East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1912-04-16
FX-CONRESSNIAN COLE DE-
FENDS PRESIDENT TAFT
Continued from page s=e.)

CONTINUED from page seq
but when it comes to practical appl-
cation, it is surrounded by great diff
ficulties.
In order, to apply that rule intel
ligently, it is necessary first to asver-
tain the cost of production in all Of
the competing nations. Heretofore
congress has had no adequate means
of obtaining this Information. This
is the function of the tariff board and
it has been vested with ample power
for the performance of this duty"
The Democrats Bill
Mr.. Cole then went on to say that
the tariff board had sent experts in
to every country to ascertain the cost
of growing wool and had reported its
findings to Taft who had sent the re-
port on TO congress. In the meantime
he said, the democrats had gained
control of the house and had prepar-
ed a bill in total disregard OF the find
ings of the tariff board. There We're
two defects in this bill. either one of
which would prove fatal to the wool
industry" he declared, naming these
defects as the ad valorem duty, that
is a duty amounting to a certain per
cent of the valuation of the imported
article instead of a specific duty
which names a fixed amount and the
provisions which gave the manufac-
turer of woolen goods simply enough
protection to measure the differences
in the cost of manufacturing with no
compensatory duty allowed for the ad-
ditional cost of raw material. eff
Taft had allowed the bill To go
through" he said. sit would have
driven your flocks from the hillsides
to the slaughter houses at ruinous
prices and would have brought about
repetition of the disaster of 1898. !
The president was bold enough in the
face of criticism to veto that bill and
every flockmaster owes it to him to |
rush to the firing line in his defense
now"
Defects of Schedule X.
The president and the republican
congressman. he said. have now pre-
pared bill which will eliminate the |
defects of Schedule X. These defects |
he declared are two, first, the wool
growers under it are not given the |
measure of protection which the law
ostensibly grants and secondly the
manufacturer is given a greater de-
gree of protection than the law would
seem to imply. These defects result
ed, he explained, because of the fact
that the compensatory plan as first
adopted in 1866 placed the duty on
secured wool at three times the am
cunt paid on the raw material because
it took three pounds of the first to
equal a pound of the raw, whereas
now the foreign producers have
learned to skirt their fleeces so that
it only takes two pounds of the inn
ported wool to equal one of the other
with the result that the American
producer is now deprived of one-third
Of the protection which the law in
tends him to get while the manufac-
turer gets one-third more than he
should. The proposed republican
bill, he stated. places the secured
pound as the basis of the schedule, !
which basis would be unchanged Bile |
because the secured pound is the same
the world over.
Taft Is EuIOgized.
This is the first scientific law in
the history of legislation" h econ
cluded president Taft is the fear
less champion who has wrought this
beneficient change. He has removed
the tariff from politics He has made
ii impossible to throw the country in
TO Industrial disaster on account of
periodical tariff agitation. He has
saved the wool industry Of America
from destruction Grant him another
term in the white house supported by
republican congress and every
schedule in the tariff law will be re-
duced to a scientific basis. He has
demonstrated his capacity for leader
ship by his course"
Ex-Representative Cole left today
for La Grande where tonight, at the
invitation of a number of republicans,
he will speak on President Taft's con-