Two or three preferred that the court should not
be invoked. But a majority of the whole Senate favored vesting
the power in the courts, and those who preferred another way
stated that they were willing to abide by the judgment of
the Committee.
When the House Bill came up, it was, on the 7th of August,
1890, reported favorably with my Bill as a substitute. Meantime
the McKinley Tariff Bill, which Mr. Cleveland had made, so
far as he could, the sole issue in the late election, had
been matured and reported. It affected all the business interests
of the country. They were in a state of uncertainty and alarm.
Mr. Quay of Pennsylvania proposed a resolution to the effect
that certain enumerated measures, not including the Election
Bill, should be considered at that session, and that all others
should be postponed. That, I suppose, would have had the
entire Democratic support and Republicans enough to give it
a majority. It would have postponed the Election Bill without
giving any assurance of its consideration at the short session.
So a conference of Republicans was held at which an agreement
was made, which I drew up, and signed by a majority of the
entire Senate.
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