The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1907-10-31
WORKING WELL.
ONE-SIDED BENEFIT OF THE
GERMAN TRADE AGREEMENT
Enormous Increase i'm Our ImpOrta-
lions of Competitive Articles Indi-
cate Plainly that the Germans Are

n
| Indications are at hand of the work
ings of the German trade agreement il
the second month of its operation. II
will be remembered that for the mrs.
month, July, there was an increase OF
about S3000,O00 in competitive imports
from Germany, as compared with July
1906. Official statistics showing the I'M
pOrtations of dutiable articles fo- Al
gust have not yet been given out by the
Department of Commerce and Labor
but there is reason to believe that a
substantial increase over July Will be
shown
From a single consular district in
Germany some heavy increases in com
petitive exports to the United States
as compared with August, 1906, are re-
ported In artificial flowers the in
crease is more than 80 per cent; in
china and earthenware, more than 4pl
! per cent; in cotton goods, nearly iOU
per cent; in glassware, about A PEI
cent; in metal goods, about LOO PER
cent; while of paper and paper goods
the export is nearly ten times as Grcd:
as it was in August year ago.
All OF these increases are IN values
only. quantities not being indicated. IL
is therefore, not possible TO deierI1in,
the extent to which German exporter,
have taken advantage Of the expo.
price privilege and have inyoiced thei,
goods TO their own agents in The United
States at prices far below the currenl
wholesale market prices of equiva:eGi
articles in Germany 1t is safe 10 pre-
sumo, however. that this priceless
privilege" has not been neglected and
that not only has the differentiation
permit been used to greatly augment
the entered invoice values of the total
exports. but that, by reason of cut
prices. there has been an increase in to-
tai quantities much larger than is lndi-
Gated in the reported valuations.
1t would seem that at the expiration
of nearly sixty days since the authority
to determine dutiable values WIS taken
away from American appraising officers
and turned over TO local chambers OF
commerce made up of the very persons
most Interested in evading honest tariff
payments, the authorities at Washing
ton ought to be able to present a state
ment, for July at least, that VIII show
what the increase of imports has been
in quantities as well as In entered
values That is what is wanted. Values
alone do not tell the whole story.
For example, If the invoice values OF
pottery exports from a single consular
district have increased under tine "ex-
port price" differentiation privilege,
from $4,000 in August, 10O6, to $780,
coo in August, 1907, how much more
than chat have quantities Increased:
We will suppose that in August Of last
year, when honest market values were
ascertained by consuls and special
agents, and fairfield accordingly, Il GER
tain quality of cups and sauccrs were
invoiced correctly at % cents a dozen.
But in August, 1907, the German pot
ter Is permitted to consign TO his own
agent In New York the same quality OF
goods at lower export price" Then
it may easily turn Out-and it undoubt-
eddy will-that while the custom house
invoices show five times the values of
pottery exports as compared with All
gust, 1906, eight or ten times the Guam
tity of earthenware will have been at-
tually exported to the American mar
ket.
IL it be not true that quantities have
increased under the German agreement
in far greater proportion than values
If the undervaluation privilege c. "ex-
port prices" is not being used; If valueS
voluntarily fixed by exporters are a.
honest as values were when determined
by the evidence of consuls, special
agents and direct importers II, in
short. the new deal is not yielding an
enormous harvest of revenue frauds,
of tariff evasions and of unfair COM
petition with American labor and in
dustry. then no time should be lost in
making that fact known. The statis-
teal experts OF the Department of
Commerce and Labor should get busy.
The country has a right to the truth
and it wants to know the truth with
out unnecessary delay.-American
Economist.