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Page 7
The friends of the measure, Mr. Aldrich said, hoped in this way to
encourage American industries, and increase the prosperity of the
country.
There is much agitation in Europe over the Dingley Bill.
In the Italian Chamber of Deputies, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said
the Government was watching the outcome of the Tariff Bill with the
greatest interest.
He stated that the Government had called the attention of the United
States to the injuries that Italian trade would suffer if the bill were
passed.
He went on to say that while Italy did not intend to raise her tariff on
American goods in return, she would undoubtedly levy heavy taxes on
Americans doing business in Italy if the bill were passed.
The attitude of Germany is even more threatening than that of Italy.
The German Ambassador sent an official letter to Mr. Sherman, the
Secretary of State, the other day, saying that the proposed duty on
sugar is considered a violation of the commercial treaty between Germany
and the United States.
He requested the Secretary of State to call the attention of Congress to
the matter, and inform them that they will break the agreement with
Germany if they pass this clause of the bill.
He added a little hint of the course his country will take in case the
bill becomes law.
He said that in 1891 an arrangement had been made between Germany and
the United States for the importation of German sugar to this country
and the exportation of American pork to Germany.
He said in the plainest terms that if the Dingley Bill is passed in its
present form, the German Government will break the agreement in regard
to pork and other agricultural products from this country, and levy such
a heavy tax on them that it will not pay us to export them, so that this
trade with Germany will be ruined.
* * * * *
Mr. Havemeyer is now on trial in Washington for not answering the
Senate's questions in 1894. It is said that if he is found guilty he may
be sent to prison for a whole year, instead of merely for one month, as
Mr. Chapman was.
It would seem as if the Trusts were not going to have it all their own
way any longer. The Coal Trust is now to be looked into.
A referee has been appointed to take testimony about the so-called Coal
Trust, to see if such a combination really exists. If it is found that
there is indeed a Coal Trust, the Attorney-General will take proceedings
against it, and, if possible, break it up.
The Coal Barons are of course fighting this action fiercely.
They declare that the new law, under which their business methods are to
be looked into, is not in accordance with the Constitution of the
country, and that they will not submit to it until the State has proved
that the law is constitutional.
This new law, which was made after the Lexow investigations, only came
into existence on the 7th of May, 1897. It provides that the price or
the supply of an article shall not be controlled by any one, and that an
attempt to assume such control is unlawful and shall be punished.
It also adds that the Attorney-General may order witnesses to come
before a judge, and may ask them any questions he chooses about their
business methods, and that he may also examine the books and accounts of
their business whenever he has a mind to.
Finally, the law states very clearly that witnesses must answer all the
questions put to them, and that if they refuse to answer they shall be
punished for contempt of court.
The Coal Barons say they are quite willing to answer any questions,
because they have been carrying on their business in a perfectly proper
way. They are, however, most unwilling to have the Attorney-General go
over their books. They insist that the personal liberty of a citizen is
interfered with if this law is carried out, and so they are determined
to fight it.
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