New-York tribune., 1921-03-28
Harding's Farm
Tariff Plans
Alarm Leaders
Means Are Sought to Ditch
Emergency Bill and Pacify
President and Western
Wheat and Cattle Raisers
Ill Results Are Predicted
Higher Sugar, Reprisals and
Rail Losses Feared on Eve
of Elections to Congress
By Carter Field

By Carter Field
WASHINGTON, March 27.-Some Of
the Republican leaders are virtually
in a panic as the result of President
Harding's insistence that the emer-
gency tariff should be pushed through
Immediately at the opening of the new
session of Congress. More individual
brains probably are being applied to
the effort to discover some form Of
strategy by which the emergency tariff
can be sidetracked, by which President
Harding can be persuaded that the
sidetracking is legitimate. and at the
same time the farmers of the Middle
and North West can be pacihed, than
on any one problem in connection with
Congresses program.
The simple fact is that there scarce
ly is a member of Congress who
down in his heart does not regard
the so-called emergency tariff as politi-
cal buncombe of the worst sort. Most
of the men who voted for the tariff
before Wilson vetoed it, hoping and
praying that he would DO so, despite
the fact that they will vote for it again
il it is brought to vote. pelieve that
to any farmers save possibly those
engaged in growing sugar cane, who
are Democrats anyway and those rails
ing sugar beets
But there has been a hue and cry
about doing something for the farmers,
and the wheat farmers and cattle rails
ers have been educated in the last few
months to believe that their economic
salvation rests largely with the fate
Of this emergency tariff. And right
here comes in the political dynamite
which some. of the Republicans fore
see, and which the Democrats are
chuckling over, especially since Mr..
Harding has made it clear that he
wants the emergency tariff bill en-
acted.
Liverpool to Fix Wheat Price
Most of the Northwestern Senators
and members of the House think that
the tariff on wheat will accomplish
just one thing and nothing more. That
one thing will be to keep the Canadian
wheat off the American railroads in
the rush to seaboard just after harvest
time. They point out that both the
United States and Canada export sur
plus wheat in large quantities to the
Liverpool market. Therefore, they say,
the price of wheat will be determined
more or less at Liverpool.
If the surplus Canadian wheat barred
from the United States by the pro-
posed tariff wall is forced to take an
all-Canadian route to the seaboard it
will be exported to Liverpool from
Montreal. Incidentally. expectations
Of wheat as we'll as other commodi-
ties, from this Canadian port have
grown in the, last few years to such
an extent that many months ago
Montreal became the second port Of
North America, passing Boston, Phila-
delphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, New Or
leans, San Francisco and Seattle, to the
amazelnent and chagrin of the chambers
Of commerce Of these cities. It is now
second only to New York.
The advantage to be gained by this
further increasing of the amount Of
wheat shipped through Montreal is re-
garded as real one by the representa-
tives here of the Northwest, because
right after harvest there is more wheat
to move than the railroads can handle
and the barring of Canadian wheat
from the American roads will expedite
the handling of American wheat
Boost for Canadian Roads
However, it is not claimed by even
the most optimistic that this result
will be important enough to seriously
affect the price paid the farmers for
their wheat. On the ether hand. it will
cut down the period of capacity bust
ness ON the railroads, affect their earn
ings for the full-year period, and tend
toward higher freight rates or lower
wages on the roads. in The same degree
precisely it will boost the earnings of
the Canadian railroads by giving them
wider spread of capacity business. 1t
will take longer to move the Canadian
wheat to seaboard, but it will all be
moved on Canadian railroads.
This phase of the problem is not
worrying the Republican politicians so
much as the belief on their part that
the emergency tariff is being counted
ON by the farmers to boost the prices
Of their products, and that, except in
the case of sugar, it will fail. Then,
they fear, the farmers will be angry,
and will take it out on the party in
power, as they always do, at the next
Congressional election AS the Repub-