The Washington times., 1913-11-16
TARIFF COMMISSION UPSIDE DOWN.


merce is going to make investigation of the cost
of manufacturing clothing hosiery, and knitted goods
at home and abroad. The inquiry will cover prin-
cipa centers at home and abroad. 1t will be in line
with the plan, announced months ago. to deter
mine whether reductions of duty made by the tariff
act are injurious to home industries
This seems curious proceeding, to which less
attention has been given than it deserves The party
now in power is opposed to tariff commission. 1t
doesn't need information about comparative costs of
production, wages, and the like, at home and abroad,
as preliminary to fixing duty rates. BY some pro-
cess of divnaton which has never been explained it
knows how to fix custom charges without botherins
about information. The new duties thus OWNED
written into law and put into effect then and not
till then, the inquiry is set afoot decide whether the
rates high enough or too high, or otherwise
askew
The investigation which Mr.. Secretary Redfelds
bureau is to make is in short exactly the invesga-
ton tariff commission would make but there is this
significant difference, that the tariff commission
would find out the facts at time when they would
be worth knowing, while the Commerce Bureau
would find them out at time when they would be
quite useless.
1t strikes precise parallel to the method
of doctor who, having a patient on his hands,
tossed up a penny to decide from what bottle he
would give dose, and later, if the patient died,
would hold an inquest to find out what really was
the matter!
The impression somehow gains. lodgment that the
average patient would prefer to have his symptoms
investigated in advance rather than on the post
mortem plan. Whether business an individual is
the patient, the rule seems equally applicable
But this inversion of the tariff commission plan Is
worse even than this parallel suggests Suppose the
forthcoming inquiry into the clothing and knitted
goods industry develops set of facts tending show
that the home industry has been injured by the
change in the tariff. Are we justified in reposing
confidence that the agents of the Administration max
ing the Investigation will be just as enthusiastic
about setting forth these facts as about presenting
such sustain and justify the Administrations tariff
measure? Is not vastly more likely that tariff
inquest would be used to make out the best possible
case in favor of the law? Would the doctor come
forward with full and frank confession that the
penny had fallen with the wrong side up and so ne
had given the wrong dose and killed his patient? We
wot not.
If the information that proper tariff commission
would gather is worthless as guide to fixing rates, it
assuredly would be yet worthless after the rates
were fixed beyond possibility of change. If it would
be excuseless expense to maintain tariff commits
sion guide to properly fixing rates. it would GER
tainly be unjustiiabe to spend money keeping The
same commission to gather information that
barred from any possibleinfuence thelegisaton If
tariff commission can't, in fact find out the differ
in cost of production here and abroad-and there
is plenty of Democratic authority for that vew-then
why believe that Secretary Redfelds bureau can
find out that difference? If the difference in cost
of production here and abroad has nothing to do with
proper adjustment of tariff rates-and there is much
and highly respected Democratic support for this
view-then why bother to ascertain it?
There is only one answer that can be made to
these inquiries. That answer was vigorously sug-
gested behalf of the Department of Commerce
long ago 1t is that American protected interests are
all rascals prepared to shut down their plants
duce their wages in order to bring distress and pun
sh the party in power for its temeri of revising the
tariff at all. That theory has been put forth with
good deal of vgorous iteration, and it is theory that
the public will respectfully reject. The notion that
business going cut off their noses to spite
their faces is hardly worth consideration Even if
anybody was innocent enough, before the Underwood
bill passed, to believe such thing possible, nobody
will believe it now, in view of the universal effort
of business interests to adjust themselves to the new
conditions with the least possible friction and diff
fculty
Hawaiian State Forests.