People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 February 1894 — WILSON WINS. [ARTICLE]

WILSON WINS.

The Tariff Bill of Which He Is the Author Passes the House. The Income Tax Feature Js Adopted, as Well a* the Amendments Placing Sugar and Wool on the Free List. FINAL VOTE, 204 TO 140. Washington, Feb. 3. —At 6 o'clock Thursday night, at the conclusion of one of the grandest, most imposing and most impressive scenes ever witnessed in the American capitol, the Wilson tariff bill passed the house of representatives by a vote of 204 to 140. The events leading up to it were almost unparalleled in our annals. At 12 o’clock, after a preliminary skirmish of an hour ©ver the barley schedule, the bill was reported to the house and the closing speeches were made. Women Faint in the Crowd. Such a vast concourse as assembled to hear the last arguments upon the great economic issue about to be submitted for final arbitrament to the representatives of the American people had never before been seen within the W-'ucts of the nation’s legislative tanitoL Nothing like it was ever inown in the history of the. oldest inhabitant of the capital. For hours before the debate began the corridors leading to the galleries were a surging mass of humanity, which finallj' became so great that men cried out in terror and women fainted in fright It was estimated that over 20,000 persons attempted to gain admittance to the galleries of the house. Their seating capacity is about 3,000, and every available seat was occupied long before the gavel dropped. The people were lined against the walls and banked against the doors; so great did the crush become that the members of the house secured permission to bring their wives upon the floor.

A Brilliant Audience. When Mr. Reed, the first speaker, arose at last to deliver the final plea for protection the overhanging galleries were black and dense with the spectators who thronged them. Every inch of space upon the floor was taken. It was a brilliant as well as a large assembly. Only ten of the 854 members of the house were absent Many grave and reverend senators and other distinguished personages were on the floor, and in the galleries were Mrs. Cleveland, Mrs. Vice President Stevenson and other ladies of eminence and distinction, their dresses flecking the scene with color, fe, The “Big Three.” > Then for three hours the oratory of the champions of the economic systems followed—Reed, Crisp and Wilson—while their partisans made the air vocal with their shouts of approval. The appearance of the speaker of the house upon the floor engage in debate was, in itself, a remarkable as well as an unusual thing. Each of the speakers •eemed to be in his best form and the speeches which they delivered Thursday will rank among the most brilliant of their lives. When these were finished Mr. Wilson, who spoke last, was lifted on the shoulders of his admiring colleagues and carried triumphantly from the hall amid a scene of unmatched enthusiasm. The Voting Begin*.

The time had now arrived to vote on the bill and pending amendments, but the disorder was so great that the ser-jeant-at-arms was called upon to clear the aisles and the wives of members who had been allowed upon the floor were obliged to retire. It took twenty minutes to restore order, so that the public business could proceed. The speaker then announced that there were two pending amendments—that the committee on ways and means to increase the duty on barley from 20 to 25 per cent, ad valorem, and on barley malt from 25 to 35 per cent, and the amendment of Mr. Tawney (rep., Minn.) to increase the duty to 22 cents • bushel on barley and 32 cents on barley malt The first vote was taken on the Tawney amendment, which was lost upon a yea and nay vote of 120 to 197. The committee amendment was •greed t 0—202 to 104 Free Wool and Sugar. The speaker then announced tnat the vote was upon the amendments adopted by the committee of the whole. Mr. Johnson (O.) demanded a separate vote on the wool and woolen amendments. Mr. English (dem., N. J.) upon the income tax and upon the petroleum amendment. The other amendments, including that amendment abolishing the bounty on sugar and that placing refined sugar on the free list were then agreed to in bulk without division. The first amendment which Mr. Johnson desired a separate vote upon was that placing wool upon the free list immediately upon the passage of the bill. This amendment having been vitiated by a later amendment placing the date at August 2, a point of order was raised that the latter amendment must first be voted upon, but after some discussion the chair decided that the Johnson amendment must first be voted upon to perfect the text and that the real test would come upon the amendment to ■trike out the words “immediately after the passage of the bill” and insert “on and after August 2.” The Johnson amendment was therefore agreed to without division. The other amendment was agreed t 0—205 to 147. Mr. Johnson tried to get the yeas and nays, but could only muster five votes to his aid. The amendment fixing the date as December 2 when the manufactured woolen schedule should go into effect was also adopted—2oo to 136. Mr. Johnson again being unable to secure the yeas and nays, the vote was 'then taken upon the amendment providing for reciprocity in petroleum, and It was carried—l 77 to 47. Vote on the Income Tax. The last amendment to be voted upon was that providing for' the income tax. Mr. Cox demanded the yeas and nays upon this amendment It was significant that the republicans refused to second ths demand for the yeas and «ays, but enough democrats arose

