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Of remarks in fifty-six cases, on various
topics and of various lengths, no case involved a set speech, but
were explanatory of multifarious questions.
In one of these intellectual bouts with a
western senator, who charged that it was an inconsistency for a
protective senator like Mr. Manderson to offer an amendment in
behalf of "free white pine," the Nebraska senator made a
courteous, polished, but damaging reply.
MR.
MANDERSON: The eloquent voice of my
friend from Wisconsin (Mr. Spooner) has not been heard in such
earnest and forcible appeals upon any other of the items of any
of the schedules of this bill, but it is not to his discredit
that it is so. He appeals eloquently and earnestly for a local
interest. He represents one of the great timber and lumber
producing states of the country and I do not wonder that he
seeks by every effort in his power to advance the supposed
welfare of that industry; but it is that local interest that
prompts him to raise his voice, just as it is the interest of
my own locality that prompts me to suggest this amendment. Mr.
President, I do not think that the senator from Wisconsin has
outstripped me in devotion to this protective principle, so far
as my votes upon this bill are concerned. I do not believe
there is any state in the Union that exceeds in devotion to the
general principles of protection, under which the whole Nation
has prospered, the state that I have the honor, in part, to
represent; but at the same time it has certain desires and
wishes, exactly like other states, based, if you please, upon
pure local and selfish prejudice.
When a proposition was pending for the
purchase of certain historical collections, subject to the opinion
of the Librarian of Congress, that they were authentic history,
Mr. Manderson volunteered a very facetious criticism:
Mr. President--We are told that this
is a work of fully one hundred volumes, and of seven or eight
hundred folio pages in each volume, made up of the character of
historical material which is mentioned in this report. I am
afraid that even if the life of Mr. Spofford should be
prolonged to that old age to which we all wish him, he could do
nothing else for the rest of his life but read these ponderous
tomes and would die before he was well into the work. If this
marvelous test is to be applied to all
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works of a historical character proposed to be bought
I am afraid we shall purchase none whatever for the
congressional library, and all the great historians, even our
own historians, Prescott and Bancroft, and if their works are
not to be bought provided there is nothing in them but
authentic history by the judgment of one expert I am afraid
they would all be ruled out and none be purchased. Even the
book of books, the Bible, has received most severe criticism as
to its being authentic history, and under a rule, such as is
proposed here, we could hardly take it into any public library
of the country.
I think it is Burns who said:
- "Some books are lies frae end to end,
- And some great lies were never penned."
And you will find that in every historical
work there can be found chance for criticism, and unauthentic
statements claimed, such as might be raised against this
publication. It would defeat the object of the bill to adopt
any such amendment.
On the subject of distributing half a million
dollars among numerous Sectarian Indian Schools, so one should not
overreach another, his words were brief but comprehensive,
condemnatory of sectarian aggressiveness, and a slight reminder of
New England's volunteer sympathy and counsel "at long range."
I do not believe in offering with
one hand either food or civilization to the Indian and with the
other attempt to cram into him sectarian teachings. There has
been an unseemly spectacle presented in this whole matter, in
this unchristian combat and competition that has existed among
different denominations, for the purpose of getting more of the
amount that is to be paid to these sectarian schools. It might,
perhaps, be better to take them from their reservations, rent
houses for them if you please, in the Eastern States, and
maintain them there in idleness, and let their children attend
the common schools of the country, rather than pursue the
present policy.
But the highest honor the Senate can bestow
upon a member, came to Senator Manderson, March 2d, 1891, when he
was elected president pro tem. of that body, succeeding
John J. Ingalls, resigned.
Entering upon the duties of presiding officer of
the senate in the absence of the vice-president, and ambitious to
wield the
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delicate trust accurately and satisfactorily, he still found
time to signalize the first session of the 52d Congress with a
record of eighty-four bills and joint resolutions introduced, and
one hundred and nine committee reports, with the presentation of
numerous petitions and papers, motions and resolutions and remarks
upon more than forty occasions.
His espousal of the new subject of National
Highways and the introduction of a bill in that behalf was
accompanied with the subjoined remarks:
In that wonderful progress that has
been made during the existence of the Republic by the building
and development of railroads and the growth of canals, which
latter growth has received some stoppage in the last few years,
we seem to have lost sight of the necessity, for the good of
the body politic, that good roads should connect the great
business centers of this country and connect aft its parts. We
are now entering on a new era, so far as the use of common
roads is cocerned.
