CONGRESS. (REVENUE REFORM.) 



205 





Touching upon the necessity for foreign 

 markets for our agricultural products, Mr. Car- 

 lisle said: " Of course our home market lias been 

 constantly improving, and under any system of 

 taxation will continue to improve to a greater 

 or less extent with the increase of population 

 and wealth, the extension of the use of ma- 

 chinery, which reduces the cost of production, 

 and the multiplication of facilities for communi- 

 cation and transportation, which reduces the 

 cost of distribution. But how long. Mr. Chair- 

 man, are our farmers to be compelled to pay 

 tribute to other industries and wait for the 

 creation of a home market that will take all 

 their own products at fair prices ? Among our 

 greatest agricultural products are wheat and 

 cotton. They constitute the main reliance of 

 millions of our people for a profitable use 

 of their lands, and many hundred million 

 dollars are invested in the soil and buildings 

 and machinery devoted to their production. 

 Taking the average crop of wheat in this coun- 

 try for several year.- past, and assuming that 

 there shall be no increase whatever in produc- 

 tion, and that the domestic consumption per 

 capita shall remain just at what it now is, there 

 would still be no sufficient home market for this 

 great agricultural staple until our population 

 had reached nearly one hundred million. 



" The official statistics of the domestic pro- 

 duction, exportation, and home consumption 

 of raw cotton show that it would require three 

 times as much machinery and three times as 

 many operatives as we now have to convert 

 this material into commercial fabrics here at 

 home ; in other words, we are now compelled 

 to export two thirds of our product to be 

 manufactured in foreign countries, while one 

 third only is manufactured at home by all the 

 machinery and labor now employed. In 1880 

 there were $219,505.000 invested in cotton 

 manufactures, and there were employed in that 

 industry 172.554 hands. To work up our 

 present production of raw cotton would re- 

 quire an investment in this manufacture of 

 $660,000,000 and the employment of 517,662 

 hands. If we have been more than one hun- 

 dred years, part of the time under very high 

 tariffs, in so developing our cotton manufact- 

 ures as to enable them to take one third of 

 our product at European prices, how many 

 more centuries will be required to enable 

 them to consume the whole product at prices 

 fixed by competition here at home? When 

 gentlemen have solved this problem to the 

 satisfaction of the American cotton-grower, 

 he may be able to listen with patience to the 

 arguments by which they attempt to convince 

 him of the immense advantages of a home 

 market that will never exist. What is to be 

 done with these great agricultural products, 

 and with many others which are now exported, 

 while the farmers are waiting for the home 

 market which the advocates of restrictive leg- 

 islation have been promising them for so 

 many years ? Are the farmers and planters of 



the North and South to abandon their wheat 

 and cotton lands or cultivate crops not suited 

 to their soil or climate while gentlemen are 

 making experiments to ascertain whether or 

 not a home market may not be created by 

 legislation I No, sir. No matter what gentle- 

 men may predict or what they may promise, 

 these great industries must go on, and the 

 American farmer must sell his products in any 

 market he can reach and at any price he can 

 get." 



It would be impossible to follow the whole 

 course of the debate or to take up the discus- 

 sion of particular points; but these extracts 

 from the speeches of acknowledged leaders 

 may serve to indicate the general character of 

 the arguments. The Mills Bill passed the 

 House of Representatives, July 21, by the 

 following vote : 



