The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-01
HE TARIFF JURY
HE MEN ON COMMITTEE ARE "PROTEsTED."
hey Are Beneficfaries of The Tariff, Many of Them Having Frankly Said So In The
 C0usraftfee

Frankly said So In The
 Committed.
 Washington, Nov, 30--(Special)-It
 Has sometimes been said that the pro- zective system has been the greatest
 orrupting influence in the history of |ur national government. Anyone at =ending these tariff hearings could Hardly fall to get new light on the
 possibilities in that line. ! Ex-Con- 3ressman M. E. Rhodes of Missouri,
 ppeared November 11th and urged an
 hcrease of the duty on crude 'Tbary- *es" from seventy-five cents to S5 per
 pn. Mir. Rhodes read one of his own
 ktters in which he said. T have per-
 onal knowledge of the situation be-
 ause I am interested in the mining of *arytes." He said to the Committees:
 When I was in Congress I introduced
 bill in the Fifty-ninth Congress, Fhich sought to fix a specific duty of *5 ton on crude ore. because l be-
 eved at that time that that would Five us ample protection"
 In the present stage of evolution of Rublic morals. in most city councils a
 nember pecuniarly interested in a
 ontract to be awarded by the council
 not allowed vote upon 1t, and in
 nany ctties. members are absolutely
 orbi6e- to have any personal inter-
 st in such contracts. But in Congress nembers not only introduce and vote
 Tn bills for tariff favors in which they
 re pecuniarly interested, but they rote for other members bills in re-
 urn for votes for their own
 N On the same date D. S. Alexander.
 low Representative from the Buffalo # afrfN hafnfh ! he committee on behalf of the Schoell- Eopf, Hartford, Hanna Company and bIeaded eloquently for higher duty on $niiins dyes. He did not state whether he was pecuniarly interested the company, but repeatedly used The expressions such as "ouF plant" Tour product" ''give us," etc.
 Representative Fordney of Michigan, ss one of the nineteen members of the Committee on Ways and Means. who will frame a tariff bill in which the present duties on lumber will be left, faised or reduced. During the. hear Ing on the lumber schedule, Mir. Ford hey said. while examining a witness: s-I have been in the lumber business ever since I was a boy" Later he I aid, referring to lumber rnanufsctur- ng: "I am in the manufacturing business in the South, in the state of Mississippi" and again, referring to he lumber business on the Pacific boast: T am in the business out here"
 These instances of personal pecuni- llry interest in the tariff favors grant s,d to private parties by Congress. cer- ainly are not isolated cases. These have merely cropped out" at the hear Engs. There have been examples of hnother interesting practice. Tn a |eourt of justice it would be thought |strange if a judge of the same or 8 eo-ordinate court should descend from he bench and address the judges in behalf of private suitors. Yet mem- bers of Congress, the court which must pass on the preliminary findings of he Ways and Means Committee, ap- pear before that Committee to plead Tor favors to private interests in their Districts. On November 18th. Stephen M. Sparkman. Representative from Florida, appeared and advocated the retention of the present duties on tobacco Sometimes members of the bo-ordinate body, the Senate, appear |0n November 18th, Senator Hale, of Maine, a member of the Finance Com |nittee, which will deal with the tariff n the Senate. appeared and pleaded For no reduction in the duties on starch and for a duty on tapioca, in the in- crest of the starch manufacturers of Maine -
 Senator Burton's offense was that he violated the statute forbidding members of Congress to act as attor- neys for private interests before gov- srnfnent departments at Washington. There is, as yet. no statute forbidding members to act as attorneys for private interests seeking tariff favors, or preventing them from passing of- fieially, as legislators. on the grant, ing of such favors to themselves or those who help to keep them in office
 The lumber schedule furnishes a clear case. calling for removal of the tariff duty. It is not only a burden- some tax on a prime necessity, but 1t threatens the national welfare in helping to denude the country of Its forests. Tn the 215 pages of testimony on this subject, there is little wheat amongst the chaff. showing the real effect of the lumber tariff.
 M J. Scanlon of Minneapolis said: '"rhe tariff on lumber should be re- moved because it is not s protection to American manufacturers of lum- ber or American labor, except so far as they are the owners of stumpage. I do not consider it equitable and just to afford protection to that form of in- vestments at the expense of the public at large"
 Mir. Scanlon gave actual prices, showing how American uncut timber has risen in the market, aided by tariff hindrance of competition from Canada. pine increased in value more 1907 In 1Q0Q IA block of timber in oregon, bought