ce was not finally constituted until the 1st of
March, within two days of the close of the session. On the 3rd of March,
when this committee reported a measure on which they had agreed, both
Houses adopted this report and enacted the measure without further ado.

In some cases, rates were fixed by the committee above the figures voted
in either House and even when there was no disagreement, changes were
made. The tariff commission had recommended, for example, a duty of
fifty cents a ton on iron ore, and both the Senate and the House voted
to put the duty at that figure; but the conference committee fixed the
rate at seventy-five cents. When a conference committee report comes
before the House, it is adopted or rejected in toto, as it is not
divisible or amendable. In theory, the revision of a report is feasible
by sending it back to conference under instructions voted by the House,
but such a procedure is not really available in the closing hours of a
session, and the only practical course of action is either to pass the
bill as shaped by the conferees or else to accept the responsibility
for inaction. Thus pressed for time, Congress passed a bill containing
features obnoxious to a majority in both Houses and offensive to public
opinion. Senator Sherman in his "Recollections" expressed regret that he
had voted for the bill and declared that, had the recommendations of the
tariff commission been adopted, "the tariff would have been settled
for many years," but "many persons wishing to advance their particular
industries appeared before the committee and succeeded in having their
views adopted." In his annual message, December 4, 1883, President
Arthur accepted the act as a response to the demand for a reduction
of taxation, which was sufficiently tolerable to make further effort
inexpedient until its effects could be definitely ascertained; but he
remarked that he had "no doubt that still further reductions may be
wisely made."

In general, President Arthur's administration may therefore be
accurately described as a period of political groping and party
fluctuation. In neither of the great national parties was there a
sincere and definite attitude on the new issues which were clamorous for
attention, and the public discontent was reflected in abrupt changes of
political support. There was a general feeling of distrust regarding the
character and capacity of the politicians at Washington, and election
results were appar