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CONGRESS. UNITED STATES. 



constitution. Therefore, when you come to ex- 

 amine that clause of the Constitution clause 1, 

 section 8, Article I where the power of taxa- 

 tion (which is never liberally construed, hut al- 

 ways strictly) is given, it was so given for spe- 

 cific purposes ' to pay the debts and provide 

 for the common defense and gpneral welfare ' ; 

 and hence it follows that we have no right by 

 law to go beyond that and say that that tax shall 

 be laid and collected for the special welfare of 

 a specific portion of the community engaged in 

 certain pursuits as against the general welfare 

 of all the people of the community, and more 

 especially when the Constitution by specific 

 grants shows how far Congress can legislate, 

 and, to prevent misconstruction, goes on to pro- 

 vide that 'the powers not delegated to the 

 United States by the Constitution, nor prohib- 

 ited by it to the States, are reserved to the 

 States respectively, or to the people.' No power 

 is delegated to lay a tax upon the people gen- 

 erally to protect a few industries. Therefore 

 the power does not exist. I am speaking of 

 constitutional power, not upon constructions 

 which may have been placed by courts upon 

 tariff laws, for when a bill comes up every man 

 should be governed by his own conscience and 

 not by somebody else's in his vote upon this bill. 



"It is clear, therefore, iu my judgment, that 

 any tariff bill should be a tariff for revenue, and 

 for revenue only, and that we can not consti- 

 tutionally or in sound policy make any other 

 character of a tariff than a tariff for revenue, 

 for the purpose of raising revenue to support 

 the Government and to carry out the various 

 objects for which the Government was created. 

 In laying a tariff looking alone to revenue it is 

 within the sound discretion of Congress to se- 

 lect the articles for taxation. Any tariff will, 

 in its nature, to a certain extent, protect inci- 

 dentally ; but revenue should be the object, and 

 protection but the inseparable incident. Under 

 the pressnt oppressive tariff, protection, as it 

 seems to me, is the principal object, and revenue 

 the incident. 



"Two different plans have been presented 

 for securing information with the view to a 

 new tariff bill. I have been here for more than 

 five years patiently looking to the House of 

 Representatives for the discharge of the duty 

 of originating a revenue bill, which under the 

 Constitution is in the House of Representatives. 

 This body can not originate a revenue bill ; it is 

 not in the power of this body to do it ; but if 

 the House will send us a bill we have the right 

 under the Constitution to amend ; but no bill 

 is sent. Hence, I have sat here with such pa- 

 tience as I possess, for five years, waiting for a 

 revenue bill, such as is demanded by the best 

 interests of the country, to come up to us. It 

 has not come. The people all over this land 

 are demanding that there should be at least a 

 revision of the tariff and large reduction of du- 

 ties ; and thousands and hundreds of thousands 

 of men throughout the country believe as I do, 

 that the only just, the only honest, the only 



fair, the only constitutional tariff law that can 

 be made is a tariff for revenue, and for revenue' 

 only. 



"The purpose of the committee bill is in 

 that direction. That is as far as we could go. 

 We can not originate a bill here, but a commis- 

 sion to consist of nine members from civil life 

 to be appointed by the President, by and with 

 the advice and consent of the Senate, is author- 

 ized by the bill as reported by the Committee 

 on Finance for the purpose of investigating all 

 the various questions relating to the agricul- 

 tural, commercial, mercantile, manufacturing, 

 mining, and other industrial interests of the 

 United States so far as may be necessary to a 

 judicious tariff revision, and of reporting the 

 result of that investigation to this body. That 

 commission is to be raised by nominations by 

 the President, and by confirmation it'so advised 

 and consented to by the Senate. 



"Mr. President, I want a revenue bill; I 

 want all the light that can be thrown upon 

 this great question, and I believe that the clear- 

 er the light shed upon this great question by 

 free, conscientious, intelligent investigation, the 

 greater will be the reasonable probabilities in 

 favor of a just tariff, for revenue and revenue 

 only. In my judgment, the justness and sound 

 policy of a revenue-tariff bill can be made clear 

 and palpable so manifest that the American 

 people will demand the adoption of such a bill. 

 I do not expect such a bill from men who do 

 not believe in the doctrine of a tariff for reve- 

 nue only. Therefore I do not propose to place 

 the nominations in a power of this Government 

 (the President) that does not, so far as I know 

 or believe, believe in that doctrine. 



" The Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Garland] 

 has presented a proposition in the nature of a 

 substitute to the committee bill having in view 

 the same object of investigating this tariff ques- 

 tion, the commission to consist of three mem- 

 bers of the Senate, three members of the House, 

 and three others, not members of either House. 

 As between the proposition presented by the 

 Senator from Arkansas and that presented by 

 the committee, I shall unquestionably support 

 that presented by the Senator from Arkansas, 

 because it comes nearer ray view than the other 

 proposition does, and as I think more complete- 

 ly defines the duties of the commission; but I 

 would favor over his proposition or that of the 

 committee a joint committee of the Senate and 

 of the House, raised in such mode and manner 

 as the Senate may determine so far as its part 

 is concerned, and the House as to its part, and 

 let the committee be invested with full power 

 to employ a stenographer, the best in America, 

 and I think we would not have to go outside of 

 this Chamber to get him, and if he will pardon 

 me, I say to Mr. Murphy, Thou art the man. 

 My idea is to employ first-class clerks and ste- 

 nographers, and invest the committee or com- 

 mission, as the case may be, with ample power to 

 send for books, persons, and papers, and to em- 

 ploy experts in matters relating to the tariff to 



