The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-09-25


the cost OF manufactured articles Is
not the best course for getting at the
facts.
1t is said with respect to the tariff
board that its Investigations are not
to be relied upon, because it must Sc
cure Its information from interested
parties, and that no information Is
available to 1t that is not available
directly to the ways and means COM
nittee. and that the committee can se-
cure testimony Of such people more
effectively than the tariff board. Such
statement fails entirely to recog-
nize the real character Of the investi-
cations OF the tariff board Material
secured by that board is not In the
nature OF testimony Of different par
ties examined as f. what they think
on any Of these facts. 1t Is in the
result OF an examination of the boks
and records Of producers and manu-
facturers and q tabulation from
these by the expert agents Of the
board, resulting In perfectly definite
and precise information as TO the ac-
tual results given by the best indus
trial or commercial operations for a
given time. In short, 1t lis the substi-
tuition Of records compiled from the
books Of the concerns for the testi-
mony of individuals.
Ts~@ again 1t is said that other bu-
reaus or agencies OF. the government
longer established and of better or
ganization have made, or are making.
all the investigations of this kind nee
essary. The maker Of such an objec-
ton fails to appreciate the marked diff
ference between the work of the board
and most other agencies of the gov
eminent The work Of the tariff
board is not primarily statistical.
Other agencies Of the government, es-
pecially in the department of asri-
culture and the department of com
merce and labor, carry on statistical
Investigations OF much Importance.
much Of which has TO be used bv the
tariff board, and in all cases the tariff
board endeavors to avoid any dupli-
cation Of work OF this kind. But such
statistical work as to production, i'm
ports and exports, number Of people
employed, earnings per week, ETC.. are
very small part Of the Investigation
necessary for the consideration OF tar
III problems. No agency Of the gov
eminent has ever done even statistf-
cal work primarily with a view to
considering the effects of tariff rates
on producers and consumers. For in
stance, there is much printed material
on the subject Of wages In different
lines of industry, but practically none
OF this Is Of much value for a discus
sion Of tariff questions. since wages
per day or week signify little as to
the actual labor cost per unit OF arti-
cle. The investigation now being
made by the tariff board into the tex
tile industries viii develop a knowI-
edge regarding wages in relation to
the amount of output, efficiency of Ia !
borers and machines In this and lead
ing foreign countries of a character
never made public before and based
on the actual wages paid and output
secured of the thousands of laborers
and thousands of machines, as shown
by the pay rolls of the companies
checked up by the earnings of indi-
vidual men.
Costs of Production.
The bureau of corporations has IN
some cases made very careful exam
ination into costs of production
These Investigations, however. were
not undertaken primarily with refer
ence to their bearing on tariff legisla-
ton. So far as they cover the ground
necessary for such purpose, there will
be no need Of this work being dupn-
Gated by the tariff board This is es-
pecially true of the metal schedule
1t is only necessary to supplement this
material by such other information as
may be vital to consideration OF the
tariff proper.
The best way to understand the pc
culiar character of the Investigation Of
the tariff board is to compare their
published report on pulp and news
print paper either with the statistical
work of other government agencies
regarding this industry or with the
hearings before the ways and means
committee. 1t is shown that this in
vestigation does not in any way du
plicate the statistical work OF the 9TH
er departments, but that its scope is
quite different, and yet the investiga
ton develops data essential to an I'M
Outstanding Of industries from a point
OF view of the tariff.
1t will also appear that the method
Of investigation is quite different from
that of a congressional committee, and
the information afforded much more
detailed in character, and, on the 9TH
err hand, is much more condensed than
the information developed by the YER
bal examination Of witnesses. The
work OF the board up to date In the
way Of detailed inquiry has been
through several dozen agents working
on the books Of persons engaged In the
production or manufacture OF the ar
ticles in question in foreign countries
and abroad. What congressional
committee ever even attempted such
an investigation. covering, as it must.
many months OF time2 Besides this
work of investigation, there has been
much work done in the preparation Of
a glossary covering not only the i'm
portant statistics but description of
each article enumerated In the tariff,
with an explanation of its relation to
the industry, its importance to produ-
GERS and consumers, and the nature of
the tariff duty imposed. Besides this,
technical experts have been employed
to make special reports On snaefal