Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-05-17
OBJECTIONS TO r
BILL,
not many people will

DROBABLY not many people will,
ever read the majority tariff
dill on fuel. The same statement
,olds true Of the minority report
which states the democratic objec.
iona That minority report was
lie i last week by Senator Simmons
However, here is a brief digest Of
he democratic objections to the
III; It asserts:
that there is no definitely fixed
ule to measure the amount of pro-
ection accorded.
That the aggregate burdens i'm
posed on the people by the tariff
dill will be greater than the bur
lens imposed by direct taxes levied
~ the revenue bill-between three
md four billions of dollars.
That the standard of wages in
'oreign competing countries is
oday more nearly equal to the Am
.rican standard than ever before.
That the cost of products bears
, much slighter relation to daily
wage paid to labor than in former
lines.
That selling prices neither in this
country o in foreign countries
IRE measured by the cost of pro-
iuction and that profits constitute
far larger element in these SELL
ng prices than all other elements.
That the tariff beneficiaries be-
ieve that embargoes and prohibit
ions upon foreign imports will
Enable them to reap the exhorbitant
Profits of war times.
That the bill ignores the princi-
,le of imposing rates to measure
he difference in labor costs or in
production costs here and abroad.
That the so-called invasion of
,ur markets by foreign countries
mounts only to four per cent of
,ur annual production whereas our
INVASION of foreign markets amounts
o seven per cent of our production.
That if American goods car CON-
,ete with foreign goods in the mar
,ets of the world they can compete
With the same goods in our own
markets without entailins any dis
lster.
That the rates of the bill are
rom 40 to so per cent higher than
he Payne-Aldrich bill, considering
he present higher prices of import
ID merchandise. In many instances
hey are absolutely prohibitive.
That the senate has not improved
he Fordney bill.
That in substance the present bill
f properly entitled would be "an
lct to mortgage the country and its
sources to the protected and mon
,polized industries"
The taxes imposed in this BILL"
avs the report. ARE as real as those
imposed in the revenue bill. They
must be paid by all the people, just
is those in the revenue bill must be
,aid by all the people, and not by
he beneficiaries who have demand
ID and got them. The people must
lot only pay the taxes on imports
which go directly into the treasury,
suit they must pay the resulting in
:rease in prices of all the things
hey buy and consume. In the
aggregate the burdens that will be
imposed upon them as a result of
:hese high tariff rates will probably
exceed the burdens placed upon
hem by the direct taxes levied in
he revenue bill to support the gov
eminent and to meet the expenses
.ntailed by the war.
Referring to the power given the
President to substitute the Ameri-
IAN valuation, and the discussion
n the majority report thereon. the
minority report says:
This rather elaborate discussion
IF the reasons for scrapping the
American valuation scheme on the
,ne hand while providing for its
rehabilitation on the other was
probably deemed expedient and
necessary to placate the greedy in
.erests who with such persistence
md vehemence have pressed upon
the congress this shrewdly devised
method Of extorting %gratuities for
the enhancement of their already
overswollen profits.
"The majority members of the
committee in their effort to bolster
,p the demands and claims of the
protected interests for higher bene-