Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-19

IL u M Al form the PhlllpplneS larll
lIM MAalI laws was welcomed with
aezz:zzzz4zzAsl great joy by all those who
have the material inter-
ests of the Filipino at heart Every
body is agreed that the new tariff law
will bring unprecedented prosperity to
the people of the islands. The only
persons who regret its enactment are
the representatives of foreign business
houses, mostly British and German,
and that constantly diminishing coterie
of native politicians who are so set
upon independence that they oppose
prosperity because it will reconcile the
people to the permanence of American
rule. Not all native politicians belong
to this class which would cut off its
nose to spite it's face, and the majority
of even the independence party Is fav-
orable to the new tariff.
The new law gives the Philippines
free market in the United States for the
principal products of the islands
sugar cigars and tobacco. The limita-
tions set upon the amounts of these
commodities which may be admitted
free of duty to the ports of the home
country, for the time being, do not
concern the business men of the Islands.
The country does not now produce 150,-
000. 900 cigars, and it will be many years
before it will have that number for
export, even if the American taste is
educated to the enjoyment of the aroma
of Manilas.
Three hundred thousand tons of sugar
is a practically unapproachable limit
for the Philippines at this time, as no
sugar OF a kind salable in the United
States is produced. The tariff law will
aid to build up a genuine sugar indus
try of the modern type on the ruins
of the antiquated system now OBTAIN
ing. The imposition of a duty on rice
in the interests of the rice growers of
the southern states causes smile in
the Philippines, because the Islands do
not grow enough rice for their own
consumption and annually import mil
lions of pounds from Indo- China.
The new tariff law will stimulate the
tobacco industry. will bring capital to
the Philippines to build UP the sugar
industry, and will in many other par
ticulars give the Filipinos a chance to
compete with other peoples in the COM
mercial and industrial world upon an
approximately equal basis. At the same
time the law is so framed that the rev.
enues of the country will not be I'M
paired and the many works of public
| Improvement inaugurated by the
| American administration will go for
ward.
The law contains a revenue feature
uniuue in American lawmal1ing expert
ence The constitution of the United
States inhibits an export tax. But the
PHILIPPINES. since the earlier days or
Castilian rule. have had an export tax
on hemp, tobacco, copra and sugar
That export tax has been re-enacted
into the present law, and IL mas peen
extended to shells. Thus, when he has
the amount of this export tax levied
on the goods he gets from the Philip
pines, the American is again reminded
that the constitution does not always
follow the flag.
The retention of these export duties
is explained in most plausible way
1t was at one time decided to levy a
tax on real estate. But only a small
rortion of the land of the islands was
| profitable enough to permit tax upon
| it With the alternative of selling
nearly all the lands of the islands at
tax sales, 1t was decided to let the
law die a quiet death. In its stead
there was an export tax levied upon
the products of the land. BY the same
reasoning through which the supreme
court of the United States reached the
conclusion that a tax upon rents Is a
tax upon land the Philippine govern
ment came to the conclusion that a
tax upon the things that grow on the
land the usufruct from the soil, Is
tax upon the land itself, and therefore
an indirect compliance with the land
tax statute.
Hence. under the new act Americans
will pay an export tax on the enumer-
ated products of the Philippines. while
allowing them to come into the United
states free of duty. Some assume that
the farmers who grow the products
upon which there is levied an export
| duty are the ones who bear the bur-
den of the export duties, but most peo-
pie think it is the man who buys them
| It all depends on the point of view. The
export tax upon the commodities coming
from the Philippines is comparatively
light one. On hemp it amounts to 70
cents for each 221 pounds, on sugar 3
cents for the same quantity, and le
cents on copra On tobacco it amounts
to $1S0 for each 221 pounds, and on
stems, clippings and other wastes so
cents on each like quantity
Under the new law the Philippines
can enter everything into our ports
free. except that if they send us more
than $50. 600. 900 cigars. 100000 gross tons
/ onn He nf