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A DRAMATIC
*
Senator Gorman Defies the President and
Accuses Him ot Treachery.
A RINGING DEFENSE OF THE SENATE
Mr. Cleveland Charged with Strad
dling and Playing the Demagogue.
VEST, HARRIS AND JONES TESTIFY
All Corroborate Every Word the Leader
Says—An Immense Audience Attends to
Hear the Sensational Speech.
Washington, July 23. —(Special.)—It has
been charged that Senator Gorman is not
a bold man. It has been charged that he
worked from behind the scenes; that he
was neither courageous nor bold. Such
charges will never be repeated. Senator
Gorman was the centerpiece of a scene in
tlie senate today which will go down in
history as the most remarkable occurrence
in the legislative history of this county to
date.
Mr. Gorman, the democratic leader of the
senate, the man who speaks for democracy
in that body, stood out boldly and ar
raigned the president of the United States,
elected by his own party. He not only ar
raigned the president'for bud faith to his
patty in f e senate, charging that the
president had misled the senators, but he
sti 'd back anil dramatically called lor
one after another of the leading demo
cratic senators in witness to convict the
pr -ident of the United States of practicing
deception. It was at repudiation of the
president by his own party in the senate,
the first case of the kind in our history.
Su h a scene has never occurred in a leg
ist.it ve body in America before. Such may
new r occur again. No play was ever more
dramatic. That Mr. Gorman would speax,
every one know. That unnoun loment nat
urally drew a crowd. That the session of
the senate would be interesting was ex
pected. Consequently everything was
crowded. Hut that Mr. Gorman would
speak as he did no one ireamed. In de
fending his honor and the honor of the
senate from the charges Mr. Cleveland had
made in his letter to Mr. Wi llson in witch
he charged the senators with per’ldv, Mr.
Gorman bid defiance to the mecident. He
gave the inside history of the compromise
tariff bill. He declared that the senate
am ndments had been approved ny Mr.
nd and S r< tary Carlisle; he <rars
et that the president had not been muest
with the senate in writing that letter Jto
Mr. Wilson and then he proceeded io give
proof of his charges in a manner dramatic
in tlie extreme. He called upon Senator
Vest, Senator Jones, and Senator liariis in
order to substantiate what he had said in
«: ;.se of the honor of the senate dy nar
rat.ng their int■ rviews with the president
in which to each of them he approved the
senate compromise bill and aided >n its
pa age through ’he senate. As these rem
ap,rs one after another bore testimony
ch of ha proved the
nts and then he
th< m unpopular, •>rr>" led « «
the senate of perfidy the
nent became intense, ihe , ■
cui. alt to stop, they
A Dramatic Scene.
Then Mr. Gorman, with bold deliberation,
of the efforts on the part ot the pres
try »„•> 2
.. ■ countrv. He characterized them a»
’• 11U v made from a distinguished source,
in : ''• he bOKi ‘ y mTrhMnlte the
t"; rj S American peaifle- He told of
. .■ senate had killed the force bill,
S'* : ring U.e
, when -...wi.r.H I”*" I' l '*''"” la "
r . I He gave inside history. Heshoweci
h w ’T-vMaml bad ihe^u lit
in ! i h ints a of other tariff history that was
told lots of other read ith interest. He
an , d J re Xer nK that it must be
...micme-d bjnxMrUb Stands today or
the s r.ate bill just ~e , ..i c1)11. v to any
nothmg. Il '»&•’’ ‘ , H llKl t could
h "- « ’K* m Gorman
p. s the senate. . • llpries a nd the
S were crewded T Apptently, all of the
i ’— had ?n™n Vn Tveo- on;
r senate
1 linst Um president I 'a proving them;
1 w£ frank, fearless and forceful: he
.. t s not attempting eloquence but relying
s< 1. V upon his power of statement plain,
.i. 'n'. rative, belief an 1 masterful m them
won the audience and from it obtained
hiS V -I’tie M-nnte Feel* Vindicated.
. .• r i p tive powers of the
. indents and th ness of the
St, • tph< rs can do him justn e and win
a m ti vei 1 t from the country, re-
. . ;ucn a
3 every
mtn v \•■ t’ . i•’ 1 ■ 1 •
d< .11 s- r b-r was indignant; every
. th the presi leiit. Th< y
v -, ,■ tb verve ot a stampede. Now the
ft • ' that it has been acquitted of
t ■’ ~y
presid nt. Ev-ry senator feels that the
. appr iciate, un
ci, rstanl and approve his position; thus
they will say the individual senators did
light in taking the best tariff bill they
could get rather than have no bill. A load
has been removed from the senate, and the
outlook is brighter.
Mr White, of California, made a con
ciliatory speech after Mr. Gorman con
clud d. Tl. 'n the senate quickly adjourned.
The democratic leaders have been confer
ring since. They want Mr. Vilas to with
.i’,..,w his sugar motion, and want the ten
■ e tosend the bill back to the confer
ence without instructions to the conferees
further than the insistence of the senate
noon its amendments. In that event they
believe an agreement between the two
houses might possiblyjie reached.
•mi; vixdiwtws*of the senate.
German Was in Fine Fighting Trim.
The < hamher Thronged.
