The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1901-04-05
TARIFF LEGISLATION PROMISED.

brown and steaming hot.
TARIFF LEGISLATION PROMISED.
Another effort will be made at the
next session of congress to enact tariff
legislation, Representative Bacbock
of Wisconsin having already CIV
en- notice of his intention to intro
duce a bill for the modification of the
Dingley act, SO as to reduce the tariff
on certain articles manufactured by
trusts. At the last session he intro
duced a similar measure, but no action
was taken on it. In a few isolated
cases manufacturers are on record as
favoring a tariff revision, they be-
lieving that reductions could be made
on certain articles without danger to
any producers and with benefit to the
great body of consumers. The direct
or Of the mint, Mr.. Roberts, has ex-
pressed himself as favoring a reduc-
tion of the tariff along general lines,
he being Of the opinion that the time
has arrived when duties may be ma
t~erially reduced without harmful re-
suits.
Opposed to Mr.. Babcock is Repre-
sentative Russell of Connecticut, a
member of the ways and means COM
mittee and a tariff specialist. He
cannot see how any reductions on any
class Of goods can be made without
revising the whole list of dutiable
articles and thinks the Babcock idea
of %exempting trust made articles from
the benefits of the protective tariff is
not feasible. A change, no matter
how slight, he says, would mean over
hauling of the entire subject and this,
in his opinion, the business interests
of the country do not want. While
clearly not in favor of any tinkerlng
with the tariff, Mr.. Russell is quoted
as saying that If congress desires to
dabble in the matter of the sources of
revenue it might do something in the
way of reducing the internal revenue
on a good many articles and do 1t to
good advantage. He also points out
that there are a great many crudities
in the administrative tariff act which
congress might rectify and expresses
the hope that his committee may de-
eide to go into the matter, saying he
could see numerous points that could
be investigated with excellent results.
AS if to show how little real sentiment
there exists in the country in favor of
a general revision of the tariff, Mr..
Russell ventures the prediction that
the Babcock bill will receive no SER
ious consideration, eve if introduced.
The fact that the measure intro
duced by Babcock at the last meeting
of congress received no more consid-
GRAFTON than was accorded it may be
taken as evidence that the country is
not DESTROYS Of any startling or gen.
eral revision of the tariff, but that the
bill this time will be treated the same
way is not so certain. In holding for
a revision of the tariff, Mr. Babcock
does not stand alone among the prom
inent republicans Of the country.
This is shown by the ever growing de-
mand for the application Of the prin-
ciple of reciprocity which is going up
from almost every part of the country.
There are many who believe that the
tariff may be safely changed in many
respects to the benefit of the consumer
without serious or even slight injury
to the producer, especially if applied
to the products of the trusts. Mr..
Russell may have the right conception
of the amount of Importance that will
be attached to the proposed Babcook
measure, but it does seem as if he
might find himself mistaken when
the time comes. As an eastern paper
says, tariff revision by a republican
congress would cause no alarm to the
business interests of the country, for
the reason that such interests would
know that the revision would be along
just lines.
THE VENEZUELAN SQUABBLE.
Althnngh the relations existing be-