Charlevoix county herald., 1907-10-05
METHOD in SCHEME
JACOB SCHiFF, FiNANCIER, FA-
vORs TARIFF REDUCTION.
This Would Stop the Building Up of
Great Monopoies and the Accumu-
Iation of Vast Fortunes, and Make
Mr.. Schiff's Money Worth More.

ABLY or lntelngently. FOR example, MI.
Jacob H. Schiff, member of one of the
worlds largest banking houses and di-
rector in dozen or so of lesser bank
ing and loan concerns, has lately
broken into print with the following:
Nothing will so thoroughly prevent
and the accumulation of the vast for
tunes, the existence of which is at the
bottom of the prevailing social unrest,
as a sound and sensible revision OF
the tariff. 4. 1t is right that Amer
lean industry and the American work
ingman be protected against undue
| foreign competition, but it cannot be
right to compel the American consum-
er to pay vast profit to the manufac-
turer where the latter under much
| lower tariff would be able to maintain
himself. Herein lies the principal rem
edy which needs to be applied If the
causes which have brought about pres
ent conditions are to be permanently
eradicated."
1t will be noticed that Banker
| Schiff's sole concern is for the COLI
sumer. Most consumers are also pro-
| ducers, but we are not aware that
Banker Schiff is producer. Breed
er, perhaps, but not producer. He
marries coin and currency together
and takes the increase. He profits
by the merger or corporate properties,
but We have not heard that by so
much as a dollars worth he has ever
advanced raw or partly finished mate
rial in value by manufacturing proc.
ess. Mr.. Schiff is said to control a
| larger quantity Of spot cash than any
other one person in the United States.
Naturally he Is interested in enlarging
to the utmost extent the purchasing
ducer of any commodity advanced in
value by human labor, he would like
to buy more of the products of labor
with his dollars. A dear dollar and
cheap man would suit Mr.. Schiff bet
ter than a cheap dollar and dear
man.
An able financier may not be an
able industrialist The man who
knows how to make two coins grow
where one coin grew before is not
necessarily a high authority on any
| thing but his finance. 1t is more than
| possible that he knows very little of
the relation of labor cost to production
I cost in manufacturing and the relation
| of tariff to both. Quite certain it is
that Mr. Schiff does not speak where
of he personally knows when he as
serts that American manufacturers,
! paying double the European rate Of
wages and ten times the oriental rate.
could maintain themselves under
much lower tariff" Ninety-five per
cent. of the business men engaged in
manufacturing, to say nothing of the
| 10,000,000 men who work for wages, do
not agree with Banker Schiff in this
matter. They do not think that Amer
lean labor and production would under
a much lower tariff remain as pros
porous as they now are. To prove
this they have an argument that even
money lenders should be able to see
the force of. They point to the fact
that this country is now importing
each year more than $500, 900
orally speaking, this does not indicate
that the tariff is much too high.
If Mr.. Schiff could spare a moment
from his tariff ripping lucubrations he
might discover something Of direct
fiscal significance in the latest trade
returns. The official statistics for the
seven months ending with July, 1907,
show that our imports had increased,
over the same period in 1906, 1885,
15S,370, while our exports show an
increase of $99,469,605 The net in
crease Of imports for the seven
months has been $36,6S5,756, or at
the rate of $63,O0O,OOO a year. But
the showing for the month of July,
1907, is still more significant. I'm
ports show an increase over the same
month in 1906 of $22,23S,517 or at the
rate of nearly $267, 100000 a year;
while exports for July, 1907, increased
$16,S61, ,961, or at the rate of a little
over $200,000,000 year.
This marked rate of increase of i'm
ports as compared with exports has
occurred under the tariff as 1t is-or
as 1t is supposed to be. When the
tariff should be reduced to suit Mr..
Schiff the flood of imports would enor.
mously increase, that being the main
object sought by tariff reduction. Then
we should be sending gold abroad out
of our banks to balance trade. At
the rate imports are even now gaining
| upon exports our trade balance is
being greatly reduced. Any further
increase of the rate of gain of imports
would be likely to bring on a gold ex-
portation panic. Tariff reduction
would hasten the advent of that sit
uation.
Foolish to Force II.
That the tariff will some time have