Bisbee daily review., 1909-07-09
FIND NEW'',jOKER
 IN TARIFF
Section Two With Maximum and Minimum Clause WiH
 Further Raise Duties
CLAUSE MEANS TWENTY
 PERCENT MORE ADDED
Especial to Review.)

WASHINGTON. July S.-.There is
 star joker in the PayneAldrich bill
 It stands head and shoulders above all the others-a monument to the trick.
 cry of the framers of the pending tar. if bill.''
 The speaker was Senator Benjamin r. Shively of Indiana. 1 had asked him what feature of the bill would
 work the greatest hardship on the con
 sumer
 Although so far it has been little discussed, and the consumer has not ! nealI much or, there is joker in the
 tariff bill, in section two,' said the new Indiana senator. which will have
 the effect of adding a 25 per cent ad yalorem duty to the rate of nearly
 every article.
 This feature of the bill is far and away the most iniquitous proposition
 contained in the measure, and it is going to be hammered numerically before the Payne-Aldrich bill becomes
 a law. It is so unjust because of the
 excessive protection 1t gives to all articles that I would not be surprised if Seaator Aldrich should drop it from
 the bill. If the feature to which I am alluding goes into the bill that be-
 comes law, the country will soon
 hear of it through the unreasonably high cost of living that is sure to fol low.
 "The joker is built up in three cer. tain amendments to the bill Section
 one of the bill describes each of the several thousand articles which shall
 be subject to import duty, prescribes rate of duty to be imposed on each article, and names the articles to be admitted free of duty. It provides these rates shall constitute the min imum tariff of the United States 'ex. cept as otherwise specially provided for in the second section of this act Section two, however, says there shall be collected. the rates of duty
 prescribed by the schedules and para
 graphs of the dutiable list of section
 one of this act, and in addition there
 to 25 per cent ad valorem; and there
 shall also be levied, collected and paid
 the following rates of duty on arti- cies upon the free list in said section one. namely, On coffee , cents per pound; on tea, 10 cents per pound |: which rates shall constitute the gen eral tariff of the United States
 Section two provides that when the
 president shall be satisfied that a foreign government does not in any
 manner, directly or indirectly, dis
 criminate against the United States,
 he may issue a proclamation giving
 such countries the minimum tariff,
 which has been discussed in the sen. ate, and is generally believed by the
 public to be, the regular tariff
 Tt is too plain for controversy that
 ,t l,..s l
 the duties which have been denounced
 throughout the country as being eX.
 cessively higir-pIus 25 per cent ad valorem and 5 cents per pound on cof- fee and 10 cents Der pound on tea, are
 to constitute the general tariff of the
 United States This section two will raise the duty on lumber to over S5 per thousand. In brief, the proposed
 act would make the general act of the
 United States higher in every sched-
 ule and on every dutiable article than in any tariff law in the country's his, tory.
 The public will not know the most vicious features of the pending bill
 until the maximum and minimum fea-
 lures are tho. oughly understood. The beneficiaries of the proposed act | would fight to the death the remission of the additional 25 per cent ad va lorem duty in their effort to retain in full their darling franchises in the | taxing power of the government. The | interested and organized avarice oi
 the country would be enlisted on the side of the maximum rates. The scat | tered millions of American consumers
 would be helpless in a tribunal com
 mitted to the doctrine of wealth by statute and prosperity by taxation I Keep your eye on the maximum and minimum features from now on l Watch whether the provision whict I will add 25 per cent ad yaloreH duty remains in the bill. If this prize l joker is retained. 1 will be surprised man if a Democratic majority is no sent to the House to wipe it out O the pages of the statute books.