The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-10-16

- NV has been reduced TO mere minor or
aneiIiary element in the Federal revenues For the
fiscal year ended June 20. $780, customs revenues col
Iected were s,azs36ssszs. of total revenue re-
eeipts Of $6zo+4r44s76s. In Other words. tor th's
last fiscal year the tariff raised but little more than
sper cent Of the Federal The report of'the
Ways and Means Committee on the pending revenue
Bin estimates receipts under the pending tariff bill at
$7ooooooo out Of total estimssed revenues for the
nexf fiscal year Of $s,ooooooooo. which Is Iz3 per
cent OF the whole estimated revenues The Secretary OF
the Treasury however in his letter Of August 1927,
10 the chairman of the Ways and Means COMMITTEE
said that the internal revenue yield Tor the next hsea
year could not safely be permitted fan below $3.50
oooooo which with tariff receipts Of $,7oooooco est-
mated BY the committee, would bring the revenues up
to sso4ooooooc Of which the tariff receipts would be
less than 10 per cent So II Is fair TO say that the
tariff may not now be depended upon 70 produce more
than 10 per cent the Federal II IS mperz
tive therefore that the tariff cease to be subject of
juggIery BY every succeeding Congress and that the
tariff be placed upon permanent basis The tariff has
really become matter Of minor importance IN the
politics Of the country and IN the minds of the people
Il IS apparently however Of great deal I'M
,ortAnce to some politicians than is inc public.
The time has when il Is important consider the
revenues to be derived from the tariff and to have
revepnes primarily in mind IN the formulation of the
tariff rates Protection Of course is necessary Incl
dent Of any rates imposed. ~
There is clear distinction between manufactured
articles and crude materials IN the imports from for
eign countries The reports of sthe Department of
Commerce classify imports generally into IN crude
materials for in manufacturing. Ia foodstus and
food animals Cd manufactures ready for consumption
and manufactures for further use in manufacturing
"a miscellaneous This miscellaneous class relative
" unimportaat The policy Of protecting American
labor against the imports Of foreign products produced
BY cheaper labor IS related qnfe exclusively foreign
manufactures II Is in manufactures alone that labor
may be said to be the dominant element Of cost and
value Labor and capital too. may be transferred
from one industry to smother as one industry affords
greater profits than another There can iherefore be
no valid objection to Uniform ad vaiorem rate on
imports the chief value Of which Is the cost of the
labor which has been expended in their manufacture
An ad vaiorem import rate low labor costs in
industry will protect against low labor costs in another
industry. II is utterly impractical 20 have different
tariffs against different foreign countries based upon
the difference in cost Of production IN such countries
TOR the year ending june 90, 1927, the importa-
i ton Of manufactured articles Of all kinds comes
ready for consumption and further use in manufactur-
inf were Of the vane Of Izs6o7sI7 An import duty
Of 90 prrcenum ad valorem upon these import vaua-
tons would yield $ys6oIzzssIo Of revenue against
the total yield Of S57oocoooo estimated for the pend
ing fzrn Dali ffor nsca year ended june 30, 1910,
the imports Of manufactures of the value Of ST.
s464I4ss6 upon which duty Of 90 percentum would
have yielded $s63oaa3ooso. We may reasonably ex-
pect the valuation Of imports to manufacturer be m
creased IN the future, in which event the to
be derived from 20 cent duty would be materially
augmented This Is the assumption that articles
within the category Of food and foodstufs. raw ma
terias and natural products mmanufaetured would be
free Of the ad yalorem duty. et
There some articles within such free eiSssi-
fcation upon which specific duties could be laid either
for purposes in the Of products Of wide
national consumption and which are exclusively of
foreign production. and hence do n COMPETE
foa with domestic products; for Of protee-
fon as IN the case Of Sme foreign raw materials