Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-21
on Free E.eat and Flour.

Finally. the free list has two clauses
affecting meat and -four. As they went
through the House they put meat on the
free list and flour on the free list In
TIE Senate. however, an amendment was
put on limiting the operation of these two
clauses to imports from those countries
with which we have reciprocal relation
and which admit certain Agricultural
products of ours free. i his limitation
made CaEada the only country which
would be affected by the provisions of the
clause Now, in our negotiations with
Canada for reciprocity -. attempted to-
secure free meat and free -four. Canada
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 -four 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 tie close
of the act approving the Canadian reci-
procity agreement directed me to con-
tinue negotiations and expand its terms,
and yet in these provisions 1t proposed
TO deprive of using the concessions
of free meat and free -four to secure con-
| ces,ions from Canada. Thus the bill was
! 80 loosely drawn, it was drawn on such Il
wrong principle and with little infor
nation. and it purported to do so many
things which il did not do, that l had
|
| Finally, the cotton bill came to me.
| This bill differed from the others in be-
ing bill for which the democrats alone.
and not the insurSent republicans, We're
responsible 1t had passed the House on
| the report of the Ways and means com
| mittee made without the taking of any
| evidence of persons interested in the man
| ufacture or any one else: it had corr pie te-
| ly changed the method of claSSify.n ing cot
tons. classifying them according To the
| threads in the yarn instead OF by the
/ threads of the piece and the specific duty
| upon the square yard, as in the present
| bill This was most important change,
and it had been adopted after an Informal
| communication III writing with the bd-
| reau Of standards and after an adverse
| report by the Treasury experts. The bill.
! was adopted avowedly a free-trade
bill BY the House. 1t came to the Senate
| and was passed in the form in which ii
| passed the House except that certain
| amendments We're added. One was an
| amendment cutting down the metal
| schedule by sweeping reduction of 20
| per cent and the other vas an amend
| ment OF the chemical schedule With
| Durported reduction ad valorem OF - per
cent.
| $50 hastily was the bill thrown to-
| pether so little attention was paid to the
| consideration of 1t in the senate. eS-
| peciallv in the chemical schedule, that the
most ludicrous results We're feached. III
| the first place, ALTHOUGH the amendments
radically changed the metal and chem'-
cal schedules, no change was made IN the
| title which still read AN act to reduce
duties on cotton manufactures All
amendment was introduced in order to
make certain that in the cotton and
chemical schedules there must be re-
duc.iou OF all rates to not more than 10
ner cent ad valorem, but II vas so placed
| in the act that by its language II could
| only apply to goods already III tn Gus
tom house upon which duty had not been
paid. The calculations BY which the
sneciic duties n the chemical schedule
were transmitted into adj valorem rates
and then reduced - per cent were eX-
ceed;ngiy faulty The senator who pro-
posed the reductions SAIL that he had
| secured the services OF statistician at
the Treasury Department, who had done
| the work as he told him To- do 1t, an1 that
| that was all he knew about II.
| Senator Williams, democratic mem
| her of the committee on finance of the
Senate objected to this method of adont-
ing most important schedule The
chemical schedule IS the first schedule
| i'm she list II has eighty-five items, and
OF these sixty-six have specific dut es.
/ 1t affects many millions of imports.
| Nevertheless, the bill Went through, and
il went back to the House and was sub
| n,itted to two days examination by the
ways and means committee of that body
Bill Produced Confusion.
Then it passed the House under a rule
that permitted no amendments whatever.
had the bill examined BY experts. es-
pecially with respect to the chemical
schedule, and even in the very short time
( had l found the greatest confusion
produced by the amendment. Upon
humber of the articles the reduction was