History, it is said, repeats itself; and I
have no question but that there will be a repetition of very
ancient history in the construction ultimately by this
government, of great highways or boulevards that shall connect
metropolitan centers. and the use thereon of different modern
vehicles. Take the wonderful bicycle, by which a man is able to
outstrip the horse and make an average over the common dirt
road of fifty or sixty miles a day. No one man can foresee what
will be the final development of that excellent implement. It
will ultimately become the carriage not only of passengers, but
of light freight.
We are just on the threshold of an electrical
development, destined I think to revolutionize conditions of
travel. By some system of electric accumulation or storage
batteries light vehicles will be propelled at a wonderful rate
of speed over these highways.
As they are maintained we will repeat the
experiment of the early days, and the general government, by
liberal aid to states or municipalities, or perhaps of its own
accord, and with an expenditure that shall be wholly federal,
will build national highways.
I do not believe there could be a better
expenditure of public money than to aid the states in the
construction of it great model highway that would connect the
City of Washington with the City of New York, passing through
the cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia. Every farmer and
producer along the road would be infinitely benefited.
24
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NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
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When the question of opening the World's Fair
at Chicago on Sunday was the theme of surpassing interest and
excitement, Mr. Manderson placed himself squarely upon the
record:
But if we are to deal with this
question, it seems to me there is a happy medium between the
two extremes. I think it would not be well that this exposition
should open its gates and that there should be the clangor of
machinery and all the disturbance and haste on Sunday that
characterize other days of the week; but I do believe that, in
the interest of decency and good order, in the interest of a
more Christian observance of Sunday itself, it would be well
that some portion of this exposition should be open.
There will be in the City of Chicago upon
every first day of the week hundreds of thousands of strangers.
Are they to be turned out upon the streets? The churches will
not be able to hold them, although Chicago is a city of great
churches. Many, perhaps, will not desire to attend church. What
are they to do? Every enticing place that is vicious in its
tendency will be open to them. Such places within easy reach of
Chicago, by rail or by steamboat, will be open to them. I think
it would be infinitely better if these people should be
admitted to those grounds.
Let the machinery cease, but let the
buildings be open for the inspection of visitors; let the
grounds be open that those people may gather there, if they see
fit to do so, and there make Christian and religious observance
of Sunday.
On the last day of the 52nd Congress, March
4th, 1893, the following record was made in the senate:
THANKS TO THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE.
MR.
GORMAN: Mr. President, I submit a
resolution which I ask may be at once considered, and I trust
it will be adopted unanimously. I ask that that resolution be
read.
The
VICE-PRESIDENT:
The Senator from Maryland asks for the present consideration of
a resolution, which will be read.
The resolution was read and unanimously
agreed to, as follows:
Resolved, That the thanks of the
Senate are due and are hereby tendered to Hon. Charles F.
Manderson, President pro tempore of the Senate, for the
uniformly able, courteous, and Impartial manner in which he has
presided over its deliberations.
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The election of a Democratic President of the
Senate, and the Senate and the control of the body having passed
into the hands of the Democratic party, caused Senator Manderson
to address the Senate in executive session March 22, 1893.
RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE.
MR.
MANDERSON: Mr. President, two years ago
there came to me the distinguished honor of election as the
President pro tempore of the Senate. No suitable time
has seemed to come when I could make that recognition of this
distinction which I should like to do, and I desire now to
express my deep sense of obligation and my very hearty thanks
to my political associates on this side of the chamber, by whom
the distinction was proposed, and at the same time to thank
very heartily those of opposing politics, who made no
nomination against the selection of the republican caucus.
There came, therefore, to me this place by the unanimous vote
of the Senate of the United States. I thank all from the depths
of my heart for this distinction, and I further want to express
my obligation for that forbearance on the part of all which has
enabled me when I have been the occupant of the chair to
administer, I hope with some satisfaction to the Senate, the
duties that devolved upon me.
Recognizing a change of condition and perhaps
also a change of theory, I now tender my resignation of the
position to the Senate and ask to be excused from further duty
in that regard.
MR.
SHERMAN: I move that the resignation of
the honorable Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Manderson) as
President pro tempore of the Senate be received and
accepted.
The motion was agreed to.
MR.
