The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-12-28
DECEMBER 2S. 1910.
THAT LITTLE DUTY ON LEMONS


 
 THAT LITTLE DUTY ON LEMONS
 The cost of lemons in the average household is not one of the larger items of expense. but 1t Is an item and there are many other small items the aggregate of which may be very con- siderable. There was. previous to the \ enactment of the present tariff. duty of one cent a pound on lemons; the AIdrich bill increased 1t to 1h cents. "A small sum. viewed as single item. but the du,y adds about one cent each to the price of lemons at retail. The increase of the duty Is more remark able as to the method of its obtain ment than as to its effect upon retail prices.
 In the January McClure's, Samuel Hopkins Clark deals with the subject at length and exhaustively. The in crease in duty was asked for by Sem ator Flint of California, upon the plea that If not granted. "the lemon grow CTS of California will have to go out of business. It was the usual argu- ment of protected interests as the basis of demands for increased protec- ton.
 The facts ares That California sup plies only about one-half the demand; that Italian lemons can compete with the California product at New York only;. that the annual California lemon eupply has increased In ten years from 3o.0oo.oo0 pounds to 1ss 100000 pounds. which indicates that the industry Is exceedingly thrifty: that shipments from Italy are decreasing. causing with the insufficient supply from California . shortage which has advanced prices since 1907 from $4.25 to $s box for Italian lemons and to s9 for the Cali fornia product. which does not indi- cate that the California growers are suffering from foreign competition: that 1t costs as much to grow lemons ia Italy as in California. the lower cost of labor In the former being off set by the use of machinery in the lat ter; that while Senator Flint asserted that the profit from lemon-culture in California was but 4 per cent. the average profit. according to official figures is, about 30 per cent. and one large company last year scored over 50 per cent.-no indication in such fig ures that the lemon growers twill have to go out of business" unless permit ted. to, add one-half cent per pound to their prices. s,s-
 It appears. if reports are true. that the transcontinental railroads aided the obtainment of the increased duty and promised not to increase freight rates on lemons for year. but violated the promise and promptly increased the rates 15 cents per 100 pounds.
 But the importance of this matter is found. less In the increase of cost to the consumer or the rapacity of the railroads. than in the ease with which unnecessary increases in duties were pushed through Congress. and in the manner in which this particular in- crease was secured when the facts were against 1t.
 Senate Boss Aldrich needed the votes of the two California Senators to push his tariff-revision upward though. By granting the Californians' request, he secured their votes. Senator Flint voted with him Ill times and against him not at all. while Senator Perkins, voted with him 112 times. It was the familiar old logrolling process. and through it the California Senators "got what they wanted". and in return gave their votes for Aldrich's woolen and cotton schedules and. in fact. all he wanted which was very much.
 And ''the people pay the bill'. not merely. in an increased cost of lemons but also in similar increases in most commodities. the aggregate being found in the high cost of living. and 1t is all accomplished by the identical me- 1hod adopted in the lemon case-the logrolling process.
 Propositions are now pending in Congress. designed to bar out this pro- cess from action on future tariff bills. Neither of them may be adopted. for the protected interests are hostile to them and they are still power. despite the popular verdict in November. But should the project of tariff action by individual schedules or items be adopted. it will be possible to strike out not only the increased duty on lemons but also the many and more important others which are equally unneeded and were obtained by the same logrolling method