Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-21

capita In the last fiscal year. and yet
this bill makes enormous and sweeping
cuts In duties. in order to have still more
increase In these very large importationS.
All the world knows how this country
suffered az a result Of the Wilson tariff
law In 1896. but the average rate OF duty
now Is over 2 per cent lower than was
the case under the last democratic tariff
when the business OF the nation was
paralyzed and 100000 persons thrown
out Of employment
Increase in Imports.
1.-The imports of manufactures under
the existing law have increased about
500 900. 900 since 1909. In agricultural
products and provisions there has been
an increase in imports Of about Zoo. OOJ
and yet this bill places nearly all the
agricultural products Of the north on the
free list There can be only one result
and that will be q sweeping reduction
Of wages and vast loss to producers In
general"
The senator called attention to the
extraordinary changes that had been
made In the various paragraphs Of the
bill since the democrats first began to
experiment with tariff legislation in the
last Congress. They then advocated sep
arate bills for each schedule. and passed
several such measures. Now they COM
an income tax and a section providing for
a tax on the sale Of cotton for future
delivery. which has no relation to the
tariff. Many hundred changes have been
made In rates from the bills as passed
in the last Congress.
The German government" he said,
In forming its last tariff consulted 1000
technical specialists representing various
subdivisions of trade and industry, and
took every means to gain information and
~ hA 10
every branch of trade. When men offer
such Information here they are charged
with lobbying.
Thinks They See Light.
The fact that the Senate committee
has changed many rates from ad valo-
rem to specific demonstrates that our
free trade opponents are beginning to see
the light Perhaps in time they will
again favor . tariff commission. such as
they abolished without reason"
The senator called attention to what
he termed some of the Inconsistencies OF
the bill. Wheat. -four, corn and corn
meal. meat. potatoes. swine. cattle, sheep
and various other farm products 60 on
the free list. including beet sugar. Then
or the manufactured products wire. type.
steel tngOts, ETC.: steel rails, printing
paper. nails. spikes. horseshoes. leather.
boots and shoes. pigiron. hoop or band
iron Tor baling cotton, certain kinds or
leather gloves, bituninous coal, cash
registers. linotype and typesetting ma
chimes. sewing machines, typewriters.
shoe machinery, sand blast and slug
machines. agricultural machinery, all
sugar cane machinery. bagging for cot
ton and various other manufactured
products the raw materials Of which are
dutiable In most cases, 60 on the free
List But rice. peanuts and bananas.
grown in the south. are put on the du-
table list. Thev are used by poor peo-
pie generally. In Porto RICO rice is con-
sumed to the extent of 100 pounds per
capita. In China and Japan the CON
sumption IL nearly three times that per
capita 1t can be used instead Of corn
and wheat. But corn. wheat. potatoes
and other such products go on the free
list. while rice IL made dutiable. IL pro-
lection were being extended to agricul-
tural Industries In general. he said. there
would be ample reason for imposing duty
on rice But when other products are
put on the free list with the pretense of
reducing the cost Of living there is not
. shadow Of reason why rice. peanuts
and bananas should not be treated In the
same way.
Competition With Chinese.
The senator referred to legislation to
exclude Chinese ETC.. while this bill
proposed to admit pig iron and other
Of their products free Of duty. China
now controls the pig iron market on
tho Pacific coast. and under this bill
will add steel ingots. etc., and when
! the Panama canal Is open will control
the trade on the Atlantic coast. There
are large mills now In operation in
China and Japan. and tho question in
the future will be that Of competition
with tho starvation wages Of Asia. in
stead Of the low rates Of Europe.
Mr.. Smoot spoke OF the great benefit
he insisted this legislation will be to the
trusts and cartells OF Europe, which will
be able to dump their surplus products
in the United States. The House provided
a clause such as Canada now has
against dumping, and administrative
provision against undervaluations, etc.,
but tho Senate free traders, he said,
have stricken out or emasculated these
features of the bill
There has bee9 a lobby here in be-
half of foreign manufactures such az
was never before witnessed in the his
tory of the nation" said the senator,
and they have got even more than
they asked for. The Italian Chamber
Of Commerce Of New York asked for
certain reductions and the democrats
in nearly every case have given them
more than they asked for"