The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-12-22
How the Tanff Makers Attempted to
Simplify the Cotton SCHEDULED

In the December American Magazine
Miss Ida NJ Tarbell sheds more light
on the methods Of the makers of the
ing in reading what Miss Tarbell de-
seribes, TO remember that these tariff
reformers were supposed to be pledged
to a general downward revision. Some
OF their devious methods, Juggling aud
articles are amazing. As character
istic instance Of the ways and dealings
Of the solons who fathered the bill
Miss Tarbell cites the following;
Under the Dingley bill cotton cloth
was subject to four distinct classified.
tions in fixing duties. These were based
upon the number Of threads TO a square
inch, the weight, color, and value. Duties
were graded also according to the vary
ing fneness, weight and value, so that
there were scores of combinations in
duties possible If, after all this, the
cloth had a figure worked in it, as SO
many Of the finer goods do, there was
an extra duty per square yard for that
1T would seem difficult TO add any
thing to this complication, but Mr..
Payne's bill did it, 1t began by up.
setting an established definition in the
cotton trRdea definition accepted the
world over as to what the word thread
means in appraising cloth. A thread
has been thread, regardless Of how
many fiaments or ply were twisted to-
gether to make IT, This was no longer
to be so. The poor appraiser could
no longer apply his magnifying glass
to a square inch Of cotton cloth and
count the threads; he must untwist a
thread and compute the number Of ply
OF course this Immediately threw the
fabric into a higher classification than
under the old law and increased the duty
on IT, A cloth which counted fftv
threads, carried under the old law a
duty Of say one cent per square yard
but il these threads were three ply
and each ply must be counted by the
new paragraph-then IL was at once
boosted into the one hundred and fifty
thread class, where the duty is one and
one-half cents per square yard! But
this did not end the counting business
There is a great variety Of cotton cloths
which have figures worked on to the
body. The swisses and curtain madras
dAt NnHiuti FAhihf ite ni these. 1 uete
figures, of course, increase the value Of
the goods and the Dingley bill provided
for them by giving them an extra one or
two cents per square yard, according as
they cost seven or over seven cents a
square yard. But Mr.. Payne's bill went
this duty one better by arranging that
when the threads Of cloth We're count
ed not the threads in the body alone
should be considered. but also the threads
in the figures worked on the body.
Here again the number Of threads in a
square inch would be SO increased as
to throw the fabric into o higher class
and so raise the duty. Another increase
came in the matter Of color Hereto
fore the body Of the cloth had been all
that ms considered in estimating color.
but the new law proposed that cloth
into which eolored figures or threads
had been introduced should be called
colored. A single eolored thread intro
duced into a white piece was enough to
throw il into the colored class. One
entirely new duty was added and that
was a cent a yard for cloth which had
been mercerizad-and a single mercerized
thread Was enough to put a piece into
this class"