The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-09-18

! 600. representing the amount on arti-
j Giles entering into the consumption Of
+ the country, mostly necessities. upon
I which there has been a reduction Of
I duties and to which the s54 decreases
i applied.
Now, this statement shows as con-
clusively as possible the fact that there
was a substantial downward revision
on articles entering into the general
consumption of the country which can
be termed necessities, for the proper
ton is $4,000. 000. 900. representing the
consumption Of articles to which de-
creases applied, to less than $780,
100000 of articles Of necessity to which
the increases applied.
Now, the promise of the republican
platform was not to revise everything
downward, and I'm the speeches which
have been taken as interpreting that
platform which made in the cam
paign | did not promise that every
thing should go downward, What ]
promised was that there should he
many decreases and that in some few
things increases would be found to be
necessary; but that on the whole
conceived that the change pf conditions
would make the revision necessarily
downward-and that. | contend, under
the showing | have made. has been
the result OF the Payne bill.
No Free Trade.
Il did not agree. nor did the re-
publican party agree. that we would
reduce rates to such Il point as to re-
duce prices by the introduction of for
eign competition. That Isl what the
revenue tariff rcformers desire. but
that is not what the republican plat
form promised, and 1t Is not what the
republican party wished to bring
about. To repeat again what opened
this speech with-the proposition of
the republican party was to reduce
rates so as To maintain n difference
between the cost of production abroad
and the cost of the production here, in
surfing a reasonable profit To the man.
ufacturers on all articles produced In
this country and the proportion to re-
duce rates and TO prevent their being
excessive was to avoid the opportuni-
ties for manopolies and the suppress
sion of competition so that excessive
rates could be taken advantage of to
ferce prices up.
Cotton.
Nov. 1t is stated that there was
not reduction In a number OF the
schedules where they ought to be. 1t
is said that there was no reduction
in the cotton schedule Under this
IpIn
had been n general rise OF all the du-
ties on cotton. This was vigorously
denied by the treasury department ex-
perts. At last the senate lin confer
ence consented to a reduction amount
ing to about 10 per cent on all the
lower grades of cotton, and this re-
duced the lower grades of cotton sub
stantiaily to the same rates as before
and increased the higher rates to what
they ought to be under the Dingiey
law and what they We're intended
to be.
icriticism has also been made of
the crockery schedule and the failure
to reduce that. had been informed
that the crockery schedule was not
high enough. and mentioned that in
schedule probably where there ought
To be some Increases. 1t turned out
that the difficulty was rather in un-
LIBERALIZATION than In the character of
the schedule itself. and SO 1t was not
changed.
i have never known subject that
would evoke so much contradictory
evidence as tariff rates and the uues-
tion of cost OF production at home and
abroad. Take the subject of paper. A
committee was appointed by congress
n year before the tariff sittihgs began
To determine what the difference was
between the cost of production In Can
ada of print paper and the cost of
here. and they reported
that they thought good bill would
be one imposing 81 ton. on paper.
rather than So. the Dingleys rate, pro-
sided that Canada could be induced
To take off the export duties and re-
move the other obstacles to the i'm
portation of spruce wood out of which
wood pulp is made. An examination
Of the report satisfied MIR. Pasne-I
believe IL satisfied some of the re-
publican dissenters-that s., unless
some change Was made in the Cana
dian restrictions. was much too low,
anu that 81 was only a fair measure
Of the difference between the cost of
here and in Canada.
Hides.
THE tariff on hides was taken off /
because it was thought that il was
not necessary to the man who raised !
cattle and that the profits of the cat
tie business were sufficient without
a duty. and that the duty /
imposed Was likely to throw the con-
troll of the sale of hides into the hands
,f the meat packers in Chicago.
In order tn balance the reduction
On hides, however, there WAS a great
reduction in shoes-from p To 10 Der
cent. on sole leather. frmo 20 to s
per cent: on harness, from 10 to Is
per cent. There also was IA reduction
N the duty on coal of 80 Ia per cent.
All connteryailing duties were re-
moved from oil, naphtha. gasoline and
It's rafinp3 prnlurrs