Omaha daily bee., 1911-09-22

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such burden 70 our manufacturers that
its injustice must appeal 70 every one.
| The fact Is that under the DinRley bill
/ imported shoes we're taxed Is per cent ad
valorem, while in the PAYNE bill the duty
was reduced from . per cent to 10 per
cent the duty on hides was reduced from
Is per cent TO nothing and the duty on
leather was reduced TO 5 per cent. NO
evidence was taken as 20 what effect this
putting Of shoes on the free list would
have on the very highly important shoe
industry of the country and as II violated
the first principles OF justice in a tariff
namely, Of putting the finished product
on the free list and taxing the materials.
IL did not and could not commend itself 20
one who was pledged to the support Of a
moderate protective tariff.
Meat and Flour.
Finally. the free list has two clauses
affecting meat and flour. AS they went
through the house they put meat on the
free list and flour on the free list. In
the senate however. an Amendment was
put on limiting the operation of these
two clauses to imports from those coun-
tries with which we have a reciprocal
relation and which admit certain agricul-
ton made Canada the only country which
would be affected by the provisions Of
the clause. Now. in our negotiations
with Canada for reciprocity we attempted
TO secure free meat and free flour. Cam
ada would not consent to this because
she feared the effect Of our competition
with her meat and flour This showed
that importations of meat and flour from
Canada without duty would not have any
effect to lower the price in this country
Of either in normal times. But this free
list bill was giving to Canada something
for nothing. This congress at the close
OF the act approving the Canadian rec
iprocity agreement directed me to con-
tinue negotiations and expand its terms.
and yet in these provisions it proposed
to deprive me of using the concessions
OF free meat and free flour to secure con-
cessions from Canada. Thus the bill was
so loosely drawn, it was drawn on such
a wrong principle and with so little in
formation and it purported to do so
many things which it did not do, that
had no hesitation in vetoing it.
Cotton Bill Not Protection.
Finally the cotton bill came to me-
This bill differed from the others in
being a bill for which the democrats
alone and not the insurgent republicans. |
were responsible. 1t had passed the |
house on the report of the ways and
means committee made without the TAX |
ing OF any evidence of persons interested |
in the manufacture or anyone else; it had |
completely changed the method of olas-
Styling cottons, classifying them accord |
ing to the threads in the yarn instead of |
by the threads of the piece and the she. |
cific duty upon the square yard. as in |
the present bill. This was a most i'm |
portant change and it had been adoptsd |
after an informal communication in writ |
ing with the bureau of standards and |
atter an adverse report by the treasury |
experts. The bill was adopted avowedlv |
as a free trade bill by the house. II |
came to the senate and was passed in |
the form in which it passed the house. !
except that certain amendments were
added. One was an amendment cutting
down the metal schedule by a sweeping
reduction of 30 per cent and the other
was an amendment of the chemical
schedule with a purported reduction ad
VdIorem OF 70 per cent So hastily was
the OIL thrown together, so little atten-
OAA "S P0iN " Tie consideration of IL |
In the senate, especially In the chemical
schedule. that the most ludicrous results
were received. In the first place although
the amendments radically changed the1
metal and chemical schedules. no change I
was made In the title, which still read
An act to reduce duties on cotton man. |
fractures" An amendment was intro |
ouced In order to make certain that in /
the cotton and chemical schedules there |
must be reduction of all rates To NOT |
more than 80 per cent ad valorem. but |
1t was so placed in the act that bv It's /
it could only apply to goods
already in the custom house, upon which |
duty had not been paid. The calculations
by which the specific duties In the chem
zeal schedule were transmitted into aid |
valorem rates and then reduced Is per
cent were exceedingly faulty. The senator
who propostd the reductions said that
he had secured the services of a statisti- |
clan at the Treasury department, who |
mad done tho work as he told him IN |
DO it, and that that was all he knew |
about 1t.