The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1913-04-21
DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS GIVES ITS
APPROVAL TO WHOLE
TARIFF BILL,
GOES TO HOUSE WEDNESDAY
rye and Buckwtneat Put on Free List.
Income Tax Changed So as to Ex-
empt Incomes of Mutual SAVINGS
sanks-Preferential Duty on Cuban
Sugar Allowed to Stand.

Sugar Allowed to Stand.
washington, April 21.-The House
Democratic tariff caucus was plunged
into an acrimonious debate Saturday
over the proposition to allow a five
per cent reduction in tariff duties on
imports brought in American owned
ships. The provision remained in the
bill by vote of 1923 to 5S.
The ways and means committee de-
clded that this concession to American
ship owners was an inducement for
them to build ships for the foreign
trade and that it would serve as an
1nducement for the unbuilding of the
American merchant marine This ad-
vantage to the American ship owner
is increased by a discriminating duty
OF ten per cent in addition to the regu-
lar tariffs assessed against goods
brought into this country in foreign
vessels.
When these provisions of the tariff
Dill were reached the Democratic op-
ponents of anything that savored of a
subsidy made their protest They
claimed that in this particular the tar
iff bill violated every Democratic prin.
ciple. Harrison Of Mississippi offered
the amendment striking from the bill
the per cent discount on tariff rates.
He was supported by Sisson of Missis-
s1ppi, Hardy of Texas, Sims Of Tennes-
see and other Southern members.
They contended that there were other
methods of giving advantage to Ameri-
can ships without offering them sub
sidy.
Underwood Takes Lead.
Underwood assumed leadership in
the fight for the committee recommen-
dation contending that the discrimina-
ting duty and the discount could not
be considered in the light of a subsidy
in that each had been imposed with
the idea of equalizing the difference
IN case of the operating and running
Of foreign and American ships. It
took the caucus nearly two hours to |
dispose of this provision of the bill
Following this fight on the preferen-
tial treatment of American owned !
ships, consideration of the bill progress
sed smoothly and its final reading and
approval by the caucus came early in !
the evening. The bill will go to the
House for general discussion probably
next Wednesday.
At the morning session of the ways
and means committee 1t was decided
to take rye and buckwheat from the
dutiable list and put them on the free
list The bill imposed duty of 10
cents bushel on rye and cents a
bushel on buckwheat.
The duty on vanilla beans was re.
duced from so cents bushel to 80
cents bushel on proof to the commit
tee that with the opening of the Pana-
ma Canal these beans could be shipped
to foreign markets and vanilla f1avors
extracted more cheaply than in this
country.
Changes Income Tax.
Vanilla beans come mainly from Ta
hiti, in the Pacific, and the vanilla
flavoring industry is an important one
to San Francisco. The duty of so
cents bushel was estimated to yield
revenue of $4,000 and the reduction
to 30 cents per bushel will cut this
revenue to 100000.
The committee changed the income
tax provision to exempt from the tax
the incomes of mutual savings banks.
Representative Jefferson Levy of New
York brought about this change with
the statement that the tax as applied '
to mutual savings banks would affect
the thrift of the poor and might re-
suit in a reduction of the interest now
allowed by such banks on the savings
of the workingmen. {
There are in New York, he said, 8
about 100000 depositors in the 140
mutual savings banks, and low inter s
est for money recently had forced the t
banks to reduce their yearly interest t
from per cent to IL per cent. -
further reduction in interest alloS=