Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-08-06
Reckless Attempts at Revision.

European ana OlHef foreign competitors.
Reckless Attempts at Revision.
president Taft has had the courage to
veto these reckless attempts at tariff re-
vision. and at the same time has insisted
in season and out on the establishment
and maintenance Of a bipartisan tariff
board composed of experts competent to
conduct a thorough investigation OF each
industry which enjoys protection, to COM
pile this information and to present IL In
such form as will enable both Congress
and the executive to determine just what
measure of protection is necessary to fos-
ter each Industry. to protect the workmen
employed therein from the unfair compe-
tition of poorly paid foreign labor. and
just how far the excess duties may be re-
moved to prevent the tariff from being
utilized to foster monopolies and to sub
ject the consumer to extOrtion.
President Taft mar justly be called
the father of the tarff board He in
sisted and secured the provision for such
a board in the Payne tariff bill He APP
pointed on the board men of the highest
character and ability. As soon as he
could induce a reluctant Congress to ap-
propriate sufficient funds he enlarged the
board from three to five members. add
ing to it's personnel two democrats of
known integrity and of demonstrated
ability. And he gave immediate instruc-
tons to the board. to procure the facts
regarding those schedules of the tariff
law which he regarded as most unsatis-
factory. his purpose being to have every
protected industry investigated in turn.
Work of Tariff Board.
"The tariff board made a number of
these Investigations with expedition and
extraordinary thoroughness. and pre-
scented intelligent. comprehensive and aL-
thOritative reports on each of the indus
tries II had been charged to investigate.
So compelling were the reasons presented
by the President for the creation of a
tariff board that they secured the sup
port Of practically all Of the democrats
in the House
Then, with an almost unparalleled
lack of logic, the democratic leaders dis
regarded every report Of the tariff board
despite the fact that these reports were
in large measure the product OF two mem
bers of their own party. and despite the
further fact that they. were in every in
stance agreed to unanimously by the five
members. These leaders proceeded to
frame tariff bills by the old-fashioned
methods which had proved SO inadequate
in the past and had been rejected by the
republicans in the fullness of their ex-
perience as wholly inefficient.
PROGRESSING to believe. as they declare
in their platform of this year, that the
imposition of any customs duty for pur-
poses Of protection is not only unwar-
Gratis proceeded to frame tariff bills
which imposed duties for purposes Of pro-
lection, which lowered some duties be-
yond all reason and actually increased
others where no such increase was need
ed-and in some instances without know
ing they were doing it-and then forced
their measure through the House by
sheer weight Of their majority. permit
ting little discussion and no amendments,
"Climax of Folly"
And then, to cap the climax Of their
folly. the democrats became angered at
the tariff board. which in one Of their
lucid intervals they had helped to Gre
ate, because its sane and carefully
framed reports proved even to the un-
| initiated the ridiculous character OF the
democratic bills, and since then they
have been determined not to revise their
| own tariff measures in accordance with
| the facts. but to kill the tariff board be-
cause 1t told the truth.
with the logic OF the man who de-
stroyed the clock because it constantly
proved how slow workman he was
| they sought to destroy the tariff board
| because 1t demonstrated how bunglins
their work had been and because II
proved again, what the republicans had
learned from experience, how utterly in
adequate were and must always be the
efforts of the tariff committees OF Con-
gress to acquire the mass Of information
essential to an intelligent framing of a
tariff bill.
When the badly framed. ill-considered
and poorly devised tariff measures
reached President Taft he vetoed them
mot alone because they mace the duties
too low, but BECAUSE they gave no evil
dence of having been intelligently drawn
because they readtusted duties in a man
| ner which proved that their authors had
had no knowledge of the needs OF the
industries affected and no thought OF the
welfare OF the workmen whose very liv-
| ing was involved.
Presidents Firm Stand.
a President seeking only to promote
his political fortunes and to augment
his personal popularity would hardly
have had the courage to veto these meas
ures. would very likely have made a bid
for popular support by signing them and
trusting to good fortune to prevent their
anachronisms and their injustices from
being appreciated until after the national
election.
But Mr.. Taft is not that type Of Presi-
dent He does that which he believes to