New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-06
TARIFF RATES STILL UNSETTLED.
NO REASON FOR BUSINESS MEN TO BE-
COME EXCITED OVER PUBLISHED
DJDOpTS

Washingto ton Feb (SpecaD.-Judging by the num-
Der and tenor Of Geographic dispatches on 'ne
subject received here to-day by Representatives III
Congress and others from business men WHO are
personally interested in tariff legislation special as
| patches from Washington TO some OF the heEs7
nannrs nurnortjnV 10 give the rates OF duty which
the ma jority- OF the Committee on Ways ana Means
has agreed TO recommend on various aruc'es' nav,
created some commotion and excited cohsioeia"ie
anxiety-a good deal more, indeed than inc lac,s
warrant or justify. AS has been repeatedly saw
IN these dispatc on tho authority or the chair-
man and other members of the Ways and Means
Committee the question of rates OF duty IN the
various schedules is as yet an unsecured one iHi'
remark applies generally TO cases IN which d con
siderable advance In rates Is TO be expec'eu' anu
also 10 cases in which specific or compound rates
Of duty are to be substituted for existing ad va
loren rates
OF course II is also true as already pointed out III
these dispatches that the rates OF duty on con-
siderable number Of articles Will be modihed ana
in many cases advanced somewhat by chahses vi
classification. which experience has SHOWN 10 NC
necessary. Basket clauses are necessary III nearly
every schedule OF q tariff law. but the le"er anu
less comprehensive they arc the pet7er i' Is iof '
customs revenue well as for the american
manufacturer and the honest importer. mat the
segregation TO as great an extent as may De prac
,,cah,a NJ ems which are covered by basket clauses
Of the existing tariff law is a tedious as wen as
difficult task IL more thoroughly realized ny INC
men who are now engaged In framing ne" ,arih
law than II can be by anybody else goes without
saying. ..
When everything Is taken into consideration
therefore It will be easier TO understand why the
ma iority of the Ways and Means Committee Is
NOT vet ready even after three weeks OF carelu
Constant study and investigation. to marx any
schedule OF the bill finished. or to say that .ne
rates of duty therein have been 'flxeo MeIhpeiS
Of the committee will be we'll satisneu II they sh
he able 10 carry their work to such degree Oh
comnletton within the next elk weeks mat Iney
viii Then be ready to submit 1t for public Inspection
and criticism Under such circumstances. II Is
hardly worth while for business men-"hetner I'M.
nortcrs manufacturers or producers-to, become
nndlIly excited or agtated over puDllsheu reports
concerning rates Of duty In any OF the scheduies.
Everybody who possesses ialr a'h .St M
Knowledge concerning the tariff knows that inc
ra,es OF duty on a great many articles have re-
NAMED virtually undisturbed by successive re-
visions during a period OF twenty YeaSs or mort,
and that the rates such articles are NOT likely 70
he changed by the coming revision; that thc ldtes
established IN 1894 in several of the schedules were
satisfactory in the main. and are not hke! 70 pe
largely Increased this year; that the rates estap-
lished in 1894 In other schedules were utterly IN
ADEQUATE either to afford fair measure OF pro-
lection 10 the domestic industries affected or 70
additions were made to the free list In 1874 when
must be sbtracted from IT in 1897, for the sake OF
revenue as well as Of American producers; put II
is more than doubtful II any man-even Chairman
Dinglev himself-knows to-day whether tho aver
age rates of duty in any Of the duuaole schea-
ules except one will be placed al, high as In 1oSo'
or how much lower they Will be fixed