Washington, July 23,-Not for many a
v has the senate chamber, rich as it is
in historic reminiscences, witnessed a more
stirring spectacle than that which took
• ~c e there today. The knowledge that
Senator Gorman was to take up the gaunt
b-t thrown down by President Cleveland
the ft ■ t of democratic senators utn acted
"ue wiuorn large part .f vLltera
anl people of leisure who take delight in
the. combats of poHticai " ladl “ *’ r fl„ htin . r
v r Gorman was in his best
rim Never did he acquit himself of a
' in connection with his senatorial du
i.'s in a manner so calculated to win
lp;. e f or himself. Without a note or a
to refer to, or to refresh his
’b ory he held the floor for nearly three
h' exhibiting powers of oratory winch
fe, -, Pn of his warmest political admirers
have given him credit for. lor an
that time he was the central figure on
which every eye in the immense assem
blage of spectators and senators was fixed,
and to whose words every ear was turned
in closest attention. He accused the
president of ingratitude to the men who
had stood by 'him in the “filth and slime ’
of his first campaign, and who had given
their time and labor and wealth to secure
his second election—referring in this con
nection to Senator Brice, of Ohio, espe
cially—and asserted that the conference bill
as prepared by Senators Jones, of Arkan
sas, and Vest, of Missouri, and as finally
passed by the senate, had been submitted
on several occasions to the secretary ot
the treasury and the president and had re
ceived the assent and approval of both of
them, and that it was not until after the
publication of the Wilson letter that the
hostility of the president to the senate bill
had been known or suspected.
Senator Gorman’s assertions on that
point were fully corroborated, and with
all necessary detail, by Senators Jones and
Vest and also by Senator Harris, who de
scribed two interviews which he had had
with the president—the last of them while
the bill was in conference, from which he
had come away with the distinct under
standing that the president was strongly
in favor of the bill as it passed the senate,
"if no bettor terms could be obtained."
Chuirs Bronght* In.
Interest did not abate as Senator Gor
man dropped, for the time being, the more
sensational features of his speech and gave
attention to the rates of duty in the bill.
Ihe floor at this tfme was crowded. Ev
ery senator in town occupied his chair, and
every vacant place was filled by a member
of the house. So great was the influx of
i epiesentatives that chairs for their accom
modation were placed around the walls,
but these were not sufficient, and three
score or more of them were obligd to
stand.
hvn the usually vacant diplomatic gal
lery was comfortably filled ’at this point,
and apparently the most interested specta
tor there was Sir Julian Pauncetote, the
British ambassador.
Senator \\ hite, of California, made a
shoit speech in favor of the motion to in
sist on the senate amendments and to
agree to a further conference, ami then
without action on any pending motions, the
senate, at 3:10 o’clock, adjourned.
Alter the expiration of the preliminarv
routine business, at 1:22 o’clock, Senator
Voorhees called for the conference report
on the tariff bill.
Then the storm broke.
lire Country in Suspense.
Senator Gorman immediately arose. He
egan by saying that he hoped he appre
ciated the gravity of the situation. Ordi
narily the situation would be easy of solu
tion. There would ordinarily be no dif
ference of opinion about sending the bill
to conference,where the differences between
th houses could be adjusted. He drew a
graphic picture of the anxiety with which
the country awaited the fate of the bill—
the idle factories, the closed workshops,
and the unemployed. Further suspension
was neither to the best interests of the
country nor of the democratic party. He
hoped that the senators would meet the
situation as became patriotic men ami
duty-bound democrats. It was idle for
him he said, to add anything to what had
been said on Friday last by tne senator
rrom New Jersey. Tn the house there was
an overwhelming majority. Here in the
senate the democrats, at tlie outset, were
conironted with the fact that there wer
but forty-four democrats. A bill must be
- I'l Tk d w,llch w °uld secure the support of
ail these senators, al! of whose votes, save
one wre necessary to pass it.
Hie Senate and Wilson’s Hill.
111 sonator irom New York, Mr. Hill had
from the begmning opposed thi_. bill openly
and manfully. The democrats, faced with
sni-ii a condition, have gone manfully to
work to harmonize the differences and had
aca ?™ ldlsne,J , J t by many sacrifices—almost
with the saeritiu.. of principle. No legisla
te embody in this country, he declared, had
Tin” fejiresehfatiVeV of the staff s of New
York, New' Jersey, Ohio, West Virginia and
Maryland at the outset announced that the
house bill was so radical, so destructive of
the interests of the people, that they would
not support it. He paid a high tribute to
Senators Vest, Jones, Voorhees and Harris—
thosi' brave men whose laborious work had
at last accomplished the feat of adjusting
these differences and had made the passage
of any bill possible.
Then, in dramatic tones, he delivered his
defiance. The infamous calumnies heaped
upon the democrats of the senate forcecl
from his lips, h,- said, a plain, unvarnished
statement of -the facts. He would make it,
he said, with malice toward none, but he
would look his colleagues and the American
people in the eye and tell the truth. In
patriotism the democrats of the senate had
to work to save the country and keep their
party in power, when suddenly in th 1 .- midst
of the struggle, came the president’s letter.
Wholly Uncalled For.
“It was the most uncalled for, the most
extraordinary, the most unwisij communi
cation,” said he, in bitter tones, “that ever
came from a president of the United States.
