Evening star., 1911-06-06
His Attitude on Payne Tariff
Bill Discussed.
RAP FOR THE TARIFF BOARD
Underwood Wool Bill Submitted bv
Ways and Means Committee.
ARGUMENT FOR ENACTMENT
Minority Members Of Committee De-
clare Measure Is Intended for
Political Effect.

President Taft the republican party
and the tariff board are criticised In the
report on the Underwood bill submitted
to the House of Representatives today by
the democratic members OF the WAYS and
means committee
Quoting President Taft IN addresses he
delivered after the passage OF the Payne
Aldrich bill. In which he declared that
the woolen schedule is incefensible ana
propose TO say So" the report declares:
Had the President made these public
admissions earlier. while the tariff OF
1909 was under consideration by Con-
gress his declarations would have been
of real service to the people and would
have enabled them TO protest against the
betrayal of the public welfare to pri-
vate greed
Shares Responsibility.
THE Presidents silence at that time
and his approval OF the act OF 1909 make
IL impossible for him TO evade his full
share of responsibility for the failure OF
revision which he now admits. His public
statements, however. are an authoritative
republican admission that schedule X In
all republican tariff acts was never franz
ed or intended to be for the public well
fare but simply to satisfy the demands
OF the wool-growing and wool-manufac-
turing interests in the republican party"
Reflection upon the attitude OF the ad-
ministration In not communicating TO
Congress data at hand on the steel trust
and other industries now being investi-
gated is made In the report in its refer
ence TO the attitude of the tariff board
toward the ways and means committee
in failure to communicate it's data on
the woOlen industry.
The position of the tariff board ap-
pears to be-" says the report that they.
In conference with. and under the sole
control of the President. shall be the sole
judges as to what part Of the data they
collect may be likely to be Of service for
purposes Of legislation, and this situation
must be considered with reference TO the
viewpoint of the President concerning
tariff legislation
Reasons Back Of Delay.
1T Is therefore not Impossible that
there may be some such delay In the
communication to the Congress OF sta
tistical information collected by the tariff
board concerning wool and wooden goods
as there has been in communicating 70
Congress or making public the data By
the bureau OF corporations concerning
investigations OF the steel and other in
dustries."
In further reference to the attitude OF
the tariff board the report declares that
1T is apparent that the statistical data
on this subject, now being collected by
the tariff board recently organized by
the President is not to be communicated
frankly. unreservedly and promptly. az
1t may be useful to the Congress or TO
the present House OF Representatives.
alone authorized by the Constitution and
delegated and expected by the people to
initiate and enact legislation revising
present import duties"
Views on Raw Wool.
Discussing raw woods, the report says:
Almost continuously from the time OF
their enactment In 1897 to the present
day the duties on raw woods in schedule
X of the existing tariff have been de-
nounced and attacked by manufacturers
and consumers alike as far too burden
some, unfairly arranged and destructive
to q number Of important manufactur-
ing interests: while they provide unrea-
sonable profits and monopolistic oppor-
were made and intended to be made the
beneficiarfes OF very special favor.
Through public protests from a num-
Der OF woolgrowers, the Carded Woolen
Manufacturers Association, tailors. va
rious associations OF clothing manufac-
turers and a large part of the general
public the iniquities OF these duties have
become fairly well understood. The duties
are defended only by the combination OF
woolgrowers and wool manufacturers for
whose greater profit they were enacted,
and, as has been stated above, even the
President. who signed and praised the act
Of 1909. now repudiates the wool duties
and the entire wool schedule"
Long Period Of Protector.
rbo ranor+ raytautn1 tba historv ~
protection given to wool, says:
wool has been subjected to high pro-
tective duties almost continuously from
1867 to date. In 1865 a few wooden manu-
facturers. chiefly from New England.
ton of Wool Manufacturers, began a
series OF conferences with q few gentle
men, mainly from New York and Ohio.
who called themselves the National As
| ISOLATION of Woolgrowers.
These two groups arranged a combina-
ton OF interests. and a bill which they
agreed upon for increasing largely the
duties on wool and woolens was incorpo-
rated into the tariff bill introduced in the
House OF Representatives in 1867.
"A survey OF the facts concerning
wool In the forty years between 1867
to 1910, in which high protective duties
have prevailed, shows that such duties.
while imposing enormous burdens on
Il
general special determinations, intend
ed or otherwise. favoring certain groups
of woolgrowers and wool manufactur-
ers as against others. have not kept
either the woolgrowing or wool manu-
featuring industry as a whole. in q
satisfactory, firm or healthy condition.
These Industries were in excellent con-
dition in $780, after a long period OF
moderate duties for revenue purposes"
Tariff Fails to Benefit.
The fact must be faced. therefore,
that the forty years OF high protective
duties have entirely failed to really
help the woolgrowing industry as
whole. This long. troublesome and
costly experiment has not yielded the
results claimed by its advocates. The
test of long experience. by which every
human project must stand or fall.
proves that the protective duties on
moderate duties for revenue purposes
The protection theory involved. IL
indeed It was ever sincerely believed
by its promoters and principal advo-
Gates. nas broken down The excessive
burdens forced upon the consumers
under the present high duties have
driven them to use other textile fab
rics in place of wooden goods to q very
great extent. It Is characteristic of
policies in restraint OF trade that they