The sun., 1910-05-27

WAsHrS0roN. May 7s.-Ths HOUSE yss.
terday voted 10 appropriate tssO.OOO to
enable the President 10 secure lnformatiOu
70 assist him In the discharge Of the duties
imposed upon him by the tariff board. In
oluding such investigations of the cost Of
production of commodities a. are author
iRed by aAid law and for the employment
Of such persons a. may be necessary foT
these purposes'
Admitting that a competent board intel
ligently directed could obtain much infor-
nation of value In the adjustment Of rates,
much Of what could be learned In the
proves would be utterly worthless Whsn
the time came 10 make uss Of Il. Ths
advocates Of the scheme desire that there
be obtained an Oificial report and a record
Of the producing cost Of thousands Of
commodities. both In this country and in
all other countries In which they are pro-
duced and from which they are exported
20 tho United States. In the case Of some
Of the most important articles on the list
this is out Of the question. Take wool a.
an illustration. What d the cost Of pro-
ducing WOoll Il Il the same on the Mon
tana ranch and on the Ohio farmP Il the
cost Of corresponding grades the same in
Indiana. in Colorado and In California;
ls there correspondents Of cost in New
Mexico and WyomingG Take wheat.
cattle, rice, sugar. tobacco, and scores of
other articles Of daily use and consump-
ton. Local conditions Of production. and
consequently the unit cost Of produc-
ton, change from year 10 year. There IL
no price fixity whatever on a long list Of
commodities, and yet IL Ia proposed TO
spend a large sum Of money 20 ascertain
costs of production a. a basis Of com
parison and Of regulation Of tariff rates.
The variation Of costs In different
localities and from year 20 year 10 doubt
less greater in such commodities AZ those
referred 20 above than IL 10 in manu.
factured articles and in some raw
materials employed in manufacturing
processes. Yet even In these lines grave
dificultics almost Il not quite lnsur-
mountable are encountered We have
the statement of the Bureau Of CoFDO-
ratiOns that the ascsrtainment Of the
cost of producing steel rails In this oo,In-
try required the work Of a consider
able force of men for over a year In the
examination of thousands Of accounts
under the direction of an expert steel
man. We have the result Of that investI-
cation showing the cost in different mills
as ranging from SieSs a ton 20 saI "a.
On what basis ~ cost 10 be hRuredf
Shall it DO the average of all for a period
Of years2 tariff on that basis would
protect some who do not need protection
and would drive others out Og business.
u this difBoilty is encountered here at
home. how shall We ascertain tho cost
OF steel rails. structural steel, bars,
sheets, rods, nails. wire and other arli-
cles In England. Germany, Belgium or
France, where We have no authority TO
demand an inspection Of books, and
where factory costs vary even a. they
do here? There are Of course many ar.
ticles whose cost Of production can be
learned accurately In some cases and
approximately in other cases. hut large
Of them Is either relatively
or actually unimportant
In spite Of all this. such board. even al
an annual cost Of $3.50. .OOO. might be made
4 very profitable investment for the coun-
Try There can he no question Of the need
of better general information regarding
The influence Of the tariff on prices. A
iaTin board might do much that would
De worth doing, but its primary purpose
should not be the achievement of the |
impossible.