It placed this body in a position where its
mi mbers must see to it that the dignity and
honor of this chamber must be preserved.
“It places me,” said Mr. Gorman, “in a
position where I must tell the story as it
occurred. The limit of endurance has been
reached.”
Mr. Gorman then proceeded to detail the
history of the tariff bill after it reached the
senate, tin.l the manner in which, to meet
the objections and secure the support of
, ■ tain disaffect d democrats, the chang s
had been agreed upon. Hi stated emphati
cally that during the progress of this work
Messrs. Vest and Jones had frequent confi r
ences with Secretary Carlisle, and often
times with Mr. Cleveland himself. No ma
terial sacrifice of principle was made. The
result was, ns he had declared on a pre
vious occasion, a democratic measure which,
in bis opinion leaned toward radical tai
iir reform sentiment and which he thought
would receive the support of a democratic
house and senate and president. He believ
ed th' n, as he believed now, that he had au
■ thority for that statement. He charged di
n etly that every one of the senate amend
ments had been seen by Secretary < ar is e
and scanned by him before they were agreea
upon. Hi ■ drew from his desk and had read
an interview with Secretary Carlisle on
April 30th. in which the secretary of the
treasury gave the senate bill his sweeping
endorsement.
Mr. Carlisle Acquiesced.
“That interview.” said Mr. Gorman, “soft
en.- d the hard places for those who were
living to harmonize differences. It did
much to aid the democrats of tbe senate
getting together. He did not believe that
the democrats would ever have got t
gether had it not been for that interview
The secretary of the treasury necessanly
spoke in a great measun- for the president
in matters relating to his d e P a *t me ’ 1 . t - On
the morning following the publication of
that interview the papers announced t
the preside nt was in entire accord with h s.
great secretary of the treasury If that
was not true, then the f°rty-four democratic
senators on this side of the chamber luid
b \s a” compromise, Mr. Gorman asserted
that the bill as completed was < i s
to no’ a single solitary human being in all
UsXtani But. a v.Mle. We
presented, as seanm d by the secret.!
the treasury and the president, as looked at
by us, was acceptable as the best bill that
could be passed.
Then- was no suggestion anywhere, eltn
er from the president or the secretary of
the treasury, that the bill, as modified, was
a violation of democratic principles.
Sseniitors Substantiate Him.
With dramatic emphasis, Mr. Gorman
called upon Senators Vest, Jones and Voor
hees to bear testimony as to whether his
statements had varied a hair’s breadth
from the truth. “Let the people have the
truth,” said he, as he paused.
Mr. Vest arose. He began by saying that
h>- had not himself seen the president since
tae repeal of the Sherman law last summer.
But, with the secretary of the treasury he
had’ had frequent consultations. Mr. Car
lisle had rep -atedly and distinctly stated to
ihm that the greatest possible calamity
£HE WEEKLY OOESTITUTION; ATLANTA, GA.. MONDAY. JULY 30.1894.
that could happen would be the failure of
any bill. He had distinctly stated to him
that no difference in rates should biy allow
ed to stand in the way of the consumma
tion of some scheme of tariff reform. His
colleague, Mr, Jones, had seen both Car
lisle and Cleveland and they had both de
clared that the bill was acceptable to them.
The bill did not suit him (Vest). He knew
It must have the support of the adminis
tration to pass it, and he asked Mr. Jones
if the president would throw the weight of
his influence in favor of it. Mr. Jones re
plied that the president had said to him: “I
am willing to do anything to pass the bill
through congress.”
“If wt? go into this fight the president must
be U.hind us,” I said. Mr. Jones replied
that he was. “Thereupon,” said Mr. Vest,
“I gave up my personal opinion and resolved
to support it. The president’s letter was
the first intimation to me that hia was
against us.”
Mr. Jones Testifies.
When Mr. Vest sat down Mr. Jones, who
was in charge of the bill in the senate,
took the floor. He was as pale as death,
but showed no signs of nervousness. He
realized, he said, when the bill came to the
senate that it could not be passed in its
then form and he had gone to work, he
said, with infinite labor and pains to inter
view every democratic senator. He ascer
tained every objection they held and had
carefully noted them. He had talked with
Mr. Carlisle about his plan, and the presi
dent endorsed it as wise. Then he (Mr.
Jones) prepared the amendments in consul
tation with Secretary Carlisle. The secre
tary was thoroughly informed as to the
situation, and he (Mr. Jones) had said to
him: “I will not go one step further if the
administration is not behind me.” I re
quested him to explain everything to the
president. 1 saw the president. lie told
ma Mr. Carlisle had explained all, and he
(Mr. Cleveland) said he thought we were
doing the wise and proper thing. Among
the amendments thus prepared were those
placing coal and iron on the dutiable list.
“Until 1 read President Cleveland’s letter
to Mr. Wilson,” said Mr. Jones, emphati
cally, “I believed he cordially approved of
our action. I had expressed to him the
opinion that it must either be this modi
fied bill or none at all, and he had replied
that in the alternative he favored the mod
ified measure.”
As Senator Jones sat down Mr. Gorman
arose to resume, but Mr. Vilas interposed
with a series of questions to Mr. Jones.
Mr. Cleveland Approved.
