Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-02-24
AI,rrLE TARIFF STUDY.

A LITTLE TARIFF STUDY.
For eight or ten years previous
to q month or 80 ago number OF the
papers of Iowa, and magazines OF the
nation, almost daily criticised the pro-
tective tariff laws Of the land. They
found fault with the Dingley tarih.
and later on with the Payne-Aldrich
tariff. They writhed and groaned
about the sins Of protective policy,
and when schedule TX" was men,
toned their means and applications
were enough to move the heart OF
hitchinr post. While these papers
claimed to be republican papers, the
fact that the country was enjoying
prosperous times under protective
tariff was, according to them, a terri
BILE affliction to bear. They kept nag.
ging at the tariff because they said
Il was too high, and their continuous
fault finding and criticism helped
to create in the minds Of the people
the dissatisfaction which finally re-
suited in the enactment OF the present
Underwood tariff. Now these same
papers say that the Underwood tarlh
is too low. They said the Dngley
tariff and the .Payne-Aldrich tarin
were too high.
little study of this matter at this
time, with no prejudice, ought to be OF
interest. A tariff bill is, in some
respects. no different from anything
else. No one can make, or have en-
acted. a tariff bill that any ten men
will agree upon as having no schedule
too high or too low 1t IS the same IN
everything. A man has ideas about
how he wants improvements MADE on
his farm or the plans to build a house.
or he has in mind some commercial
cooperation of the architect or the
stockholders and tries to make the
transactions that he wants to COM
nlete. but he very seldom gets them
through lust exactly as he wants them.
He comes as close as he can, with the
nroposftion as it is finally completed,
q success. He, doesn't start out to
externally ind fault and criticise If he
ia a successful business man. A man s
daily life is one OF compromise ana not
of perfect attainment. -...s. 60,
or course 1t is easy to pour out lot
If criticism-the, quantity Is unlimited.
But the publication that continuously
criticises and finds fault with all tariff
bills.is not presenting the matter IN
way to enlist the thought OF either re-
publican or democrat. It Is simply
trying to create prejudice. Wnat the
voters of this country have got 10
realize, is that they will have to quit
following the republican who Is con-
tinuously harping about the pl otectlve
features of the tariff being too high,
or the democrat who talks about the
schedules being too low. The funda-
mental difference in our two dom1n'
ant parties is that, the republican
policy is for protective tariff, and
the democratic policy is for very low
tariff. The voter who tries to stand
on an imaginary line between those
two fundamentals. is simply foollng
himself. It is not an easy matter TO
make a tariff law, and the men,
democrats or republicans cannot make
a law, just as they want 1t, but come
as close to it as they can get 1t
enacted. When. the democratic party
is in power in this country, 1t IS
not going to enact an absolutely free
trade law. It's idea Is to lower the
tariff to point that will induce larger
shipments of goods into this country,
and, therefore, by a low duty on big
volume, create a revenue with which
to meet the government expenses.
That is what is called a tarih for
revenue. If the duty on an article is
low 1t will require the bringing to this
country Of a large number Of those
articles If It puts any considerable
amount OF money in the treasury
through the collection OF duty on
said articles. If great many of
those articles are brought from foreign
countries into this country, then they
will take the place Of those that have
heretofore been made in this country.
II the republican party is in power
It will put into force tariff law high
enough to protect the laborer and the
farmer from having to compete with
the cheaper article that is made and
grown in foreign country. There is
a difference between a competitive
tariff and a protective tariff. A pro-
tective tariff is high enough to practic-
ally bar the foreign goods from enter
ing this market A competitive tariff
lets the goods enter this market by
the payment Of q small duty which
keeps the United States manufacturer
and labor in competition with the
foreign manufacturer and laborer.
Theoretically competitive tariff is
supposed to, but practically it does
not, result in lowering the price to the
consumer, but does result in keeping
down the wages Of the employees Of
the factories Take for instance an
article that the wholesale price of is
$3.50 a dozen. The retail price Of that
article will probably be dollar. Sup
pose that the competition becomes
intense between the foreign manufac-
turer and the manufacturer in the
United States under a competitive
tariff, the foreign manufacturer in or
der to keep his institution going, may
come in with big shipment whichshe
will sell 1t f-.::5 a dozen. That six