The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1911-12-28
president SAYS
RATES TOO H6h
ctief Executive Urpes Downward
Novisjen ef Sohoduio K.
MESSAGE SENT TO CONGRESS
0sssasaeae Upksi6s Prstse4ive ps!aei-
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AsAsatiy evppsrts RsssMms~-
dstisNe q YaeiN 0oaFd.


dstisNs q TsriH 0eard.
Washiagtoa.-Prssident TAFT trans
hitAsa - congress the report Of ths
taEt1 bsard On schedule K. Accom-
DanvsAs the report. the chief execu-
t1vs 500 to the national legislature
the asalSving message:
To ths eeaats and House of Representa-
dve0.
In ~ annual message to congress. De-
cemAsr. lS0s stated that under section
OF ~ act OF August .. 1903. I had ap
poiu1oA . tariff board Of three members
TO cp-sperate with ihs state department
In ~ administrstion of the maximum
and 0huimum clause Of that act to make
. glossary or encyclopedia of the exist
ing tari6 70 a. to render its terms intel
ngieaD 20 the ordinary reader. and then
to Investigate Industrial conditions and
costs Of production at home and abroad.
With q view to determining to what ex-
tent existing tarin rates actually exem-
pltfy the protective principle. viz: That
1uties should be made adequate. and only
adeQiaAe. to squalize the difference in cost
Of production at home and abroad.
further stated that believed these In
vsstisations would be of great value A. a
bAsis 6sr accurate legislation. and that 1
should from time to time recommend to
congress the revision of certain sched-
niles n accordance with the findings OF
the bsard.
In the last session of the Sixty-first con-
GresR \ bill creating n permanent tarin
board Of i've members. of whom not
more than three should be Of the same
political party. passed each house. but
failed Of enactment because of slight dif-
ferences on which agreement was not
reached before adjournment. An appro-
pratioN act provided that the permanent
tariff board, II created by statute. should
report to congress on schedule X In De-
cember. 1911
Presidential Appointments.
Therefore. to carry out far as lay
within my power the purposes Of this
bill nDr Q permanent tariff board. l ap-
pointed in March, 1911. a board of fve.
adding two members of such party afhli-
alton as would have fulfilled the statu-
tory requirements. and directed them to
make a report to me on schedule X OF
the tarin act In December Of this year.
In my message of August II. 1911. ac-
compa nying the veto of the wool bill.
said that. In my judgment schedule X
should be revised and the rates reduced.
My veto was based on the ground that.
since the tariff board would make. In
December. a detailed report on wool and
wool manufactures. with special refer-
4 ence to the relation of the existing rates
Aof duties to relative costs here ana
abroad, public policy and a fair regard
to the interests of the producers and the
manufacturers on the one hand and OF
the consumers on the other demanded
that legislation should not be hastily en-
acted In the absence of such information:
that was not myself possessed at that
time OF adequate knowledge of the facts
~ left u DTODOSe0
act was In accord with my pledge to
support a fair ana reasonable protective
policy; that such legislation might prove
only temporary and inflict upon great
industry the evils of continued uncer-
tainty.
Advocates Reduction Of Rates.
I now herewith submit a report of the
tarin board on schedule X. The board is
unanimous in its findings. On the basis
of these findings I now recommend that
the congress proceed to a consideration
Of this schedule with q view to Its revi-
sion and a general reduction Of Its rates
The seport shows that the present
method Of assessing the duty on raw
wool-this 10. by the specific rate on the
grease pound, J. O., unscoured-operates to
excrude woods Of high shrinkage in
securing. but fine quality. from the
American market and thereby lessons the
nanun4cturer: that the duty on unsecured
wool Of . cents per pound IL prohibitory
and operates to exclude tho importation
of clean Iow-priced foreign wools of In
ferior trades. which are nevertheless val
uabfe material for manufacturing. and
which cannot be imported in the grease
because Of their heavy shrinkage. Such
woods, II imported. might be used to dis
place tfe cheap substitutes now in use.
To make the preceding paragraph lit
tie palmer, take the instance Of q hum
dred pounds Of hrst-class wool imported
under the present duty. which is II cents
a pound That would make the duty on
disc part Of the wool thus imported is
the weight Of the wool of this hundred
pounds after securing. II the wool
shrinks 80 per cent. as some wool does.
then the duty in such case would
amount to $11 on 70 pounds of secured
wool. This. of course. would be prohibi-
tory. II the wool shrinks only 50 per
cent, Il would be 81 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 our imported wool.
These determinations could be over
come BY assessing duty in ad valorem
terms, but this method Is open to the OBJ
lection. lfrst, that It increases administra-
tive difficulties and tends to decrease
revenue through undervaluation: and.
second, that rs prices advance, the ad
vaiorem rate increases the duty per pound
at he time when the consumer most
needs relief and the producer can best
stand competition; while II prices de-
cline the duty IL decreased at the time
when te,e consumer is least burdened by
the price and the producer most needs
protection.
Method That Meets Difficulty.
Another method of meeting the diff
Guilty Of taxing the grease pound is to as
cess a specific duty on grease wool in
terms of its secured content. This obvi-
ates the chief evil of the present system.
namely, the discrimination due tc differ
ent shrinkages. and thereby tends great