“In your interviews with the president,”
asked Mr. Vilas, “were the subjects of coal
and iron ever mentioned?”
“Yes,” replied Mr. Jones, with explosive
vehemence, “at every conversation between
the president and myself coal and iron were
specifically mentioned.”
There was a burst of applause from the
gallery which tlie presiding officer had diffi
culty in checking.
Never >■ Word of Disapproval.
“And,” continued Mr. Jones, with meas
ured emphasis on each word, “the presi
dent never once uttered one solitary word
against going ahead with coal and iron in
the bill as then in the senate bill.”
“One more question,” asked Mr. Vilas.
“Did not the president express the hope
several times that iron and coal should be
on the free list?”
“At all times, yes,” said Mr. Jones, “but
it was the expression of a hope, and the
circumstances would not permit its reali
zation.”
Mr. Gorman next summoned Senator
Harris as a witness, who stated that in
other conversations with President Cleve
land he (Mr. Harris) had been led to con
clude that the president favored the pas
sage of the compromise senate bill, not be
cause he approved it, but because it was
the best that could be secured.
Cowards iti High I’lirees.
Mr. Gorman here resumed with one of the
most sensational references of the day to
President Cleveland. The senator spoke of
the deep regret that he was compelled to
ask the public testimony of these senators.
But the time had come to speak. The limit
of endurance had been reach-l. The »
giooet it before the
country.” These charges had been foully
made from such distinguished sources that
they must be met and refuted. The charges
were echoed by men who “chirped when he
talked.” These senators who had been
summoned had fought for tariff reform
when “cowards in high places would not
show their heads.”
Mr. Gorman said he could conceive no
reason for thotemarkable action that had
been taken, unless, perhaps, the one re
sponsible for it was "consumed by van
ity” in desiring to have the country regard
him as the author of all that was right in
tariff reform.
A Shot nt Hill.
As Mr. Gorman made each reference to
the president there was a commotion in the
galleries, which compelled the presiding
officer to interpose constant cautions
against further demonstrations.
Mr. Gorman next turned his attention to
Senator Hill’s speech of Friday endorsing
President Cleveland’s letter.
“That letter.” said Mr. Gorman, “was a
god-send to the senator from New York
(Mr. Hill). It was the only comfort he has
had from this administration.” (Laughter.)
As the laughter continued Mr. Hill arose,
and with good-natured deliberateness, said:
“In the last proposition I will say that the
senator from Maryland is entirely correct.”
Mr. Gorman proceeded to criticise Mr.
H Il’s course and asserted that the New
York senator has throughout attempted to
thw'art his party. Never before since tlie
declaration of independence, Mr. Gorman
went on, has a president of the United
btates been guilty of such a violation of
the spirit of the constitution as had Mr.
Cleveland in writing his letter to Chair
man Wilson. Conference committees should
be free from outside influences. “The lib
erty of the senate slibuld not be invaded,”
he said in thunderous tones, “though a
thousand hirelings write us down and tra
duce us.” The president, he continued,
had said it would be dishonorable to tax
coal and iron. The house, parrot like, re
peated the cry. “Men who set up high
standards,” said he, “should come to us
with clean hands.”
How Cleveland Wish Elected.
He argued that the house if it had been
consistent, would have placed all raw ma
terials on the free list. He enumerated
other raw materials which the house had
n aue dutiable. He denied that it was
either democratic doctrine or in accord
ance with democratic platform declara
tions. to place coal and iron on the free
list. He enumerated the amount of the
tax on Coal placed by different democratic
congresses.
“The same bills you speak of,” inter
rupted Mr. Hill, “placed wool and lumber
on the dutiable list”.
“They did,” replied Mr. Gorman. He
proceeded that the democratic platform
did not demand free raw material. He went
back to the platjorm of 1831 on> which he
said Mr. Cleveland was elected “by the
grace of God and a great deal of hard
work.” It did not provide for free raw
materials. The bill prepared by his dis
tinguished radical friend, Mr. Mills, placed
75 cents duty on coal.
Mr. Mills Interrupts.
“I was in the same situation then,” in
terrupted Mr. Mills, "that I am now. I
was in tne hands of half a dozen men who
forced a duty on coal. It was not my
choice.”
••[ am not attacking you,” said Mr. Gor
man, deprecatingly.
“You said I prepared a bill with coal in
it,” replied Mr. Mills hotly.
Mr. Gorman then gave the 'history of the
convention of ISBS, where, he said, the
radicals were in the saddle. A resolution
was adopted endorsing the Mills bill taxing
coal. Mr. Cleveland accepted it and stood
on it. He referred to the platform declara
tion of 1592, prepared by Mr. Cleveland’s
friends, commending the house “for going
in the direction of free raw materials.”
The radical resolution sprung in the con
vention was pushed by those who desired
to defeat his nomination. But it did not
defeat his nomination. No one expected
Mr. Cleveland to stand on that radical
plank.
President Cleveland’s letter was looked
forward to with anxiety. In it Mr. Cleve
land declared specifically against the de
struction of any industry and in favor of
“freer,” not “free,” raw material. That
letter, Mr. Gorman said, changed the tide
and elected Mr. Cleveland president.
Mr. Whitney’s Coal Trust.
Reverting again to the duty on coal Mr.
