The Washington herald., 1914-07-05
HOW THE TARIFF WORKS.
II. Enect ON Our Cotton and Knit
Goods Industries.

| ooOus AuoustrhcNs
The Underwood tarif aimed to lower
prices for the consumer and to ''stimu-
] late manufactures through foreign COM
petition" In both these aims IT has ut
| terly failed. In the hosiery trade, for
example. German manufacturers have
merely gone Just enough under Amer
lean mill prices to take the business.
Where there has been no domestic COM
petition the foreign manufacturers have
| more than made up the duty difference
by increasing the price. In other cases
the jobber and retailer divide the profit
between them. The American manufac-
turer gets shut out. To no appreciable
degree does the American consumer re-
ceive advantage In price or quality.
The extra profit to jobber and retailer
Is sufficient inducement TO flood the
country with foreign products Govern
ment reports show that imports in hos
iery and other cotton knit goods have
been steadily rising since the tarin took
effect. In the nine months. preceding the
new tariff schedule imports OF hosiery
were t2eo.&s less than In the correspond
ing period Of 1872. In short, the Amer
lean market was turning more and more
to the American manufacturer. Simil-
arly In other knit goods, imports from
January through September, 1913, were
S1.55s less than imports during the cor
responding period OF 1912.
But through the Underwood tariff this
favorable tendency was Immediately re-
versed. During the first six months Of
Its operation imports in cotton hosiery
exceeded imports during the correspond
Ing period Of the year before by Sis, ,3S4
Still more striking is the increased i'm
portation Of other cotton knit goods, the
increase amounting 10 S1,41s.6sO. or more
An L.
growing rapidly from month TO month.
As these statistic show. foreign man
ufacturers Of cotton knit goods are
sweeping everything before them. II we
turn to the diverse side Of the shield
we shall see what is happening to Amer
lean manufacturers.
Importations OF raw cotton have
steadily declined. falling So. $50. 2Ss in the
year ended March 81. 1914. below the
amount imported during the previous
year. This decline indicates less de-
mand for cotton,-especiaIIy for high grade
Egyptian cotton, during the months gov
erned by the Underwood tariff and dur
ing the preceding period of anticipation
from the time when President Wilson
read to Congress his recommendations
for reduction OF the existing schedules.
At the same time the exports in cotton
knit goods. which from January through
during the corresponding period Of the
previous year. suddenly began to drop
For the first six months in which the
Underwood tariI operated they were
Si.5S less than they had been a year
earlier. In other words, the stimulation
Of foreign manufactures and the depres-
sion of American manufacturers were
reflected in the foreign as well as in the
domestic market.
plorable. II cannot compete with foreign
labor. when, according to the report Of
the Tariff Board. wages Of American
operators on fashioned hosiery average
about 300 per cent higher than German
wages Still more damaging is cOmpeti-
ton with German women and children
working in their homes on cut hosiery
for infants. which now enters with 20
per cent duty instead Of the former 90
per cent. As for the future, Japan.
helped by low wages. is fast building up
an industry which threatens even German
foreign trade. China is importing ma
chinery for seamless hosiery. which will
erable IL to steal the American mar
ket.
Employers have discharged from 3
to g per cent OF their workmen and
are frequently keeping the rest on part
time. Some mills are running only three
days In the week. One New York fac
tory. now closed for repairs, when open
employs 900 fewer than il employed a
year ago. Even under these conditions
report that they are pro-
ducing faster than they can sell. They
still lack orders which were formerly
given in April and which in many cases
will not return to them until the tarin
is restored.
With from a quarter to a third Of
the workers idle and the prospect that
more will be discharged as the market
for American goods narrows, with no
benefit to the consumer and with eX-
port trade slipping away. the Under
wood tarif on cotton knit goods has
proved itself destructive of our industries
and indefensible in national economics
New York Press.