Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1912-09-03


the Tariff Board-Statlstics Employ
ed to Mislead the Public.
BY ROBERT KENNETH MACLEA.
Formerly consulting expert of the tariff
board.
New York, Aug.-On not q single
one Of the ninety-f1ve all cotton sam
Piles OF fabric taken as the basis of the
tariff boards Investigations of the cot
ton schedule was there an actual re-
duction of the tariff by the Payne
Aldrich law.
The samples were selected with
great care by the combined Judgment
of the boards experts, Endorsed by the
leading jobbers of the Unitcl States
as being representative of all classes
OF fabric in use In this country, each
sample being chosen because 1t wa
typical of the most used material of
It's particular weave or class. Ninety
five all cotton and five silk and cotton
samples comprise the 100 that appear
In the tariff boards cotton report.
Forty-seven of the ninety-five in the
all cotton class pay 1850 per cent
higher duties under the Payne-Al-
drich than they did under the Dingiey
tariff
Payne-AiGFich "Jokers."
OF these forty-seven classe of ma
terial on which the tariff was increas-
ed nine are the fancy weaves made in
three or four New England mills COM
monty grouped as the "Lippitt-
McColl interests" This is the clique
OF New England manufacturer-politi-
Clans who were permitted by Senator
Nelson w. Aldrich to write the cotton
schedule to suit themselves.
OF the nine Lippitt-McColl fabrics
the Payne-Aldrich law lacked up the
average duty from 1857 to 60.33 per:
cent. In other words, the promised,
revision downward" on these goods.
was really a revision upward amount
ing to 64.97 per cent of the Dingley
rates.
The remaining thirty-eight classes of
all cotton fabrics on which the duty
was increased were not generally the
product of the favored New England
ring. Under the Dingley law these
thirty-eight fabrics were assessed an,
average duty of 1886 per cent. Under
the Payne-Aldrich law they pay Ass
per cent.--a revision upward equal to
26.07 per cent. of the former rate as
compared with 6497 per cent. increase.
on the manufactures of the favored
few.
On just three among the Toe samples
was there decrease lin duty. These
were the silk and cotton fabrics (silk
mills) that pay more than 100 per cent
duty. On these three samples the re-
duction averaged 5.66 per cent on the
former duty-a reduction from 1850
per cent under the Dingley law to
11C.44 per cent under the Payne-Al-
drich law. On one of the silk and cot
ton samples there was an increase
amounting to 21.98 per cent. The fifth
Of the silk and cotton samples was left
unchanged
On the forty-five of the ninety-f1ve
ali cotton samples there was no change
In duty.
|
| completing the total of 1907 no COM
parison is made because OF apparent
lack Of authentic foreign prtces.
MIR. Taft Was Mistaken.
And still President Taft said 10 his
speech at Boston. April rs last:
1T (the Payne-Aldrich bilD was a
vastly better bill than the Dingley
bill. If l had refused to sign the
Payne bill it would have maintained
the Dingley bill with higher rates than
the Payne bill"
When Mr. Taft made this statement
| he must have known that it was I'M
true. AS for the wool schedule, ne
| knew that the rates were not higher
| in the Dingley law than in the Payne
Aldrich law, for right after signing
the latter bill did he not denounce its
wool rates as "indefensible?" And,
as for the cotton rates of the Payne
bill, he knew they were just as in
defensible" as the wool rates, for at
| the time he made this statement In
| Boston he had the tariff boards report
on cotton before him.
1t is true that the cotton report OF
the tariff board did not make this In
formation available at glance to Mr..
| Taft or to congress or to the public.
The tariff board carefully avoided CIV
ing this information In getatable,
| understandable form.
Suppressed the Answer.
WAS the tariff raised or lowered? p
has been an iisistent question ever
| since the Payne-AidriJh law was en-
acted three years ago The tarin
board avoided answeriag it.
In making my official report to the
board i submitted a table that did
answer this question in respect to each
one. excepting three of the 100 cloth