Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-13
President Taft's Speech.

He began to speak at once. and said:
Gentlemen of the Tariff Commission AS
sociation-I sincerely hope that your eff
forts here may be successful. 1 do not
understand that you are here to advo-
cate any economic theory to govern in
the imposition Of customs duties 1 do
not understand that you are either a
free trade or protective organization.
What I do understand Is that you are
here to insist that Congress shall provide
for itself an fundamentally by which it
may safely and certainly secure the
truth in respect to the operation Of a
general customs law, whether that law
is framed on the theory of protection or
on a theory Of tariff for revenue only.
You desire the establishment with gov
ernmental support of source of cor
rect information, as to those facts that
are important in determining the opera
ton Of customs duties upon the bust
ness of this country, which shall enable
any proper authority in the government,
Congress, or the committee of either
House having charge of tariff matters, or
the chief executive, at any time to pro-
cure statistical and other information as
abroad, the cost of production Of ar
ticles here, and all the other facts which
are useful in framing tariff bill on any
economic theory.
Continuous Collection of Information.
Il understand your desire is that this
body Of gentlemen, whether you call
them a board or a commission or an
Office or an agency, shall make it their
business to collect this information con-
tinuously, so that their records after
they have been once brought down to
the present time sh.ll thereafter be added
to from month to month and from year
to year, and shall be thus made to con-
| tain the means, of giving promptly upon
request q reliable resume of the existing
conditions in respect to foreign produc-
ton, in respect to domestic production.
in respect to foreign prices. in respect
to domestic prices. and the correlation
between them, and the effect of the ex-
isting tariff upon domestic trade. Your
hope would be that the members appoint
ed TO this commission would not allow
political bias or tendency or pet economic
theory to affect them in the accumula-
ton and analysis of the facts.
You do not desire, IL / understand your
present resolutions, that these men should
| be fixed. You desire only that they
should furnish the correct information
upon which the body cOnstftutionaliy
charged with fixing tariff rates may prop.
erly act. so that the public may have the
truth from the tariff commission and then
advise itself how Congress shall have
acted with respect to that truthful pres
entation of premises for its action.
You do not desire. II understand your
position. that the tariff board OF COM
mission should make an annual report as
if it were engaged in the initiative with
reference to changes of the existing tar
III The initiative in that matter lies
and should lie with Congress.
Reliable Basis Afforded.
But what you desire is that when Con-
Rress, or either house Of Congress or its
proper committees. takes the initiative.
it shall have a reliable source of infor-
nation t6 which to turn in order to know
whether changes should be made or
whether the existing conditions should
continue.
There are those who oppose the existing
tariff and criticise it severely. There are
those who uphold 1t as a fair measure
on the whole. Now 1t seems to me that