Gorman argued that <lO cents a t'on was
purely a revenue duty. Free coal, he said,
gave to the single foreign corporation ail
the coal trade from Boston north. Free
coal would not benefit a single man or
woman in the country. Who demands it?
he asked. The professional, the theoretical
tariff reformer said it would cheapen the
cost of manufacturing, yet mathematically
free coal would not give the New England
manufacturer more three-fourths of
1 per cent on the cost of manufacturing.
There was but vne great concern on the
face of the earth that wanted free coal.
In Nova Scotia there was a deposit of coal
as broad ami as rich as any on the face of
the earth. The government of Canada had
controlled it. Five years ago the dominion
government was induced to change its
policy. The small leases were wiped out.
The Canadian Pacific, that great'artery
of Great Britain, together with men from
the United States, associated themselves
together and secured a ninety-nine-year
lease of these coal fields, on condition that
they should pay into the Canadian treas
ury 12 cents a ton royalty. If coal were
free the c'oal of Nova Scotia would dis
place that of the United States in New
England and the treasury of Canada would
be enriched by money that ought to go into
the treasury of the United States.
LoiiiNiiuiiaiiN mid Sugar.
“God knows we have enough trusts,” said
Mr. Gorman. “I will never consent to allow
this mammoth foreign corporation to in
vade our territory and take the subsistence
away from our people.
“There was only one other difficult question
involved in this situation—the everlasting
subject of sugar. Lousiana, through its
two senators, then the lute distinguished
man who occupied a seat in this senate,
Randall Lee Gibson, and Edward D. White,
wanted to know before we entered upon the
campaign, with no threat, with no inquiry—
except that which an honorable man has a
right to make —what the policy of the party
was to be under the apparently free trade
resolutions adopted at Chicago? After a
great deal of talk; after the most careful
consideration, tlie candidate of our party
told them, as he nad told the public through
his letter, that tlie democratic party was
not to destroy, industries; that it should
place a fair duty upon dutiable articles, a
revenue duty; that the bill which had met
approval was the Mills bill, and on the line
of the -Mills bill the democratic party would
act. They said to us frankly, we want to tell
our people the truth. We do not want to
press you to give a single fraction of a
cent to Louisiana, but we only want to
know the truth. At that solemn conclave
we ail said ‘Yes; it is a dutiable article; it
is to be and must be tlie corner stone by
which we will overthrow McKlnleyism.
btaudiug by the Pledges.
“Mr. President, I would have given any
thing in reason for the interest of my own
people whom I represent in consonance of
my own views upon the subject if I could
have sugar all along the line. But above
all, ifi all my public career, no man, no
living being has ever charged me with per
fidy. No soul can say that I ever made
a promise about public or private matters
that I did not carry out if I had the pow?r
to do it. * * * These two senators, Messrs.
Smith and Brice, and myself, carrying out
the pledge of our party, whose candidate
was endorsed by us, have stood here and
been gibbetted as three men who were
in a sugar trust. It is due to those with
whom I am associated to know that no man
would believe such a thing; but it is due to
the man who writes the history that he
shall have the truth of the transaction.”
In conclusion he said that in ease of irre
concilable difference between the two
houses over an effort to change existing
Statutes, it hm.l .qhvnvo ->
always gave way.
This or Nothing.
“Go into the next conference,” laid he,
turning to Mr. Voorhees and A'” Vest; "say
to them that in Ohio, New Jersey, New |
York, Indiana and West \ irginia, which
demand the senate modifications, there arc
more manufacturing concerns tlmn in all
the States that ask these radical ent np.es.
If the senate amendments are not accepted
this bill is defeated. You have heard enough
already to know that it is this bill or noth
ing.”
While congratulate>ns were being snower
ed on Mr. Gorman, Mr. White, democrat, of
California, took the floor and argued that
from the democratic standpoint there was
nothing to do but to adopt the motion of
of Mr. Gray to insist on the senate amend
ments and to agree to further conference.
The adoption of the motion either of Mr.
Hill or Mr. Vilas would result in the defeat
of the measure and the perpetuation of the
McKinley act, which was the winning card
of the sugar trust.
The question was put by the presiding
officer, Mr. Bate, on Mr. Hill’s motion, when
Mr. Cockrell rose and moved to proceed to
executive business.
That motion was agreed to, ami after a
short executive session the senate, at 3.45
o’clock, adjourned until tomorrow at noon.
FB SENT FOR GORMAN.
The President Tried to Persuade Him
Not to Speuk.
Washington, July 23- S icretaries Gresham,«
Lamont and Smith and Postmaster General
Bissell were in conference with the presi
dent at the white house this evening. The
tariff situation was reviewed, but, so far
as can be learned, no conclusion was reach
,ed. Secretary Carlisle was at the white
house this afternoon.
Senator Gorman visited the white house
this forenoon by invitation of the president,
and, while nothing official can be learned of
what transpired, it is stated that the presi
dent endeavored to dissuade Gorman from
his announced purpose to make a speech
upon tne president s letter to Wilson, and
urged that the tariff bill be allowed to go
back to the conferees without debate. Gor
man made his speech, however, and it is
probable that several other speeches will
be made, probably by Voorhees, Mills and
Brice, and perhaps Hill. The advisability
of holding a caucus was discussed by sev
eral democratic senators this afternoon, but
no conclusion was reached, and it is prob
able none will be held.
