The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-04-23
SENATOR LA TOILETTE IL
TRY TO DEFEAT THE
PAYNE BILL.
Would Substitute Therefor q
Commission of Nine Experts
Who Should Recommend Nee
essary Changes, Which President
Should Proclaim.

of the Payne-Aldrich tariff plll-De-
canse Il r~evises the tariff upward IN
stead of downward, is what senator
LaFollette of Wisconsin will Try TO
bring about '"The entire imposslbllltv
of having any rational adjustment OF
the tariff by the methods winch ~
now being employed is being clearly
demonstrated, "said Senator LaFoliette.
Business is held up while this tar
if bill is talked about, and the leaders
urge that no one interpose anything
which NAV appear like a dilatory &C
ton lest business be unnecessarily
halted. Yet there is not time 1or any
member of either branch OF
to find out exactly what this tariff bill
contains. Much less is there time to
find out the principles in accordance
with which the tariff rates are or
ought to be adjusted.
"The whole scheme is wrong. And
there is every indication that congress
is not acting in good faith. 1t would
be easy, for example, to obviate this
unsettlement of business by providing
that the new tariff law should not take
effect for twelve months after its pas
sage. This would give the business
of the country ample time to adjust
itself to the new conditions.
"But the authors of the bill are
using every effort to cram the measure
down the peoples throats, and the less
they know about it the better it would
seem the authors of the bill would be
pleased
AS a substitute for the Aldrich-
Payne bill, Senator LaFollette will
offer a bill to create a commission OF
nine tariff experts to be appointed by
the president, subject to the approval
of the senate.
No senators or representatives would
be eligible to appointment. not more
than five could be members of the
same political party. One would be
required to have a practical knowl-
edge of the manufacturing business;
one of agriculture; one Of import bus
mess; n would be a representative
of labor; n a special tariff lawyer;
one a student of domestic and foreign
tariffs and commercial reciprocity one
an expert on the cost of production
and accounting; one a trained Stats
tician; one an eminent economist,
who has made a special study of wages
and co It of living. Commissioners
would draw salaries at the rate of $1O,-
900 a year. +
Tariff Commission
This tariff commission provided
for by the LaFollette bill would be
charged with the duty Of revising tar
if schedules in accordance with the
principles set out in the Republican
national platforms principle like
wise Endorsed by the Democratic or
ganiaztion. The difference between
the cost of production at home and
abroad is the difference which ought
to determine the tariff according to the
party declarations. This difference is
merely a matter of fact which can be
determined by inquiry.
Empowered to Report
When the commission has determined
the difference in cost of production at
home and abroad and thus had deter
mined what would be the proper
tariff on any particular manufactured
product the commission would be en-
powered to report to the president,
who would have power to Immediately
put this tariff into effect by proclama-
ton.
The LaFollette commission would
be required to begin their inquiry with
the primary industries producing iron
ore, coal, lumber and other raw mate
rial from the natural resources of the
country, and to proceed in consecutive
order as nearly as practicable from the
industries producing raw material to
the industries producing finished pro-