The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1911-05-10
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10. 1911.
LEGISLATION.

Members of the majority party In
the house of representatives are point.
ing with pride to the quick disposition
of several important measures At the
special session OF congress-. In three
weeks they have passed bills which,
under ordinary conditions, would have
received extended consider alton, but
the adoption OF rspid.fre methods
dispose OF them 10 short order.
But there is another eide to the
story. A large proportion Of the
house majority are new members
whose familiarity with the subjects
under discussion is open 70 question.
Were they fully Informed as to the
purpose and efect,.of the legislation
to which they gave their support be-
cause their psrtyileaders urged them
to vote that way? Was their action
Influenced by personal knowledge or
belief that the proposedImeasures were
prudent and beneficial acts, or was
their party whip the controlling fac.
tor in reaching q decision?
In q recent newspaper interview, the
new democratic senator from Montana
was creditedIwith the remark thathe did
not propose to jump into the legisla-
tive arena with q meat axe, and slash
and hack at any law that did not
look good to him. He intended to
first examine it carefully and sscer.
tain the extent of its!ldefects, il any,
and then applyIthe remedy which, in
bis judgment, 1.-THE situation justified.
That WOULD be s3Isensible and fair.
minded course;for other members of
congress to follow.
1t appears, however, that many of
them have armed themselves with
meat axes, andspropose to make reck-
less onslaught upon existing law to
which they are opposed, and which
applies to .matters upon which they
may not be properly informed. They
propose!to make q hit or.miss revi-
Zion Of certain tariff duties, without
reg ard to the effect of such legislation
upon governmentlrevenues or the do.
mestic production of the commodities
TO which such duties apply.
TheI chief. fpoint of attack Ia this
connection SCENE to be Schedule X,
of the present law, which provides
that certain rates OF duty shall be
collected! uponI imports of wool and
woolens. These duties are condemned
as extortiona ate or prohibitory, but
how manystof these partisan critics
are prepared to state, from knowledge
acquired by proper investig alton, the
extent of the alleged extortion and
what would be q fair and just revision
OF this schedule?
Instructive information regarding
the cost Of clothing is given in Fibre
and Fabric, q textile trade journal, q
blue serge suit that sells at s25 to CSC
being used as an illustration. Twelve
pounds of Wyoming wool, for which
the grower received Is cents per
pound, constituted the material from
which the suit was made. The mag.
niicent sumI Of ! 80, therefore, was
the amount received by the wool
grower 90 his share Of the cost of tha,
suit. Was that an excessive amount
II so, how much do the tariff revi.
sionists propose to reduce 1t?
What was the cost of producing
those twelve pounds of wool? VIVA,
do the tariff revisionists know abou'
that?
How many sheepmen have becom.
wealthy from producing wool tha'
sells at Is cents per pound? Thi'
newspaper will be pleased to prin
the list of anne OF such %sheepmen
properly verified, when presented b!
any tariff wool r%evisionist. 1t viii
not occupy much space.
Reverting to this serge suit tina
sells for $25 to $50 in clothing stores
1t appears that 81 yards of cloth wer
used in making it, and that the clo,,
manufacturer received $3.50 for tn
goods. The difference between s3.s
and the selling price represents tn
work and profit Of the tailor, tn
wholes aler, the jobber, retail merch
ant, transportation charges and othe
commissions and profits collected b
various parties. In Its passage fror
the sheep ranch In its raw state to tn
ready.to.wear garment in possessio
Of the ultimate purchaser, wool passe
through q great many hands that dc
rive profit from it. What will til
tariff revisionists do about that?
Partisan prejudice against any fe.
ture Of the tariff law should be dit
missed, and an honest effort made
discover any real abuses that may e.
let: Revision of Schedule X in som
of it's features may be found, upo