The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-17
The Protection of Profit Tends to Destroy
 Competition
EXPLAINS WORKING
 OF THE SCHEDULES
Champ Clark Also Addresses South ern Society of New York on Pres ent Day Problems-No Re-
 zion so Dowered

New York. December 16.-More than soo members and guests of the New York Southern society listened to speeches de- lvered at their annual banquet tonight by Champ Clark speaker Of the House of Representatives,; Oscar W. Underwood. chairman of the ways and means commit tee of the House. and Judson C. Clem- ents chairman of the interstate com meree commission.
 Judge Clements urged publicity as an effective means for regulating violations of the interstate commerce laws.
 Mr Underwood spoke on the tariff, and reiterated many of his well known argu- ments condemning the Republican theory of tariff making.
 Speaker Clark confined his remarks to the prosperity of the south, and pre- dicted that it would some day be the most thickly settled portion of the United States
 Seated at the guests table were tho presidents of most of the southern state
 societies of New York city, Governor Will liam Hodges Mann of Virginia and many prominent New Workers not affiliated
 with the society.
 Representative Oscar w. Underwood of Alabama. democratic leader of the na- tional House of Representatives, in speech before the New York Southern so- cietv tonight condemned the republican theory of tariff adjustment. The ka- leidseope of political issues must and will continually change with the changing conditions of our republic, he said. ''rThere is one question that was With us
 in the beginning and will be in the end' and that is the most effective, enlclent and fair way of equalizing the burden ot taxation that are levied by the national government.
 "The republican party has maintalned
 the doctrine that taxes should not oiJy
 be levied for revenue" said he, but also to protect tine home manufacturer from foreign competition. Of necessity protection from competition carrying wNh it a guarantee of profits
 The democratic party faeors the poll | icy of raising it's taxes at the customs l house by a tariff that is levied Tor revenue | only, which clearly excludes the idea or | protecting the manufacturer pronts. E Some men assert that the protec- ! ton of reasonable profits to the nome ! manufacturers should be commended 1n- 1 stead of being condemned, but in my judgment the protection of any profit must of necessity have a tendency to destroy competition and creat monopoly, whether the profit protected is reasonable or unrea asonable."
 Explains System
 MT. Underwood explained how it is pos- sible for a protected manufacturer to undersell his foreign competitors slightly ! by putting his prices just below those which the foreigner must charge because | of the tariff on the article After the | fTHAf1 | the field, MT. Underwood contended. he
 is enabled to raise prices to the point es- tablished by home competition. He de- ned that the cost of production In the 1 United States is greater than that In other countries. He admitted that wages paid
 might be smaller but insisted that the cost per unit of production is less in America because of the superior inven- | tive skill of the American and the bet l ter quality of his workmanship and ma l chinery.
 "To protect profits of necessity means l to protect inefficiency,' was one of | the speakers epigrams Tt does not 1 stimulate industry because a manufac- | turer standing behind a tariff wall that 1 is protecting his profits is not driven to develop his business along the lines of great test efficiency and greatest econ- omy," he continued.
 Wool Industry l This is clearly illustrated in com palison of the wool and iron and steel | induatries. Wool has had specific
 duty that when- worked out to an ad Valorem basis amounts to a tax | of about 90 per cent of the average value of all woolen goods imported | into the United States. and the duties imposed have remained practically un- changed for 10 years. During that time
 the wool industry has smade compara- Lively little progress in cheapenng the 1 cost of it's product and improving its | methods. On the other hand. in the | iron and steel industry, the tariff .ate l has been cut every time a tariff bill | has been written. Forty years ago the | tax on steel rails amounted to S17.50 | Q ton, today it amounts to S3.90. The | same is true of most of the other ar I ticlesl In the iron and steel schedule. and vet thr iron and steel industry has not languished; it has not been destroyed and it has not gone to the walls. It is the most compact. virile, | fighting force of all the industries Of America today It has long ago eX- banded it's production capacity beyond | inc power of the American people to consume it's output and is today facing toward the markets of the world, bat ting for d part of the trade of foreign lands where 1t must meet free com
 petition, or as Is often the case. pay
 
 dustrial fields of its competitor. e"Which course is the wiser one for our government to take? The one that demands the protection of profits, the continued policy of hot house growth of our industries? The stagnation of development that follows where com petition ceases, or on the other hand. the gradual and iusistent reduction of our tariff laws to q basis where the American manufacturer must develop his business along the best and most economic lines, where when he fights at home to control his market he is forging away in the economic devel- opment of his business 10 extend his trade in tte markets of the world. "In my judgment the future growth of our great industries lies beyond the seas Let us approach the solution of the problem involved with a de-
 termins ton -o do what is right, what Is safe and what is reasonable" con cluded MT. Underwood.
 Clark Lauds South Champ Clark speaker of the House If Representatives addressing the Southern
 Society of New York tonight, predicted the south one day would be the most thickly settled portion of the United ------~--------~---------