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the cleveland era-第27部分

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ve some friend act for him while he rested。 According to the 〃Washington Star;〃 Senator Gallinger was 〃his favorite helper in this; for he has a good round voice that never tires; and he likes to read aloud。〃 The thousands of pages of material which Senator Quay had collected for use; and the apparently inexhaustible stores upon which he was drawing; were the subject of numerous descriptive articles in the newspapers of the day。 Senator Quay's tactics were so successful; indeed; that he received numerous congratulatory telegrams from those whose interests he was championing。 They had been defeated at the polls in their attempt to control legislation; and defeated in the House of Representatives; but now they were victorious in the Senate。

The methods of Senator Quay were tried by other Senators on both sides; though they were less frank in their avowal。 After the struggle was over; Senator Vest of Missouri; who had been in charge of the bill; declared:

〃I have not an enemy in the world whom I would place in the position that I have occupied as a member of the Finance Committee under the rules of the Senate。 I would put no man where I have been; to be blackmailed and driven in order to pass a bill that I believe is necessary to the welfare of the country; by Senators who desired to force amendments upon me against my better judgment and compel me to decide the question whether I will take any bill at all or a bill which had been distorted by their views and objects。 Sir; the Senate 'lags superfluous on the stage' today with the American people; because in an age of progress; advance; and aggressive reform; we sit here day after day and week after week; while copies of the census reports; almanacs; and even novels are read to us; and under our rules there is no help for the majority except to listen or leave the chamber。〃

The passage of the bill in anything like the form in which it reached the Senate was plainly impossible without a radical change in the rules; and on neither side of the chamber was there any real desire for an amendment of procedure。 A number of the Democratic Senators who believed that it was desirable to keep on good terms with business interests were; in reality; opposed to the House bill。 Their efforts to control the situation were favored by the habitual disposition of the Senate; when dealing with business interests; to decide questions by private conference and personal agreements; while maintaining a surface show of party controversy。 Hence; Senator Gorman of Maryland was able to make arrangements for the passage of what became known as the Gorman Compromise Bill; which radically altered the character of the original measure by the adoption of 634 amendments。 It passed the Senate on the 3rd of July by a vote of thirty…nine to thirty…four。

The next step was the appointment of a committee of conference between the two Houses; but the members for the House showed an unusual determination to resist the will of the Senate; and on the 19th of July; the conferees reported that they had failed to reach an agreement。 When President Cleveland permitted the publication of a letter which he had written to Chairman Wilson condemning the Senate bill; the fact was disclosed that the influence of the Administration had been used to stiffen the opposition of the House。 Senator Gorman and other Democratic Senators made sharp replies; and the party quarrel became so bitter that it was soon evident that no sort of tariff bill could pass the Senate。

The House leaders now reaped a great advantage from the Reed rules to the adoption of which they had been so bitterly opposed。 Availing themselves of the effective means of crushing obstruction provided by the powers of the Rules Committee; in one day they passed the Tariff Bill as amended by the Senate; which eventually became law; and then passed separate bills putting on the free list coal; barbed wire; and sugar。 These bills had no effect other than to put on record the opinion of the House; as they were of course subsequently held up in the Senate。 This unwonted insubordination on the part of the House excited much angry comment from dissatisfied Senators。 President Cleveland was accused of unconstitutional interference in the proceedings of Congress; and the House was blamed for submitting to the Senate and passing the amended bill without going through the usual form of conference and adjustment of differences。 Senator Sherman of Ohio remarked that 〃there are many cases in the bill where enactment was not intended by the Senate。 For instance; innumerable amendments were put on by Senators on both sides of the chamber。。。 to give the Committee of Conference a chance to think of the matter; and they are all adopted; whatever may be their language or the incongruity with other parts of the bill。〃

The bitter feeling; excited by the summary mode of enactment on the part of the House; was intensified by President Cleveland's treatment of the measure。 While he did not veto it; he would not sign it but allowed it to become law by expiration of the ten days in which he could reject it。 He set forth his reasons in a letter on August 27; 1894; to Representative Catchings of Missouri; in which he sharply commented upon the incidents accompanying the passage of the bill and in which he declared:

〃I take my place with the rank and file of the Democratic party who believe in tariff reform; and who know what it is; who refuse to accept the result embodied in this bill as the close of the war; who are not blinded to the fact that the livery of Democratic tariff reform has been stolen and used in the service of Republican protection; and who have marked the places where the deadly blight of treason has blasted the counsels of the brave in their hour of might。〃

The letter was written throughout with a fervor rare in President Cleveland's papers; and it had a scorching effect。 Senator Gorman and some other Democratic Senators lost their seats as soon as the people had a chance to express their will。

The circumstances of the tariff struggle greatly increased popular discontent with the way in which the government of the country was being conducted at Washington。 It became a common belief that the actual system of government was that the trusts paid the campaign expenses of the politicians and in return the politicians allowed the trusts to frame the tariff schedules。 Evidence in support of this view was furnished by testimony taken in the investigation of the sugar scandal in the summer of 1894。 Charges had been made in the newspapers that some Senators had speculated in sugar stocks during the time when they were engaged in legislation affecting the value of those stocks。 Some of them admitted the fact of stock purchases; but denied that their legislative action had been guided by their investments。 In the course of the investigation; H。 O。 Havemeyer; the head of the Sugar Trust; admitted that it was the practice to subsidize party management。 〃It is my impression;〃 he said; 〃that whenever there is a dominant party; wherever the majority is large; that is the party that gets the contribution because that is the party which controls the local matters。〃 He explained that this system was carried on because the company had large interests which needed protection; and he declared 〃every individual and corporation and firm; trust; or whatever you call it; does these things and we do them。〃

During the tariff struggle; a movement took place which was an evidence of popular discontent of another sort。 At first it caused great uneasiness; but eventually the manifestation became more grotesque than alarming。 Jacob S。 Coxey of Massillon; Ohio; a smart specimen of the American type of handy business man; announced that he intended to send a petition to Washington wearing boots so that it could not be conveniently shelved by being stuck away in a pigeonhole。 He thereupon proceeded to lead a march of the unemployed; which started from Massillon on March 25; 1894; with about one hundred men in the ranks。 These crusaders Coxey described as the 〃Army of the Commonweal of Christ;〃 and their purpose was to proclaim the wants of the people on the steps of the Capitol on the 1st of May。 The leader of this band called upon the honest working classes to join him; and he gained recruits as he advanced。 Similar movements started in the Western States。 〃The United States Industrial Army;〃 headed by one Frye; started from Los Angeles and at one time numbered from six to eight hundred men; they reached St。 Louis by swarming on the freight trains of the Southern Pacific road and thereafter continued on foot。 A band under a leader named Kelly started from San Francisco on the 4th of April and by commandeering freight trains reached Council Bluffs; Iowa; whence they marched to Des Moines。 There; they went into camp with at one time as many as twelve hundred men。 They eventually obtained flatboats; on which they floated down the Mississippi and then pushed up the Ohio to a point in Kentucky whence they proceeded on foot。 Attempts on the part of such bands to seize trains brought them into conflict with the authorities at some points。 For instance; a detachment of regular troops in Montana captured a band c
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