Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/144

108 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS his fields, is engaged in domestic industry, and is as much entitled to have his labor protected as the manufacturer, the man of commerce, the navigator, or the mechanic, who are engaged also in domestic industry in their different pursuits. The joint labors of all these classes constitute the aggregate of the domestic industry of the nation, and they are equally entitled to the nation s protection. No one of them can justly claim to be the exclusive recipients of protection, which can only be afforded by increasing burdens on the domestic in dustry of others." In accordance with the presi dent s views, a bill providing for a purely revenue tariff, and based on a plan prepared by Sec. Walker, was introduced in the house of representa tives on June 15. After an unusually able dis cussion, a vote was reached on July 3, when the measure was adopted by 114 ayes to 95 nays. But it was nearly defeated in the senate, where the vote was tied, and only the decision of Vice-President Dallas in its favor saved the bill. The occasion was memorable, party spirit ran high, and a crowded senate-chamber hung on the lips of that official as he announced the reasons for his course. In con clusion he said: "If by thus acting it be my mis fortune to offend any portion of those who honored me with their suffrages, I have only to say to them, and to my whole country, that I prefer the deepest obscurity of private life, with an unwounded con-