The Washington herald., 1911-08-19

which make 1t unwise to allow -<his bill
to pass
sThe bill is SO careiessly drawn that II
would inevitably lead to the greatest
uncertainty as to what articles are or
are not covered by Its various provisions.
This would impose a heavy burden on
the administrative branch Of the govern
ment, create disastrous uncertainty In
commercial circles. and lead to burden
some amount of litigation. The bill, while
apparently very simple and affecting
only few articles, Is in reality SO loose
In its phraseology that 1t would affect
hundreds of items in the existing tariff
act Conceding the wisdom Of It's general
policy, the paragraphs OF the bill ought
terms.
Language II Ambiguous.
"The truth is THAI the language Of
the act is SO ambiguous and possibly
all-embracing that 1t Is impracticable
for the Treasury Department to give
an exact estimate as to the diminution
In revenue which will follow its passage.
The estimates vary all the way from
$40. 900 900 to s14.0o0,0oo, according to the
varieties of construction put upon the
act, and this although when the bill
was first under consideration 1t was pub
licly stated by its advocates that the
reduction in revenue would not exceed
81, 500. 00o
"The difficulty with the bill Is that
in the sections above referred to 1t
purports to secure a free list for the
benefit of a certain class of users; but
to classify articles by their use or their
suitability for a certain use is so con-
trary to the methods OF classification In
the existing law that its adoption would
create the utmost confusion.
'The danger is not SO much that the
class of users in whose favor the classi-
f1cation purports to be made will receive
more benefit than the trainers of the
law may have intended. but 1t is that
many who do not belong to the class In
tended to be favored will import articles
suitable for the prescribed use under the
general terms of the statute. but will use
them for other and general purposes. The
effect will be to break down altogether
the classification upon which the arrange
ment in many OF the present tarin
schedules Is based. If there were no
other reason for Withholding my approval
from this bill, this one would be all
sufficient.
"A third objection to the bill is that,
without. in fact, reducing the price to the
consumer OF the articles admitted free
in a number OF the paragraphs. 1t gives
an advantage to Canada, our neighbor
on the north, which by withholding we
might well use In the future TO secure
further concessions for US in the reci-
procity agreement, which the present
Congress has requested me TO expand.
Will Not Reduce Prices.
Now II is proposed to open this market
to the Canadian packers and millers with
out our having access to the Canadian
market. Such action will not reduce the
price of meat or flour in this country.
That Is shown by the fact that they were
afraid OF our competition. In normal
times their importations will have no ef-
feet on our markets, and hence the ad-
mission from Canada Of meat and -four
will be of practically no benefit to the
consumer, but will offer an inducement to
capitalists thinking of building mills or
packing houses to put them on the Ca
madam side of the border, where they
free. This Is another instance in which
the bill takes away from the President, in
dealing with the matter of reciprocity
that he might use in a trade to
induce further reciprocity.
Another instance is in reference to
the more finished kinds of lumber Under
our reciprocity agreement, rough lumber
enters both countries free. Canada i'm
poses Is per cent duty on the more finish
ed article, and we impose duty OF a
different amount. II, now, we take of
all duty on the finished product. We are
giving her our market in this lumber for
nothing. while we do not secure the bene-
At of hers; and we give to her provinces
a very strong motive for imposing re-
strictions and limitations on the cutting
and export OF rough lumber to this coun-
try in order to induce the transfer OF
the whole lumber manufacturing indus
Try to Canada"