Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-05-10
President Sees Triumph in His
Establishment of a Com.
merce Board.
IDENTICAL IN EFFECT
WITH TARIFF COURT
Industrial Secrets OF This and
Other Countries Learned
Through Experts.
Star Bureau,
Metropolitan National Bank BIdg,

WAsHINGToN. MAY 10.
In the opinion of President Wilson
and his tariff advisers the present
Democratic administration has drawn
the fire and spiked the guns Of The
tarin commission advocates in the
Progressive and Republican parties.
Through the foreign and domestic
commerce bureau of the department
Of commerce the administration pro-
poses to obtain for the benefit of
Z the government almost identically the
same information, and in much the
same manner that the Progressives
have proposed should be obtained
+ through a tariff commission.
The work of this bureau has al
ready been begun, and is to be prose-
cuted with vigor. Through experts
the government proposes to learn all
about the investments. capitalization,
profits, wages, working conditions.
etc, in the various industries Of the
country. and to find out what the
corresponding costs and items in the
same Industries in other countries.
Fowler Among the Advocates.
This is practically the line of in
vestigation that has been urged for
several years as the work that should
be done through a tariff commission
Senators La Toilette and Beveridge,
congressman Fowler, of New Jersey,
and other insurgent and Progressive
Republicans. have pleaded for years
for this action, but the high tariff
men and stand -pstters of the Repub-
1ican machine refused to concede the
demand for such information, and not
until they were in hopeless minority
did the Republican leaders of the old
wing add their demand for COM
mission or other means of obtain
ing any definite information on which
to base tariff duties.
The Democratic bureau of COM
merce is to be only incidentally a
tariff commission. 1t will ascertain
the facts that the Progressives have
proposed should be ascertained by
tariff commission, both as to domes-
tic and as to foreign manufactures
and industries The information will
he available for tariff purposes, and
also for other purposes.
Like Tariff Board.
In the practical, manner of its
working out, if the policy now an
nounced is adhered to, there seems
likely to be a very great difference
between the methods and effect of
this bureau Of commerce and the Pro- |
gressives' idea of a tariff commission. |
The mind of Secretary Redheld, Of
the Department of Commerce, who |
with Louis d. Brandeis, constitutes a
large percentage of the enthusiasm
of the country on the subject of ef-
ficiency, is clearly to be. seen in the
latest Democratic tariff theory.
IL there isla difference between the
Progressive idea of protective tariff
and the new Democratic idea of a
competitive tariff, it is perhaps meas |
nred by the fact that the Progress |
sives would make the tariff just high
enough to keep the foreign competi-
tors hustling to compete, while the
Democratic idea is to make the |
American producer do the hustling.
OF course, the Democrats now deny
that the rates in the Underwood bill
are going to hurt any industries or
that they propose to base any future