The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1910-11-10
THE NEW TARIFF BOARD


The recent meeting IT, Sew YORK u
tie Sagsoral Tarsn Com mission As@o~
cation has ag28u focused Aftertsoa
upon tie campo - ~hiea is being
conducted % Insure the creation - .
permanent independent commission
or board of experts qualified Is secure
Information upon aalca c@n Be based
an equitable tariff.
The ~ork Of this association. in
aGgurated n 1905. has been persis-
tent and thorough. says 3 correspond
ent Of the Charlotte Observer. aud the
results are now becoming manifest
The commission idea itself Is not new.
but since the enactment of the Ding
ley bill. the objection TO the old form
OF tariIf-making has so increased in
strength, and is so widespread. that
even Congress will be compelled To
recognize the popular demand for
change in our method OF framing the
tariff.
The active movement In behalf of
a permanent tariff commission be-
gan several years ago, when the Ma
tional Association Of Manufacturers
appointed a tariff commission COM
mittee, which finally called the In
dianapolis convention OF 1909. OF the
men most active in the work done,
James w. VanCleave, Is dead. but
there still remain Henry r. Towne of
the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Co.,
who is president OF the New York
Merchants Association; John Kirby,
Jr., now president OF the National
Association of Manufacturers; II. Z.
Miles, a prominent Western manu-
facturer; John G. Cobb, vice presi-
dent of the Boston chamber. of COM
.merce; D. 4. Tompkins, well-known
y Southern manufacturer; David NJ.
Parry, former president of the Ma
tiOnal Association of Manufacturers;
Charles NJ. Jarvis, of the American
: Hardware Corporation; Alba B. John
son, of the Baldwin Locomotive
Works, and several others.
Many Of these gentlemen are prom
inent manufacturers, and distinctly
representative of the business inter
ests of the country. This fact in itself
I is significant, as it is the popular i'm
preston that manufacturers, as the
beneficiaries of a highly protective
, tariff, are opposed to this movement
S Need of Permanent Body.
The Indianapolis convention called
. the attention of the entire country tt
- of
mission, and resulted in the forma
[ ton Of a committee of one hundred
: to conduct an aggressive campaign
q This committee finally became tht
j. National Tariff Commission Associa
ton with John Chandler Cobb of Bos
J., ton as president; Henry R. Towne
i treasurer; H. E. Miles chairman o
s the executive committee, and Henri.
q T. Willis, we'll known in foreign trad.
= matters, as secretary. So strenuou!
= and we'll directed has been the worl
t of the association in behalf of tariff
g commission that practically every
a important State convention held thi:
o year has endorsed the movement.
[ The Tariff Commission Associa
a tons educational campaign, and it!
efforts in Washington, led up to tht
i appointment of the present tariff
= board. The board is recognized as az
e important step in the effort to secure
s a real commission and will doubt
= less be made a permanent organ
v ization. While possibly unsatisfactory.
y to some advocates of tariff reform
l.. the board certainly is an earnest O
g the present administration honesty
t Of purpose.
0 That the tariff board has already
y proved the wisdom of it's appoint
ment in several ways is unquestian
: able. It has demonstrated that there
9 is difficulty in securing foreign anG
Q domestic costs of production, but i
has also convinced the country thai
tariff-making can be put on a scien
tific and practical basis by means Of
thorough, impartial and technical in
vestigations conducted by a compel
ent and permanent board of experts
reporting to Congress and the Presi
dent.
a The principal, and by far the mos
;. important, lesson it has taught, how
/ ever, is that a tariff board consisting
{ alone of advisors to the President
: with temporary status and no judi
Q cial powers, is inadequate and unsat
) isfactory. This fact is now thorough.
. ~ recognized, and Is one of the rea-
: sons why the National Tariff Commits
J sion Association Is making every eff
r fort to have the present board given
additional powers, or, still better, to
induce Congress during the session
: beginning December s, to transform
! it into a genuine permanent tariff
, commission with a status equal to
that Of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission.
It's Complex Problems.
A new and important development
/ in the tariff commission nrch1auo ono