The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-04
President Proves Treaty Is Not Disadvantageous
 to Farmer
EXPLAINS EFFECT ON
 WOOD PULP PAPER
Wheat Is Only Thing Canada Would Import in Large Quantities; It Would Be Milled and
 Exported as Flour

 ciety here tonight declared the principal opposition to the Canadian reciprocity agreement came not from the farmer but from the lumber trust and from Amer ican manufacturers of print paper.
 In one of the most comprehensive ad- dresses he has made on the subjeet' the President outlined some of the methods employed By the opponents of reciprocity; practically told the farmers that they were befsy "buncoed' by special inter- ests and said the fate of the agreement rested not so much with the United States Senate as with the people of the country
 If the farmer and the country at large, he said, could be brought to understand that this treaty was in the interests of the majority of the people he would no longer fear the coming vote in the Senate.
 The President was not sparing in his words. He told the reasons for the oppo- siton to the treaty by the lumber trust and by the paper manufacturers, and without using names scored a New York firm, some of whose members recently appeared at the hearings before the Sem ate finance committee in Washington,
 
 grange, objecting to the enactment of the agreement In spite of the forces arrayed against it, the President expressed the be- lief, that the agreement would bcome law
 "The bill," said he, will pass, if it passes at all, because of the force of pub lie opinion p it's favor"
 Taft's Speech
 President Taft addressed the reciprocity '. conference as follows:
 Tn beginning what I te say I de- sire to express my sincere gratitude to the members of the Western Economic society for giving me an opportunity to address on this important subject so dis tinguished and intelligent company.
 The Canadian reciprocity agreement, providing for free trade in agricultural products of the two countries, and cor responding reduction of duty on all sec ondary food products, and for consid- erable reduction in a number of manu- factured goods, passed the House of Rep resentatives in April last, was referred by the Senate to its committee on finance, and there has been under consideration by the committee for a number of weeks. Witnesses in favor and against the pas sage of the bill embodying the agreement have been heard at considerable length,
 
 brought before the Senate, possibly with out recommendation, sometime during the coming week.
 "The agreement had been suggested in the necessary conferences held with the representatives of Canada over the ques- ton of the application of the maximum and minimum clauses of the Payne tariff bill to Canadian impotrations into this ' country and in the course of the adjust ment of that question. in which, by reason of certain Canadian concessions on ex- ports of the United States into Canada, were able to apply the minimum tariff to Canadian imports. it seemed mutually profitable to extend the consideration of the tariffs of the two countries already begun to the point of a complete reel procity agreement. Commissioners who had expert knowledge of the subject were appointed, and after investigations and study and conferences that covered an entire year.. an agreement was finally reached which has been embodied in the bill which has passed the House and is pending in the Senate.
 "The cordial approval throughout the country which the proposed agreement re- ceived when it was sent to the Senate surprised even those who were responsi- ble for Its making, and I am confident that further consideration of the treaty since it's submission to Congress in Jan uary last has only confirmed the popular JuuSIntnl III ldNOT Ol US duOptlou lHto law.
 The treaty is pending in Washington and the decision must be made in the Senate of the United States. The ques- ton naturally arises why should come out from Washington to Chicago-a mat ter of thousand mies-to speak on an issue like this when the persons to be reached are so much nearer my usual place of residence. The bill bill pass if 1t pases at all, because of the force of pub lie opinion in it's favor.
 Has Been Critised "The agreement has been criticised because it was framed as a completed document by the state department, without consultation with members of the House or the Senate, and we of the administration have been injected to many attacks on this ground. The sub ject of the treaty, however, was of such character-it covered so many diff ferent items-that if conferences had been sought in respect to those items, the individual objections by senators and representatives would have been so many that we would never have reached an agreement at all. One of the great objections to the old method of framing a tariff bill was that In order to secure it's passage every dis trict had to be given something in the bill in the way of protection, whether it needed it or not, for the purpose of appeasing the representatives of that district and serving his support. This method was obviously calculated to produce bill, drawn not with view to the protection, but for many in dustries that did not need 1t at all. Hence the proposition has been made, and has received the general approval, that the various spectacles of the tariff should be considered separately and that the amount of protection to be furnished to particular product should be determined on it's merits with refer ence to the support of its production at home and abroad. Now the Canadian reciprocity agreement in a little differ ent way involves in it's consideration the same plinciple. It calls for approval of 1t as unit without regard to the necessity for tariff revision, if there be such necessity, in respect to other schedules of the tariff not affected or touched by 1t.
 T venture to think that there is much less real opposition to reciprocity than has been represented in Washing ton for the purpose of influencing votes in both houses. am very hone ! ful that the bill will pass the Senate and when 1t does pass and has been agreed upon by parliament, its actual operation will be so beneficial to both countries that the arguments against ><~~4~~~~~~~~~~~
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