VOORHEES: Mr. President, at the close of
the last session the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Gorman) offered
a resolution, which was unanimously adopted by this body,
thanking the distinguished Senator from Nebraska (Mr.
Manderson) for the able, courteous, and most satisfactory
manner in which he had discharged the duties of the high office
which he has just now resigned. There the matter might rest;
but it has been suggested that in addition, in taking leave of
him in his official capacity as President pro tempore of
the Senate, we express on this side our thanks anew and our
best wishes for him in every relation of life hereafter. The
relations just sundered were delightful. He rendered them
pleasant to us all; and we will bear them in memory as long as
we remain here and through life.
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FIFTY-THIRD CONGRESS.
The first session of the 53d congress, being
a special one, August 7, 1894, found Mr. Manderson active as ever,
with the multifarious duties of many committees.
During the first regular session, in which the
Democratic congress repealed the McKinley tariff bill, and passed
the so-called Wilson bill, the Senator indulged in numerous
discussions, especially upon points involving Nebraska
interests.
Upon the sugar beet manufacture he delivered a
speech or treatise, of great length, including the culture of
sugar from all other sources--a marvel of comprehensive
condensation. In it he appeared as the intelligent farmer, the
chemical specialist, the general manufacturer, the historical
expert, the judicial critic and the professor of finance.
HIS CREED.
I believe, Mr. President, as firmly
as I believe in my own existence, that this country has
advanced and progressed to its present enviable position among
the nations of the earth because of the American doctrine of
protection. It has been frequently attacked. but never in a
more subtle and more dangerous way than in the bill which is
before us for consideration and action.
REPRESENTATIVE DUTY.
I vote, Mr. President, here
representing a prairie State, not only for protection upon beet
sugar and the product of the farm, but I vote for protection to
the loom to the factory, to the foundry, to the lumberman, to
the miner. I do not represent standing upon this floor simply a
part or the whole of the State of Nebraska. I am a Senator of
the United States, and whether I am in the other House as a
Representative or here as a Senator, no pent-up Utica-like
district or like state shall contract my legislative powers.
[Manifestations of applause in the galleries.]
TARIFF REFORM.
There set sail some time ago a ship
known as "Tariff Reform." At a distance she was fair to look
upon, and "walked the water like a thing of life," but closer
inspection and nearer view showed the suspicious character of
the craft. Her sharp bow, with low bull and sloping masts,
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raking aft, and rakish appearance, proclaimed the
dreadful traffic in which she was engaged. Her destination was
the port of free trade; her cargo was concealed under her
hatches. American interests were in her hold; the very life of
American manufacture was there; the best interests of the
farmer and almost the very existence of the laborer in this
country were under her decks, for sale abroad.
Her crew--I will not say "a motley crew,"
although it seemed to be composed of "many men of many
minds"were constantly on watch for rear that disaster might
come to them by reason of uprisings in the hold of the ship,
but the hatches were battened down. In the lockers of her
quartermaster was a great supply of bunting, but the favorite
flag most frequently run to the peak was the union jack of
Great Britain; not the American flag, although she had sailed
from an American port with an American manifest.
When under full sail, and apparently about to
reach the port of free trade without difficulty, there came
trouble among the crew, a kind of mutiny, and yet a strange
sort of mutiny, for it was the outbreak of those who had become
disgusted with the traffic upon which they had entered, with
the mission which they were about to accomplish, and rising
against the more desperate of the crew, they took partial
command of the ship. At what port she may finally enter who can
tell?
The compiler of these few disjointed extracts
regrets that space will not allow a satisfactory presentation of
the results of patient, thorough preparation.
CONCLUSION.
I realize that speech to convince
men in this body is a waste of time. "Though one should rise
from the dead ye would not repent." The longer I stay here the
more I am convinced that speech, except for home consumption or
for placing oneself right upon record, is a useless labor. I
never rise here to address the Senate without feeling that I
owe an apology to myself for doing it. But for this great
industry I have made this long appeal. I have made it earnestly
because I know whereof I speak when I say there is no
industry--I believe I could say there are no half dozen
industries combined--so important for the well being of this
country as the maintenance of the production of sugar.
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NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
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NEBRASKA PROGRESS.
