The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1912-03-08
THE OWOSSO TINES
tAassrsd 81 she Postomss in owosso for
sfAAsmission - second class matter.
Published everv Friday noon.
SUBSCRIPTION sl.oo YEAR
OwOSSO MICH. MAR. 8. 1919.
'-A6LEsT EXPONENT OF A PRO
eTEcTlvE TARIFF"

bEs the Gratiot County Herald o
Congressman Fordney.
Then came the last and we put nc
kiGht on the other excellent speeches
m Saying the best speech of the even
ing.
Joe Fordney of Saginaw, for some
Darteen years congressman from the
'sshth district Is without question the
'at,iest exponent of a protective tariff
now living.
Not only does he know the tariff
aom "a to'izzard," but his fund OF
wit and humor is inexhaustable. His
0asmand of statistics is simply marve.
Ous and no fair minded man can hear
Nm one hour without being oyer.
'~yhelmed by the conviction that he is
SIGHT.
Michigan and the whole country
sAsres with the eighth district not only
Inc honor and distinction but the good
iessune Of having on the Ways and
Aeens committee of the House of Rep.
rssentatives 80 able man.
Ar. Fordney's subject was "Wool
snd Sugar."
He prefaced his speech with brief
ssference to the tariff as a whole. He
sfsered to the sentiment of Bismarck
Expressed 80 years ago that before Ger
.anny could hope to compete with other
sswatries in manufacturing it must
saopt protective policy and pointed
-sat that as result of adopting this
.asicy. Germany had made marvellous
9rogress. - "
80 referred to the testimony of Mr..
SchSnb before the tariff commission.
Whenasked IL the steel trust did not
export steel to other countries and sell
u, more cheaply than at home, eaid
SSeEdid not now export steel to any
,tSs producing country in the world.
Ia owing to their enormous invest
Ds circumstances might make it
sn0e economical to take orders at a loss
IN foreign country rather than close
ahe& mills. thus losing all their standing
sx4$nses, such as interest. taxes. insur.
and investment in. stock and manu-
sacSnred products and throwing their
rDs4y thousands of workmen out of
ea$loyment. In this case. it Is not q
eaasetion Of making profit, but'of los
sneas little as possible. 4.
Ne thought President Taft displayed
sf&1om in his Winona speech when he
commended the tariff bill as the best
sT& passed.
E. Fordney said he opposed tariff
committee and favored a tariff board,
because committee would keep tariff
s,eEtsrs stirred up eternally. The com.
asittee would report to congress while
CD board would report to the president
a<iA he would lay such matters before
oagress as he thought needed their at
tsntion.
Such a board has been appointed,
consisting of three republicans and two
Democrats and hence strictly non parti-
saR To them had been referred the
investigation of the question, raised by
sAs last republican platform when we
declared that we favored tariff equal
@ the difference between the cost Of
PRODUCTION in this and other countries.
Mr. Fordney then took up the wool
schedule. He declared that sheep were
not protected too much. He said that
no tariff board had examined 1900 diff
serent focks in 1913 counties, that east
VI the Mississippi they had demonstrate.
dthat the average cost of raising wool
wss 16c pound. That in Ohio it was
&c while the average cost all over the
yountry is 9tc.
He discussed at length the cost of
wool in suit of clothes which sells at
ssS and showed that the profit to the
farmer who raises the wool is only 2sc
This Is the finding of a non partisan
board.
Vie demonstrated by the findings of
shis board that. the tariff is not added
10 the cost He also showed that If we
were again to go on free trade basis
as we were under the Wilson bill, the
g.nie thing would occur, when $4,000
600 sheep shrunk in 81 months to 49,
100000. We are now back to 90, 800, 900
and we do not want to 90 back.
Ae discussed at length the sugar
question showing that four refneries
control the cane sugar market and last