The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-12-09
Local Employers Hear
 Republican, Leader
Fordney One of C. O. P.s Big Guns Tells Why He Advo cates American Valuation Plan in the Pending Tariff Bill. - Chief Orator at Manu-
 lecturers Annual Dinner.

crease costs of production in the United States.
 "In the United States, some go per cent. of all our products are market ed, while South America takes less than 1 per cent. of what we produce. In a more or less uphill fight to ex- tend the market now absorbing but l per cent. of our production, importers advocate a policy, the evident, inevit- able result of which will be the sur render and ruinous impairment of the market for 90 per cent. of what we have to sell.
 ''The following is portion of a letter sent out by Marshall Field & Company to retailers:
 The American valuation plan In the Fordney tariff bill will prohibit our buying Europe's products that are to be assessed on an ad valorem basis
 'I cannot help but believe when Marshall Field & Company use the word "prohibit'' that they wilfully make a statement which they know Company had desired to be accurate they could have said The American valuation plan will make it less pro- htable for us to deal in Europe's products
 "I have with me two knives sent me by a man in Chicago. One was picked up recently in Germany by a traveller. It cost the equivalent of 96 cents. The second knife was purchased in Marshall Fields Chi cago store and the price asked was $500. Both knives were made by the firm of A. J. Henkle. Consider what the margin of profit must be on the knife imported by the firm of Mar shall Field & Company. Marshall Field & Company is not an eleemo- synary institution. On the contrary they are reputed to be more less su- persensitive on the question of money making.
 "They have been taking a leading part in opposing the American valua- tion proposal. If they can purchase knives in Germany for cents and sell them in Chicago for $500, are we assuming too much when we assert that their activity in opposing the pending tariff bill is prompted by sell fish motives? Do you think an ad va1orem duty assessed on the value of that German knife in the American the importation of that cheap knife from Germany? Where the discrep- ancy is as great as appears in the case of these knives, American va1ua- tion may cut the importers profit in half, but I state very firmly that such abnormal profits should be cut in half
 Where the foreign value and the ially a duty based on the American value will not be materially higher than the duty based on the foreign vaiue. In such case added protec- ton Is not needed. Protection Is needed where the great discrepancy in value exists.
 "On October 31. New York jour nal carried an article entitled Women Oppose Valuation Plan in Fordney Bill" The articla- -purported to show present retail prices and what they termed 'Fordney retail prices - prices they claimed would prevail with the new valuation plan in force. On November 2. I received a letter from the Cleveland Woolen Mills of Dresden, Ohio. criticizing the article in question. The following is a por- ton of what the president of the Cleveland Wooden Mills wrote me: