The searchlight., 1911-12-29
TAFT F0RL0W WOOL
PRESIDENT TRANSMITS FINDINGS
OF THE TARIFF BOARD TO
CONGRESS- IN MESSAGE.
DEMOCRATIC VIEW IS SUSTAINED
In Document Which Urges . General
Reduction Of Schedule X and
Retention Of the Tariff
Beard.

To the Senate and House Of Repre-
setatives:
In my annual message to congress
December, 1909. stated that under
Section 2 of the act Of August s. 1903.
/ had appointed . tariff board OF three
members to cooperate with the state
department In the administration Of
the maximum and minimum clause Of
that act to make q glossary or en-
cyclopedia Of the existing tariff so as
to render its terms ineligible to the
ordinary reader, and then to investi-
gate Industrial conditions and costs Of
production at home and abroad with
a view to determining to what extent
existing tariff rates actually exemplify
the protective principle. viz: That
duties should be made adequate. and
only adequate, to eQualize the differ
ences In cost OF production at home
and abroad.
In the last session of the sixty-first
congress a bill creating a permanent
tariff board of Ave members. Of whom
not more than three should be OF the
same political party, passed each
House, but failed of enactment be-
cause of slight differences on which
agreement was not reached before ad-
journment. An appropriation act pro-
vided that the permanent tariff board,
II created by statute. should report to
congress on schedule X in December.
1911.
In my message of August II. 1911,
accompanying the veto OF the wool
bill, said that. in my Judgment,
schedule X should be revised and the
rates reduced. My veto was based on
the ground that, since the tariff board
would make, In December, a detailed
report on wool and wool manufactures
with special reference to the relation
of the existing rates Of duties to re-
lative costs here and aboard. public
policy and a fair regard to the In
terests of the producers and manu-
facturers 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 informa-
ton, 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 policy; that such
legislation might prove only temper
ary and inflict upon great industry
the evils of continued uncertainty.
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 revision and n
general reduction OF is rates.
The report shows that the present
method of assessing the duty on raw
wool-that is by a specific rate
on the grease pound. 1. e.. unsecured
operates to exclude woods Of high
shrinkage In securing but fine quality
from the American market and there
by lessons the range OF woods avail
able to the domestic manufacturer:
that the duty on secured wool OF 33
cents per pound is prohibitory and
operates to exclude the importation OF
clean. low priced foreign woods OF In
ferior grades. which are nevertheless
valuable material for manufacturing
and which cannot be imported In the
grease because OF their heavy shrink
age. Such woods. II imported. might
be used to displace the cheap sub
stitutes now In use.
To make the preceding paragraph a
littler palmer. take the instance Of
hundred pounds Of first class wool I'm
ported under the present duty. which
is lie a pound. That would make the
duty on the hundred pounds S11. The
merchantable part OF the wool thus
imported is the weight OF the wool OF
this hundred pounds after securing.
II the wool shrinks 80 per cent. as
some woods do. then the duty In such
a case would amount to Sll on 20
pounds Of secured wool: this, Of
course. would be prohibitory. II the
wool shrinks only SO per cent. IL would
be $l1 on SO 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 ad valor-
EN- terms. but this method Is open to
the objection. first. that. II increases
administrative difficulties and tends to
decrease revenue through under-val-
nation due to different shrinkages, and
vance, the ad valorem rate increases
the duty per pound at the time when
the consumer most needs relief and
the producer can best stand competi-
tion; while IL prices decline the duty
is decreased at the time when the con-
sumer is least burdened by the price
and the producer most needs protec-
ton.
Another method OF meeting the diff.
nculty Of taxing the grease pound 10
TO assess a specific duty ON grease
wool In terms Of its secured content.
This obviates the chief evil of the
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