The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-23
MINORITY LEADER CLARK
 SUBMITS HIS REPORT
It Is a Severe Arraignment of Pro-
 posed Revision.
The Report Declares That the Bill In~ creases the Cost of Living and is Crude, Sectional
 and Prohib.
 ftive.


 Payne tarif bill increases the cost of living; that it Is crude, indefinite, sec- tional and prohibitive, and that 1t is an open challenge to a trade war with every other nation on earth. are some of the criticisms of that measure made by the Democratic members of the Ways and Means Committee in the mi- nority report submitted to the House by minority leader Champ Clark. today.
 The report Is severe arraignment of the revision which the Payne bill proposes The countervailing duty provisions for coffee and petroleum, the maximum and minimum features; the Cuban reciprocity clause. the wool en. glass. agricultural and sugar sched. ules are bitterly attacked.
 There are many changes--for the most part minor changes" says the re- port, "of the Dingley rates, some up and some down. Most of the changes In downward direction are reduc- tions more apparent than real, the Payne rates being as prohibitive in their results in many cases. as the Dingley rates"
 Declaring that tariff is a tax paid by the consumer. and that the only function of a tariff law Is to raise rev. enue to supply the needs of the gov ernment. the minority members of the
 
 crease of taxes. or new issue of bonds, the correct remedy for the growing deficiency in the revenues, is the cutting down of the expenses of running the government.
 Continuing the criticism Of tho Payne bill. the report declares:
 The whole maximum and minimum tarin scheme as set forth In the Payne bill. enables foreign countries to force us to raise the rates of the Payne schedule 20 per cent which would, af- ter making ample allowance for all re- auctions in the Payne pin, increase our tariff rates on the average much above the rates of the Dlngley law. a pros pect which will bring sorrow and dfs- may 10 the great body of the people. We are most heartily in favor of such a maximum and minimum tariff as will enable our government to negotiate tariff arrangements by making conces- sions to other governments by reduc- Ing the rates of our statute when such other countries will make equally val uable concessions to us: the maximum rates should be the rates of our stat ntes, whatever they are and the mini mum a req sonable rate below our stat utory rates; but as it stands, the max mum and minimum tariff plan of the Payne bill Is an open challenge to a trade war with every other nation on earth. It is seeking trade with q club or meat axe. We are opposed to such an unwise and unneccssary perform ance
 Relations With Cuba.
 'In this connection. 1t may be we'll to weigh tn oroughly our relations with Cuba. Does any sane man suppose for one moment that the great commercial nations, our competitors for the worlds trade, will concede that Cuba Is one of our dependencies; it is thing in- credible. To ask that question Is to answer it.
 The bill is. in many respects, crude, indefinite, sectional and prohibitlve. It seems to us from our examination. which was necessarily nasty. that on the whole. 1t increases the cost of liv- ing. For example, 1t will Increase the price of hosiery about 30 per cent, and certainly nobody will claim that hos fiery is a luxury In thls day and gener- ation. In numerous instances the pro- lection exceeds the entire labor con- test of production"
 The report main tains that the tariff arrangements with the Philippines should be considered in a separate measure and not in the general tariff bill. The report contends that the bill does not lift any burdens from the shoulders of the Southern farmer. al- though the manufacturer Of cotton goods IS protected by heavy tax. it claims.
 The treatment of the farmer by this bill Is along the same lines as have chara eterized Republican methods in the past" says the report. He gets practically no relief, and the laborer and producer have greater burdens im- posed upon them. Every article of food the laborer must have to live zFasr-N II l. NF. salt on his table Is Aot exempt. This schedule Agricultural products) was evidently prepared by the same mind which has dominated this bill-a mind certainly not unfair to the great trusts.
 That the bill is sectional one, Is shown by the failure of the majority of the committee to lift any burden whatever from the shoulders of the Southern farmer The grower of cot ton must sell his produce in the open markets of the world. In order, how ever. to benefit the manufacturer of cotton. the Republican party makes him pay a heavy tax on every pound of 1t that is exported and comes back into the United States in the shape of manufactured goods. Thus he sells in free trade markets and buys in pro- tected market. Not only have these burdens not been lifted. but additional ones have been placed upon him. By a lately discovered process. a fabric known as 'mercerized fabrics" is now being made. This Is a very fine ar- ticIe of cotton goods looking very much like silk. and Is largely worn. In order to further enrich the man ufacturer and to further tax the masses of the people, tax has been laid on these goods.
 Cotton Hose.
 Cotton hose has fallen under thefT greedy gaze. and the tax on i-, ai- ready too high. has been greatly in- creased. Cotton goods are more gen. orally used that any other class Of goods by the masses of the American people. and every cent of duty paid on such fabrics Is an additional tax on the people least able to pay it.
 The Standard oil Company Is hand somely cared for in the Payne bill as in the Dingley bill.' the report con tinues, and by reason of the provision in Paragraph 6s7. popuiarly known as the joker continues to be protected