and 

 coffee bill which practically covered the same ground as his bill of 

 the previous Congress which the House had refused to pass. The 

 objection was made by Mr. Sherman^ that it would certainly be 

 distasteful to the House and would possibly bring about another 

 controversy over constitutional privileges. Mr. Sherman had already 

 stated that in his opinion the Senate certainly had the right to amend 

 the bill under discussion by repealing the internal tax,|| but that he 

 knew it to be the opinion of the House that an amendment must be 

 germane** to the subject matter. Mr. Edmunds and Mr. Conkling 

 believed" that the Senate had the right to amend in any way,tt but 

 nearly all debate turned upon the advisability of the repeal of the 

 tax, rather than upon the right of the Senate to make the amendment, 

 and the bill passed, March 28, by a vote of 35 to 4, though Mr. 

 Scott's amendment had but 28 yeas to 11 nays.^ 



Mr. Sherman said that he believed Mr. Scott's amendment had 

 been made to defeat the bill.§§ Certainly the House could not be 

 blamed if it should view with suspicion a bill which had grown in the 

 Senate from two lines to twenty pages, and whose very title had been 

 changed. Soon after the bill was sent back to the House, Mr. Dawes, 

 April 2, submitted a resolution " That the substitution by the Senate, 



*Cong. Globe. 1H71-7-.>, pi. II. p. 11::6. 



+Ibid., p. 1700. 



ilbid.,pt. Ill, p. 1967. 



§Ibia., p. -MS'. 



;|Ibid., p. 1977. 



**Ibid., p. 2040. 



++Ibid.,p. 2040. 



tilbld.,pt. Ill, p. 2044. 



SSIbld.. p. 2044. 



