CONGRESS. (REPEAL OF WAR-REVENUE TAXATION.) 



rule that is presented here this morning that I 

 shall not offer any opposition to it. 1 believe 

 there are other matters that should have been 

 considered at this time, and especially those re- 

 lating to the maintenance of tariff duties on 

 sugar and the reduction of duties on iron and 

 steel. But after consultation with the members 

 who were in sympathy with me on this proposi- 

 tion I find the sentiment is that nothing should 

 be done that would in any way hazard the pas- 

 sage of the war-revenue repeal bill; that they be- 

 lieve it to be their duty to their constituents to 

 vote for this repeal and not jeopardize its pas- 

 sage by presenting other legislation in the shape 

 of amendments; and further, that Congress is 

 under moral obligation to pass this bill at the 

 earliest date possible and relieve the country from 

 this burdensome tax. For these reasons, Mr. 

 Speaker, I shall vote for the rule; but I wish to 

 say at this time that I shall take the first oppor- 

 tunity that presents itself after the passage of 

 this bill to press for consideration House bill 

 9056, amending the iron and steel schedule." 



Mr. Richardson, of Tennessee, challenged Re- 

 publicans in favor of a modification of tariff 

 rates to make their opinion effective by voting 

 against the special rule: 



" Now, if you want to afford your constituents 

 some relief, if you want an opportunity to give 

 your people a chance to have relief from high 

 taxation on any one of the 4,000 articles now 

 upon the tariff schedules, many of which are pay- 

 ing a tax of from 50 to 100 and even 150 per 

 cent., this is the opportunity. You gentlemen 

 will go back to your people and some of you will 

 tell them that under the rule you could not offer 

 a relief measure. I wish to tell them you could 

 have done so by voting down this rule. You are 

 willing to vote to take all the tax off of inherit- 

 ances under this bill. You are willing to take 

 all of the tax off of ' bucket-shops.' You are 

 willing to take the tax off of corporations -which 

 are now taxed, which you do in this bill, and 

 all the other war-taxes, including tax on beer, 

 tea, tobacco, etc., but you leave the tariff, aver- 

 aging more than 50 per cent., on over 4,000 arti- 

 cles, many of them of prime necessity to the 

 people of this country. You have an opportunity 

 now to give them some relief; but instead of 

 voting against the rule, instead of speaking 

 against the rule, which you refuse to do, you 

 come up voluntarily and vote for it, and so tie 

 your hands that you can not offer amendments 

 reducing taxes, etc., and have them considered. 

 Then you purpose to go home to your people, 

 who are crying for relief, with the statement 

 that ' the House of Representatives tied our 

 hands and would not permit us to offer an amend- 

 ment.' 



" Xow, gentlemen on the other side, there is 

 no escape from the result of your vote here. If 



ou desire to offer any amendments to any one 

 if the tariff schedules, reducing taxes on any one 

 f the 4,000 articles now taxed, you have the 



'portunity by voting down this rule. You bring 

 of your 200 members on that side of the House 



gainst this rule, and we will vote it down. We 

 11 give you 150 or 160 votes from this side of 



.e House. We will vote down the rule ; and then 



hat would be the situation? We would go into 



>e committee of the whole under the five-min- 



te rule, and you, my friend from Wisconsin, 



>uld tender your relief measure. 



" Other gentlemen, on both sides of the House, 



ho have relief measures in which their people 

 are vitally concerned, could tender them, and 

 after reasonable debate we would have a vote 



upon them. But, instead of that, you come up 

 voluntarily and surrender your prerogatives to 

 represent the 180,000 or 200,000 free people whom 

 you each represent, and tie your own hands so 

 that you can offer no measure of relief and no 

 amendment of any kind." 



Mr. Cannon, of Illinois, put the case for the 

 Republican majority as follows: 



" Mr. Speaker, I recollect well when the legisla- 

 tion was enacted which the House of Represent- 

 atives will I trust, so far as -it can, in the next 

 two days repeal. War had been declared with 

 Spain. It was necessary to have additional reve- 

 nues collected from the people. The Republican 

 party, then in power as now in this House, under 

 the leadership of the late distinguished repre- 

 sentative from Maine, Mr. Dingley, passed the 

 law which we now propose to repeal, with certain 

 statements and pledges. One was that it was 

 apparent that the enactment was necessary, and 

 the other, in which we all on the Republican side 

 participated by vote, and many by voice, was 

 that when the war closed and these revenues 

 were no longer necessary the Republican party, 

 if in power, would see to it that they were re- 

 pealed. 



" I recollect quite well the debates that oc- 

 curred. On the other side of the House there 

 were various propositions. The most statesman- 

 like of all was that we should pay the expenses 

 of that war by coining all the silver bullion in 

 the Treasury, etc. When the vote came, in the 

 face of denunciations on the other side of the 

 House that we were enacting that legislation 

 with a high hand and that the House was lower- 

 ing its dignity, the Republican party passed a 

 bill, and, with a few honorable exceptions, the 

 gentlemen on the other side of the Chamber 

 voted ' no.' 



" Now, those revenues are no longer necessary ; 

 and a party or administration that collects from 

 its citizens more than enough to carry on the 

 Government is derelict, and if they should con- 

 tinue to do so they ought to and would lose 

 power. 



" Again, unnecessary revenues in the Treasury 

 and coming into the Treasury are but a prize, 

 which, I started to say, adventurers, but perhaps 

 that is too strong a term, all over the country 

 organize themselves to get out from the Treasury 

 as industriously as the busy bees organize them- 

 selves to get the sweets in the pursuit of their 

 legitimate calling. What do we hear from the 

 other side ' Arbitrary use of power ! ' It is for 

 the majority to declare by voice and vote whether 

 this rule shall be adopted and whether these 

 revenues shall be reduced. If the rule is adopted 

 and the revenues are reduced, it will be because 

 of Republican votes and because of Republican 

 policy." 



The resolution embodying the special rule was 

 carried by a vote of 158 to 121 ; and Mr. Rich- 

 ardson proposed that the vote be taken, by 

 unanimous consent, on the amendment and pas- 

 sage of the bill as recommended by the Committee 

 on Ways and Means, since it would be folly to 

 spend a day in committee of the whole, consid- 

 ering a measure to which no amendment could 

 be offered. And so the bill was passed. 



March 21, it was amended and passed by the 

 Senate. The main point in the amendments was 

 the exclusion of the tax on bucket-shop transac- 

 tions from the act of repeal. The House non- 

 concurred in the Senate amendments, and after 

 conference a report was made in which the Sen- 

 ate receded from the most important amend- 

 ment. 



