Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-06-08

There Is no single phase of the tariff
question about which there is wider diff
terence of opinion than there is concern
ing the relationship of tariff and trusts.
Some borrow the figure used by Have
meyer, the president of the sugar trust
and declare that the tariff is the mother
of the trusts. Others declare that the
only relationship is that protection is the
mother of prosperity, and that trusts are
but one of the evils growing out of good
times. Between these two definitions OF
the relationship there come all sorts or
views and opinions The extreme pro-
ponent of the mother of trusts" theory
has what he regards as a convincing ar
ray of figures to prove his case. His OPP
ponent is ready to declare that there are
just as many trusts, proportionately In
free trade England as there are in pro-
lection America, and that they embody
just as many evils as the American
trusts.
Some see in the cutting off Of the tariff
an excellent solution of the whole trust
question. They argue that when trust
seeks to kill all its competitors, all that
is necessary is to turn loose upon II the
dogs of foreign competition and there will
be an end to its tactics. Others eXempli-
fly their position by the parable related
recently by former Attorney General Bon
aparte. A farmer, according to the para
bic, had a lot of hogs. Some of them
were full grown porkers others were
shoats, and the remainder were pigs.
Now, the farmer had them all in one pen,
and when feeding time came the porkers
got most of the swill, the shoats got
little, and the pigs next to none. The
farmer couldn't stand for the crowding
out of the pigs, so he cut off the swill en-
tirely. Result: A whole pen full OF
hungry, squealing. measly razorbacks. To
the mind of Mr.. Bonaparte the minute
protection is taken away because the
trusts get an undue share of it, the whole
industrial world would come to the I'M
happy end of the porFers, shoats and pigs.
Another prominent political leader de-
clares that it is no more right to stop
protection because of the evils that grow
out of the prosperity he asserts that It
brings about, than it would be to blot out
representative government because a few
representatives have betrayed their trust.
The pet theory of the Democrats is that
the trusts add the tariff to their prices
at home, and thereby make untold mil
lions out of the American consumer. One
of their statisticians, Byron w. Holt, has
| figured the matter down to rather a fine
point. He estimates that the American
people consume fourteen billion dollars
worth of stuff a year. and that the trusts
make a tariff profit of 10 per cent there
on, or a total of more than two billion
dollars. Viewing the situation from an
other standpoint-that is, taking the diff
ference between American and European
prices-he finds the tariff profits a bill
lion and half dollars. The student of
the Congressional Record is impressed by
the frequency with which such tables as
those prepared by Mr.. Holt are used in
the course of a single session. If the
house and senate had to listen to their
reading they would have the pleasure of
hearing the same thing read from dozen
! to half q hundred times.
One Of the greatest arguments.
against any intimate relation between
the ta1.f and the trusts in past years
| was that petroleum was on the free list
and that yet Standard Oil was the
greatest trust of them all A year ago
Representative Kustermann, of Mich,-
/ gan, exploded that argument. He called
the attention of congress to the fact
| that while petroleum was apparently on
the free list, it was in reality subject
to a duty ranging from 100 to 200 per
/ cent. He called attention to a little
\ joker In the Dingley bill, which provides
| that any country which levies an i'm
| port duty on American OH shall pay
like duty when importing oil into the
United States. It so happens that Rus
STA is the one great oil-producing coun-
| try on the globe, and that she levies
very high duty against American OIL
J Consequently, when Russia seeks to en-
| ter her oil into American ports the rate
! is fixed by her standard-which is
practically prohibitive rate.
When Representative Kustermann
was telling the house about this, the
Democrats thought they HAD a wonder
tul indictment against the trainers of
the Dingley bill. But their applause
| and joy was shortlived, for Mr.. Kuster-
mann promptly informed them that the
| very same clause was in the Wilson
| German law, and was placed there by
Democrats. Mr.. Kustermann, who is
| strong protectionist, estimated that this
little "countervailing duty joker costs
the American people $4,000 a day.
|
The paper trust has been getting the
| benefit of tariff Of about six dollars
| per ton on print paper. In speaking Of
| this in the house when the duty on
| wood pulp was under discussion, Repre-
tentative Perkins stated that 1t was
now requiring, annually, the timber from
an acreage Of land equal in size to the
| state Of Rhode Island to supply the
American newspaper publishers de-
mands for print paper. He suggested
that under present conditions it would
brother who are willing to take care of