Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1911-12-29

thirds of the industry IN that comHT.
All Of the figures gathened bF the
tariff board, including those from
Canada, were ascwed dfnectlg By FS
representatives tnom the books Of The
different companies Bvery question
imaginable was asked, even down TO
how muoh time was given the en-
pl1yss for lunch.
After the whole Investigation had
reached tine conclusion that the dh-
ference betwesn wages in tho paper
miEbS of the Lake states and those in
Canada is small. In some occupations
the Canadian mills. and i'm Others the
mills i'm the Lake states, pay the
higher hourly wages. Wages are in
general higher i'm Canada than in
the Lake states in the skilled Occupar
tons of industry. DigeS.Tic cooks, ma
chine tenders, and back tenders are
paid higher hourly rates i'm Canada
than i'm the Lake states. On the other
hand the wages of the men in Occupa-
tons requiring little skill or TRAM
ing, as for example, block handlers
6arkeumen. and common laborers, are
considerably higher i'm the Lake
states than i'm Canada. On the other
hand, the eastern mills in the United
States pay higher wages than the
Eastern mills in Canada.
It was concluded by many from this
although the tariff board carefully ne
Trained from giving any conclusions
If its own, that these figures indicat-
ed that the Eastern mills in the
United States needed NO more prOtec-
ton from cheaper labor i'm Canada
than they did from the cheaper labor
in the Lake states on OUR own side OF
the border. Some of the advocates
of a higher tariff have been inclined
to disapproVe of the Figures brought
out by the tariff board, ON the ground
that they show as much need OF pro-
tection between the various states OF
the Union as they do between the
United States and other countries
Brut the tariff board answers this OBJ
lection by stating that the question
of what the figures show is neIuner
hene nor there with it, that 1t IS
not attempting to support or oppose
any theory of taxation, but only 70
bring out the truth.
It is probable that the forthcoming
reporl.s on wool and cotton ard their
products will cover a much wider
range of statistics than the reports
that have preceded. Chairman Emery
has declared that the board has faIEh
i'm the power of unbiased and msup
messed truth to make itself effec
tive. He saws that those who are skeI
tical of this result forget that whene
certain interests are concerned to sup
press the truth, other M'ereS'S-
whether from business or poIi01cal mo-
tives-wiH be equally eager to give
it the fullest publicity. With the aid
of these other Interests he believes
tbat accurate knowledge can be and
has baen secured. He says that THE
role of the board has been to act no'
as a legislator nor as an advocate, MOI
vet as Judge. It has been closer 70
the func ton of a commissioner or ref
cree appointed by a court to make
a report ON the findings Of fact.
President Taft has great faith in
the TARIFF board and believes II has
dome valuable work i'm the reports Cd
already has made to congress and IN
those which will be forthcoming IN
short time. Some of the Democrats
insist that it is nothing more than a
subterfuge for inviting delay in the
consideration of TARIFF schedules
Many of them insist that i'm the levy
ling of a tariff the only question THAI
ought to be considered is the queS
tom of how much revenue ut viii
bring into the federal treasury. Ophel
Democrats have declared that the fig
ures produced i'm connection with ca
madam reciprocity and wood pulp and
news-print paper have been such a
TO prove the correctness Of the Demo
cratic position on tariff matters and
that consequently they are willing *
continue appropriations for the tariff
board on the ground that they believe
chat such am unbiased inquiry as tht
tariff board desires to make will sub
stantiate the contention of Democra
tic party that the principle industries
of the United States are able to stant
alone without further indirect support
from the government