Evening star., 1909-02-17
He Pleads for Non-Partisan
Permanent Commission.
SPEAKER AT CONVENTION
Hopes It Is Last Time Congress
Will Revise Schedules.
HE CITES ERRORS OF SYSTEM
Hearings Rushed Through and
Changes Made Without Proper
Consideration Of Situation.

CONVENTION HALL. INDIANAPO-
LIS. February 11.-Senator A. J. Bev
eridge. who has taken the Legislative lead
in the effort to procure A permanent
bipartisan tariff commission. was the
principal speaker today at the tariff
conference.
His presence as chief orator caused the
galleries to fill up for the first time.
Mr.. Beveridge's Speech.
Mr. Beveridge said:
within less than four months a new
tariff will have been made. hope and
believe 1t will be the best tariff that Con-
gress ever has constructed.
cit will be historic in this: that it will
be the last American tariff created with
out the aid of a tariff commissioner COM
mission to get facts and make classifica-
tions for Congress; and not to fix duties.
which is the exclusive business of Con-
gress.
Immediate revision must not be de-
layed until a tariff commission is created
and has made necessary Investigations
and arranged scientific classfications-
that would require at least two years
and ought to take longer period. So.
for the last time, we must have a tariff
builded in the old way.
But that this shall be the last tariff
thus bullded, we soon must provide COM
mission of tariff experts. The present
emergency never must be faced again.
Tariff Building on Business Basis.
Heretofore both parties have bulded
our tariffs without sufficient knowledge
OF the facts, without scientific classical
ton of schedules. Both parties. whether
framing a so-called revenue tariff or q
protective tariff, have handled this intri-
cate subject in way which would have
crippled any business man or corpora
ton handling their enterprises in the
same fashion.
Both parties have made the tariff ex-
clusively political: have waged CAM
paigns as to whether our tariff policy
should be on the protective or revenue
basis; work preparatory to revision has
been delayed until the people have Or
dered immediate revision; and so. finally.
new tariff has been rushed through
without time or ability to get the facts,
w....out either the technical knowledge or
scientific skill to make classiications.
Except upon the tariff, Congress has
seen the wisdom of a commission of ex-
perts to examine all sorts OF subjects and
report to Congress Yet the tariff is more
difficult. intricate and farreaching than all
other present economic problems COM
bined. excepting only the problem of cur
rency and banking.
Tariff Commission Of 1882.
'The tariff commission of 1882 devised
and recommended the most important fea-
lures Of our present tariff administration
It originated the appraisers court; and
recommended most of the administrative
tariff laws of the Treasury Department
Which have since been adopted. Congress
provided for the administrative machinery
designed by this tariff commission.
But the tariff commission we ask for
now does not go so far as the tariff COM
mission of 1882 went. We are now asking
only commission Of experts to find out
facts and make cassfications. Congress
Is to fix duties from these facts and ad-
just them to these classifications.
"A permanent tariff commission is inevi-
table. because committees of Congress can
not do the work. These committees attempt
to find out the facts by holding hearings.
At these hearings crowds of men repre-
senting vaious industries desrous of spe-
cial rates of duty jam the committee
rooms.
Each one Of them is carefully prepared
upon his own particular business - of
necessity he is far better prepared than
the whole committee put together. Few
witnesses appear before the committee
representing the great body of consumers.
"These hearings are rushed through
WIN all possible speed. because the cOun-
try's business necessarily waits until the
new tariff law is passed. After these
! brief hearings the committee is supposed
to digest such facts as the bulky volumes
of such testimony disclose.
Digestion of Testimony.
mo equity court would dare enter a
decree in single cause where the testi-
mony took up even half the space of a
single volume of these committee hear
ings without first referring such testl-
mony to a master in chancery to have it
digested and reported.
Having attempted to sift those volumi-
nous masses of scattered testimony thus
hastily taken, the committee next goes to
the even harder work of fixing new rates
of duty Before finally fixing them they
are supposed to become thoroughly ac-
quainted with all the other elements. for
eign and domestic. already mentioned
which should determine those duties. The
result of all this is a new tariff.
But we who are demanding an Ameri-
can tariff commission are asking only a
commission which shall find out and di-
geSt the facts and make scientific classiti-
cations and report both to Congress, SO
that Congress may have all this prepara-
tory work done when Congress goes to it's
legitimate work of fixing tariff duties and
determining tariff policies"