CONGRESS. (THE TARIFF BILL.) 



189 



life have I thought the provocation was suffi- 

 cient, the abuse and misrepresentation violent 

 enough, or the aspersion of character sufficient 

 to induce me to talk of private matters in pub- 

 lic; but the limit of endurance has been reached. 

 It is not my honor, it is the honor of many of 

 my fellows, which impels me to make the state- 

 ment which 1 now make. 



" Mr. President, you know, and all the 43 

 Democrats here know, that when we ascertained 

 the fact that the Wilson bill as such could not 

 pass ; when we ascertained the fact that the first 

 amended bill as reported by my distinguished 

 friend from Indiana [Mr. Voorhees] could not 

 pass this body ; that it could not receive 43 

 votes, we counseled again. The subcommittee 

 in charge of the bill was composed of the dis- 

 tinguished Senator from Missouri [Mr. Vest] 

 and the distinguished Senator from Arkansas 

 [Mr. Jones]. Every Democratic Senator was 

 seen and consulted. His views and suggestions 

 were ascertained, and a memorandum was made 

 of every amendment proposed. 



" Then those of us, and I am one, responsible 

 to a greater extent because of official connection 

 with the party organization, said to them : ' With 

 the slim majority in the Senate, with the diver- 

 sity of views, with the excitement in the public 

 mind, growing out of the great industrial revo- 

 lution, it will be impossible to obtain 43 votes 

 in the Senate to pass the bill unless we have the 

 co-operation of the executive branch of the Gov- 

 ernment, its hearty good will, and its earnest sup- 

 port of what we shall do.' These two gentlemen 

 not only conferred with the executive branch. 

 as they' had a right to do, but they conferred 

 with their fellows in the other House who were 

 responsible and active in framing the original 

 measure which came to this body. 



" So, when we were informed and there can 

 be no mistake as to the information that this 

 thorough co-operation, this hearty support which 

 we knew to be necessary to the passage of the 

 measure and the unification of our party was 

 had, as we were assured, we went on to secure 

 the passage of the bill. On the 23d of May, 

 when we had reached that consummation, I 

 stated to the Senate in the remarks which I 

 then made that the bill with the Jones amend- 

 ments 



Is a Democratic measure of tariff reform, which 

 merits and I believe will receive every Democratic 

 vote in this body, the indorsement of a Democratic 

 House, and the signature of a Democratic President. 



" Mr. President, I believed then, and I believe 

 now, that I had the right to make that state- 

 ment." 



An authorized interview with Secretary Car- 

 lisle was read to prove his concurrence, and Mr. 

 Gorman went on : 



" The President was not ignorant of what we 

 proposed to do. Nothing was concealed from 

 him. The papers announced on the day fol- 

 lowing the interview with Mr. Carlisle that the 

 President himself concurred with his great Sec- 

 retary. So we understood, and. if it was not 

 true, then 43 Senators on this side of the Cham- 

 ber were misled. Every prominent amendment 

 to the bill was as well known to him as to me. 



" While neither the President nor his Secre- 

 tary was in love with all the provisions of these 



amendments I may say in fairness that there 

 were many of them to which they were opposed, 

 as the Senator from Missouri on my right, and 

 the Senator from Arkansas, and the distinguished 

 chairman of the Committee on Finance were op- 

 posed to many of them, and as it was a compro- 

 mise measure it was not satisfactory to a single 

 solitary human being on this side of the Cham- 

 ber in all its details yet I assert that as a whole 

 the structure as presented, as scanned by these 

 gentlemen whom I have named, as looked into 

 by us, was satisfactory, and was recognized as 

 the best that was possible to pass through this 

 body, and that from no quarter, high or low, 

 from the President, through his Cabinet, or by 

 any member of this body, was it ever suggested 

 or intimated that there was any violation of 

 Democratic principle in anything we did. 



" Now, Mr. President, this is a very broad 

 statement. I call upon the two gentlemen who 

 had the immediate control of the bill the Sena- 

 tor from, Missouri [Mr. Vest] and the Senator 

 from Arkansas [Mr. Jones] and I ask them if I 

 have made a statement which varies a hair's 

 breadth from the truth; and it is due to the 

 Senate, it is due to themselves, it is due to me, 

 it is due to the country, that the truth shall be 

 known. Let the people have the truth." 



Mr. Vest, of Missouri, said in response : 



" The Secretary of the Treasury, while we were 

 working upon the tariff bill, was frequently in 

 our committee room, and distinctly gave us to 

 understand that the greatest possible calamity 

 which could come to the Democratic party and 

 to the country would be the failure to pass a bill 

 to take the place of the McKinley act upon the 

 statute book. He often consulted with us in re- 

 gard to the details, and distinctly impressed 

 upon me and the other members of the com- 

 mittee his opinion that no difference of opinion 

 in regard to rates or duties should prevent the 

 great consummation of passing a tariff bill dur- 

 ing the present session of Congress. 



"The Senator from Rhode Island, as the 

 " Record " shows and as my brother Senators 

 will remember, fairly and legitimately, as a 

 matter of debate, asked me repeatedly, while we 

 were discussing the bill originally reported from 

 the Finance Committee to the Senate, if a large 

 number of amendments, amounting to more than 

 300, had not been prepared to the bill, and if 

 they would not be offered in a very few days. I 

 told him then honestly that I knew of no such 

 amendments, and I stated the truth. It is true 

 that my colleague, the Senator from Arkansas 

 [Mr. Jones], who had been working with me 

 upon the bill, had told me that he intended to 

 consummate a compromise bill if possible, and 

 that he would see the dissatisfied Senators upon 

 this side of the Chamber and ascertain what 

 amendments would be necessary to secure their 

 votes. 



" I encouraged him in that direction, and told 

 him, as I have told everybody else, and as the 

 Secretary of the Treasury had stated to us, that 

 the greatest calamity which could come to the 

 Democratic party and to the country, in my 

 judgment, would be the failure to pass a tariff 

 bill at the present session of Congress. 



" When I answered the Senator from Rhode 

 Island as I did I answered truthfully, because I 



