178 



CONGRESS. (REPEAL OF WAR-REVENUE TAXATION.) 



and approved by an act entitled ' An Act tempo- 

 rarily to provide revenues for the Philippine Is- 

 lands, and for other purposes,' approved March 8, 

 1902, is hereby amended so as to authorize the 

 civil governor theof in his discretion to 

 establish the equivalent rates of the money 

 in circulation in said islands with the money 

 of the United States as often as once in ten 

 days. 



" SEC. 85. That the treasury of the Philippine 

 Islands and such banking associations in said 

 islands with a paid-up capital of not less than 

 $2,000,000 and chartered by the United States or 

 any State thereof as may be designated by the 

 Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury of the United States shall be depositories of 

 public money of the United States, subject to the 

 provisions of existing law governing such de- 

 positories in the United States: Provided, That 

 the treasury of the government of said islands 

 shall not be required to deposit bonds in the 

 Treasury of the United States, or to give other 

 specific securities for the safe-keeping of public 

 money except as prescribed, in his discretion, by 

 the Secretary of War. 



" SEC. 86. That all laws passed by the govern- 

 ment of the Philippine Islands shall be reported 

 to Congress, which hereby reserves the power and 

 authority to annul the same, and the Philippine 

 Commission is hereby directed to make annual 

 report of all its receipts and expenditures to the 

 Secretary of War. 



" BUREAU OF INSULAR AFFAIRS. 



" SEC. 87. That the Division of Insular Affairs 

 of the War Department, organized by the Secre- 

 tary of War, is hereby continued until otherwise 

 provided, and shall hereafter be known as the 

 Bureau of Insular Affairs of the War Depart- 

 ment. The business assigned to said bureau shall 

 embrace all matters pertaining to civil govern- 

 ment in the island possessions of the United 

 States subject to the jurisdiction of the War De- 

 partment; and the Secretary of War is hereby 

 authorized to detail an officer of the army whom 

 he may consider especially well qualified, to act 

 under the authority of the Secretary of War as 

 the chief of said bureau; and said officer while 

 acting under said detail shall have the rank, pay, 

 and allowances of a colonel. 



" SEC. 88. That all acts and parts of acts in- 

 consistent with this act are hereby repealed." 



Repeal of War-Revenue Taxation. Feb. 

 17, 1902, the bill for the repeal of the taxes 

 levied to meet war expenditure was taken up 

 in the House of Representatives and passed by a 

 vote of 288 yeas, there being no nays. The only 

 discussion of the subject-matter of the measure 

 was with reference to the special rule, brought in 

 to hasten its passage. This rule was designed 

 to force the House to act on the reduction of 

 taxation, a policy as to which there was no dif- 

 ference of opinion, and yet avoid any discussion 

 of the method of reduction, as to which the Re- 

 publican majority was not unanimous. The rule 

 ordered the immediate consideration of the meas- 

 ure in committee of the whole, that the com- 

 mittee rise the next day at four o'clock, after 

 general debate, report the bill with amendments 

 recommended by the Committee of Ways and 

 Means; and that the House act immediately on 

 these amendments without intervening motions 

 or debate, and then vote on the final passage of 

 the bill. Under the rule, therefore, no amend- 

 ment could come before the House, save those 

 reported from the Committee on Ways and 

 Means. During the hour's debate allowed on the 



adoption of the rule, Mr. Dalzell, of Pennsyl- 

 vania, who was in charge of it, said: 



" The effect of this resolution, if it pass, will 

 be to bring before the House for consideration 

 the bill which repeals all of the war-revenue tax- 

 ation. The rule provides for the discussion of 

 that measure until four o'clock to-morrow after- 

 noon. It excludes all amendments, except those 

 that have been recommended by the Committee 

 on Ways and Means, and these are merely formal. 



" This measure is the redemption of a pledge 

 made by the Republican majority at the time 

 that the war-revenue measure was passed. It 

 was then said that when the necessity that called 

 for the passage of that act ceased to exist the 

 taxes would be repealed. In pursuance of that 

 pledge, in the last Congress a portion of those 

 taxes were repealed, and now, in entire fulfil- 

 ment of the pledge, all the war-taxes are to be 

 repealed. 



" It is a measure about which, I take it, there is 

 a unanimity of opinion in this House, and there 

 is therefore little necessity for any protracted de- 

 bate. It is a simple repeal measure, and there- 

 fore it has been thought wise that it should be 

 submitted to the House in the shape in which it 

 comes from the committee, and so that its suc- 

 cess may not be hazarded by any extraneous 

 matter." 



Mr. Ball, of Texas, said in opposition to the 

 rule: 



" Mr. Speaker, the effect of this drastic rule, if 

 adopted, will be not only to cut off all amend- 

 ments to this bill, but to prevent even a motion 

 to recommit with instructions in order that the 

 will of this House may be ascertained. This is 

 but another step in the parliamentary evolution 

 which has effaced individualism in this House 

 and enthroned with autocratic power a few 

 men who dominate not only the legislation which 

 is passed, but that which is suppressed. It is 

 but another step in the backward path which has 

 caused the popular branch of the national Legis- 

 lature to abdicate its functions as a deliberative 

 body. It is but another step in seeking yet a 

 lower depth in public opinion, if it is possible to 

 find a depth which the House of Representatives 

 has not already reached. 



" It is but another step in bringing us into con- 

 tempt with the body at the other end of the Capi- 

 tol, which has no respect for the membership of 

 this House as a whole, not individually, because 

 in patriotism, legislative ability, and fidelity to 

 duty we are the equal of the members there, but 

 disdain for a legislative body whose individual 

 members are without power to obtain recognition 

 except by the grace of one man and without the 

 power to offer an amendment to pending legisla- 

 tion except by the grace of three men. 



" Now, Mr. Speaker, if this rule is adopted, 

 $75,000,000 of taxes will be removed at one 

 swoop. Nobody believes that the Senate of the 

 United States is going to permit this to become 

 a law without proper consideration. Everybody 

 who is informed knows that the reason why this 

 rule has been adopted is to gag two Republican 

 members of the Ways and Means Committee, to 

 gag a number of Republicans on that side of the 

 Chamber and all of the Democratic members of 

 this House. Every one who is informed knows 

 that the object of this rule is to prevent the hand 

 of taxation from being laid upon the sugar trust, 

 the steel trust, and other bloated corporations." 



Mr. Babcock, of Wisconsin, representing the 

 Republican minority in favor of tariff reduction, 

 said: 



" Mr. Speaker, I want to say in reference to the 



