Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-04
President Says Schedules Should Be
Taken Up One at a Time.
MESSAGE READ AT BANQUET
Chairman Emery Makes an Earnest
Plea for Permanent, Non
Partisan Commission.

eiidl ne spoke 1Of ana WITH the ap-
| proval of President Taft. He made a
clear, strong plea for a permanent
tariff board or commission, free from
partisan influences, to meet the grow
| ing opinion that a new agency should
| be provided by the government under
| which impartial inquiry might be car
ried out.
During the progress of the banquet
President Stllwell of the Association of
Commerce read the following telegram
| from President Taft:
The key to the tariff situation lies
believe. in taking up the tariff legislation
one schedule at time, after disinter-
ested inquiry. Certainly, we should do
everything we can legitimately to pre-
vent the disastrous upheavals and dis
turbances of business which generally
have accompanied or followed wholesale
tariff revision of the past.
AT the same time we are bound to pro-
mote the prompt elimination of instances
of injustice in the tariff law.
Asks Associations Help.
Revision of one schedule at time,
after careful, clear-headed and non-par-
tisan inquiry, is the middle and just
course. l appeal to the Association of
Commerce and the business men of this
country to stand behind the earnest eff
fort which the present tariff board Is
making to meet its great responsibility
and do thorough work. The people, the
business men, farmers and wage earners,
without regard to party, desire an impair
tial but common sense study and finding
of the facts, and action on them.
(Signed) WILLIAM H. TAFT"
The main work of investigating the
industrial effects of our tariff had been
divided into three main parts, Mr.. Emery
said. requiring three sets of investigators
of different types. The first part is the
collection of facts regarding each duti-
able article, showing the character and
localization OF it's production at home
and abroad. statistics of output, Inn
ports and exports. rates Of duty re-
duced to ad valerem terms, aud the like.
So Cost OF Mil Production.
The second part of the work is the
collection Of data regarding costs Of pro-
duction at the MILL The third consists
of obtaining information from the best
experts available regarding home and
foreign prices, local variations in each
industry and the general conditions of
competition at home and abroad.
The first part of the work, he said, can
be pushed rapidly, but the second part,
and, to some extent. the third, must be
concentrated for the time being on a few
main lines of inquiry, and carried out
with caution.
The speaker mentioned the different
STOupS VI lHVcStlSdtOFS IN c8Cn uetO ana
referred to the fact that experts on cost
accounts would in a few weeks have the
actual conversion costs at the mill OF
every leading pulp and paper plant I'm
the country. taken directly from the
books, and would then be ready to take
up at once the next schedule,
You can appreciate the necessity we
are under of concentrating our chief ef-
forts at first on few main lines," said
Mr.. Emery. Naturally every one who
hno
particular schedule is the one that needs
immediate revision. while we have had
vast amount Of earnest and public spir-
tied but utterly conflicting advice as to
what We ought to take up first and ex-
actly when we ought to have the work
completed.
Hearings When Necessary.
There has been." said Mr.. Emery,
much misunderstanding about hearings
before the board. and many manufac-
turers have wondered how we can be in
vestigating their schedules without con-
sulting them. The answer Is that we
consider IT waste of time for all parties
concerned to have them appear before us
in formal hearings till we have first made
thorough study Of the industry and
know. just what We are after. When
this has been done we shall invite the
testimony OF all interested parties. We
shall lay our results openly on the table
Tor any one to criticise, amend or dis
prove"
The speaker urged strongly the neces-
sity for maintaining a sane sense of pro-
portion regarding the influence, whether
for good or evil, of tariffs and Of tariff
investigations.
Mr.. Emery showed the difference be-
tween European and American methods
OF tarih making, and pointed out that
the reason why such elaborate investiga-
tiOnS had not been necessary abroad was
because in those countries there were
bodies OF government officials Of a per-
manent non-partisan character who have
devoted themselves solely to the study
OF those questions for quarter Of a.
century.
The tariff question is one of business
and not of mathematics, said Mr.. EN-
cry: the problem Of how far an indus
try needs protection to keep 1t in sound
existence or what the effect Of its decay
would be cannot be settled by any alge-
braic formula
Accurate Figures Difficult.
Mr.. Emery spoke Of the great difficul-
ties involved. especially in getting ac-
curate cost figures. in view Of the fact
that in many lines the manufacturer
has not himself been able to figure out
his own costs accurately. and also in
view OF the fact that figures Of relative
COSt "CtC HoI III themselves an a0e-
quate basis for tariff judgments. He
frankly admitted that in the case OF
some articles 1t would be either i'm
possible or unnecessary to attempt such
calculations.
Discussing the existing powers of the
tariff board to secure information, Mr..
Emery stated it to be the .opinion of
the board that for an investigation of
this character coercive powers to call
for books and examine witnesses under
oath were by no means essential
Testimony given under coercion. .
he said. rs too likely to become un.
willing and half-hearted. In most
cases more complete and illuminating
information can be secured by different
methods. The oficials OF European
governments who have accomplished
most in these lines have no such pow
ers. and do not ask for them. Up to
date, however. the board has no reason
to doubt that they can secure the
necessary information by present meth
DDS. After all. IL the principle is once
firmly established that protection. how
ever necessary. IL q favor. and that
| the burden Of proof is on the manu-
facturer to show cause why II is grant
ed, the question OF powers becomes
relatively unimportant"