The Lamar register., 1915-04-28

to confine its analysis to the five
months lying between April / and
September /, 1914, each of which
showed a balance of trade in the for
eign market adverse to the United
States"
Being the morning contemporary"
referred to we accept the challenge.
We are a little rusty on the code
duello, but we have the impression
that the rules give the challenged one
the choice of weapons. However, we
waive the right, as a matter of cour-
tesy, merely insisting that after we
have used the bludgeon selected for
our use by our gentle opponent we
be permitted to pick a more delicate
weapon for the finishing stroke.
We have before us the official re
port of the Department Of Commerce
giving the values of imports and ex-
ports for each month of the year 1914
compared with preceding years. With
exports we have nothing TO do at this
time. 1t was the tariff not the bal
ance of trade, that we were discussing
in the editorial which gave cause to
the challenge. The total importations
in the five months to which we are
confined were, in 1914, S7S5, 5,O1S, ,26O.
In the same months in 1913 our i'm
portations amounted to S6S7 ,S77 ,374.
1t is thus proven, by the governments
figures. that our imports increased in
that period S97 7,140,sS6. Our state
ment was that "the Underwood tariff
Virtually opened our doors for the adj
mission of foreign products and man
ufactures," and these official reports
furnish conclusive evidence of the
truth of that declaration which we
have the temerity here to repeat. But
the unfairness of the Republics chal-
lenge is shown by the inclusion Of
August in this period. 1t is fairly well
known that the war began on the lst
of August, 1914, and importations in
that month owing to the war dropped
TO the lowest figure since November,
l19l1. Let us set ASIDE that month and
make our comparisons with the four
previous months, April, May, June and
July, in which the Underwood tariff
was in full and uninterrupted opera
ton. The total imports for those
months in 1914 were S655 ,250,37O. For
1.-THE same months in 1913 the total was
$3.50, ,225 1921, an increase in 1914 of
20 e
over S25 100000 a month, or at the
rate of over S3OO,O0O,OOO a year Can
any one wonder that the evil effect
of this overwhelming volume of inn
portations, largely taking the place
of our own production, was making
itself felt in business conditions?
But we said that the war practi-
cally nullified the Underwood tariff
| law and restored to US a measure Of
protection by putting a check to the
industries of Europe and greatly in
creasing ocean freight rates. These
statistics from the Department Of
Commerce also furnish the proof of
that statement The imports for the
five war months, August l to Decem-
I Der 81, 1914, amounted to S64S, ,429, >
O53, very near to S14O,OOO,OOO less
than the preceding five months, and
exactly S125,5ls,752 less than the inn
portations for the same five months
in 1913, which were S773,947, sos
Thus we see that while the Under
wood tariff increased our importations
at the rate of S25,OOO,OOO a month
the war decreased them at practically
the same rate.
There was once a man who was
taken up before a broad and high
barn door and asked to tell what it
was. He made many guesses but
never once did he call it a barn door
Our esteemed contemporary suffers
from that form Of chronic astigma-
ism. 1t is unable to distinguish a
barn door even when it is led before
it. So we have no hope that these
facts will convince it of its errors, and
we can only advise it, as did our old
friend, King Lear, to
Get thee glass eyes
And, like a scurvy politician, seem