AGAINST TIIE (JAx’k-XGTE COMPANY.
The Sult of the United States Is Not
Against the State.
Washington, July 25.—Senator George, of
Mississippi, has asked that the suit snent
the legality of the Mississippi state war
rants be instituted in Mississippi instead
of St. Louis, Mo. In asking this, Senator
George has, it is said, misunderstood what
the has done, xhe govern
ment has directed that a suit be instituted
against the banknote company that print
ed the warrants for the state of Mississip
pi and not against the state, leaving the
bank note company, if the suit roes against
it its remedy of suing the state of Mis
si’sirni for damages sustained by it in car
rying out its contract with the state of
Mississippi. In tne meantime, it is under
stood that the objectionable varra its, hav
ing a similitude to United States n-ouey.
..re be retired, ana warrants substitut
ed which will not be open to tnis objection
Evidence is said to be in tne han is ot
the tr‘ usury officers that tne warrants
have parsed current as money and that in
iutmnc them it was the purpose to have
Hmm pa^' from luuffi to hand as money.
Tlie Last of, Coxey’s Army.
, • .rtnn Tulv 25.— Coxey’s army camp
Washington. -“ luallv lllspi . iS ing. The
at Hya,^ V be e n on the point of starvation,
men hax e b ® e » rt ° d % ss t J> them today, told
( l oxcy ’ 4 u i- the only thing for them
them that < tQ Washington and
f°„ do .r,a irresteil and have the district to
suncorTtheni. Coxey and his son left for
home today. What is left ot brye Kelly
nn I Galvin’S contingents are congregated
on the government reservation on the Vtr-
Smia side of the Potomac opposite George
ginia siae o separate camps and
neighborly, although close
Wgether. a No attention is paid to their
presence, and except for an occasional
arrest of some of them begging in m ash
ington or Georgetown nothing would be
heard of them.
FROM PENNSYLVANIA
COMES THE KEWS THAT FEEE SIL
VER IS WHAT THE PEOPLE VAST.
And That Is Don Canuron’t Issue on Which
He Hopes to Hop luto the Republican
Presidential Next Year.
Mr. Robert B. Cramer, city editor of The
Philadelphia Times, who is spending a part
of his summer vacation in Atlanta, is an
interesting talker on the political situa
tion. He is a close observer and his con
nection with The Times hjis given him
an admirable opportunity to study the
varying phases of the political outlook.
For several years he has done much ot'
tha political work of The Times, and he
is the right-hand man of the great jour
nalist, Colonel A. K. McClure, whose man
agement of The Times for so many years
has made both him and his paper known
throughout the length and breadth of the
land.
During tha past few months the Pennsyl
vania papers have been full of the growth
o£ the free silver sentiment in that state,
Senator Don Cameron having been one of
tha few republican senators who have
supported free silver • measures in the
senate. Mr. Cramer says that after this
congress disposes of the tariff question,
and whatever is done with it, this issue
will be a back number a» far us Pennsyl
vania is concerned, and that the financial
question will forge immedlitely to the
front. Os this Mr. Cramer says:
They Are for Sliver.
“The change of sentiment among the men
throughout the north who led the fight
against silver a year ago and secured the
repeal of the* silver purchasing clause of
the Sherman act, has brought a new and
active element into national political affairs
which is puzzling mightily the leaders of
both the old parties. The approach of anoth
er presidential campaign with the certainty
that the people will not permit party plat
forms to either dodge or straddle the silver
question, has, witnin a very few months,
revolutionized the political situation in the
middle and New England states.
“In Pennsylvania the tariff is a dead is
sue. The people are only waiting for some
definite action on the bill now pending in
congress, and when President Cleveland at
taches his signature to the compromise
measure the only regret anywhere will be
that he did not do it sooner. The people will
not endure another tariff agitation in con
gress nor soon permit of another long-drawn
out wrangle which places an injunction on
trade and ties up every Important interest
pending the settlement of the tariff question
by congress on a purely political basis.
A Preliminary Education.
“The bitter attack on silver in which the
leaders of both parties joined with the be
lief that it would settle financial woes, end
ed in the repeal of the Sherman act a-nd
gave Pennsylvania people a preliminary ed
ucation in the study of ine silver question.
Since then they have been making- up their
own minds about silver and have joined
with the people of other northern states in
the belief that silver was not the cause of
our national financial disease, but rather
an effective and urgent remedy,
“The sentiment in favor of free coinage
spread slowly, but it has developed a
strength which neither party dare ignore.
It has overshadowed the tariff question
and overwhelmed the American Protective
Association element, which once threat
ened to become a vigorous political issue
in at least three of the northern states.
It has done more than that—it has come
to the front as a platform on which the
man to be nominated and elected as our
next president must stand or fall. Neither
he nor his party could make light of it if
they tried.
"This convulsion of sentiment has left
many prominent presidential booms strand-
Kinley to make a race on the tariff issue
again, for the people won’t have it. They
inay like his bill better than Professor
Wilson’s, but they will insist that the next
few congresses at least spend their time
in talking about something else, while our
manufacturers find time to strike a bal
ance sheet.
“The same is true of Tom Reed, with tlie
additional fact that his radical anti-silv. r
views places a second obstacle in his path.
