The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1907-06-07
Tariff VIII be an Issue.

| III tuo uoAt boSSlOu OI COukrcSo ehe
tariff Is certain to be an important
ISSUE" said Senator Allison. 1.-The
personalities of candidates necessarily
will enter into the decision by the peo'
pie. There is great difference be-
tween revision of the tariff and its
practical destruction. If Bryan Is
elected he will attempt to revise the
tariff in such way as to reduce 1t
to strict revenue basis. He is free
trader and surely would have his party
behind him. But there will be Re-
publican senate. so that there would be
no revision at all. On the other hand,
any Republican president would pro-
Deed to revise the tariff along protec-
lion lines, reducing the rates to a pro-
tective basis in all cases. but not aban.
| doning the theory.
1t will be necessary soon for the
proper committees of congress to take
up the tariff question. That is to say,
they must investigate the demand for
revision itself. Find out what the peo-
pie want, and where serious inequali-
ties exist, so that congress can proceed
intelligently. In some places talk of
revision is strong, elsewhere the idea of
touching the tariff is unpopular. There
is enough talk of tariff revision to justi-
fly attention being paid to it, but until
the committees of congress act it will
be impossible to estimate the strength
of the movement throughout the coun-
try, and for that reason investigation
will have to be made soon for the pur-
pose of determining whether action is
necessary or not.
elaborate reciprocity now is through
tariff revision of some sort. This
probably may take the form of maxi
mum and minimum system. If it does,
we should, in my opinion, adopt the
idea which Germany is now enforcing
against us. That is to say, minimum
duty rates should be a reasonable pro-
tective tariff, affording full protection
to American workmen and American
manufacturers without imposing any
hardships on the consumer. The max
imum rate of duty then would become
purely punitive. That is to say, it
would be applied to punish nations
which do not give us the benefit of
their lowest rate of duty.
In this way" continued the senator,
we should have satisfactory reciproc-
ity by congressional action. Congress
would fix all tariff rates, both high
and low, as is its duty under the con-
stitution. There would be no continu-
ing disturbance of prices. The applica-
ton of maximum or minimum rates
would be an executive act. The Pres
ident would have to decide when any
foreign nation did not give us the
benefit of its lowest rates of duties. He
would not be be called upon to fix rates
or to employ experts to take testim ony
on the cost of production, but would |
act in a ministerial capacity, and this
double tariff would operate on all |
nations alike.
THE danger of attempting to fix
tariff rates by means of individual
treaties negotiated by the President
and approved by the senate lies In the
fact that it involves the raising of |
revenue without the consent of the
house of representatives, whereas the
house is specifically given by the con-
the exclusive right to origin
ate all revenue measures.
ut is bad thing to split up the two
houses of congress and set them at odds,
with the President necessarily siding
with one of them. That is inevitable
when treaty is negotiated which seeks
to change the duties fixed by both
houses of congress. 1t gives to the
President legislative functions he was
not intended to exercise, and ignores the
one branch Of congress which the con-
intended to have all the
power of initiative over revenues. The
house naturally would vssort to retalia-
ton. 1t would refuse to give proper
support to the President and bad feel
ing between the two houses would re-
suit in the paralysis of the efficiency
both of the two houses of con gress and
the executive"