New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-12-21

Of assessing the duty on raw wool-that is'
by specific rate on the grease pound u.e;
acknowledgements 10 exclude WOODS OF
high shrinkage i'm securing, but ilne qusl-
ity from the American market ana tneTeo!
Lessons the range of woods available TO the
domestic manufacturer: that the duty on
secured wool OF 20 cents pound Is pro-
hibtory and operates 10 exclude the III
portation of clean, low priced foreign WOODS
Of inferior grades, which are nevertheless
valuable material for manufacturing. and
which cannot be imported I'm the grease be-
cause OF their heavy shrinkage. Such
woods, If imported. might be used 10 dis
place the cheap substitutes now In use
To make the preceding paragraph little
palmer take the instance OF hundred
pounds Of first class wool imported under
the present duty. which IL II cents a
pound That would make the duty on the
hundred pounds 81. Tie understandable part
OF the wool thus imported Is the weight OF
the wool Of this hundred pounds after
securing. II the wool shrinkS 50 per cent,
as some woods do. then the duty I'm such a
case would amount to 81 on twenty pounds
Of secured wool. This. OF course, would be
prohl bitory. II the wool shrinks only ~
per cent. II would he 81 on tifty pounds OF
wool. and this Is near 10 the average Of the
great hulk Of woods that are imported from
Australia. which is the principal source OF
our imported wool.
Objection to Ad Valorem Duty.
These determinations could be overcome
by assessing a duty In ad Valorem terms,
but this method Is open 10 the objection
first. that il increases administrative diff
ficuties and tends TO decrease revenue
through undervaluatons, and second that
as prices advance the ad valorem rate in
creases the duty per pound at the time
when the consumer most needs relief and
the producer can best stand competition.
while II prices decline the duty is decreased
At the time when the consumer In least
burdened by the price and the producer
most needs protection.
Another method 81 meeting the difficulty
Of taxing tho grease pound IS 10 assess g.
specific duty on grease WOOL IN terms OF it's
occurred content This obviates the chief
evil OF the present system. ma mely. the dis
elimination due to different shrinkages. and
thereby tends greatly TO equslze tho duty.
feasible in practice and could be adnlnis-
tered without great expense. The secured
content Of the wool Is tho basis on which
uscrs Of wool make their calculations. and
duty Of this kind would AZ the ussges
OF the trade. One effect Of this method Of
assessment would be that. regardless OF the
rate NJ duty, there would he an increase
in the supply ana variety Of wool by
making available 10 the American market
woods of both low and fine quality nov
excluded
Cost Of Production ard Duty.
The report shows in detail the difficulties
involved I'm attempting 10 state I'm cate
corical terms the cost Of wool production
tween different regions and different types
Of wool n is found. however, that. taking
all varieties in account. the average cost
OF production for the whole American clip
peting country by an amount somewhat
loss than the present duty.
The report shows that the duties on nols
wool wastes and shoddy. which are adj
iustcd To the rate OF q cents on secured
wool. are prohibitory In the same measure
that the duty on secured wool IS prohihl-
tory. In general they are assessed AZ rates
as high as. or higher than the duties paid
on tho clean content Of woods actually inn
ported They should bc reduced and 50 ad-
iustcd TO the rate on wool as TO bear their
proper proportion to the real rate levied on
the actual wool imports.
The duties on many classes Of wool manu-
facture are prohibitory and greatly IN eN-
cess Of the difference In cost OF production
here and abroad.
This Is true OF tops. of yarns with the
exception Of wOTsted warns Of d very high
gradel and 81 low ana medium grade cloth
OF heavy weight.
and on warns 81 ~ cents i'm value. the rate
is 100 per cent. with correspondngly higher
rates for lower values. ON cheap and mo
dunn grade cloths the existing rates ire
0uentlv run to 40 per cent. and OF some
cLeap goods to over go per cent. This -
largely due TO that part Of the duty which
IL levied ostensibly to compensate ne man
ufacturer for the enhanced cost o. his raw
material due 10 the duty on wool. rs
matter OF fact. this compensatory duty.
for numerous classes OF goods. IL much IN
excess Of the amount needed for Strici
compensation.
that the duties which run TO such high al
valOrem equivalents are prohibltory, since
the goods are not imported. but that the
prices of domestic fabrics arc not raised
bv the fun amount Of duty. on set or
yard samples Of sixteen English fabrics,
which are completely excluded by the pres
ent tarif rates. ~ Was found that the total
foreign value was 81 81. the duties which
would have been assessed had these fabrics
been imported 30 ~. NJ" foreign value.
plus the amount If the duty Sis e, o.