ot agree to
it. During the early sessions of Congress the Senate met behind closed
doors, a practice which it did not abandon until five years later. From
the accounts of the discussion preserved in Maclay's diary it appears that
there was much wrangling. Maclay relates that on one occasion when
Pennsylvania's demands were sharply attacked, his colleague, Robert
Morris, was so incensed that Maclay "could see his nostrils widen and his
nose flatten like the head of a viper." Pierce Butler of South Carolina
"flamed away and threatened a dissolution of the Union, with regard to his
State, as sure as God was in the firmament." Thus began a line of argument
that was frequently pursued thereafter until it was ended by wager of
battle. On several occasions the division was so close that Vice-President
Adams gave the casting vote. Although there was much railing in the Senate
against imposts as a burden to the agricultural sections, yet some who
opposed duties in the abstract thought of particulars that ought not to be
neglected if the principle of protection were admitted. Duties on hemp and
cotton therefore found their way into the bill through amendments voted by
the Senate. Adjustment of the differences between the two houses was
hindered by the resentment of the House at the removal of the treaty
discrimination feature, but the Senate with characteristic address evaded
the issue by promising to deal with it as a separate measure and ended by
thwarting the House on that point.

On the whole, in view of the sharp differences of opinion, the action
taken on the tariff was remarkably expeditious. The bill, which passed the
House on May 16, was passed by the Senate on June 2, and although delay
now ensued because of the conflict over the discrimination issue, the bill
became law by the President's approval on July 4. This prompt conclusion
in spite of closely-balanced factions becomes more intelligible when it is
observed that the rules of the Senate then provided that, "in case of a
debate becoming tedious, four Senators may call for the question."
Brief as was the period of consideration as compared with the practice
since that day, Maclay noted indignantly that the merchants had "already
added the amount of the duties to the price of their goods" so that a
burden fell upon the consumers without advantage to the Treasury. Such
consequence is evidence of defect in procedure which the experience of
other nations has led them to