The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1917-07-06
amendments which the House adopted

which the House adopted
o the food bill. 1t defined the word
retailer" to be a person, copart-
lership, firm, corporation, or associa-
lion not engaging In the wholesale
business, whose gross sales do not ex-
coed 100000 per annum'. AS orig
nally drawn Mr.. Scott placed the fig
lre at $4,000, but after consultation
with his Republican colleagues 1t was
raised to the amount finally agreed
upon. The effect Of the amendment is
10 make the restrictions of the bill APP
ply to all dealers who do gross an
nual business of more than 100000,
they call themselves "re-
.ailers" or not.
Watchmen Wanted
The talk of adjourning Congress is
beside the mark. Congress should not
adjourn at all. If 1t does anything, it
should take recesses to a given day;
80 that it's reassembling shall not be
dependent upon Presidential favor.
Congress might adjourn, however, If
It could make sure of leaving some
sort of locum tenens on the ground
1t Washington. With the establish
ment of the joint committee on the
conduct Of the war, as proposed by
the Weex-Madden resolution, Con-
gress would have authorized repre-
constantly on duty at Wash
ington. This does not of necessity i'm
ply distrust of the President; but it
does indicate a feeling that the Pres
idents chosen subordinates are not all
that they should be.
A DilatOry liquidator
A number of small manufacturers
are said to have SHE'D away from Gov
eminent business because the Govern
ment is such "slow pay" A good deal
of their manufacturing business is
done on sales with payments made in
from 10 to 20 days after delivery
thereby enabling the owner to keep his
payrolls good and also pay his raw
bills as they come due. But
they find they can not do business this
way with the present administration
This calls to mind the fact that the
Secretary of the Treasury has made
Il practice to hold up payments due
to concerns which had carried on
their contracts with the Government
until after the close Of the fiscal veal
June 3Oth--in order that the Treas
ury books as closed on thai day would
not show deficit quite so enormous
May A Record Month
The Department of Commerce in it,
foreign trade figures for May an
nounces impressively, imports fol
May were valued at 1921, 100000, thu
greatest total for any one month il
the history of American commerce.
The customs receipts for that month
amounted to $2S, 900, or an averag,
rate on all imports of slightly in ex
cess of 10 per cent. During the month
of May, 1913, under a protective tariff
we imported $133,7OO,OOO worth O
commodities, which produced a reve
nue. of 500, $4,000 or an average rate
of 1853 per cent Imports for the
1917 month were over 100 per cen
greater than for the 1918 month, bu
duties were but $S,OOO,OOO greater
Seventy-one per cent of the May, 1917
goods came in free, compared with 81.
per cent for May, 1918. That gives
some idea of what the present tariff
law is costing us.
Slaughter Slackers
There is much wisdom in the sug
gestion that slaughter of mich cows
and of hens should be restricted, ant
yet 1t is difficult to control such mat
tiers by law. There is no great loss ii
the slaughter of a COW that consumes
$12 worth Of feed in the production o
$40 worth of milk. Even II used fol