There was great excitement in the Senate Chamber during the closing debate on this bill.
It had been expected that a vote would be reached on the 7th, and so the members of the House of Representatives flocked into the Senate Chamber during the entire day.
The Tariff Bill was taken up at 11:15 in the morning and at 4:15 p.m. it was finally passed.
Mr. Allen, of Nebraska, offered an amendment declaring all combinations and contracts to restrict labor unlawful, but his motion was lost, and there is no clause against Trusts in the new bill.
After it had passed, a joint conference was called, and the Vice-President appointed eight Senators to take part in the discussion on behalf of the Senate.
This conference is to settle with the House of Representatives the changes that the Senate has made in the bill.
You remember that the Dingley Tariff Bill was passed by the House of Representatives before it was sent to the Senate.
Now the Tariff Bill, as it stands to-day, differs in many respects from the bill as it was received by the Senate. It has therefore been found necessary to call a conference of members of both Houses to discuss these points of difference, and arrive at some conclusion in regard to them.
The Senate's version of the Tariff Bill will be copied and sent to the House at once. It has been agreed that it shall be handed over to the members of the conference without being first discussed in the House.
The Senators who are opposed to the bill declare that it is the worst ever framed, while those who favor it insist that it is going to bring back prosperity.