CONGRESS. (THE TARIFF BILL.) 



191 



of endurance has been reached. The Senate owes 

 it to itself. Every Senator here who is a part of 

 this Democratic majority owes it to himself. 

 There is no power, no matter how great, in this 

 country, even the President with his patronage, 

 that would keep me silent longer under the 

 charges, under the imputations so freely made 

 from such distinguished quarters. I hurl back 

 the accusation, and say that this treatment of 

 their fellows is discreditable. It is destructive 

 to the Government that men in high position 

 should attempt to lower this body, a conserva- 

 tive body, consisting, when full, of 88 worthy 

 representatives of States. 



' No man can reach here by devious ways and 

 remain long. The Senate is composed of men 

 who represent the best thought of the country ; 

 men who have stood and battled for tariff reform 

 when those in higher places dared not show 

 their heads ; men who, when another place was 

 overrun and those in it had not the courage to 

 stand and fight a tyrant, stood here at the risk 

 of health, at the risk of fortune, of all that is 

 dear, and saved the liberties of the country. 

 Then these traducers of the Senate could not be 

 seen. We will not be traduced longer, Mr. 

 President ; the facts must come. 



" We have seen how this bill passed the Sen- 

 ate; how only it could pass the Senate. No 

 man, whether in this or in another place, no 

 matter what his position may be, who styles 

 himself a Democrat, who believes in his party, 

 can change materially this measure without de- 

 feating it. Who dare take that responsibility ? " 



On July 26 the Senate, by a vote of 65 to 6, 

 refused to recede from its amendment levying a 

 duty on iron ore ; and by a vote of 64 to 6 re- 

 fused to recede from its amendment levying a 

 duty on bituminous coal. Both propositions 

 were made by Mr. Hill, of New York. July 27, 

 the Senate, after failing by a tie vote to amend 

 the tariff bill already passed and in conference, 

 resolved to insist upon its former amendments 

 and concede the further conference asked by the 

 House of Representatives. 



Aug. 10, after the tariff measure had been in 

 conference for several weeks without result, Mr. 

 Hill, of New York, offered the following resolu- 

 tion in the Senate : 



Resolved, That the conferees on the part of the 

 Senate who are now considering the differences be- 

 tween the two Houses on House bill 4864, being an 

 act entitled " An Act to reduce taxation, to provide 

 revenue for the Government, and for other purposes," 

 be and they are hereby requested to report to the 

 Senate if they are likely to come to an agreement, 

 and if not to report to the Senate a disagreement, and 

 also to report the principal items of disagreement, so 

 that the Senate may take action thereon. 



It was discussed at some length, and before 

 action was taken on it the Democratic leaders in 

 the House became alarmed, called a caucus, and 

 decided to recede from nonconcurrence in the 

 Senate amendments, and to follow the surrender 

 on the general measure with the passage of bills 

 for free coal, free iron ore, free barbed wire, and 

 free sugar. Aug. 13 that course was taken un- 

 der the usual device of introducing a special 

 rule providing for immediate action. 



In opposing the special rule, Mr. Reed, of 

 Maine, said : 



" I think your feeling, gentlemen, is perfectly 

 natural. The job that you have got to do is 

 such that the sooner you get over it the better 

 you will feel. But at the same time you will 

 have to listen to a plain statement of what you 

 are doing, and you will recognize it yourselves, 

 and it is because you recognize it in advance 

 that you are crying, ' Vote ! ' ' Vote ! ' ' Vote ! ' 

 Your class of people in the latter day will be 

 crying, in similar fashion, for the mountains to 

 fall on them. 



" The first proposition upon which you are 

 called to vote is that you will take action upon 

 papers which are not before you, that you will 

 violate the principles of parliamentary law in 

 order to do a thing which you yourselves have 

 proclaimed to be disgusting. You are going to 

 trample upon the barriers which preserve the 

 rights of the people of this country in order to 

 perform an act which would be distasteful to 

 gentlemen who were differently constituted from 

 yourselves. 



'You are going to do it in defiance of all 

 your protestations, in defiance of all your dec- 

 larations. You are going to die not only in the 

 last ditch, but in the very lowest part of the 

 ditch. You realize how distasteful and dissatis- 

 fying all this is, and you put into the order some 

 trimmings. You are satisfied that what you are 

 going to do needs seasoning, and you propose to 

 garnish it with suitable seasoning too. You are 

 going to enact a bill which you believe not to be 

 an honest bill, and you are going to accompany 

 it with a parade which you also know is not 

 honest. You are going to desert the ' roll of 

 honor ' in order to trick yourselves out with the 

 gewgaws that are contained in this proposition. 

 You are going to give us free sugar yes, in 

 your minds. You are going to give us free coal 

 oh, my friends ! And then you are going to 

 give us i'ree iron, and you are going to do it in a 

 bold and manly way, like the backdown you are 

 making here. 



" You are going to have no committee of this 

 House, not even your own pliant committee, 

 to stand between you and the noble purpose 

 that thrills your souls. You fear that a bill for 

 free sugar will be contaminated by passing 

 through a committee which may have become 

 an appendage of another portion of what has 

 been discovered to be the legislative branch of 

 this country. You are going to march to free 

 coal over the dead bodies of the Ways and Means 

 Committee. You are going to have free iron 

 ore in defiance of the rules of this House, in de- 

 fiance of the rules which you have always pro- 

 claimed were necessary for the due transaction 

 of public business. You are going to give half 

 an hour to the discussion of free sugar in all its 

 branches! You are going to give fifteen min- 

 utes on a side to discuss the question of coal ! 

 You are going to give fifteen minutes on a side 

 to discuss the question of iron ! You are going 

 to give an hour on a side to discuss 600 amend- 

 ments, no one of which has been touched by this 

 House, one tenth of a second for each amend- 

 ment ! Now, how do you like the whole pro- 

 gramme? You are going to vote it; say how 

 you like it. [A voice on the Democratic side, 

 ' First rate ! '] Providence loves a cheerful de- 

 vourer." ' 



