New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-28
For a Tariff Commission.

The Nations Business published by
the Chamber of Commerce of the United
States. has started a new campaign for the
creation Of a permanent tariff commits
sion. 1t is a campaign that ought to sue
coed. The country needs the services OF
an expert body, freed from partisan press
ure. to help solve the many economical
problems which must arise at the end OF
the great war.
There could not be better time to cut
away from the crude, unscientihc tariff
making methods Of the past. We have al
lowed the tariff to be made a plaything Of
pslitics. Partisan and sectional animoSl-
ties have guided too largely in the fran
ing Of tariff laws With much more Wis
dom than he ever received credit for a
Democratic candidate for President once
said "The tariff is a local issue" That
IS what it has been. The country has
never vet been able to shake itself free
of ignorant, prejudiced localism in the
preparation of measures which should
have been framed in the broadest spirit
of nationalism-as agencies for the in
crease of national wealth and efficiency
and for the strengthening Of our economic
position in a world in which International
commerce plays every year a role OF
larger and larger Importance.
1t would be relatively easy for us to
adopt a new policy now. The tariff ques-
ton is politically dormant. The opera
ion of the Underwood law has been prac-
ticallv suspended since the war began We
are running up enormous SURPRISES in eX-
ports. and imports threaten no American
industry. The politicians can make little
out Of the situation either way But the
economist can foreSee the harsh reaction
which must come after the war is over,
when Europe Will be eager to sell us goods
at dumping prices, and we shall feel
the pinch Of competition with many coun-
tries whose scale of living has been ma
terially lowered.
Before the war ends we should prepare
for a scientific readiustment of our tariff
to meet new conditions-a readjustment
made by economic experts not by unin-
formed politicians. Take the new dye
stuffs industry which is being established
here. If it succeeds in turning out dyes
for the American market it should be
protected from the desperate efforts which
the German manufacturers will surely
make after the war to re-estabhsh their
former worldwide monopoly.
A tariff commission could deal more in
diligently with such a problem than the
committees of Congress can. These COM
mittees are ordinarily controlled by men
with local issue" point of view. But
the only interest which should govern in
the framing Of tariff rates is the interest
Of the entire country.
Economically and commercially the
United States is still poorly organized The
government is not doing all it should do
to push the country forward. The war has
given us a wonderfully great opportunity
to strengthen our financial and commercial
position. But we need better machinery to
do the work ahead of us. The creation
of a permanent tariff commission and the
elimination of partisan politics and pa
rochiaism from the consideration of tariff
problems would mean an enormous gain in
governmental efficiency and national ener-
gy. 1t would mark in one big field the
putting away Of juvenile methods-the
end of a policy which is content to send q
stripping to do the work Of man.