The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-02-04
Business

Convention which is to meet in
Indianapolis, beginning on Febru.
larry 16, Is of especial Importance
to the National Association of Manu-.
faoturersn and to business men in
general throughout the country, for
more than one reason.
Ii will be the first national gath
ering ever held for the express pui
pose Of promoting the movement for
comprehensive, scientific dlmn revi-
sion.
1t has called out from President
| Roosevelt an expression in fayO. oil
a tariff commission.
And. what Is of more direct CON
sequence, it has drawn out note
in Favor Of the commission from
President-eloi Taft, who will have
to deal with 1t as a practical prcpo-
sibton in the extra session of con
x, ess, which he will dIli in March
| need hardly say that this tariff
commission convention hea is par.
| ticulary gratifying to the National
Association of Manufacturers. Al
| all the members of the Association
know, for several years pJlst our on
ganization has been urging legisla-
/ tion creating a commission. 1t
was the pioneer IN this movement
/ The reasons for commission were
so obv!CIIs aud so imperative Uhat
| industrial and commercial Organiza-
tions in all the principal cities
quickly joined US in urginIg It. At
length we have enlisted the great
body of the business men OF the
country on our side.
Free traders, as well as ultra pro.
teGtionists, are among the members
of the National Association of Manu-
facturers. as in all other societies
OF business men, and as among
business men who are outside Oh
all the organizations But all of
them see the nj essity of getting
at the basic facts regarding the el~
fects Of particular duties upon the
various industries. THIS knowledge
Is needed for revenue as well as
for protection purposes.
Manufacturers and other producers
who need protection at all ought to
get what Is required 10 give them
fair profit and at the same time
to guard against all exigencies like
trade disturbances, abroad, which
might cut prises of foreign goods
down to abnormally low figures, an,
thus expose our home producers to
destructive competition. We need
lthiS i'm the interest OF our work
Iers, and thus Of the general public
as wei as in the interest of the
employers
Then there is the revenue side tc
consider. The government needs
cash just as much as the manufac-
turers require protection. Thus far
in the fisql year the government )
incCme has fallen nearly $4,000 900
snort OF meeting its outgo. The
/ shortage will probably be in the
| Ineig ghborhoCd OF $12O,OOO,OOO by the
end of the year on June 30, five
ImCnths hence, Is compared with a
shortaige of $5S,OOO,OOO in the year
which ended last June
Very careful study of the labor
and general hlale conditions abroad
and at home, will have to be made
by capable. Impartial ntn 50 as to
ascertain the relatiye cost OF pro-
duction in the various countries
and also the volume of the output
which they could contribute TO the
foreign commerce of the world This
will be peceshry for purposes OF
Irevmue as We'll as in the interest
OF protection Free traders are JUS
as anxious TO get this information
as are the champions of the thrift,
and they want II straight
The chances to get a tariff COM
mission IN the extra session Of Con-
gress # 1909 are better than they
seemed 10 be a few months in ad-
vance of the enactment of the law
whirh gave tlr country the COM
mlasiCn which was appointed in
1882, whose investigations were tn,
basis on which Congress shaped
1.-The tariff bill which went on the
statute book in 1888. The commits.
sion idea ,5 receiving MORE atten-
tiCn frcm the public than it oh
ltained at that time In having the
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