Arizona republican., 1913-01-21
Citrus Growers of Califor- mia Appear Before House Committee on Ways and Means and Urge Reten- tiOn of Present Rates
SAY SHOULD
 NOT BE LOWERED
Claim If Lemons Are Made Free Italian Monopolistic Situation Will at Once Menace Fruit Industry of Country
ASSOCIATED PRESS DIsPArcHI


 WASHINGTON, Jan 20.-F'ree lem ons, or at least a fifty per cent cut of the present duty of one and one-half cents a pound, assumed shape today as part of the democratic tariff revision policy at the coming extra session of congress. Most of the testimony be- fore the committee on ways and means al it's three sessions today and tonight, while on the general subject of the ag- ricultural special Payne-Aldrich law, bore on the citrus products industry which represents a S200,000.000 invest ment on the Pacific coast.
 The citrus protective league of Cali fornia, comprising growers and ship pers of oranges and lemons and fruit growers and the exchange, which Chairman Underwood of the commit tee, insisted was the selling agency of these producers, contended for the re- tention of the present duty. The spoheman of these interests, C. H. Powell. of Los Angeles, formerly acting chief of the bureau Of plant in- dustry of the New York Fruit EX- change comprising jobbers, importers, commission merchants and brokers, de- manded the eimina ton of the lemon tariff Spokesmen Eugene M. Travis of New York called the California in dustrv trust which had " abnormal l profits" and, declared Tt a.s the bene- ficiary of the undue taxation on a household necessity"
 Democratic Leader Underwood favOrs putting lemons on the free list, while some of the members of the committee were fighting today for three-querters of a cent a pound as a fair cOmpro- mise Powell urged that lemons re- main at one and half cent pound and on oranges. lines, grapefruit, | shaddOcks and pomelos one cent. He i said twelve lemons per capita were consumed in this country annually and the present tariff amounted to three 1 and One-h half or four cents per capita. He said the California growers re- ceived the lowest prices between the | Alleghenies and the seaboard, where the competition was the fiercest and the highest west of the Missouri river. where they command the market He insisted a tariff reduction would | lead to Italian monopolistic control of the United States lemon market. Un- derwood said he wanted to find out what the California growers organiza tion was doing
 Powell described 115 local exchanges that had transmitted orders and de termined prices on products, federatine into seventeen district exchanges which in turn federated the California grow CTS exchange, with agents in various consuming cities. He would not admit
 there were selling agencies"
 "Your organization attempts to hold
 the prices of California growers?"
 asked Underwood.
 Yes and get all they can," said
 Powell
 'If unable to get your price you shE elsewhere?"'
 "Yes"
 And you mean to say you go into
 the market and compete with your.
 self?"
 There is competition on differen
 grades of lemons" Powell replied.
 Underwood insisted on knowing if i
 was not the organizations purpose tt
 maintain and regulate prices for thu
 benefit of the producers organization
 The witness would concede only tha f 1t was the producers exchange and no ? an attempt to fix the prices and tha f the products were sold in New Yorl and elsewhere at public auction.