Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-12-20
ACTION ON TAFT
WOOL MESSAGE
IS POSTPONED
Republicans Cheer Document,
Democrats Listen in
Silence.
LATTER WANT 1T TO Go TO
WAYS AND MEANS FIRST
Succeed in Having 1t Left on
Speakers Table Until
Tomorrow.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20.-The tariff
boards report of it's investigation of
the wool industry struck rough water
as soon as it reached the Democratic
House today. At the conclusion of the
reading Of the Presidents message,
which was greeted with applause from
the Republicans and silence by the
Democrats, an attempt was made to
have the report referred to the ways
and means committee without print
ing.
Republican leaders demanded that
the whole report be printed at once.
In the absence of Democratic Leader
Underwood, Representative Ransdell,
of Texas, said the ways and means
committee wanted to pass on the doc
uments first and determine what
should be printed He pointed to seven
huge packages
Republican Leader Mann asked if it
were the intention of the Democrats to
delay the publication of the tariff
boards report.
Both the message and the report
finally were left on the speakers table
until tomorrow.
ETeSlu6HL IdlI Stul W OOilBIS6S To-
day the long-awaited report of the
tariff board on schedule K of the
Payne tariff act, and with it a mes
sage recommending that the rates on
wool and woolens be materially re-
duced.
The report shows that the existing
duties on many classes of wool and
wool manufactures are prohibitory and
greatly in excess of the difference in
the cost of production here and abroad.
The duties are so arranged as to keep
out of the United States entirely wools
of finer qualities, which If imported
might be used to displace the cheap
substitutes now employed.
Neither the President nor the board
proposes definite rates of duty, Mr..
Taft holding that the function of the
| board merely is to present findings of
fact on which rates of duty may be
fairly determined.
President Taft recommends that the
proposed revision adhere to a protec-
ton based upon the difference in cost
of production at home and abroad.
The President says in part:
1.-THE report shows that the present
method of assessing the duty on raw
wool-that is, by a specific rate on the
grease pound Il. e., unscoured), oper-
ates to exclude wools of high shrink
; age in securing but fine quality from
the American market and thereby les
sens the range of woods available to the
domestic manufacturer; that the duty
on secured wool of SO cents per pound
is prohibitory and operates to exclude
the importation of clean, low-priced
foreign woods of inferior grades, which
are nevertheless valuable material for
manufacturing, and which cannot be
imported in the grease because of their
heavy shrinkage.
"Such wools, If imported, might be
used to displace the cheap substitutes
now in use.
Shrinkage Averages so Per Cent.
"To make the preceding paragraph a
little palmer, take the instance of a
hundred pounds of first-class wool i'm
ported under the present duty, which
is eleven cents pound. That would
make the duty on the hundred pounds
$11. The merchantable part Of the wool
thus imported is the weight of the
wool of this hundred pounds after
securing If the wool shrinks so per
cent. as some woods do, then the duty
in such case would amount to 81 on
twenty pounds Of secured wool. This,
of course, would be prohibitory. If
the wool shrinks only so per cent. 1t
would be $11 on fifty pounds of wool,
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