Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1909-05-21


cessive tariff rates is that they more or
less demoralixe everybody connected
with them. The premium on spoiia.
lion and deceit is too large for human
nature in its normal strength to resist.
The eondescenion to petty lareenies in
the Justification Of weights and meas
ures by the sugar trust isa conspica-
Gus example of this kind 1T dcpravity,
eegotten 81 the same greed that, on
the other hand, fathers moonshining
and smugglings
| But this is not the whole of the sin
OF tarifl rapacity. 1t leads also to per
jury, subognation Of perjury, and the
development into fine art OF misrep.
resentation aud deceit. This Ii net in-
tended 10 east any reflection, OF course,
upon the integrity Of the advocates Of
prohibitive tariffs. Many Of the very
best men who have ever adorned pub
lie life in this country ave honestly
believed in and advocated unscalable
tariff walls walls ss high as heaven
u need be- ITO keep the foreigner
out 1t is not our purpose to ques-
tion the sincerity Of champions, or
any ofthem; but the fact remains that
they have used and continue to uee
the ssphistries, commonly called iok-
ers, which The unscrupulous eenefl-
c'aries have invented TO mislead and
to deceive even the elect
One ancient verbal ignis fatnrs
which II was supposed could never
again ilIumine the mcphitic fcgs en-
vsloping this subject 10 the false pre-
tense that the foreigner pays tax be-
cause IT is relatively so small In com
paiison with the retail price as to be a
negligible quantity--that 1t Ia lost
so to speak, in the shuttle. For in
stance, the argument 10 serious adj
yanced in Congress that because tile
cost OF the material for making, say, a
j $40 suit is only about $5, the total duty
ON which does not exceed 81, therefore
the added cost attributable TO the tariff
is only 50, which the merchant We are
| gravey told, deducts from his profit
The proposition generally runs this
way: The cost.of materials, including
duty, is IS; add to this SO for making
and we have total shop cost of Us.
The selling price is SIG; the profit to
jobber and seller is thercfote IS, or 1870
per cent,
/ Now, as matter OF fact, the selling
price in NEST scheC ules, particularly
in machinery, mciallurgy, chemicals,
and art goods Of all kinds, exceeds 100
per cent over shop cost. Even great
manufacturing plants like the General
Electric Company could not pay diyi-
dends If restricted to that advance; for
upon shop cost has to be added adver-
using, say 20 per cent, and interest
and fixed charges Of, say 30 per
4 cent, and then 10 that must be su-
peradded manufacturing profit, say
a per cent, making $50 per cent Tor 80
per cent advance on every shop cost
unit and finally ON top of that must
come commissions and selling cost of
at least two-thifds Of the selling price,
which in The case cited will bring the
retail price up 10 200 per cent above
shop cost.
] Lei US nov apply This scale to the
case o! the suit OF clothes mentioned
and see how 1t works. This suit cost
I .fE
s., all told, and has to be sold ut SIG to
BRING even 100 per cent above shop
cost. But II the ~ duty had not been
added TO the shop cost, then the shop
cost would have been s6 instead OF "
and the selling price would have been,
| at two for enc, sI2 instead Of $40. SO
the poor consumer has to pay 81, III
though the tariff duty was emily 81.
Thus we,see that the initial tariff tax
is multiplied all aloug the line, so that
the ultimate consumer pays it at least
twice. That this IL very conservative
statement every manufacturer knows.
The trick in this argument, then, lies
in the suppression Of the fact that the
duty entering into the shop cost has
invariably TO be multiplied by from
100 to 800 per cent before it gets to the
consumer. Ii the duty is reasonable
one, the tax should he cheerfully borne
for the indirect benefits that are i'm
VOWED, but when it rs excessive then
the consumer is not only taxed, but
robbed, by multiplication Of the ex-
cess i'd by prohibitive Wash
ingtca Post Ind Republican.
This Is An EASY Test
Sprinkle Aliens F0oI.lsase N one shoe and not