OCR Text |
Show SENATE WORKS Bl TARIFFMEASURE Chief Feature of the Day Is Tilt Between Senators Bailey and A Id rich. IS REPUBLICAN PARTY . KEEPING ITS PLEDGES? Ancient, but the Ever-Living. '.North and South" Question Is Dragged In. WASHINGTON, April 22. A further fur-ther consideration of the understanding under which the scnalo is considering tho tariff bill tod.-n resulted in an agreement by Mr. Aldrich that at any time while the measure was being considered con-sidered for amendment any paragraph in the bill under consideration might be reverted to and be subject to amendment amend-ment without the necessity of resorting to any formal parliamentary procedure. proced-ure. The bill was taken up soon after tho senate, convened. The consideration of the duty ou gas retorts caused an oratorical explosion. Tho commit too on finance had increased the rates on these articles from as provided iu the house bill, to .'10 per cent ad valorem, the now'dfity being 011 large retorts three times the amount levied by the houso bill and tho present pres-ent law. This course was denounced by Mr. Bailey as evidence of failure of tho .Republican parly to keep faith with the people iu their demand for a revision re-vision of the tariff downward. Reason for Measure, .Mr. Aldrich explained that the specific spe-cific duty of $3 was upon small retorts, aud that Ihe practice of building large ones had made necessary a change of the duty to an ad valorem rate. Ho challenged tho senator from Texas to show that tho Tiepublicaii party had bceu pledged to a revision ol the tariff " downward. " "Tho Republican party," .said Mr. Aldrich, "agreed to reviso tho tariff on the basis of rates equalling the difference dif-ference in cost of production iu this country and abroad." Mr..Mailey insisted there was an understanding un-derstanding in the eountrv before the last, election that the "Republican party would revise I ho tariff downward, otherwise, oth-erwise, ho declared, tho house would have' become Democratic. ''The people,-" said Mr. Aldrich, "understood that tho "Republican parly was a party of protection bound to revise re-vise the tariff from tho protective standpoint. If any paragraph in this bill can give protection equal to the cost of production .1 am for an amendment amend-ment of the bill in that respect." Mr. Nel?on called attention to rec ords showing that oven under the I! specific duty in 1D07 only fifty-five gas retorts were imported, valued at .'fllSOO. yielding an income of only about, $HH) a vear. That, he claimed, showed the old duty was prohibitive and he thought conditions condi-tions did not warrant an iucrease. Quotes Taft's Views. Mr. Bailey read from President Taft's inauguration address 10 show that he had favored lower duties, and Mr. Aldrich responded that the pending bill proposed to fulfill that pledge absolutely. ab-solutely. went into the Union army before I was twenty-one, and have been a Republican ever since,'' declared Air. Aldrich. in a colloquy with Mr. Bailey. Mr. Aldrich asserted that practically none of the Union soldiers north o'f Mason and Dixie's lino had been Democrats Dem-ocrats nfter the. war. Mr. Bailey replied that great injustice injus-tice had been done to hundreds of thousands thou-sands of Democrats who had como to the aid of the north in tho struggle of CoiiliDJed ou Po;m Two. SENATE WORKS ON TARIFF MEASURE Continued from Pago One. 'Gl-'Go, and "but for whose attitude the result might have been different.'' B?,iley Grows Warm. Mr. Aldrich declared he had not intended in-tended to say there were no loyal Democrats Demo-crats in the north or in the Union army. Mr. Bailey asserted that, any such attack at-tack onnny Democrat was ill-timed. "I have heard it said," said Mr. Bailey, "that the present administration administra-tion aims as one of its chief accomplishments, accom-plishments, to disrupt the solid south and it is endeavoring to accomplish that result by flattering the weak men in the south by conceding to them an invitation to the White Houso or by giving them a portion of the patronage of the country. "The president wastes his time and wastes his breath when he gives hood to the men who tell him they can disrupt dis-rupt the south. There is in the south today, as there was boforo tho war, a sentiment that is not Democratic. In the older times they were Whigs and in this day they are Republicans. But some of them .ire ashamed of their associates as-sociates down there. Discrimination Alloged. "This bill is full of sectional discrimination. dis-crimination. The farmers' binding twino is placed on the free list, but in this very same bill, tho bagging of the cotton planter is highly protected. If you want to find a way to tho hearts of our people of the south, do not treat them unjustly.' ' Senator Nelson of Minnesota denounced de-nounced the measure, declaring that the cotton, glass and woolen schedules were too high. Ho said that placing duties on woolen manufactured goods 59 per cent higher than the duty 011 raw wool was unjust. Mr. Gallagher interrupted, referring to the closing of tho woolen mills of New Hampshire by the low rates of thv Wilson bill. Mr. Nelson energetically declared that was the same spirit that had actuated ac-tuated New England m its criticism of any effort to reduce tho high rates that had prevailed upon her prod uc is. Senator Dollivcr declared that, not onlv wore the duties of tho Payno-Alclrich Payno-Alclrich bill too high, but they were so worded as to result, in large i nor oases of rates without definite indication of such increases in the schedules." Vote for Reduction. "The woolen schedule," he said "ought to be reduced. For two years this schedule has been a bad invest-ment invest-ment for the Republican party. I intend in-tend to vote so as to adhere, as far as possible, to every reduction in the Ding-Jey Ding-Jey rate that was made by tho houso committee and to every reduction made by the senate committee, Wherever I find a rate in this bill abovo the Ding-lev Ding-lev rate, I reserve the right to inquire whether after twelve years oi prosperity prosper-ity with every industry multiplying output out-put and increasing its capacity, it might be possible to scale some ot these duties. du-ties. "While it may be that there are only a fow incrcases'and quite a large number num-ber of reductions in the bill, I venture to say when we aro through with it it will be sc nearly like the .Dingjcy law that, many men will wonder what was the cxtra'ordinaiy occasion that called us here." Mr. Dolliver asserted that by a system of rating cotton goods higher I on accouut of the presence of a small percentage of wool, a greatly increased in-creased protection, which was not apparent ap-parent to the ordinary person, had becu obtained. Senator Elkius criticised the lack of information concerning wool coming before the committee on finance in respect re-spect to this schedule. Mr. Flint referred to suggestions offered by the West Virginia senator for rates "on-coal. Pertinout Query, "You don't mean to say that the senator from. West Virginia lixed tho rates on coal'?" inquired Mr. Bcvoridge. "No. I mean ho suggested what the rates ought to be," said Mr. Flint. Mr. Aldrich asked the Iowa senator whether ho had criticised the Diugloy bill because of the faults ho now found in it, when he was a membor of tho ways and means committee that framed the bill. Mr. Dolliver replied that he had not. He said he had votod for the bill just as many others had done, bocauso to insure the passage of a bill at the time it was necessary to accopt many figures that were not entirely indorsed. , Mr. Dolliver said "ho had defended the Dingley law in every state of tho union, but he added, "My audiences are growing tired. The people arc tired of having these, duties raised from 100 to 150 por cent on the clothes they wear upon their backs." Mr. Dollivcr said that, his conviction that "the protective tariff system could be perpetuated only by making the duties more reasonable," had been one of long standing. Mr. Aldrich assumed the responsibility responsi-bility for the duty on hides as placed iu tho Dingley law. and asserted that he believed the same rate, 15 per cent, would be offered by tho finance committee com-mittee as a substitute for the free hidos provision of the house tariff bill. "I am not certain that tho farmer of the west is as able to protect himself against tho bocf trust," said Mr. Dolliver, Dol-liver, "as the shoe manufacturer of Now England." |