The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-21
Submits Boards Report

prove only temporary and inflict upon a great industry the evils of continued uncertainty.
 Submits Boards Report
 Now, herewith, I submit report of the tariff board on Schedule K. The board is unanimous in its findings. On the basis of these findings, I now recommend that Congress proceed to a consideration of this schedule, with q view to it's revision and a general re- duction of its rates
 "The report shows that the present method of assessing the duty on raw wool this is by a specific rate the grease pound i. e. unsecured, operates to exclude wools of high shrinkage in securing, but of fine quality, from the American market and thereby lessens the range of wools available to the domestic manufacturer; that the duty on secured wool of 30 cents per pound is prohibitory and operates to exclude the importation of clean, low priced foreign wools of inferior grades, which are nevertheless valuable material for manufacturing and which cannot be im- ported in the grease because of their heavy shrinkage. Such wools, if 1m- ported, might be used to displace the cheap substitutes now in use.
 ''To make the preceding paragraph lit- tie plainer take the instance of 100 pounds of first class wool imported under the present duty, which is Il cents pound. That would make the duty on the 100 pounds $11. The merchantable part or the wool thus imported is the weight of the wool of this 100 pounds after securing. If the wool shrnks 80 per cent, as some wools do, then the duty in such case would amount to $11 on 20 pounds of secured wool. This, of course, would be prohibitory. If the wool shrinks only 50 per cent it would be $11 on 50 pounds of wool, and this is near to the average of the great bulk of wools that are imported from Australia. which is the principal source of imported wool.
 '"rhese determinations could be over come by assessing a duty in ad valorem terms. but this method is open to the ob- lection, first that 1t increases admins trative difficulties and tends to decrease revenue through undervaluations; and sec ond. that as prices advance the ad va lorem rate increases the duty per pound at the time when the consumer most needs relief and the producer can best stand competition. while if prices decline the duty is decreased at the time when the consumer is least burdened by the price and producer most needs protec- tion
 Another Method
 "Another method of meeting the diff culty of taxing the gV ase pound is to assess a specific duty on grease wool in terms of its secured content. This ob- viates the chief evil of the present sys- tenn, namely the discrimination due to different shrinkages. and thereby tends greatly to equalize the duty. The board reports that this method is feasible in practice and could be administered with out great expense. The secured content of the wool Is the basis on which users of wool make their calculations and a duty of this kind would fit the usages of the trade. One effect of this method of assessment would be that regardless of the rate of duty there would be an in crease in the supply and variety of wool by making available to the American market wools of both low and fine quality now excluded.
 ''The report shows in detail the difficult ties Involved in attempting to state in categorical terms the cost of wool pro- ducUon and the great differences in cost as between different regions and different types of wool It is found, however. that taking all varieties into account, the av- craze cost of production of the whole American clip is higher than the cost .n the chief competing country by an amount somewhat less than the present duty.
 'The report shows that the duties on oils, wool wastes and shoddy, which are adjusted to the rate of 8 cents on secured wool are prohibitory in the same meas ure that the duty on secured wool is pro- hibitory. In general they are assessed at rates as high as. or higher than. the duties paid on the clean woos actually imported They should be reduced and % adjusted to tho rate on wool as to