The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1912-08-30

cause II concerns the welfare of mi
} lions OF people who wear cotton good
{ 1t Is interesting, because il is m
} dress OF the poor, the universal sui
stitute for wool and silk II is il
teresting. furthermore, because 1t /
true.
The story OF cotton is the story of
protective tariff for the benefit of ricl
manufacturers at the expense of TN,
whole people who wear cotton goods
1t has been reasonably Calculate,
that because the cotton tariff is fixec
by the Payne-Aldrich law the Ameri
can people are paying $50, 900, 900 NOR,
every year than they should paw TO,
their cotton goods and that a savjnr
of this amount could be accomplished
by reasonable reduction in the pres
ent duties.
The story OF cotton Is told by an ex
pert. Robert Kenneth MacI.ea. consnlt
Ing expert of the tariff board. In a So
ries Of articles published In the New
York World. Mr.. MacLeas views are
the views of lifelong Republican. a
friend OF the protective policy of the
Republican party. but at the same
time an opponent Of tariff graft and IA.
voritism. To this work Mr. MacI 90
has brought varied experience GOV.
ering more than 20 years, in the man.
ufacture and marketing of textiles.
he first distinguished himself as an
advocate of honest tariff legislation by
fnlx 20 :.
drich act. when the agents of few
New England mills were permitted to
write their own rates to suit them
selves. He was chairman of the tar
IN committee OF the New York Dry
Goods Merchants association and In
this capacity conducted q campaign
which attracted the attention of the
newly created tariff board. To accept
the position OF consulting expert to
the board he gave up the management
OF the domestic business of the New
York firms of r. B. MacLea 81 Co.
and Converse & Co.
The story of cotton Is a companion
piece TO the story Of Schedule K-the
wooden schedule-declared by Presi-
dent Taft TO be infamous and indefen-
sible
The findings OF the tariff board with
regard to the wooden schedule were
analysed by Chairman Underwood of
the ways and means committee and
condemned as'inaccurate, incomplete
and worthless as an aid to legislation
When the tarin boards findings on
the cotton schedule were made public
the World decided TO make it's own
investigation concerning II. and Mr.
MacLsa was selected for that purpose.
The World had the findings of the
board on manufactures OF cotton dis
sected from the practical point of
view OF business, analysed in their re-
lation to the interest of the consumer
and the facts translated into the Ian |
guage of the everyday man and
woman.
One hundred cloth samples pur-
chased In representative domestic mar
kets were made the basis of the tar.
IN ooards findings on the cost of /
cotton cloth produced in this country
Mr.. MacLea used the same cloth sam |
Piles as concrete Illustrations of the
workings OF the tariff and from these
exposed the very generally perpe-
treted fraud Of selling American made /
goods AZ imported, and showed why
tie excessive tariff permits and fos-
esrs this imposition.
Recognizing that the tariff would no
. vital issue of the campaign and that
controversy would center about Presi
dent Taft's "nonpartisan" tariff board
and its work. the World undertook the
investigation of cotton and sought an.
swers to the following questions:
Has the work Of the tariff board
Justified the delay In reducing the tar
IN and giving relief from the hioh cost
Of Iivino7
What have the people gained In the
three years under the Payne-AIdrich
tariff IN RETURN FOR MORE THAN
IS 900 ooo, 900 TAKEN oUTOF THEIR
POCKETS AND INTO THE pocK.
ETs OF PROTECTED PRIVILEGED
How honestly, ImpartIaily and thor.
oughIy did the "nonpartisan" tariff
body undertake Ito task7
Several months before the cotton ra-
port was completed Mr. MacLea de-
clares that he discovered sinister in.
fuences In the tariff boards WORKING
TO the favored few in the cotton mill
industry. Such suppressed informa.
ton as Mr.. McLea considers 10 DO of
vital Importance to the cotton indus
try and the public has been presented
In the World. He has also explained
what the mass OF figures OF the cot.
ton report signifies and presented
some of the most important of the
TO be drawn from the re-
port. a work which the board saw fit
not 70 attempt
The story of cotton. as written by
As. MacLea and published in the
World from time to time. form one
II the most interesting and important
features Of the present campaign