El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-04


mission went deeply into the matter Of
tariff legislation and made reeommen- /
dations to congress, but it was not the
first commission to inquire into finan-
ciaI legislation. Just before the close |
of the Civil war, congress passed law
providing for the appointment OF
revenue commission Tor the lnVesLga-
ton Of the condition Of the revenues
Of the country and means for inereas-
Wool Bill Of 1867.
David A Wells was appointed cha1r- 1
man Of this commission and the wool I
and wOOIens bill Of 1857 was parity /
the result of its work Again IN 1886, /
congress, In the revenue act OF tl1t
year, provided for the appointment OF a I
special commissioner OF the revenue [
whose duty II was to- investigate an I
tariff and internal revenue matters ana
to report to congress thereon: he was /
asked TO make his report either In the
form Of a bill or otherwise giving /
such notifications Of the rates OF tax
alton OF Of the methods or collectlnB [
the revenues and such other facts per :
tanning to the trade, industry, COM
merce. or taxation Of the country, as
he might find by actual observation /
of the operation Of the law to De con
ducive to the public interest
He was given the power to examine
the accounts Of any officers OF the rev
enue, to summon witnesses and 70 al
minister oaths. The office was TO ter
inmate In four years at the close Of the
fiscal year, July 1, 1870. Mr. ells
was appointed to this position At the
beginning of his services on the rlrsJ
revenue commission he was an aNOWtu
protectionist When he completed MS
work as special commissioner he hao
become as much OF free trader as ne
formerly had been a protecttonist- ne
made his reports to congress, out they
were not adopted
Commission Revived in 1879.
The idea Of a tariff commission VS.
congress beginning in December 1873
At that session senator Eaton, DEM
Ocrat from Cincinnati. introduced Dill
providing for the appointment OF a TAR
If commission composed Of outsiders
who were to investigate all facts con-
corning the operation OF the tariff ana
to report 10 congress In his next an
nual message president Arthur recon-
mended the passage Of a measure cast
along similar lines On May 8, 1857.
by g vote Of 15l to So the mouse OF
4 Representatives passed the tariff com
mission act. All but about 50 votes IN
the affirmative were cast by Republic
cans, while all but seven OF the votes
cast against the measure were cast oy
It VIII be seen from this that the
! Democratic party has been historically
I opposed to che tariff commission idea
The senate promptly passed the meas
ure, and before the end Of the month II
had received the signature OF the presl-
dent, and the commissioners nine IN
number. were promptly appointed Ihey
were authorized to take into consider
l alton and thoroughly to investigate all
: the varied questions relating to the ag-
Z ricultural. commercial, manufacturing
mining and Industrial interests OF the
I United States so far as might be nee
I eSSarv to the establishment OF a judicial
[ tariff before q revision OF the existing
tariff upon scale Of justice to all IN
/ terests.
Arthur's Difficulty.
Whom r0~naf6nnf Arthur undertook 10
annOint the tariff commission he found
/ difficulty in getting the right SORT OF
men to serve. He sought the services
/ Of William A. Wheeler former ice
| president Of the United states. as chair
man of the commission. but Mr.. wheel
\ er declined the appointment others
( who refused appointments on the COM
mission were A. A. Lowe, OF New YORK
7 Hugh McCulloch, former secretary OF
| the treasury, Erastus Corning and John
I s. Phelps.
The commission as finally consutut-
! ed, consisted Of John I. Hays, Of
1 AIassa chusetts who was secretary OF
/ the National Association Of Wool Man
| ufacturers; Austin II. Garland, Of Iii
I nOis, wool grower: Jacob A. Amber,
! q former member Of congress; Robert
/ p. Porter, Of Washington. an expert
/ Of the census office; John W. h IN
/ derWOod Of Georgia., Alexander r.
{ Boteler Of West Virginia; Duncan +.
Kenner of Louisiana, a sugar grower
and William H Mcmahon. an officer OF
/ the New York customs house Four OF
I the commissioners were, personally or
! officially directly interested in pro-
! tected interests. All of them were Ia
/ vorable to the principle Of protection,
/ although Mr. Porter once had been
! strongly inclined to free trade.
/ The commission organized on July 8,
1882 It's chairman instructed the
/ members that they were asked to make
a revision, not destruction OF the eX-
! listing tariff laws. After mapping out
1 the scope and details Of its work the
| commission adjourned 20 Long Branch,
I New Jersey, where 1t remained for near
! ly a month. Later It visited Boston,
] and then journeyed westward until II
reached Minneapolis and 81 Paul. Then
I il visited many cities en- route SOUTH
ward until It reached Savannah. From
I that city tka course OF the commission
was through Tie coast cities to New
] York. after which It madt a trip TO
I Pittsburg and Wheeling and then re-
: turned to Philadelphia. where the TAX
! ing Of testimony ended. The commits
/ sion heard over 600 witnesses, was sit
I ting IS days, and visited % different
/ places. The amount Of testimony
1 taken oy the commission covers over
] $500 pages Of printed matter.
The Work in 1882
| The main results Of the work OF the
| tariff commission Of 1882 were the
| recommendations to congress that the
| rates then existing be scaled down by
! an average of approximately One-fourth,
and that the schedules be rearranged.
] one OF the conclusions TO WnlCn Llt
\ tariff commission came was that 1T
/ would seem that the rates OF duties I'M
! der the existing tariff-fixed for the
/ most part during the war under the
! evident necessity at the time Of slim
/ ulating to the utmost extent all domes-
/ tic productiOn-might be adapted
! through reduction, to the present con-
| dition Of peace. requiring no such eX-
/ traordinary stimulus. and IN the Amer
/ lean manufacturing Industries, especial
| " those which had been long estab-
! lished. IT would seem that the improve
ments in machinery and processes made
4 within the last 20 years, and the high
| scale Of productiveness which had be-
! come Characteristic Of their establish
{ ments, would permit our manufacture
/ to compete with their foreign rivals un-
/ der substantial reduction from existing
/ duties"
The conflictfne interests Of the coun-
/ try were revealed IN the inquiries OF
I the tariff commission. The wool man
/ ufacturers wanted protection on wool
| ems and also wanted free wool and dye
/ stuffs; the iron manufacturers desired
I a tariff on manufactured products but
/ wanted free iron ore The manufac-
! turers Of wire wanted a reduction on
\ wire rods such as were used In making
! wire, while the rod manufacturers