The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1912-04-18
Continued from last issue)

VIII TepoTOeu ny tne DemOcTaUC mem
bers Of that committee and was great
ly surprised to note the hypercritical
character of the objections made TO
the report OF the Tariff Board on the
wool question. | have also read with
much care the report of the Tariff
Board, and l am impressed with the
belief that that report is the most
thorough and exhaustive document OF
the kind that has ever been submit.
ted to Congress. The criticisms
seem to be based upon the free-trade
theory, following the doctrine of
Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Bias.
that, and other free-trade philoso-
piers. The author OF the report
entered upon his work with view OF
picking flaws in the report of the
Tariff Board II is urged that II is
Impossible to ascertain with exact
certainty the cost OF production of a
given product in any country; that
the cost of wooden fabrics Is not ex.
actly the same in anytwo mills, and
that the cost varies in different sea
sons of the year. Every practical man
knows that There are differences in
the cost OF producing the same line
OF articles in the same country, de-
pending upon the facilities, organiza-
ton, location and management OF in.
dividual mills. There may also be
differences in the cost OF producing
a given line Of articles at different
periods of time. But the making OF
a tariff is a practical question, and
all Congress can attain is reasonable |
certainty in fixing duties to meet
the differences in cost of production.
The report itself discloses with prac. |
tical certainty the differences in the |
cost OF producing woods and woolens |
In this country and in foreign coun-
tries. II furnishes reliable guide
for making business tariff. II Con.
gres shall defer the enactment OF
laws until 1t can embody in them
mathematical accuracy and absolute
justice, II nigh as well close its
doors and cease Its endeavors Abso-
lutte exactness in human affairs is
an unattainable ideal.
The report of the committee deals
in refinement of definition. 1t in.
sists that the terms cost" and Tex
pense" are not synonymous; that the
"cest' means the degree Of sacrifice
one must make to produce a particu.
lar article, while expense" means
the amount Of money he must pay
for the purchase Of the article. Far
mer Jones owns a horse that he can
sell in the market at any time for
$3.50 and his friend Brown In the
city, Is dealer in farm implements,
carriages, and so forth, and
Jones desires carriage and Brown
wants horse, The carriage Jones
has his heart set upon is priced at
$3.50. Instead Of selling his horse
for $3.50 in cash and buying the car
riage from Brown with the money,
Jones exchanges the horse for the
carriage. The transaction would be
a barter. Jones In his college days
took a course In political economy
under learned professor, and he
was taught the scientific difference
between cost" and expense" The
horse he traded to Brown he had rails
ed from colt He reckoned the sac
rifice he made In the way OF time, |
care, and food for the animal and
found that II amounted TO $75. He |
congratulated himself upon the fact |
that he got $3.50 carriage for SIS |
worth OF sacrifice. But upon reflection |
II came to his mind that what he had |
made on the carriage he lost on the
horse, and that from business
standpoint there was no difference
between cost and expense in that
transaction, whatever science might
say about 1t.
If a woolgrower raises a thousand
bushels of oats on his farm with
which to feed his sheep during the
winter, and the oats should be worth
80 cents a bushel at the machine at
threshing time, he could sell his crop
for $3.50, and with that money buy
other oats as he needed them to
feed his sheep, In reckoning he cost
of the wool clip the following year
he would consider as a factor the
$3.50 worth of oats which he fed the
sheep, but If he fed the oats he rails
ed himself scientific economy would
say that he must ascertain the sac
rifice he made in producing them,
a fah NJ