Evening star., 1911-06-04
TAFT PREDICTS
TRADE W|DENED
BY RECIPROCITY
Continued from First Page)

III uIVI uVVII
Continued from First Page)
tries and a corresponding reduction of
duty on all secondary food products,
and for a considerable reduction in
number of manufactured goods. passed
the House of Representatives in April
last. was referred by the Senate to its
committee on finance, and there has
been under consideration by the COM
mittee for a number of weeks. Wit
nesses in favor and against the pas
sage of the bill embodying the agree
ment have been heard at considerable
length and we now hope that the bill
will be brought before the Senate pos
sibly without recommendation some
time during the coming week.
THE agreement had been suggested In
the necessary conference held with the rep
resentativeS of Canada over the question
of the application of the maximum and
minimum clause of the Payne tariff bill
to Canadian importations into this coun-
try, and in the course of adjustment of
that question in which. by reason of GER
tain Canadian concessions on exports of
the United States into Canada we We're
able to apply the minimum tariff to Ca
madam imports. 1t seemed mutually profit
able to extend the consideration of the
tariffs of the two countries. already be-
gun, to the point of a complete reci-
procity agreement. Commissioners VINO
had expert knowledge of the subject were
appointed and after Investigations and
study and conferences that covered an
entire year an agreement was nnaliy
reached which has been embodied In the
bill which has passed the House and is
pending in the Senate.
Endorsement of the People.
.'The cordial approval throughout the
"a
ceived. when It was sent to the Senate,
surprised even those who were RESPONSE
Bile for its making. and 1 am confident
that further consideration of the treaty
since its submission to Congress In jan
uary last has only confirmed the popular
Judgment in favor of its adoption into
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 1 should come
out from Washington to Chicago-a mat
ter of a thousand miles-to speak on an
issue like this. when the persons to be
reached are so much nearer my usual
place Of residence. The bill will pass, II
il passes at all. because of the force OF
public opinion in its favor.
Replies to Criticism.
"The agreement has been criticised be-
cause 1t was framed as a completed doc
ument by the State Department. without
consultation with members Of the House
or the Senate, and we Of the administra-
ton have been subjected to many at
tacks on this ground. The subject mat
ter of the treaty. however, was of such
a characterize covered so many different
items - that If conferences had been
sought I'm respect to these items the in
dividual objections by senators and rep
resentatiyeS would have been so many
that we would never have reached an
agreement at all One of the great OBJ
jections to the old method of framing a
tariff bill was that in order to secure
its passage every district 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 repre-
sentative of that district and securing
his support.
'.This method was obviously calculated
to protection. but for many indus
tries that did not need it at all. Hence
the proposition has been made, and has
received the general approval. that the
considered separately. and that the
amount of protection to be. furnished to
particular product should be deter
mined on It's merits with reference to the
cost of its production at home and
abroad. Now the Canadian reciprocity
agreement In a little different way in
wolves in its consideration the same prin-
ciple. 1t calls for approval of it as a
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 it.
Prediction Based on Experience.
81 venture to think that there is much
less real opposition to reciprocity than
has boan represented in Washington for
the purpose of influencing votes in both
houses. l am very hopeful that the bill
will pass the Senate. and when 1t does
pass and has been agreed upon by the
Canadian parliament its actual operation
will be so beneficial to both countries
that the arguments against its adoption
will be forgotten or will only be remem-
bered as exaggerated instances of per-
Nerted ina agination.. / say this because l
have examined the arguments and COM
pared them with the actual statistics, and
also because Of similar experiences that
the people of the United States have had
in respect TO the adoption Of partial reci-
procity with Cuba, and of complete
reciprocity with Forto Rico and the Phil
ippines-
"Under reciprocity with Cuba, which
reduced the duties on each side 20 per
cent. out trade with that country has
doubled Under complete reciprocity. or
free trade. with Porto Rico our trade
Will IfIdl lSld0u lidS Increased nearly
fifteen times under reciprocal relations
with the Philippine Islands our mutual
trade has nearly doubled In less than
year: and yet, In the case OF each of
these changes. there was vehement dis
cussion. bitter opposition and wild
prophecies of disastrous results.
For ten years engaged in a struggle
for Philippines free trade and for ten
years / was regarded as the enemy of
the agricultural interests of this country.
engaged in the raising of beet and cane
sugar, and yet, since the adoption OF the
Payne tariff bill which extended free
trade to the Philippines, have not heard
single complaint as to the effect of that
feature OF the Payne tariff bill.
"A careful analysis Of the arguments
pro and con over the Canadian reciprocity
agreement will convince any fair-minded
economist. who is Well informed as to
conditions in both countries. that six
months after the agreement is adopted
there will be no complaint from any
quarter
Sources of Opposition.
"From what source does the opposition
proceed? In the first place it comes from
two classes of the business interests of
the country, those who own and control
the lumber supply of the United States,
and those who are engaged In the manu-
faoture of print paper. and of whom the
largest manufacturers own much of the
spruce wood supply OF the United States
from which print paper is made. And
the second class opposed to the treaty