YEAS Abbott, Allen of Mississippi, Anderson of 

 Iowa. Anderson of Mississippi. Anderson of Illinois, 

 Bacon, Bankhead, Barnes, Barry, BUirs, Blanchard, 

 Bland, Blount, Breckinridge of Arkansas, Breckin- 

 ridge of Kentucky, Brower, Bryce, Buckalew, Burne.s, 

 Burnett, Bynum, F. Campbell" of New York, Camp- 

 l>ell of Ohio, T. J. Campbell of New York, Candler, 

 Carlton, Caruth, Catchings, Chipman, Clardy, Clem- 

 ents, Cobb, Cockran, Collins, Compton, tothran, 

 Cowles, Cox 2 Crain, Crisp, Culbcrson, Curnmings, 

 Dargan, Davidson of Alabama, Davidson of Florida, 

 Dibble, Dockery, Dougherty. Dunn. Elliott, Enloe, 

 Ermentrout, Fisher, Fitoh, 'Ford. Forney, French, 

 Gay, Gibson, Glass, Grimes, Hall, Hare, Hatch, 

 Hayes. Heard, Hemphill, Henderson of North Caro- 

 lina, Herbert. Holman, Hooker, Hopkins of Virginia, 

 Howard, Hudd, Hutton, Johnston of North Carolina, 

 Jones, Kilgore, Laffoon, Lagan. Landes, Lane. Lan- 

 ham, Latham, Lawler, Lee, "Lynch. Macdonald. Ma- 

 honey, Maish. Mausur, Martin. Mat>n, M 

 McClammy, McCreary, McKinney, McMillin, McRae, 

 McShane. Mills, Montgomery, M< ore, M >riran. Morse, 

 Neal, Nelson, Newton, Norwood, Gates, O'Ferrall, 

 O'Neall of Indiana, O'Neill of Missouri, Outhwaite, 

 Peel, Peninton, Phelan, Pidcock, Bavner. Eice, 

 Eichardson, ^Robertson. Rogers, Rowland, Eussell of 

 husetts, Eusk. Savers. Scott. Seney, Shaw, 

 Shively, Simmons, Smith, Snyder, Spinola, Springer, 

 Stahlnecker, Stewart of Texas, Stewart of Georgia, 

 Stockdale, Stone of Kentucky, Stone of Missouri, 

 Tarsney, Taulbee, Thompson of California, Tillman, 

 Tracey, Townshend, Turner of Georgia, Vance, 

 Walker, Washington, Weaver. Wheeler, Whitthorne, 

 Wilkins, Wilkinson, Wilson of Minnesota, Wilson of 

 West Virginia, Wise. Yoder. Carlisle, Speaker 162. 



NATS Adams, Allen of Massachusetts. Allen of 

 Michigan, Anderson of Kansas, Arnold, Atkinson, 

 Baker of New York, Baker of Illinois, Bayne, Belden, 

 Bingham, Bliss, Boothman, Bound, Boutellej Bowden, 

 Bowen, Brewer, T. H. B. firowne of Virginia, Brown 

 of Ohio, J. E. Brown of Virginia, Brurom. Buchanan, 

 Bunnell, Burrows, Butler," Butterworth, Cannon, 

 Caswell, Cheadle, Clark, Cogswell, Conger, Cooper, 

 Grouse, Cutcheon, Dalzell, Darlington, Davis, De 

 Lano. Dingley, Dr>rsey. Dunham, Farquhar, Felton, 

 Finley, Flood, Fuller, Funston, Gains, Gallinger, 

 Gear, Gest. Goff. Greenman, Grosvenor, Grout, 

 Guenther, Hanner, Haugen, Hayden, Henderson of 

 Iowa, Henderson of Illinois. Hermann, Hires, Hitt, 

 Holmes, Hopkins of Illinois, Hopkins of New York, 

 Houk, Hovey, Hunter. Jackson. Johnston of Indiana, 

 Kean, Kellev. Kennedy. Kerr. Ketcham, La Follette, 

 Laidlaw, Laird, Lehlba'eh, Lind. Lodge. Lon?, Lyman, 

 Mason, McComas. McCormick, MoCulloffh, MeKenna, 

 McKinlev. Merriman, Milliken. Mamtt/Morrill. M r- 

 row. Nichols, Nuttinsr. O'Donnell. O'Neill of Pennsyl- 

 vania, Osborne, Owen, Parker, Fatten. Payson, Per- 



