The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1910-02-10


and the Chicago Tribune that the
new tariff law increased rather than
decreased the cost on imported ar
ticies has been most effectively re-
futed from an official and purely non
partisan spurce. According to a
bulletin just issued sby the Depart
ment of the Interior more than half
the merchandise imported under the
Payne-Aldrich tariff law enters the
United States free OF duty, The per-
centage is 51h which is the highest
in the history of the country. The
new act went into effect August g.,
1909, but the Department shows only
full months in statements OF Inn
ports and exports. Taking the full
month of August, the share OF the
imports entering free Of duty was 46.-
SO per cent; in September, 1925 per
cent: in October 5061 per cent; In
November, 5411 per cent, and in
December $3.50 per cent, the aver
age for the entire FIVE months pc
riod bling 5l.5 per cent. This is a
larger per centage of imports free of
duty than under any prior law of this
character except the act of 1890
which, admitting sugar free of duty
showed an unusually high proportion
of non-dutiable imports. Prior to
that time the highest annual average
importation free of duty occurred in
1S41, when 4973 per cent of the
imports were free of duty. the fig
ures for 1910 being 1882 per cent.
The Bureau of Statistics in its
publications presents tables show
ing the percentage of merchandise
free Of duty in eacn fiscal year from
1921 to 1909. In the year 1921 the
share admitted free of duty was 1886
per cent; in 1922, SIG per cent; then
there was a slow hut steady advance
until in 1881 the share entering free
of duty was 6.65 per cent. Then
tire came a sharp advance by reason
of changes in tariff laws, and in 1888
The share free of duty was 24.21. One
year later, through another change
in tariff, the share admitted free of
duty rose to 1857 per cent and con-
tinued at about that ratio until 1872,
when II dropped TO 1888 per cent.
Following further changes in the tar
iff laws, the proportion OF the i'm
ports entering free of duty in 1867
being but $50 per cent, in 1868 4.40
per cent in 1859 $50 per cent and
in 1870 4.74 per cent. In 1873, fol-
lowing a change in tariff in which
the free list was enlarged, the pro-
portion entering free of duty was
1851 per cent, ranging slowly up
ward to 33.11 per cent in 1880 and
34.05 per cent in 1889 Under the
operation of the law which went into
effect October 1, 1890, under which
sugar was admitted free of duty,
the share of the imports recorded as
free o duty was, in the fiscal year
1892 55.79 per cent; in 1898, 51.93
per cent, and in 1894, 59.11 per cent.
In 1896 the proportion entering free
OF duty was 4S.56 per cent in 1897
1899 per cent, in 1898 1866 per cent,
falling in 1899 to 1872 per cent and
ranging from AZ per cent to Alb per
cent from that time until the end of
the fiscal year 1908, and increasing
as already noted, under the tariff
act of August 5, 1909, to 1852 per
cent in August 1925 per cent in Sep
TENDER, 5O61 per cent in October,
54.11 per cent in November and 3d.
90 per cent in December 1909.
The total value of all merchandise
entering free OF duty, which never
reached as much as 100 million dol
lars prior to 1873, passed the 200
million line in 1880, the 3O0-million
line in 1891, the 4U0-million line in
1892, the 500!million line in 1905, the
60O-million line in 1907 and in the
calendar year just ended was prac-
tically 700 million dollars, the ex-
act figures being S699. 799,77l. The
principal articles forming this large
total of non-dutiable imports in the
calendar year 1909 were hides and
skins 1O4 million dollars; india rub
Der, 70 million; pig tin, 271a million;
raw silk, "A million; fibers 20 2-3
million; cotton Is million; copper,
40 million; coffee, S61s million; tea
16h million, cocoa IL l-3 million;
chemicals, 52Ia million; art work,
13h million, and undressed furs,
12M million.