The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1909-08-06
WASHINGTON LETTER.


President Taft has won his fight for
tariff revision downward. The ISLAND
pat" forces of the Senate and the House
have gone down to defeat. The unholy
alliance between Speaker Cannon and
ex-Representative Littauer has come to
naught. The corporations of the country
are to be made to subject their affairs to
the clear light of publicity. Justice is to
be done to the Filipinos. The people will
receive some benefit from a genuine
tariff revision and the Republican party,
under it's new leader, William Howard
Taft has demonstrated capacity to with
stand the influence of evil and present a
solid front in opposition to the powerful
pressure exerted by Hobbies of the pro-
tected interests. These are the results of
the agreement on the tariff bill which
has finally been reached by the confer
recs and which remains only to be con-
6rmed, as it unquestionably will be, by
the Republican majorities in the two
houses of Congress.
~
It required a letter from the President
to the conferrees, in which, in simple but
straightforward terms he declared that if
the rate on rough lumber was placed
above $I.25 thousand feet and the rates
on women's gloves were increased above
the Dingley law he wonld "reject' the
bill, to bring the conferrees to their senses
and induce them to provide for that
measure of revision downward which Mr..
Taft deemed essential. When the time
came to write the letter, the President
did not hesitate to take the step, however,
and the result is one of which all Repub-
licans may well feel proud. The number
of reductions contained in the completed
bill is far greater than is generally sup
posed or than the public has had an
opportunity to discover. Chairman
Payne has presented the results in an
effective manner. He shows that the
duties have been lowered on $4,000, 900
worth of goods used by the people, while
they have been increased on only $3.50, 900
worth. To arrive at this comparison
he takes the year 1905 as basis of COM
parison which is entirely consistent with
the position he has taken all along that
the figures of 1907 do not present fair
basis of comparison for the reason that
there was decidedly exceptional year.
Mr.. Payne shows, moreover, that the in
creases fall on $579, 600 worth of luxuries,
which. constitutes two thirds of all the
increases. In further exemplifcation of
his contention that the bill constitutes
genuine revision Of the tariff, Mr.. Payne
points out that in number of instances
the duties were SO high as to be prohibi-
tive, that, therefore, there were no i'm.
porations and in calculating the reductions
now and taking the importations of any
year under the Dingley law as basis it
is impossible to show how much the
people will be benefited because the re.
ductions made will greatly increase the
importation of those goods which are1
necessities, SO that figures made year
hence, for instance would show a still
larger percentage of decrease on goods
used by the people. The reductions in
the metals schedule should benefit every
citizen of the country for everyone used
metal in some form, from penknife to a |
pillow. The rate on iron ore is decreased
from 40 cents to IS cents ton; on pig
iron from 81 to so ton, on scrap iron,
which is used to work over into metal
articles which do not require the highest
grades of wrought iron, from 81 to 81 a |
ton, etc.
There has been considerable disposition
to oppose the adoption of the tariff report