(fifty-one) to order the roll-call. It wa then found that the income tax coni not be voted upon as a separate propc sition, the speaker deciding in accord ance with a precedent, which he cited, that the internal revenue amendment having been reported as a single amendment could not be divided. The vote, therefore, was upon the entire rejection of the internal revenue amendment. The republicans, with few excep tions, refused to vote, but the amendment, including the income tax, was adopted—lß2 to 50. The populists voted in the affirmative, as did the following republicans: Bowers (Cal ), Fletcher (Mo.), Hartmann (Mont), Marsh (III). Pickier (S. D.), White (O.) and Sweet (Idaho). Those who voted against the amendment were: Babcock (rep., Wis.), Bartlett, Beltzhoover, Brawley, Brosius (rep, Pa.), Cadmus, Campbell, Causey, Clancey, Cock ran, Campton, Coombs, Cornish. Covert, Cummings, Davey, De Forest, Dunn, Dunphy, English, Everett, Fielder, Gcissenhainer, Haines, Harter, Hendrix, Lapham, Lock wood, Manger, McAleer, M.Call (rep, Mass.), McKaig, Meyer, Moore (rep, Mass.), Mutchler, O’Neill, Page, Powers (rep., Vl), Price, Hayner, Reilley, Rusk, Ryan, Schermerhorn, Scranton (rep., Pa.). Sickles, Sperry, Stevens, Talbott (Md.), Warner and Wolverton.

Passed, by a Majority of 64. Then came the final vote on the bill itself, on which a yea and nay vote was asked and granted by a rising vote. The roll-call was watched with marked attention, and frequent bursts of applause greeted accessions to one side or the other. Beltzhoover (dem., Pa.) was the first to win applause by his yea vote, indicating that the Pennsyl. vanians were falling into line. Immediately after this, Blanchard (dem.. La.) was applauded as he voted yea and showed that the Louisianian opposition to the bill was not intact Mr. Cockran’s vote in favor of the bill brought out tumultuous cheering. The climax of the demonstration was reached when the name of Mr. Wilson, author of the bill, was reached, the democrats cheering vociferously as a final recognition of his leadership. The speaker asked that his name be called and he answered in the affirmative. Then the speaker announced 1 “On this question the yeas are 204 and the nays are 140 and the bill is passed.” Summary of tne Vote. The vote summarized is as follows: Yeas, 204: democrats, 198; republicans, 0; people’s party, 6. Nays, 140; democrats. 18; republicans, 121: people's party, 1. Total, 314. Democrats voting against it were Bartlett, Campbell, Covert, Cummings, Haines, Hendrix, Schermerhorn and Sickles, of New York; Cadmas, of New Jersey; Sperry and Page, of Connecticut; Geary of California; Cooper, of Wisconsin; Sibley, of Pennsylvania; and Devey, Meyer, Price and Robertson, of Louisiana. Democrats Were Happy. When the speaker announced the vote cheer followed cheer upon the democratic side, papers, hats, congressional records and, in fact, everything which the democrats could lay theii’ hands upon, were flung high in the air, and amid a perfect pandemonium of joy the house adjourned.