The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1908-12-25
TARIFF HEARING NEARING END.
House Committee on Ways and
Means has had Long Session.

was and means of the House, which
Is in charge of tariff revision, is
nearing the end of its hearings and
next week will begin the prepare.
tlon OF tariff measure. The hear
lngs which have been in progress
since November 10, will come to an
end tomorrow or Saturday, and then
the members of the committee will
begin the summing up of the facts
and figures which have been hurled
like an avalanche at their defense
less heads by hundreds of witnesses
who have appeared before them.
1t is the intention of the commit
tee to go to work Immediately on
tariff bill as soon as the hearings
close and have it ready for presen-
tation to the house the opening day
of the special session of the Sixty
first congress, which will be early
in March. This is on the assump-
tion that the present committee will
remain unchanged in it's member
ship in the next congress. All the
Sixtieth congress have been returned
by their constituencies, except Mr..
Watson of Indiana, who made an
unsuccessful run for governor of
his state. His place in the commit
tee is filed with Mr.. Crumpacker.
Many thousands of printed pages
will make up the record of the tes-
timony of the hundreds of witnesses
who have come before the commit
tee, seeking medicine for their bus
mess ills in tariff revision, or adj
vocating "let we'll enough alone"
policy. Practically every witness
has been the representative of a
special interest, and has come to
plead either for higher duties or a
continuance of the Dingley rates.
Representatives of the steel and
iron interests were willing to make
some concessions, but most of them
took issue with Mr.. Carnegie's as
sertion that the steel business can
now stand on its own legs without
the aid Of the tariff. The boot and
shoe men were willing to have their
products placed on the free list if
hides and leather should be made
nondutiable, and the tanners eX-
pressed themselves as being able to
stand material reduction in the du-
ty on leather, if hides should be
placed on the free list. With the ex-
ception of a few lumbermen who
have Canadian interests, the lumber
men who came to Washington we're
of one mind in declaring that their
industry would be ruined by a lower
ing of the Dingley tariff on lumber.
Some of the Independent sugar re-
finers told the committee that if the
duty should be removed from raw
sugar, it would be possible to get
along without duty on refined SUI
gar.
All these cases were exceptions to
the general rule. LET us alone,' or
GIVE us more" have been the raj
lying cries of a great majority of
the protected interests who made the
Washington journey to talk on tar
if revision.
One phase of tariff policy seems
to be settled. That is that the Payne
bill will recognize the principle of
a maximum and minimum tariff
Little has been said of this principle
in the hearings, but all that has been
said, either by witnesses or by re-
publican or democratic representa-
tives, has confirmed the impression
that in drawing the new revenue act
an effort will be made to fix limits
within which concessions to foreign
countries may be made by the ex-
ecutive. Representative Crumpack-
er, of Indiana, one of the republican
revisionists, said that he didn't
know whether the act would provide
maximum and minimum rates for
different rates for different sched-
ules or groupes of schedules, or
whether there would be fiat mini
mum rate, with authority vested in
the president to increase this, say,
20 per cent for purposes of retail
alton.
The opinion is gaining ground
that If the committee could act on
each. schedule as an independent
proposition there would be enough
votes to place basic raw materials
like coal, iron, steel and petroleum,
lumber, hides, and leather on the
free list. The practical difficulty in
doing this or in making substantial
reductions on these products is that
on the republican side of the COM
mittee are men whose districts are
clamoring for high rates on one or
more of these products For in
stance Mr.. Payne believes in free
hides. Mr.. Calderhide, Of Kansas,
does not, and, in preparing a tariff
bill covering multitude of products
which, in Mr.. Paynes opinion,
should bear high tax, it is neces-
sary for the chairman of the COM
mittee to count on the good will of
his associate from Kansas. Other
members of the committee are con-
viEced that the hearings have shown
that the tax on lumber should be
removed, but each of these men has
some particular industry which he
is interested in protecting. To favor
free lumber or free surgar is to in
vite retaliation from Representative
Fordney of Michigan. Representative
Needham of California has no spe-
nio1 N IN %hn