The Springfield herald., 1911-12-29
UPH0LDS TARIFF
BOARD FINDINGS
President Declares Himself in
Favor Of. Reduction Of the
Tariff on Wool. r'i
PRESENT RATES TOO HIGH

0 neNtsioH 0oWnWAFos q
Schedule k-ProtsctIvs PrIn-
eIpls Strongly Upheld
In Document.
Washington.-with the report Of
the tariff board on schedule X Presi-
dent Taft sent message to congress,
as follows:
To the Senate and House of Representa-
tives: %,
eember. 1909. I stated that under section
) of the act Of August 5. 1909. had ap-
pointed . tariff board of three members
to cooperate with tho state department
in the administration of the maximum
and minimum clause of that act. to make
. glossary or encyclopedia of tho exist
ing tarin 10 a. to render its terms intel
hgible to the ordinary reader. and then
to investigate Industrial conditions and
costs OF production at homo and abroad.
with view to determining to what ex-
tent existing tariff rates actually exem-
piify tho protective principle. viz: That
duties should be made adequate. and only
adequate. to equalize the difference in cost
OF production at home and abroad.
further stated that believed these In
vestiEations would be of great value as
basis for accurate legislation. and that
should from time to time recommend to
congress the revision of certain sched-
ules in accordance with the findings of
the board = -
In the last session of the sixty-nrst 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
taiied OF enactment because of slight DIFF
ferences on which agreement was not
reached before adjournment. An appro-
DT1atiDn act nr0yldad IN he nf
tartn board. II created by statute. should
report to congress on schedule X in De-
cember. 1911
Presidential Appointments.
Therefore. to carry out SO far as lay
within my power the purposes of this
bill for permanent tariff board, I ap-
pointed In March. 1911, board of five.
adding two members of such party affli-
alton As would have fulfilled the statu-
tory requirements. and directed them to
mako report to me on schedule K of
the tariff act in December of this year.
In my message of August II. 1911. &C.
companying the veto of tho wool bill. I
said that, in my Judgment. schedule X
should be revised and the rates reduced.
My veto was based on the ground that.
since the tariff board would make In
December. detailed report on wool and
wool manufactures. with special refer
ence to the relation of the existing rates
VI ouIeS 10 EeIdlVo COSTS HeT6 anu
abroad. public policy and a fair regard
to the interests of the producers and the
on 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;
time of adequate knowledge of the facts
to determine whether or not the proposed
act was In accord with my pledge to
support fair and reasonable protective
policy; that such legislation might prove
only temporary and infiict upon q great
Industry the evils of continued uncer-
tainty. NJ n
Advocates Reduction Of Rates.
now herewith submit q report Of the
unanimous in its findings. On ths, bAkaf
of these findings I now recommsnd thAt4
the congress proceed to consSderatfop
of this schedule with a view to its rst1-s
sion and general reduction OF its fatSs: !
The report shows that the present
method of assessing tho duty on raw
wool-this is. by tho specific rate on the
grease pound. l. e., acknowledgements to
exclude woods of high shrinkaEe in
securing. but nne quality. from ). the
range of woods available to the domestic
that the duty on unsecured.
wool Of s. cents per pound IL prohibitory
and operates to exclude the importation
of clean. low-prtced foreign woods OF In
ferior grades. which are nevertheless VAL
liable material for manufacturing. and
which cannot be imported In the grease
because of their heavy shrinkage. 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. takc the instance Of a hun
bred pounds of frst-class wool imported
under the present duty. which Is II cents
a pound. That would make the duty on
the hundred pounds S11. The merchan-
disc part of the wool thus imported is
after securing. If tho wool
so per cent. as some wool does.
then the duty in such case would
amount to 81 on 20 pounds of secured
wool This. of course. would be prohibi-
tory. II the wool shrinks only 80 per
wool. and this is near to the average of
the great bulk of woods that are imported
from Australia, which is the principal
source Of our imported wool.
These Determinations could be over
come by assessing a duty in ad valorem
terms but this method Is open to the OBJ
lection. first. that 1t increases administra-
tive difficulties and tends to decrease
revenue through differentiation; and.
second. that prices advance. tho I'D
vnlorem rate increases the duty per pound
Mt the time when the consumer most
stand competition; while II prices de-
cline the duty Is decreased at the time
when the consumer Is least burdened ~
the price and tho producer most needs
protection.
Method That Meets Difficulty.
Another method of meeting the diff
Guilty of taxing the grease pound Is to as,
cess a specific duty grease wool In
terms of its secured content. This obvi-
ates the chief evil of the present system.
namely, the discrimination due to differ
ent shrinkages and thereby tends great
Nv to eaualize the duty. The board re-
ports that this method Is feasible In prac-
lice and could be administered without
great expense.
The report shows In detail the difficult
ties involved in attempting to state In
categorical terms the cost of wool pro-
duction and the great differences in cost
as between different regions and different
types of wool. 1t is found. however. that
taking all varieties in account. the aver
age cost of production for the whole
American clip is higher than the cost In
The chief competing country by an
amount somewhat less than the present
duty.