New-York tribune., 1909-05-13
rHE NED OF 4 COMlnsMON.

We recently quoted some remarks of The
Washington STAR in defence Of the present
method of making tariffs Our valued Wash
ington contemporary argued that tariffs should
be framed in Congress on the old give-and-take
plan each section of the country trying through
its representatives in Congress 10 make the
best possible bargain with the other sections.
Said THE Star:
Interests are varying and conflicting. All
must be considered, and in some measure recog-
nized In Congress they are presented by men
who represent them and are responsible to con-
stituencies for their actions concerning them
out of the contest comes tariff law which
is z compromise of all the interests in evidence,
and all legislation is compromise. We hear
good deal about scientific tariff. Let us be-
ware OF it. A thing may be logical 50
scientif1c-on paper-that it is not fit for every
day
1t seemed to US that the foregoing
frank apology for existing methods. 1t certain
ly discouraged the idea that Congress needed
assistance in determining what duties should
be levied in pursuance of n given poIicy-of the
1OG y, for instance that the differentiaI in
80 of production here and abroad should
treasure the protection given 10 the domestic
producer. The Star now declares that we
misunderstood IFS reasoning and that it did
not mean TO Undervalue the Importance of
permanent tariff commission a factor in pro
noting intelligent and equitable tariff legIsla-
ton. 1t said the otner day:
What The Star has objected to- and still oh
jects to- is the proposition to create a tribunal
composed of tariff experts and to ClOthe 1t with
power to act Independently of Congress in all
matters Of tariff revision. In the first place.
Congress could not do such a thing if It would.
It cannot delegate the powers received from tn
Constitution In the second place, it would not
do the thing if il could All the adverse Opin-
ion in the country could not. and should not.
shake the belief of Congress in its ability 70
attend to the business committed to its hands
We gladly accept this assurance, although
We should never have been able unaSSiSted 70
deduce The Stars later belief from its earlier
statement No one has ever seriously suggested
giving a tariff commission power to act ''inde-
pendently of Congress- A commission can eKer-
else only such power as Congress chooses to
delegate to it. and there is certainly a liberal
delegation contained in the Senate's tariff COM
mission plan. Congress must be the ultimate
arbiter in tariff legislation for it alone can i'm
pose taxes. But it may profit enormously by
the labors of a tariff commission if those laborS
result in the production of data which will show
the differential in cost of production here and
abroad on each and every taxed article and
thus provide a tariff yardstick which it is
admitted that neither house of Congress now
possesses.
The Star says rightly that The Tribune
has never questioned the right of Congress TO
lay duties or its capacity and willingness to
lay them equitabIy once it has the material on
which TO form an intelligent judgment. The
great majority of the Congressman of both
parties favor giving domestic industry reason
able protection. But there is no definite meas
ure of reasona beness. Senator Root said on
Tuesday that he could not grasp the reasons
for laying certain duty on window glass The
Finance Committee thereupon withdrew the
glass schedule temporarily and promised to
lorJ
largely guesswork in that instance 1t has
necessarily been the same in hundreds of other
instances. What is needed before a rational
tariff can be framed is the exact information
which a painstaking and an impartial tariff
commission would be able TO supply.