Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-21
PUBLIC WOULD GRASP IT
No Chance to Bewilder Them With
Complicated Bill.
SCIENTIFIC PLAN TOO SLOW
Would Require Years, He Points
Out, to Accomplish Revision by
an Exact Method.


shortly. Its author, Texas representa-
tive in the House, who declines to per-
init the announcement of his name at this
time, is on the ground, having arrived in
Washington early to begin his campaign.
The plan is the first in the field and at
least has the merit of simplicity.
The proposition is to make a blanket
reduction of 10 or 20 per cent in the rates
of the schedules of the present Payne
Aldrich law. The author is undecided
whether to propose that the general re-
duction shall apply to any and every
schedule of the existing law or to pick
out forty or fifty of the most important
schedules and apply the reduction. The
schedules he would select, if the revision
is not to be sweeping, would be those per-
ta1ning to clothing and food for the
masses, such as woOlen and cotton goods
beer, lamb, etc. Steel and building ma
terlal would also come in for a touch.
Avoid All Complications.
The idea of the author is that the peo-
pie would understand this to be genu-
inc reduction and would laud and uphold
the democrats, whereas il the reduction
is to be complicated and bewildering
months to give clear idea whether
there has been a downward revision.
The people, he said, ''can grasp the
meaning of general reduction of 20
per cent. There would be no Oppor-
tunity to fool them as to the real effects
of the new law. 1t would be too clear
for anybody to make mistake. 1t would
directly affect their pocketbooks.
This Texan does not favor an extra
session Of Congress, either. He asserts
a hn hon Is-
be that at the next regular session of
Congress. in which the House will be
controlled by the democrats. his plan
would take up comparatively little time.
The whole thing could be out of the way
in few weeks, after debate had been
allowed.
Thinks Bill Csuld Pass.
The author believes his bill can be put.
through Congress- too. He says that the
insurgent republicans who have done the
greatest amount of knocking against the
present tariff law. would be compelled to
accept this scheme as a. perfectly clear
one and as genuine revision. IL they do
not do so, he says. the people will ask
them at the next election why they
preached downward revision and then
voted against it when they had a chance.
would be put in bad hole and would
have to accept the democratic scheme.
The representative is not in favor of
the tariff commission. He says it can
not get any more Information in the next
year or SO than the ways and means
committee Of the House now has on hand
When his attention is called to the fact
that his plan would be open to the criti-
cism of haste and unfairness to some Of
the industries of the country, he declares
that there is not single industry that
is not highly overprotected at this time.
and that none of them would suffer by
20 per cent reduction in existing rates.
Long hearings before Congress are fruit
less, he asserts.
Only Selfishness Represented.
They are attended only by wealthy
men with money to spend and seeking
their own safety and protection. The
people without axes to grind are never
on hand. He claims that the present
tariff law is pretty good one, any
how, and that the only way it can be
improved is to chop off exorbitant du-
ties. If the democrats attempt
schedule by schedule revision along
historic lines they will soon be mixed
In a squabble, they will be misunder-
stood by the people and in the next
presidential election they will be swat
ted as hard as the republicans were a
few weeks back.
TO argue with the author that the
next revision should be along scientific
lines is to bring from him the declara+
tion that if the reduction should be
scientifically based throughout the
present law could not be- touched in
side of five or six years, as It would
take that long to get the necessary in
formation.