Gainesville daily sun. (Gainesville, Fla.) 190?-1938, 1909-03-25
FAKE REVISION or TARIFF.

submitted to Congress. hut a. contain
ing joker vhich-it permitted to
remain iu the blll-vill have the cf.
feet OF revising the tariff zap instead
of down. This is the view of many
Republicans as we'll as Democrats.
Senator Cummins of Iowa Is vigorous
i'm his dcnunCiation Of certain fDa.
lures of the bill
The Payne bill has become the
great national conundrum. Not even
Payne himself knows the answer. at
least he hasn't told the newspaper
men how 20 solve the problem of find.
ing out just what his bill really means.
No one knows under what rate OF
duty. the maximum or the minimum.
any article will be- admitted 10 the
country from any other nation No
one can find out under what rate the
committee itself intends that goods
shall be- admitted.
Senator Cummins. who is perhaps
as close a tariff student as there is in
the Senate, says the maximum and
minimum clause would defeat the OBJ
ject of a division downward, because
where other nations discriminate
against this country the United States
would put on the maximum tariff
against them.
The Philadelphia North American
has had experts examining the bill
This newspaper is one of the foremost
Republican organs OF the country
The more the measure is studied
says The North American. the strong.
er grows the belief that the commit
tee framed IL merely as a pretense of
tariff revision, and then deliberately
imposed such conditions upon other
nations that the maximum rates shall
be operative"
Some of the paradoxical features OF
the bill are now declared to be the |
result Of error. The work presents so |
many doubtful features. however. that |
the work Of revising the Payne bill |
will be thorough, OF as thorough as
Uncle Joe" will permit from the
Democratic side.
Il is declared positively that the
had no intention OF impOs-
ing the maximum rates upon products /
from a country that makes tariff con-
cessiOns to it's own colonies. Mem
bers OF the committee said the bill
did not seek TO affect commercial re-
lations between a country and its de-
Il was not until the language was
brought TO their attention that they
would admit that such a construction
could be placed upon Il. Then they
agreed that possibly a change would
be necessary &c make the bill clear"
The bill is ingeniOusly wOrded in
many places. 1: Is being pointed out
that IL Is most remarkable that any.
one not e lifelong student OF tariff
technique would have adopted such
marvelously complicated phraseology |
TO be enacted into law. The bill is so
arranged that before the country can
derive the benefit OF the revision
other nations will have TO revise their
tariff laws and all their trade agree
ments.
To explain the situation briefly, re-
vision Of the American tarih is made
dependent upon the enactment OF
legislation by other nations.
There Is not to be- found in the
WAYS and Means Committee, or any
where else I'm Washington. definite In
formation as 10 the effect Of the pro
posed law. The committee has no list
OF the nations from which impOrta-
tions can be- made al minimum rates,
nor can they tell against what nations
the maximum rates will be- enforced |
England. Austria and Italy. IL Is be-
ing guessed. may come within the /
minimum rates. while against France |
and Germany the maximum rates will |
probably be- applied Canada Is ne
gotlatng a preferential tarif treaty |
with France. and II IL goes through all
Canadian products. including those /