ouse leader in tariff legislation at that time was a man of
exceptionally high character and ability. William L. Wilson was
President of the University of West Virginia when he was elected to
Congress in 1882, and he had subsequently retained his seat more by the
personal respect he inspired than through the normal strength of his
party in his district. The ordinary rule of seniority was by consent set
aside to make him chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. He aimed
to produce a measure which would treat existing interests with some
consideration for their needs. In the opinion of F. W. Taussig, an
expert economist, the bill as passed by the House on February 1,
1894, "was simply a moderation of the protective duties" with the one
exception of the removal of the duty on wool. Ever since 1887, it had
been a settled Democratic policy to put wool on the free list, in order
to give American manufacturers the same advantage in the way of raw
material which those of every other country enjoyed, even in quarters
where a protective tariff was stiffly applied.

The scenes that now ensued in the Senate showed that arbitrary rule
may be readily exercised under the forms of popular government. Senator
Matthew S. Quay of Pennsylvania, a genial, scholarly cynic who
sought his ends by any available means and who disdained hypocritical
pretenses, made it known that he was in a position to block all
legislation unless his demands were conceded. He prepared an everlasting
speech, which he proceeded to deliver by installments in an effort to
consume the time of the Senate until it would become necessary to yield
to him in order to proceed with the consideration of the bill. His
method was to read matter to the Senate until he was tired and then
to have some friend act for him while he rested. According to the
"Washington Star," Senator Gallinger was "his favorite helper in this,
for he has a good round voice that never tires, and he likes to read
aloud." The thousands of pages of material which Senator Quay had
collected for use, and the apparently inexhaustible stores upon which
he was drawing, were the subject of numerous descriptive articles in
the newspapers of the day. Senator Quay's tactics were so successful,
indeed, that he received numerous congratulatory telegrams from those
whose interests he was championing. They had been defeated at the polls
in their attempt to control legislation, and defeated in the House of
Representa