The Washington herald., 1919-03-30
ABANDON FREE
TRADE DEMAND,
FORDNEY URGES
Mic higan Representative
Says American Industries
Must Be Protected.
TRADE WAR IMPEMS
New Chairman Of House
Tariff Committee Warns
Of Competition.
TRADE WAR IMPENDS

Tariff legislation to meet the after
the-war conditions is a question of
major Importance that will confront
Congress at the coming session." said
Representative Joseph w. Fordney,
of Michigan, yesterday. Mr.. Fordney
will be chairman Of the Ways and
Means Committee in the next House,
in which must originate all tariff and
revenue legislation.
There is now every indication.
every reason to believe" he contin-
ued. that the next few years may
witness a commercial struggle among
the different nations-a struggle to re-
gain old markets and to find new
markets for export trade.
This Is a time, II seems, that calls
for sane, sensible business-like action.
No one man or party is greater than
the nation, and selfishness and parti-
sanship must not stand in the way of
good government.
The Tariff Question.
Appropriation bills must be passed; !;
matters relating to the future OF the
army and navy will receive attention; /;
the question of the future of our mer-
chant marine and the railroad situa-
ton must be met
"On the tariff question 1 regret to
note that occasionally some news
paper or writer refers to recent heavy
exports and manufacturing activity
as an indication that tariff changes
are unnecessary. They neglect to
analyZe such exports. They do not
explain the abnormal conditions Incl
dent to wartimes.
During the war, the demand for
all kinds of goods, as a general rule,
far exceeded the supply. Prices went
skyward. A man with most anything
to sell could sell it at a profit. A
manufacturer. no matter how waste
full his methods, could make money.
There Is reason to believe We are ap-
preaching a period when supply may
exceed demand; when the man or ma
ton with goods to sell will meet with
difficulties in finding a ready market
When commerce was stopped with
Central Europe, We came face to face
with the realization that we were
dependent upon other countries for
products vital to our industries and
our everyday needs, which might and
should have been produced in Amer
lea, and several new and important
Industries have been developed.
Most of these new industries. un-
der our present tariff laws, will be
unable to meet the competition that
normal times will bring.
The old free trade argument is
that if an article can be produced
elsewhere more cheaply than in the
United States, it should be imported
rather than produced at home. so
the consumer may benefit from low
1vf
until one stops to figure out how
really few things we would produce
in America and how much we would
buy from abroad if we were guild
ed by such line of reasoning.
"Generaly speaking. the cost of
production OF everything, on the
farm and in the factory. is higher
in America than in Europe and
Asia, and there is a very real rea-
son for it-a reason we do not care
to alter! 1t is the high standard
of living in America, guaranteed by
child labor laws, factory inspection
laws. laws regarding hours of la
Dor. minimum wages and employers
liability and other laws. which.
while they benefit labor, materially
add to the cost of production.
Let US look all conditions square
ly in the face. Let US deal with
realities and abandon free-trade
talk. Let US make it possible for
the utilization of our farms and fac
tories, our lands and abundant re-
sources, that our labor may be well
employed and that industrial inde-
pendence may be assured for the
nation.
There is one way this can be ac-
complished and that is by safe
guarding the American market, the
market most sought after by other
countries because it is the best
market in the world"