Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1911-12-28
FAVORS LOWERING
Of TARIFF RATES
PRESIDENT TAFT, IN MESSAGE TO
CONGRESS, ADVOCATES RE-
DUCTIoN OF DUTIES.
SCHEDULE K UNDER FIRE
n Communication TO Congress, Chief
Executive lndorses Conclusions
Arrived at BY the Recently
Created Tariff Board.

Arrived at BY the Recently
Created Tariff Board.
Washington.-In transmitting to
congress the report of the tariff board
On schedule K the president accom-
panied it with the following message:
To the Senate and House OF. Representa-
Hves.
In my annual message to congress. De
cemDer 1903. ] stated that under section
Of the act Of August {. 1853, had ap-
pointed a tariff board Of three members
to cooperate with the state department
ln the administration Of the maximum
and minimum clause Of that act to make
glossary or encyclopedia of the exist
ing tariff so as to render its terms intel
Hglble TO the ordinary reader and then
70 investigate industrial conditions and
costs Of production at home and abroad
with view to determining to what eX-
tent existing tariff rates actually exen-
pllfy the 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 I believed these in
vestigatons would be Of great value as a
basis for accurate legislation. and that I
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 first con
gress 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 An apprO-
priatiOn act provided that the permanent
tariff board. if created by statute, should
report to congress on schedule X in De
cember, 1911
Presidential Appointments.
e Therefore. to carry out so far as lay
within nay power the purposes of this
bill for a permanent tariff board, I ap-
pointed ia March. 1911, a board of FIVE
adding two members of such party afili-
alton as would have fulfilled the statu-
tory requirements, and directed them to
make a report TO me on schedule ( of
the tariff act in December of this year.
In my message of August H. 1911, ac-
eompanyiug the veto of the wool bill /
said that, in nay judgment. schedule K
should be revised and the rates reduced.
My veto was based on the ground that
since the tariff board would make, in
December, q detailed report on wool and
wool manufactures. with special refer
ence to 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 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;
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
ppliREr-. laofelatiay7 ioi,
only temporary and inhct upon a great
industry the evils Of continued uncer-
tainty.
Advocates Reduction of Rates.
I now herewith submit a report of the
tariff board on schedule X. The board is
unanimous in its findings. On the basis
of these findings l now recommend that
the congress proceed to a consideration
of this schedule with a view to its revi-
sion and a general reduction of it's rates
The report shows that the present
method Of assessing the duty on raw
woul-this is, by the specific rate on the
grease pound. j. e., ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS to
exclude woods of high shrinkage in
securing, but fine quality, from the
sucrican market and thereby lessons the
range of woods available to the domestic
manufacturer; that the duty on unsecured
wool of SO cents per pound is prohibtory
and operates to exclude the Importation
of clean. ioW-priced foreign woods of in
feriur GRADES which are nevertheless val
liable material for manufacturing. and
which cannot be imported in the grease
because of their heavy shrinkage. Such
woods, if 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
dUed pounds of first-clasS wool imported
under the present duty, which is II cents
a pound. That would make the duty on
the hundred pounds $l1. The merchan-
disc part of the wool thus imported is
the weight of the wool of this hundred
pounds after securing. If the wool
ShriuSs so per cent. as some wool does.
then the duty in such a case would
amount to Slt on 20 pounds OF secured
wool. This. Of course, would be prohibi-
tory. If the wool shriuks only 50 per
cent. it would be Sill on 80 pounds of
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 al valorem
terms, but this method is open to the OBJ
lection, first, that it increases administra-
tive difficulties and tends to decrease
revenue through differentiation; and,
second, that as prices advance the al
vaIOrem rate increases the duty per pound
needs relief and the producer can best
stand competition; while if prices de-
cline the duty is decreased at the time
when the consumer is least buTdeued by
The price and the 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 on grease wool in
terms { 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
" to equalize the duty. The board re-
ports that this method is feasible in prac-
tIce and could be administered without
great expense.
The report shows in detail the difficult
tics involved i'm attempting to state in
categorical terms the cost of wool PRO
duction and the great differences in cost
rs 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.
The report shows that the duties on
nOils, wool wastes, ana shoddy. which are
adjusted to the rate of So cents on
secured wool. are prohibitory in the same
measure that the DUTY On secured wool
Mixed, But Emphatic
'sSfuce the weather cnt coIde- Won