During the continuance of the tariff debate
he closed a plea for the State's manufactures and agricultural
products with a brilliant record of progress:
Mr. President--The State of
Nebraska, with 75,995 square miles, has an acreage of
47,077,359 acres. Its population in 1880 was 452,042, and in
1890, 1,058,910. With this great, this most extraordinary and
phenomenal increase in population, there was an increase in the
aggregate of its debts and on all except the State debt. With a
State debt in 1880 of $439,799, in 1890 the State debt was
reduced to $253,879. rhe county debt in 1880 was $5,120,362,
and increased in 1890 to $5,510,175.
The municipal debt in 1880 was $1,102,172,
and because of the growth incident to towns, the necessities of
sewerage, of lighting, of street improvements, paving, water,
etc., increased in 1890 to $7,124,506, an increase of over
$6,000,000 municipal debt. The school district debt in 1880 was
$827,641, and increased in 1890 to $2,648,212, an increase of
nearly $2,000,000, making an increase of the total debt from
$7,489,974 in 1880 to $15,536,772 in 1890. And yet, with this
doubling of the debt--State, municipal, county, and school
district-the per capita debt in 1880 was $16.56, and the per
capita debt in 1890 had been reduced to $14.67.
The assessed valuation of property in
Nebraska in 1880 was $90,585,782, and in 1890, by the census,
the assessed valuation had increased to $184,770,305, being of
real estate $115,181,167 and of personal property
$60,589,138.
I take these statements from the statistics
for 1893. The true valuation upon all real estate and
improvements was $708,413,098, being an average of $14.41 per
acre, of which the farm lands were valued at $402,358,913 and
the personal property was worth $350,000,000 in addition.
I will now give a most extraordinary
statement to show how farm lands have increased in valuation
during these ten years. The number of farms in 1880 was 63,387;
in 1890, 113,608, being an increase of 79.2 per cent. The value
of farms in 1880 was $105,932,541; in 1890 $402,358,913, being
an increase in the ten years of 279.8 per cent in the value of
the farms of the State.
The number of tillable acres had increased
from 9,944,826 in 1880 to 21,593,444 in 1890, being an increase
of 117.1 per cent. The total valuation at conservative
estimates of the real estate and personal property in the state
of Nebraska by the census of 1890 was $1,060,000,000--a very
good show-
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ing for a population of 1,250,000 or thereabouts. The
railroad mileage had increased from 705 miles in 1870 to 1,953
miles in 1880; 5,407 in 1890; 5,524 in 1892.
The amount of the exchanges at the clearing
house of principal towns of a State is a pretty good index of
its growth and of fair prosperity. At the Omaha clearing house
in 1887 the clearings were $137,220,835; in 1890, $245,062,456;
and in 1893, a year of depression the country over and when you
would have thought there would have been an immense decrease,
the clearing house receipts had increased to $315,244,791.
Another very good index as to prosperity or
adversity for the year 1893 would be the report of commercial
failures, and I should like to draw, if I had the time, a
comparison between the State of Nebraska and many of the
Eastern States as to commercial failures. In 1891, there were
in Nebraska 395 commercial failures, being 1.92 per cent of the
whole number of business firms, the liabilities being
$3,288,365. In 1893, when you would suppose there would have
been a very great increase of failures in the State, they have
been reduced to 343 in number, being 1.68 per cent of the whole
number engaged in business, with liabilities reduced to
$2,210,613.
Mr. President. the showing as to business
failures is a very satisfactory one for the West. I refer to
this because I think the West has been very greatly
misrepresented and misunderstood upon this floor and elsewhere.
Taking the commercial failures of the year 1893, in the Eastern
States the failures were 1.80 per cent; in the Middle States,
1.15; in the Southern States, 1.71; in the Pacific States,
2.27, and in the Western States the average was but .95.
To show how deeply we are interested in this
agricultural schedule, I desire to call attention to the farm
products and the increase of farm products in the State. In
1880 there was planted in corn 1,919,600 acres; in 1890,
3,072,800 acres; in 1393, 6,241,226 acres; the production in
bushels being 59,507,600 in 1880; 55,310,000 bushels in 1890,
and 157,278,S95 bushels in 1893; worth in 1880 $14,876,900; in
1890, $26,548,992, and in 1893, $42,465,302.
The product of hay in 1880 was on 409,104
acres; in 1893 on 2,071,730 acres, producing in 1880, 564,564
tons and in 1893, 2,589,633 tons, being an increase from
$2,038,076 in 1880 to $12,611,659 in 1893.