That Reed is endeavoring to hedge on the
sliver question is common talk in \\ ashing
ton, but the pages of The Congressional .
Record tell a story too straightforward I
to be denied. The other prominent republi- !
cans in the senate and the house are in '
the same boat, for nearly every one of ;
them who is accredited with presidential
aspirations has at one time or another
deprecated the value of the white metal
in our currency.
Don Cameron to tire Front.
“The conspicuous exception to the rule j
is Senator Don Cameron, of Pennsylvania. I
With a record for straight republicanism i
which reaches back to war times, there is i
nothing about him which his own party |
can object to, and his voice and vote
against the force bill and the Sherman
repeal bill have placed him directly in line
with the all-powerful Independent element.
“The man who is to be nominated by the
republicans for president in 1396 must lit
the platform which the sentiments of the
people are now building. The republican
party is not in a position to build a plat
form to fit any man, no matter how much
popularity he may enjoy at the present
time. Their candidate must be a man
whose views on the coinage question fa
vor free coinage absolutely arid unreserved
ly, and whose record will be' at least rea
sonably consistent with the declarations of
his party on the subject.
They Want More Money.
“This bars out all the old-timers who
have waved the bloody shirt until it is
threadbare, and who have talked tariff un
til every Workingman in the country rises
in protest against the very mention of
tlie word. It bars out those who have
been led by public clamor into favoring
a gold currency, and it leaves in the field
only the men who are pledged to bring
about financial relief by the reconstruction
of our financial system on a cheap money
basis. Because of this condi-tiori of affairs
politically the names of McKinley, Reed,
Harrison, Tracey, Allison and Sherman are
being shoved to the background, while
Cameron comes forward as the straight
and true disciple 'of the new political reli-
S ‘"The repeal of the 10 per cent tax on
state bank currency is considered in Be* l ’ l '
sylvania as a thing entirely apart from the
question of free coinage. lae ‘
favored by a majority of democrats and a
minority of republicans but the demand
for more money and plenty of it is adding
daily to the ranks of those who favor the
repeal. Very few conventions ot either
party recently held in the north, however
have cared to handle this question without
gloves.”
AS TO ENDORSEMENT.
T. M. Norwood Writes on the Extent,
Which It Will He Justified.
From The Savannah Press.
There seems to be no hope for the relief
demanded at Chicago except a half loaf
tariff. However good the half loaf may
be it cannot relieve the diease. Manufac
tures may increase, but they cannot add
one dollar to the currency. The whole
tariff might be abolished, but prices of
products would not rise. It is the volume
of money in circulation that raises or
lowers prices. The tariff Is a measure for
revenue when low, for protection when
high, and has no connection with the vol
ume of money.
With the president at “the other end of
the avenue” with his veto pen in hand,
ready for any bill to coin silver; with Mr.
Springer as chief accoucheur sitting on the
state bank bantling and giving out to the
country that the embryo was stillborn in
the room of the committee; with the knowl
edge that it had afterward been clubbed
to death in the house; with a tariff bill
so like McKinley’s in its features that It
will be called Bill McKinley, Jr., what op-
timist can give any assurance of the re
lief the pe'ople voted for in 1892 and are
demanding every hour?
Almost by concession the next house will
be republican. If so, the same vote will,
no doubt, shift the majority in the senate
from the right to the left. But with a re
publican house the last end of the admin
istration will be worse than the first, tor
relief will be just four years further off.
Returning to the main question, to-wit:
endorsement of the administration, in the
light of the foregoing history what shall
we, what can we say? There are men with
consciences so facile and elastic that they
can discern a very broad distinction be
tween a lie in politics and a He in business.
They do not hesitate to resolve in conven
tion what they would not say in private.
Judgment surrenders to expediency. Party
triumph is the end, and any means is
right. We must defend in public what in
private we disapprove. We must appear
to be of one mind, though irreconcilably di
i vided. The majority must yield to the mi
nority and say “amen; so be it.” That a
majority of southeiW democrats indig
nantly scout the policy of bowing to mon
archs for permission to coin silver can
not be doubted. And to resolve that we ap
prove of delay and waiting for interna
tional agreement is to speak what the ma
jority neither approve nor intend to sub
mit to. Our patience is fatigued, the ar
gument is exhausted, and resolutions that
approve further delay would misrepresent
the south.
I will gladly go as far as any other dem
ocrat in according to President Cleveland
all the virtues that make a noble manhood.
He possesses lofty qualities which very few
of his predecessors in the presidential
office possessed in like degree. They de
serve to be and will be chiseled in historic
marble. Among them are candor, truth,
kindness, patience, firmness, honor ana
justice.
And shall we be le.ss truthful and candid
than he? Does any one who knows him.
believe he would say by resolution or other
wise tiiat he approves an act which he
does not approve? Has lie not been frank,
open and bold in telling us be believes in
international agreement as a necessary pre
cedent to bimetallism; that he differs rad
ically with his party on the coinage of the
seigniorage; that he differs with his party
on the policy of issuing bonds to raise
gold to pay the bondholders? And shall a
million democrats dissemble to flatter one
wh'o Is frank to us? Shall we justly incur
his contempt by saying wo approve his
veto of the seigniorage bill when he knows
we do not approve his veto? Shall we say
we endorse his wisdom, his financial judg
ment; that the purchasing clause vvas the
cause of our money famine, and that its
repeal Would restore confidenco and revive
business when we know from bitter expe
rience that time has demonstrated the un
soundness of his judgment?
