Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1911-12-28
.FAV0RS LOWERING
OF TARIFF RATES
PRESIDENT TAFT, IN MESSAGE TO
CONGRESS, ADVOCATES RE-
pUcTIoN OF DUTIES.
SCHEDULE K UNDER FIRE
In Communication to Congress, Chief
Executive Indorses Conclusions
Arrived at by the Recently
Created Tariff Board.

SOL6IEB6 Lu6 LCPOIL vi LnC a Al DO0AA
on schedule X the president accom-
panied It with the following message:
To the Senate and House of Representa-
ltives:
In my annual message to congress. De-
icembeT, 1909. I stated that under section
2 OF the act Of August 5, 1903. l had APP
pointed a tariff board OF three member
to cooperate with the state department
In the administration of the maximum
and minimum clause Of that act, to make
a glossary or encyclopedia Of the exist
ing tariff so as to rende its terms intel
ngibte to the ordinary reader, and then
to Investigate industrial conditions and
costs Of production at home and abroad.
with a view to determining to what ex-
tent existing tariff rates actually exem-
plify the protective principle, viz: That
duties should be made adequate, and only
adequate, to e~qualize the difference in cost
Of preduction at home and abroad.
I further stated that l believed these in
vestigattons would be of great value as a
basis for accurate legislation. and that /
should from time 10 time to
congress the revision of certain sched-
ules In accordance with the findings OF
the board.
In the last session of the Sixty-frst con-
gress a bill creating a permanent tariff
board Of five members. of whom not
more than three should be Of the same
political party, passed each house, but
failed Of enactment because of slight diff
ferences on which agreement was not
reached before adjournment. IN appro-
prtation act provided that the permanent
tariff board. If created by statute, should
report to congress on schedule X In De-
ember. 1911.
P~raeidenfiaI Apnointments
Therefore, to carry put so far as lay
within my power the purposes Of this
bill for a permanent tariff board, 1 APP
pointed IN March, 1911, a board Of five,
adding two members of such party afhli-
alton as would have fulfilled the statu-
tory requirements, and directed them to
make a report to me o schedule X OF
the tariff act in December Of this year.
In my message of August II, 1911. ac-
~companying the veto OF the wool bill, 1
said that, in my judgment, schedule K
shouId be revised and the rates reduced.
My VetS was based on the ground that.
since the tariff board would make, in
December, a detailed report on wool and
wool manufactures, with special refer
ence Ia the relation of the existing rates
Of duties to relative costs here and
abroad, public policy and a fair regard
to the interests of the producers and the
manufacturers OBJ the one hand and OF
the consumers on the other demanded
that legislation should not be hastily en-
acted in the absence of such information:
that I was not myself possessed at that
time Of adequate knowledge Of the facts
to determine whether or not the proposed
act was in accord with my pledge to
support a fair and reasonable protective
policy; that such legislation might prove
only temporary and inf1lct upon a great
industry the evils Of continued uncer-
>ainty.
Advocates Reduction Of Rates.
l now herewith submit a report Of the
.ariff board on schedule X. The board Is
unanimous in it's findings. On the basis
Of these findings I now recommend that
the congress proceed to a consideration
Of this schedule with q view to its revi-
sion and a general reduction of its rates.
The report shows that the present
method Of assessing the duty on raw
wool-thls is, by the specific rate on the
grease pound, l. e., ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS to
exclude woods Of high shrinkage in
securing, but fine quality. from the
American market and thereby lessons the
range of woods available to the domestic
manufacturer: that the duty on unsecured
wool OF 80 cents per pound Is prohibitory
and operates to exclude the importation
of clean, low-prlced foreign woods of In
ferioY grades, which are nevertheless val
uabie material for manufacturing. and
which cannot be imported in the grease
because of their heavy s~hrinkage. Such
WOODS, II imported. might be used to dis
place the cheap substitutes now in use.
To make the preceding paragraph a lit
tie palmer. take the instance of a hun
dred pounds IT flrst-class wool imported
under the present duty. which is II cents
a pound. Tha would make the duty or
the hundred pounds $11. The merchan,
disc part Of the wool thus imported IL
the weight of the wool Of this hundred
pounds after securing. II the WOO
ehrinks 50 per cent, as some wool does
then the duty in such a case woult
amount to Sill on 20 pounds Of secured
wool. This, Of course. would be prohibi
tory. II the wool shrinks only 80 pei
cent, It would be S1 on so pounds o.
wool, and this Is near to the average o.
the great bulk Of woods that are imported
from Australia, which Is the principa
source Of our imported wool.
These determinations could be over
come BY assessing a duty in ad valoren
terms, but this method il open to the OBJ
lection, first, that 1t Increases administra
tive difficulties and tends to decreas
revenue through differentiation: and
second, that as prices advance. the az
valoreA rate increases the duty per poun'
at the time when the consumer mos
needs relief and the producer can bes
stand competition: while II prices de
cline the duty &s decreased at the tim
when the consumer Is least burdened b.
the price and the producer most need
protection.
Method That Meets Difficulty.
Another method of meeting the diff
Guilty of taxing the grease pound is to as
cess a specific duty on grease wool 4
terms u Its secured content. This obvi
ates the chief evil of the present system
namely, the discrimination due to differ
ent s~hrinkages. and thereby tends great
ly to e~qualize the duty. The board re
ports that this method Is feasible in prac
tice and could be administered withou
great expense.
The report shows in detail the difficult
ties involved in attempting to state I
categorical terms the cost Of wool pro
duction and the great differences In cos
as between different regions and differen
types Of wool II Is found. however, thai
taking all varieties In account, the aver
age cost Of production for the Who'll
American clip Is higher than the cost l
the chief competing country by a
amount somewhat less than the presen
duty.
The report shows that the duties o
noils. wool wastes. and shoddy, which ar
adjusted to the rate Of SS cents o
secured wool, are prohibitory In the sam
measur that Tho duty on secured woo