The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-03
TAFT GIVES REASONS
WHY THE FHIIPPTNE TARIFF
 SHOULD BE REDUCED.
United states Under Obligations to Make Geod the Trade Which Has Been Lost With
 Other Countries.

Washington. Feb. 2.--secretary Taft has addressed to Chairman Payne of the House Committee on Ways and reasons which impel him to urge earn estly on Congress the passage during the present session of the pending Phil ippine tariff bill. The Secretarys req sons are in substance as follows:
 Whatever ultimately will be done with the Philippines they are necessa- rily for the next generation a part of the United States, and there is no more reason for a tariR against them than against Hawaii or Porto Rico or our territories. Under Spanish rule, Phil ippine sugar was given a preferential rate of cents per pound when import ed into Spain, while the Spanish Gov ernment took all of it's tobacco to sup ply the Government monopoly from Cuba and the Philippines. Now, Spain buys in the cheapest market. and the Philippines have lost the Spanish trade. The United States Is under ob- ligation to make good this deficiency, which has been larger by the increase of the import tax on sugar and tobacco by Japan and Australia, thus reducing the sales of the Philippine commodt-. ties.
 Unless the American tariff is reduced in favor of the Philippines. the law re- quiring the islands trade with the United States to be carried only in American bottoms will be a great bur. den and injustice to the Filipinos. Con- gress should make good the heavy loss to the islands revenue caused by the repeal, at the demand of the American farmer of the export tax on hemp, a loss not made good by the return to the islands of the import duty on hemp collected in the United States. A total removal of duties on Philippine prod ucts entering the United States is not asked for at this time, though it will be in 1909, when an internal revenue system applied to the islands probably will develop enough revenue to enable them to have free trade.
 The opposition to the reduction of the duties on sugar and tobacco has been nursed by professional agents cir culating misleading and unfounded statements, which has now developed added opposition to the bill by the rep resentations of all the sugar and to- bacco interests of the country except Hawaii and Porto Rico. The entire present production Of the Philippines would not appreciably affect the Ameri- can market if admitted under the pro- posed rates.
 The Philippine sugar land is limited; 1t Is not as good as the Cuban land; and the truth is that the same land will produce hemp, copra and rice much more profitably than sugar, so 1t is the heighth of absurdity to suppose that even with free trade in sugar with the United States there would be any con- siderably increase in the Philippine sugar product.
 No Philippine tobacco of any kind is exported commercially to the United States and only wrappers and filters are raised, but tobacco cannot be laid down in New York at less than 7S cents per pound, considerably more than the price for the superior Connecticut wrapper, so there is not the slightest danger of competition with the AmeFi-
 The Philippine cigar cannot compete with the Cuban cigar. and is not in the same class. The total export of Philippine cigars to all countries was only i06, ,000, 900, whereas America pro- duces 1000, 100000 cigars. so that the suggestion of competition is absurd.
 4 50 per cent reduction of the tariT rates would not do the islands the slightest good. as has been proved by experience with the 25 per cent reduc- ton. The Secretary, in conclusion pleads for justice for the Philippines.
 He supports his statements by letters from Colonel Edwards of the Insular Bureau and figures from Collector Col ton of Loilo