The Washington herald., 1913-08-26
SENATE Finishes
THEFREELIST
Much Work Also Done on
the Paper and Sundry
Schedules.
DEBATES ARE SPIRITED
Senator Kenyon Wants to Abolish
Duties on Products of Every In
dustry that Is Monopoly.

The Senate made remarkable progress
again yesterday with the tariff bill. The
free list was completed. but there were
some reservations. The paper schedule
was taken up and completed, with the
exception of one or two paragraphs. The
sundry Schedule was taken up for the
first time and six paragraphs in that
schedule agreed 10. The items agreed to
yesterday related TO hat braids and man.
ufactures of hat braids, plaits, lsces, and
other manufactures of straw, chip, grass,
palm leaf, and other materials entering
into the manufacture of hats brooms,
brushes, bristles, buttons, and button
forms.
The most interesting struggle connected
with the slIndry schedule related to the
duty on buttons made from shell and
pearl, of the smaller sizes. With the de-
velopment of the pear: industry in the
Mississippi River the manufacture of
small pearl buttons has developed into
quite an industry at Davenport and other
places in Iowa.
Senator CumTnins declared ;hat 50 per
cent ad valOrem was not sufficient to
protect the industry. Senator Hughes OF
New Jersey insisted that IL the button
industry in Iowa could not exist on 50
per cent duty upon its product that II
ought to go out Of business.
Says New Jersey Is Favored.
Senator Cummins charged that New
Jersey had been protected in the bill on
~ per cent of its product, while Iowa had
protection on only about 40 per cent OF
her industries. Senator Cummins offered
no amendment, but urged the Senate
committee 20 reconsider and increase the
duty. But the Senate declined to do so.
New Jerseys industries figured again
m the course of a speech by Senator
Ashurst of Arizona, who had made much
Of the fact that sewing machines had
been placed on the Tree list Senator
Smoot declared that the duty given under
existing law on sewing machines is not
added to the cost of the machine. He
insisted that duty was necessary TO
require the sewing machine manufac-
turers to make their machines in the
United States instead OF in Scotland, Ger
many and other foreign countries, where
they now have factories. Senator Smoot
insisted that this would give employment
TO American labor.
Senator MARITIME declared that he knew
great deal about the manufacture of
sewing machines.
This Singer Manufacturing Company
has plant at Elizabeth. in my State
which employs 1000 hands, he said
Instead OF driving the industry out Of
this country, the tariff bill had not re-
tarded its growth in the slightest. The
company is now making extensions in its
plant at Elizabeth, to cost a million dol
lars, and Will employ cveraI thousand
additional hands. 1t has not increased
wages at any time. except when the
unions have compelled it to do So"
senator kenyOn's Amendment.
one of the interesting debates turned !
an an amendment offered by Senator |
Kenyon of Iowa as an additional para f!
graph to the free list, which proposed to |
place on the free list the products of |
every industry that was a monopoly IN
restraint of trade. Senator Hoke Smith |
pointed out that this would result in
loss of S25,O0O go in revenue from the tax
on imported tobacco and would do an in |
justice to domestic producers of tobacco, |
who are now taxed on their production |
under the internal revenue law. He said !
that if the tax was taken off foreign |
tobacco it could not be insisted any longer |
with any show of fairness that the do |
mestic producer of tobacco should be |
taxed.
Senator Kenyon's amendment was 81 !
worded that it would apply only II the |
products of an industry that had been ad- |
judged a monopoly by the courts. Sena |
tor Bristow, in support of the amend |
ment, declared that, although the Ralti- |
more platform OF the Democratic party /
had declared in favor of putting trust |
products on the free list, every trust |
product was now on the dutiable list in |
the bill, except the output of the Stand !
ard on Company.
Senator Cummins avowed himself in |
favor of his colleagues amendment, but !,