New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-12-04

Will Not Be Influenced by
Political Pressure or Popu-
lar CIanor.
EMERY DEFINES ITS WORK
Pleads for q Permanent Non
partisan Body, Which shah
Make Impartial Inquiries
No Tariff 2. Cure All.

chicago Dec. S.-Nhat the 4dfllI DOo
&C. 5oi7g and intends 70 do, what II hopes
81 accomplish and what II believes 1i'Pos
sshle OF attainment were explained 70 'li@
business men Of Chicago tonight ny he.iI
: Ene-v. chairman Of the board ny
re- and his associates. Alvin H. Sand
xrs and lanes Z. REYNOLDS, we're the spe-
=, -,,e.-r Of the Association of Com
--e-ce Of Chicago at a dinner az the con-
--ess Hotel. which was attended by about
Eve hundred Of tbs leading business men
,,f -,,is cf-v. Homer A. StiIlwell- president
IF the association. acted as toastnaster
The r-incipal address was made by Nj
Emery. this being the first official public
7---ersnce OF the board on the scope ana
purpose Of its work
Mr.. Enerv's address was both an ex-
rlangtion and defence of the work OF fhe
Tariff Board. He declared that the taIllL
question is one OF business and not or
mathematics. and said that 4 mere sta1Ls-
teal knowledge Of comparative COSTS o.
production IS not al sll-sufhclent pass Ior
2 tariff judgment. He asked for the ear
r.sr co-ouerarion Of the business men OF
re cos,n-r-. and said that experience Sc
ss- encourages the belief that adequate
end accurate Information can be OBTAINED
by cooperative methods
Nj E-1le-T ClSCLSSSO G-----t
hopes and false fears regarding the powers
~ -he hoard fer good or evil, and appealed
for z sane sense Of proportion with re-
spect 20 the work Of the board He said
that 2 proper understanding Of the details
o< -re tariff IS not so much z question OF
-elsttz-e trteIIigence as 2 question Of rela-
i've study and experience He did not dis
czass specific schedules and did not attempt
II lay down q rule governing tariff revl-
sion He made il clear that the board has
10 political axes TO grind no frlends 10
reward or enemies TO punish and that its
cole p1-pose Is 70 find the facts. and he
declared that II does not intend TO suosti-
-Ute for any such facts half formed guesses
O. opinions. under orders or pressure from
anv man or anv interest. nor in response
II mere unthtnking claror-
Lines of Investigation.
The questions which had arisen regard
srr the work Of the hoard he stated as fol-
lows:
: Is ali this irfornna ton necessary?
? What will II amount TO?
3. can you get il?
What can you do with i?
The rrincipsl work Of Investigating the
Industrial effects Of the tariff had been d.
TlZSG mo LlIEo li--lLA pal - ~ SS~---'
curing three sets Of investigators Of dill
feren1 types. The first part is the collec-
non Of facts, regarding each dutiable arti-
Gle. showing the character and Iocalization
~ SIS production ct home and abroad, sta
-is-ics Of output. imports and exports. rates
Of duty reduced 70 ad vaIoTem terms. and
The like. The second part is the collection
Of data regarding cost Of production at the
mill The third consists Of obtaining IN
formation from The best experts available
regarding home and foreign prices local
variations IN each industry, and the gen
eraI conditions Of competition at home and
abroad
The first part Of the work, he said, can
b pushed rapidly. but the second part
ard 70 some extent The third. must ne
concentrated for the time being on fe"
main lines % inquiry and carried on with
caution. He mentioned the different
z-oups Of investigators in each field and
referred 70 the fact that experts On cost
accounts would IN g few weeks have the
s-r-sI conversion cost a. rhe mill Of every
leading pulp and PAPER plant IN the co'1n-
trv. taken directly from the books, and
would Than Re ready 70 take up the next
Echeduls
Concentrating Work on schedules
-Tou can appreciate the necessity We
e-e under Ct concentrating or chief ef-
forts 81 first Cd z few main lines" said
~. Euerv. Naturally. every one who has
gone personal grievance thinks his par
-icular schedule is me one that needs in
mediate revision while re have had Z
vast amount Of earnest and public spirit
- by utterly conflicting advice as 70
what We ought 70 take I'D first and exact
! wher We ought 70 have the work COM
rleted Whether wisely or un"-isely. We
decided - concentrate for the moment on
Schedule II pulp and pePerl. Schedule
: f1ool and rooilens) sand Schedule @
{ farm PRODUCTS Preliminary work IS be
ing done on Schedule = chemicals
& f5Chedule c fmerals and manufactures Of
+ and Schedule (corronsf. And the more
detailed work on rhese VIII be begun as
soon Is possible. Furthermore. W. are OBJ
tanning many special reports from tech
real experts. both At home and abroad,
covering q vide range Of articles in other
schedules. which VIII later f-Tm the basis
for more detailed fnvestigs ticns.
- ne moment. BESIDES the members
e the beard, tts stat:sticisn and the
strictly administrative force. Va have four
chiefs OF Investigation, eighr trained IN
Vestigators employed On The first part Of
The work snd about Al equal number Of
clerks % assist them, about g dozen con-
suitinE or technical experts Gevot1ng e
part q their tine 10 the third part OF the
work or 20 reports on special topics. and
twelve men IN the field getting actual cost
figures from the hooks Of individual pro-
d1oers
There has been much misunderstanding
about hearings before the board. and many
manufacturers have wondered how We car
b nVesugating their schedules without
consulting them The answer IS that we
consider il waste Of time for al parties
concerned 70 have them appear before Us
= 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 testi-
rnonv OF ali interested parties We shall
isy our results openly on the table for
s1y one 70 crir1cise. amend or disprove.
Mr.. Emery strongly urged the necessity
for maintaining Z sane sense Of proportion
regarding the influence, whether for good
q evil. % tariffs and tariff Investigations
Tariff no Philosophers Stone.
lust as there are some who give prac-
tically all the credit for prosperity 10 inc
ts-iff. and others who think the tariff the
Cause Of most mizto-tunes. he said, there
&c those who think al impartial investi-
at-1