The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-01-01
PHILIPPINE TARIFF
Senate Likely to Amend the House
Bill.
SOME RADICAL DISAGREEMENTs
As the Bill Now Stands Imports of
Hemp Would He Shut OFF
Entirely.
Now York Sun ssso.al ss-vxss

-
Washington, Jan. 1.-The Philippine
tariff bill will be amended in the senate
and it may, like the Porto Rico tariff
bill, passed by the house two years ago,
become only an amendment to the civil
government bill for the Philippines. The
republican program in the senate is to
keep the two bills separate, but long de-
bate by the democrats may induce them to
change this program and combine the bills.
The Philippine committe Of the senate is
at work on a general government bill In
harmony with the recommendations made
by the Taft commission. Senator Lodge,
Senator Spooner and other members OF
that committee are holding frequent con-
ferences with Secretary Root and also with
the president regarding the provisions of
measure to provide a civil government
for the Philippine archipelago. The
recommendations Of the Taft commission
suggest a bill very similar to the law en-
acted for Porto Rico. Ar
The haste with which the Philippine
tariff bill was passed by the house was
responsible for number Of mistakes
which will have to be corrected in the
senate. The bill was hastily drawn and
lawyers of the senate have discovered a
number of omissions which would seri-
ously embarrass the government in en-
forcing the law. The most serious point
Of disagreement will be over the provision
all imports from the Philippines. The
Taft commission recommended a reduc-
ton of so per cent in the United States
duty on tobacco, hemp, sugar and other
Philippine products coming into this
country. The house paid no attention to
this recommendation. Some of the repub-
lican senators insist that the recommends
lions of the Taft commission shall be car
ried out in the bill before 1t is enacted
into law. Others, who are not disposed to
make so great a concession, admit that
there must be some reduction in the tariff
on these Philippine products In order\that
they may come into this country on an
equality with like products from foreign
countries. .....
For instance, the duty on hemp in this
country is 500 per ton The Philippine
commission, in it's tariff law, provides an
export duty Of $3.50 ton on hemp shipped
from that country. This makes COM
bined tax Of $27.5O a ton on Philippine
hemp seeking a market in the United
States.
Would Exclude Hemp.
It would practically shut out all hemp
from the Philippine islands coming INTO
this market. The duty on tobacco in the
Dingley bill is from SO cents to $3.50 a
pound. In the Philippine tariff bill there
is an export duty of SIS ton. This ex-
port duty would prevent Philippine to-
bacco from competing in this market
with tobacco from Cuba or any other for
eign countries. The Philippine commits
sion also placed an export duty on rice,
sugar, indigo and cocoanuts.
It is admitted by republican republican
senators that there must be some tarlf
concession made to the Philippines In Or
der to place the products from those
islands on all equal footing with similar
products from foreign countries in our
r.
concessions be made so as to have the
tariff rate here and the export rate in
the Philippines amount to the same as
the Dingley rate Oh foreign products
Hemp is at present the most important
export of the Philippines, and 1t is also
very important import in this country
We need the hemp from the Philippines
and the bill would have to be modified to
allow that hemp to come into the United
States at combined tariff not exceeding
$40 ton. It is proposed in the senate
to amend the house bill making the tariff
on Philippine hemp $3.50, which, com
bined with the export tax of $3.50 ton
levied in the Philippines, would make the
tariff 500 ton, the same as that levied
against foreign hemp.
It will not be so easy to figure out the
reductions that must be made IN the duty
on sugar, tobacco and rice from the Phil
ippines but all these duties will have to
be modified or reduced by the amount OF
the export tax to prevent our tariff laws
from discriminating against the Philip
pines, which are now American territory.
Republican senators frankly admit that
to allow the house bill to become a law
would give just cause for complaint by
the Filipinos, that since becoming cit1-
zens of American territory they had been
Disseminated against rather than bene-
flied by the administration of the United
States government. w..