Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1910-06-02
Do Tariff Taxeshcrease
the Cost of Necessities



this question was given recently by
Senator Lodge in speech at Wash
ington, in which he said:
Every investigation undertaken
shows that the tariff practically has
no effect on the prices of the necessar-
les of life.''
1t might be a sufficient answer to
Senator Lodge to ask why we should
have tariff if it does not advance
prices. Does any one suppose that
the protected interest are contributing
to Republican campaign funds for the
purpose Of obtaining laws whose effect
is not to increase prices? Does any
one suppose that the three hundred
millions Of dollars, collected annually
by the Government on imported goods,
does not add to the cost of these goods
when paid for by consumers?
If tariff taxes do not add to prices,
our high protectionist friends would
quickly cease to demand the continu-
ance of these taxes. l will not rest
content with this answer. / will quote
the very highest authority--the Pres
ident of the United States, who said
in his recent speech at Winona:
Presidents Interpretation of
the Tariff
81 am not saying that the tariff
does not increase prices in clothing,
and in building, and in other items
that enter into the necessaries of life,
but, what wish to emphasize, is that
the recent increases in the cost of liv-
ing in this country has not been due
to the tariff.
Here, then, we have the views Of
two leaders of the Republican party.
Senator Lodge says that tariff taxes
have no effect on prices Of necessaries
of life, while President Taft frankly
admits that prices are increased by
tariff taxes, although he claims recent
advances were not caused by the
tariff.
To that question, as to the effect of
tariff taxes ON the necessaries of life,
let us 60 to the cornerstone of protec-
tion and look into the taxes on wooden
goods. This can best be done by COM
pairing prices abroad and at home for
woolens of precisely the same kind.
For example, take a typical case Of
light weight worsted goods which
weigh about nine and half ounces to
the yard and are about fifty-six inches
wide. These goods cost abroad about
fifty-four cents per yard; yard Of
precisely the same cloth made in this
country costs one dollar and fourteen
cents per yard. 1t would not be pos
sible to import the English cloth for
the duties would be over one hundred
per cent but this illustration will we'll
serve as an instance of the effect of
tariff taxes on the necessaries of life.
The people of this country feel, that
tariff taxes which increase the cost of
a yard Of woolen clothing from fifty
four cents to one dollar and fourteen
cents, are unjust and unnecessary.
They feel that, over and above the
duty imposed on the raw wool, and
over and above any possible difference
in cost of production. there is no justi-
6cation for such taxation and that in
effect it is a robbery Of the American
people.
To justify this seemingly harsh
statement let me again quote Presi-
dent Taft IN his Winona speech:
with respect to the wool schedule
l agree that it is too high, and that it
ought to have been reduced, and that
it probably represents considerable
more than the difference between the
cost Of production abroad and the cost
of production here"
Weight Of an Unjust Taxation
Later the President added that Mr..
Pavne and Senator Aldrich found that
"The interests of the wool growers in
the Far West and the interests Of the
woolen manufacturers in the East and
other states x X x was, sufficiently
strong to defeat any attempt to change
the woolen tariff x * X F"
| Again in this very same speech the
President declared:
"But as l have already said, ! am
quite willing to admit that allowing
the wooden schedule to remain where
it is, is probably not compliance
with the terms of the platform as l in
terpret it and as it is generally under
stood"
Applying these remarks of Presi
dent Taft to the case just considered