Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-05
BEvER|OGE FAvORS
TARIFF REVISION
Urqes That the Work Be Done
by a Commission.
WOULD INITIATE GERMANY
Recommends Maximum and Mini
mum Duties.
LEVER TO GET FOREIGN TRADE
Contends That Congressional Com
mittees Have Not the Time to
Perform the Vast Task.
WOULD INITIATE GERMANY
Recommends Maximum and Mini
mum Duties.
LEVER TO GET FOREIGN TRADE

Senator Beveridgc OF Indiana addressed
the Senate at length this afternoon on his
tariff commission bill.
The tariff he said "is fixed by facts:
how to get at these facts is the first ques-
lion in the whole tariff problem. Common
sense and experience answer that ques-
ton: we should create a body of experts
10 find out these facts for us. These men
should be the fittest men that can be
found for this work: they should give
their whole time to this work and lay
before us the result of their work.
This bill seeks to create such COM
mission of experts to find out the facts
upon which Congress builds tariff and
to make a classification of articles TO
which Congress can plainly and accurate
ly fix customs duties.
BY this bill the commission itself is
not allowed to fix duties or even to sug-
gest any rate. The fixing of duties is left
to Congress. The commission is kept
strictly to the task of gathering facts
and making clear classifcations; the first
is expert investigating work. the second
expert clerical work. Neither is legislative
work.
This Plan Followed in Simpler Mat
tiers.
IF We thought it wise for the Presi-
dent to send commission to find out the
facts in 50 simple a matter as strike at
Goldfield: if it is wise in litigation for a
chancellor to appoint special examiners
and commissioners to find out and report
the facts in single cases: If the Senate
directs the bureau of corporations to find
out the facts about the doings of a single
trust in single branch of it's activities:
If Congress creates a body of men to find
out. the facts about any great business
which the President thinks should be in
vestigated. and II Its work is so wise that
no man in any party asks that that work
he stOpped-how much wiser and more
necessary is the same plan as to our
tariff. which is more important. more in
trieate. more difficult than all these other
things put together.
If We provide experts to find out the
facts about things which have to do with
only q few of the people. how much more
should We provide experts to find out the
facts about a thing which has to do with
all of the people. If we take such meas
ures to learn the truth about matters
which are easy to learn, how much more
should we take similar measures to find
out the truth about a matter that is hard
to learn.
Committees Cannot Do the Work.
Our tariff covers thousands of items.
Whether duties should be placed upon
these articles is question of fact. Here
tofore we have forced committees of the
House and the Senate to find out these
facts. These committees do not work at
the task all of the time; they work At 1t
only when the tariff is being revised.
which is about once in every ten years
Even then these committees work but for
a few months. and only part of the time
during these few months. That part Of
the time during these few months is not
given wholly to the task of finding out
the facts, but also to the fixing Of duties
upon these facts. considering how each Of
these duties affects the others. how each
of them taken alone and all Of them
taken together affect -our foreign and do
mestic trade. and all the other things that
must be thought Of in making a tariff.
But not only are these committees
forced to do this vast work In this brief
time. but the members of these committees
must do other heavy work at the same
time.
Dingley and Aldrich Bills.
IF it is said that no matter how hard
the work. nevertheless these committees
actually have done it in the past the
answer is shown in the bills which these
two committees reported when the tariff
was last revised. have carefully gone
over the bill that Mr.. Dingley reported to
the House and which the House passed :
also the bill which Mr.. Aldrich reported
to the Senate. and have tabulated the
duties which these two bills fixed on the
same articles. The duties fixed OF most
of them by the House bill differ widely
from those fixed by the Senate bill. and
in many cases the differences are SO wide
apart that they are startling.
I'm the cotton and WOODEN schedule. the
steel and iron schedule and the glass
schedule the House and Senate differ on
nearly every item. Frequently the House
fixed specific duties. the Senate ad va
loren duties. Sometimes the House and
Senate put articles on the free list and
the conference committee put heavy du-
Ties on those very articles. Sometimes
the conference committee disregarded the
duties OF both Senate and House and
fixed different duties and on a different
basis: yet the conference committee was
in session only five days. If these COM
mittees had the same facts, why these
wide differences? For the majority of
both committees were as high protection
lists as l am. Had these facts been care
fully gotten up by body of experts.
specially fitted for that work and with
plenty of time to do the work, could
there have been these astounding differ-
. cEces?
Classidcations a Generation Old.
The want of classifications OF our tariff
, is as bad as the want of facts. Nearly all
tariff classificatons are more than a
generation old This is because each
time the tariff has been revised the COM
mittees have taken the language of the
old classiications. Not one of them is
systematic, accurate and up-to-date The
result is that the importer frequently
does not know what classification his i'm
ports are under. and therefore what duty
he must pay. The appraiser first decides
this question. then the importer appeals
To the general board of appraisers. and
finaliy to the courts. There have been
eoO.0N such disputes since the present
law was enacted. Decisions OF the Treas
ury Depa ~tment the subject of the
tariff till seventeen great yo...nes; the
decisions of the courts add many more.
and remember that two-thirGs of our
imports for the use o. American man
ufacturers. This has cost importers and
the government millions OF dollars: the
importers many millions more II has
disturbed business which has not known
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