This is no time for idle compliment.
Never in the history of this government '
have candor, truth and manhood been at a
higher premium. A candid avowal of our
convictions and the grounds of disagree
ment is demanded by truth and manhood.
We cannot endorse the financial views and
policy of John Sherman. To do so would
be imminent peril to our party south as
surely as to pursue that policy will be our
ruin. T. M. NORWOOD.
TEE PEKFIDY OF REPUDIATION
Applies to the Cnrrency Pledge US
Well »is to the Tariff.
From The New York Herald.
Such developments as have characterize!
the situation in Washington during tha
past week accentuate the opinion held by
many that the English system of adjusta
ble administrative changes possesses ad
vantages over our plan of fixed periodical
terms. Under ‘he English system there
would be little room for the present dis
tressing and disgusting condition which
now controls at Washington. The presi
dent has crossed swords with the senate,
and the senate is endeavoring to prov. that
what has been done was done with the
urderstanding that it met with the presi
dent’s approval, and that the latter, taking
advantage of the opportunity to make a
grand stand play, now sehks to do so at
the sacrifice of conference obligations.
It is a broad charge made by Senators
Gorman, Smith and Vest, and substantiated
bv Senators, Voorhees, Harris and others.
The pre«KienT s i'iter to .ur. vx’isup
to f»ay the least of it, an unusual proceed
ing, and the pains taken to condemn the
senate in a private message to the house
justifies, to a great extent, the indignation
with which the president’s letter was re
ceived bv the senate.
It widens the breach in the party, and
the whole transaction is another trump card
in the hands of the republicans and the
populists. It is an uninviting prospect that
promises continuance for another two years
of the friction between congress and the
president, such as characterizes the first
two years of the democratic administration,
•yhere seems to be no help for it. and
tlie party is evidently to be gibbeted for
two years more as a result of obstinacj,
I bullheadedness, arrogance and egotism,
the blame for which rests about equally
between the president and the senate, tha
latter, however, enjoying the doubtful jus
tification- of not having been the lir>t of
fender against the democratic platform.
What a pity it that in the course of.
I the oft-repeated crimination and .ecrimma
| tion taking piece between the senate and
i the president, our system nas not been
I expansive enough to allow the whole mat
ter ‘to be placed in the bands of the people
at once to arbitrate betw< -a the two. i n
der the Ei gli ;h plan, it e ■ Iminls
trotion is defeated liefoi e parliament, it
goes before the peopl- for vindication or
rebuke. A new parliament is el.-cted on
the dividing issue, and the administration
either stands bv the approval ot the pe -pie,,
or falls, to give pl i’c to one more in ac
cord with popular sentiment.
Last summer, during the memorable ex
tra session, if the representatives ot the
people could have known that they could
go at once before their constituents tor
approval or disapproval, the She< man < >
would have been repealed by subvitu
legislation, as pledged by the platfoim.
As it was, a majoritj’ - of the m n o< - ra ~
of both the senate and th ° oy P r-
for substitute legislation, only t > >' 7
whelmed by a combination ot r^'d,ll^ ed
with the democratic mini rity. try
th.- single g >ld standard ur >n ■ valua *
and the black streak ot ann hflated
lions low nrict's an 1 * »
fen in the wake of this action has been
cut deep enough into the prosperity of
cut uecv c forever memorable,
tlie nation to make .t •
Mr Cleveland, in his le.ter to N •
son dwells upon the "perfidy and dishonor
involved in the violation of the democratia
Sedge to reform the tariff to a revenue
basis omitting entirely the inconsistency
involved in his demand for free ■" t <UI
free iron, and for a duty on sugar. Let us
accept as true everything that he says
concerning the danger to the party n
the failure to redeem its tariff All
♦ h-it \i r ClevelaiHl says eiYiphasizirij-,
neonle will now naturally turn to the P 1 *?”
blent with the hope that he will
letter to Mr. Wilson with another demand
ing the free coinage of silver—‘ the couiaga
gob! an 1 silver without
tion against either metal, or chai„€ tor
mintage" as pledged by the democratia
i intf<a nn They will expect him to .nsist
upon the repeal of the 10 per cent tax on
state banks, as pledged by the democratic
nli tfcrm-for, if it is perfidious and dis
honorable to violate one of three solemn
pledges, the same ignominy attaches to tne
violation of either of the other two.
Let us, therefore, take the presidents ie
cent letter as a <pmpaign shibboleth— nail
the democratic platform again to our mast
head get the democrats of the senate and,
the house in caucus, and let eveiy
cratic platform pledge from top to >o o
be redeemed, and the democracy will tmd,
itself stronger, more hopeful, and moie
useful than ever.
If repudiation, however, is v>ti 1
the watcihwora, if it is dishonest Y r ? la a ®
the tariff pledge and . l ?7 nc t l n of l
esty and patriotism to v lo * ste . 1 ?hat
einl rfiedge and anv other pieage that
S their
s?s
Atlanta, Ga., July 24. IS9L