The Devils Lake world and inter-ocean., 1915-11-11
OFFICIAL
EVASION
Of FACTS

Washington, Nov. 1O.--(special Cor
respondence.) The Democratic pub
licity work is being carried on by Sec
retary Redfeld at the Government ex-
pense, has been extended to include
the official figures issued by his de-
partment. Because of the unfair
methods of presenting statistics, fair
comparison is rendered difficult. For
instance, in Mr.. Redfeld's trade re-
view for September, 1915, recently
made public, he failed to give the ex-
port balance for September 1913 and
substituted therefor the balance for
the fiscal year 1910. The report says
in part:
"The September export balance
was $146,S43,919, being nine times as
much as the export balance of $16,-
,722 in September, 1914, and only
$41 ,693,371 short of the export bal
ance for the entire fiscal year 1910.
The nine months ending with Septem-
ber last show an export balance of
81 ,227 ,293,504, an increase of $1,17O,-
100000 over that for the correspond
ing period of 1914 and $S21,256,417
over that of 1913"
The duty of the secretary of Com
merce, as required by law, is to fur
nish impartial information concerning
Commerce ad Trade. For years it has
been the custom of the Bureau Of For
eign and Domestic Commerce, in CIV
ing out the monthly bulletin on I'M
ports and Exports, to state the cur
rent month with the corresponding
month of the two years preceding.
The unfairness of the above state
ment is in the words "and only $41,-
693,371 short of the export balance for
the entire fiscal year 1910"
The fiscal year 1910 happened to be
the low water mark for trade bal
ance under Republican Tariff. It was
the year the Payne-Aldrich law was
passed and the uncertainty of the re-
ception of the Maximum and Minimum
provision o. that law by the foreign
countries unsettled our export trade
up to March /, 1910. Therefore, the
year 1910 was not a representative
Republican Tariff with the maximum
provision in full swing and it did en-
courage our export trade and increase
uro export balances from year to yeal
until both were throttled by the Dem
ocratic Tariff of Oct. 3, 1918.
Our export balances under Republi.
can and Democratic Tariffs, according
to official figures issued by the Depart
ment of Commerce, are shown in the
following review:
The September, 1915, war expor'
balance was $146,343,919, being nine
times as much as the war export bal
ance of $16,341,722 in September, 1917
under the Democratic Tariff, and onl!
threetimes as much as the peace ex
port balance of $47,155,158 in Septem
Der, 1913, the last month under TIN
Republican Tariff.
The September, 1915, war expor
balance of 146,343,919, was $43.461,
655 more than the export balance fo
the entire fiscal year 1896, the -irs
full year under the Wilson-Gorma1
Free-trade Tariff Of 1894; $3S5,5So,
1914 less than the export balance fo
the entire fiscal year 1890, the frs
full year under the Dingley Protec
tive Tariff of 1897; and s375,750,17
less than the export balance for tn
entire fiscal year 1911, the first full
year under the Payne-Aldrich Pro
tective Tariff Of 1909.
During the first 12 months of tn
present Democratic Tariff, from Oct
1913, to September, 1914, the expor
balance amounted to $342 1888, 1884, O
a monthly average of $2S,553,249 un
der Democratic peace conditions, a
against monthly average of $58,
671, 1,O22 for the corresponding perio'
of the previous year under Repub
}ican Tariff.
The cuttlefish tactics of Democrati
leaders in obscuring the deficiencies o
their tariff legislation through the me
dium of the European war has beel
a matter c. common knowledge for tn
past year, and deceives nobody.