The potato crop in 1880 was 15,750 acres; in
1893, 112,853 acres, producing in 1880, 1,086,750 bushels, and
in 1893, 4,965,532 bushels, being an increase in production as
to value from $662,917 in 1880 to $3,922,770 in 1893.
The production of wheat has fallen off from
1,520.315 acres
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in 1880 to 1,228,493 in 1893, and on account of the
low price of that commodity in 1893 as compared with 1880, the
production as to value was $4,275,156 in 1893, as against
$9,433,554 in 1880. Corn, as to Nebraska, is a more natural
crop than wheat. I will not now speak of the production of beet
sugar, having fully discussed that question a few days ago.
The State has increased in its farm animals
to a very enormous extent-30,511 horses in 1870; 204,864 horses
in 1880; 542,036 horses in 1890, worth $37,787,194, increased
to 708,519 in 1893. There were 2,632 mules in 1870, 19,999 in
1880, 45,992 in 1890 and 46,939 in 1893.
There was an increase in oxen from 50,988 in
1870, and 597,363 in 1880, to 1,306,372 in 1890, and 1,613,223
in 1893.
The increase in the number of milch cows has
been 28,940 in 1870, 161,187 in 1880, 420,069 in 1890, and
535,536 in 1804, worth $10,501,861. Sheep have increased from
22,725 in 1870 to 199,453 in 1880, to 239,400 in 1890, and to
277,952 in 1893. The increase in the number of swine in the
State is simply enormous. In 1870, 59,449; in 1880, 1,241,724;
in 1890, 2,309.779, and in 1893, by these statistics,
2,088,964, worth $16,811,981.
I have computed from the statistics that are
upon my desk the value of the output of Nebraska in farm
products alone in the year 1893, showing nothing of the result
of the manufacturing industries, which has been very great but
is not pertinent to this schedule of the bill:
|
Corn
|
$42,500,000
|
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Hay
|
12,600,000
|
|
Potatoes
|
4,000,000
|
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Wheat
|
4,250,000
|
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Oats
|
5,300,000
|
|
Rye
|
350,000
|
|
Barley
|
285,000
|
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Buckwheat
|
110,000
|
|
Honey
|
150,000
|
|
Poultry
|
300,000
|
|
Eggs
|
200,000
|
|
Butter
|
4,200,000
|
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Cheese
|
50,000
|
|
Milk
|
500,000
|
|
Cattle, swine, sheep and horses
|
40,000,000
|
|
Flaxseed, sugar broom corn, wool, fruits,
|
|
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etc
|
10,000,000
|
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Total
|
$124,795,000
|
Making nearly $125,000,000, which is a most conservative
estimate. I really think the products of the State, even at the
low prices that obtained in 1893, were over $150,000,000,
rather than under that amount.
Mr. President, this astonishing growth is one
that we who stand up for Nebraska look upon with very great
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pride, and it is the best possible response that can
be made to those who are disposed to complain over existing
conditions and predict dire calamity. It cannot be poured out
of the mouth of a cornucopia.
This enormous increase in population and in
material wealth has been had during the years that we have
lived under the present American system, and while we have been
in advance as to rate of growth of many other sections of the
country, it should be a most gratifying fact to every American
that this country has made such tremendous strides during the
years that it has existed under the protective acts of 1861,
1883, and 1890.
Near the conclusion of the 53d congress, just
before the termination of his second official term, closing twelve
full years, Mr. Manderson went upon record with the following
sentiments, in the spirit of peace and good fellowsbip:
I know that on the battlefield about
Chattanooga and at Shiloh the survivors of both the great
armies have met for the purpose of interchange of views. On the
6th and 7th clays of last April there met at the battlefield of
Shiloh or at Pittsburg Lauding prominent officers of both
armies. They explored and went over the field together. It was
a deliglitful object lesson in that harmony and unity of
feeling that we all now have with reference to matters of this
kind.
Those great armies have passed away except
those who have grown gray and are the survivors of the
conflict, and with the passing of the years the animosities
that were enkindled by the war have disappeared. We who fought
for the Union and were of the army of the country have ever
been ready to recognize the valor and the bravery of those who
fought upon the other side, believing just as earnestly and
sincerely now as we believed over a quarter of a century ago
that we were right and they were wrong, and the facts of
history have justified very fully our conclusion in this
regard.
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