The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-03-21

tlustries. Conferences ~are planned be
tween Secretaries Hoover and Wallace OF
the commerce and agricultural depart
mentS and Eugene Meyer of the war
finance corporation. at winch a pohey OF
finance will be formulated and laid be-
fore President Harding for approval.
35The enactment of emergency tariff
legislation. later, to replace the embar-
goes, because the President Is reluctant
TO use war powers any longer than neceS-
sary. and a tariff wall IS considered much
more scientific than an embargo in con
trolling the influx of foreign commodities.
From present indications, the embargo
will be used as a stop-gap until the tax
bill has been considered by congress and
that body Is ready to tackle tariff legiSla-
ton. Convincing arguments have been
made to Mr.. Harding. which Tor the mo-
ment make il look as If he would favor
the enactment of the Fordney emergency
tariff law in exactly the same form as II
was passed by congress last session, only
to receive a Wilson veto. Those who favor
such a course say that Il general tariff
bill must be indefinitely postponed until
after tax laws are made and further data
is available as 10 the cost of production
around the world 1t is recognized that
this is a period of readjustment and that
a tariff law passed now may have to be
revised within year, owing t. economic
factors over which this country has no
control.
The significant thing that stands out in
events of the last two days is that agri-
and that the Harding administration,
which pledged itself TO help the farmer Is
TRYING to make good that pledge. Henry
| Wallace. secretary of agriculture and
| for years the editor of an agricultural
! journal of wide influence among the
! farmers, is in favor of an emergency tariff
| law such as was proposed at the last SEES
| sion of congress and is behind a great
many other things of vital need to the
| farmer. He was an influential adviser in
the last campaign and 1t looks as n he
will be the guiding hand in the Harding
agricultural policy.
| Wrapped up in the whole situation is
/ the question of freight rates. The Hard
| ing administration cannot put an embargo
| on foreign goods and expect that alone to
relieve the farmer. for markets abroad
must be found. To ship from interior
points To the seaboard at the present scale
! of freight rates Is almost prohibiuve-
! While the products themselves have come
| back to levels below the 1914 prices, the
/ freight rates remain unchanged. The state
of Iowa. for example, might as well be
| 300 miles further west, so far as freight
rates today are concerned.
| To lower the freight rates. the railroads
say they must bring about wage reduc-
tons. They are trying to bring that about
| now. The Harding administration Will
| resort to emergency measures, like the
I embargo or temporary tariff bills. but the
drive against high freight rates is coming
too. The purchasing power of the farmer
| has diminished.
The eastern manufacturers fear rCtalia-
tiOnS. if America begins the embargo pro
cess and interferes with the only oppor-
tunity foreign peoples have of marketing
their goods. This certainty of n great
struggle between the interests of the west
and south as opposed to the east is no
longer denied in official quarters. For the
moment the farmer has the upper hand
and measures for his relief are in the
making.