, 1922-10-19

! - Wv ! - lE'' W 49, -
to predict increased living costs a Il
The latest intpruatinnalist, free trad
err. dcvut"r of Woodrow Wilson and
enemy Of all things Republican. to
isSu" a prOnunciam"ntO against tn"
protective tariff is Roger W. Babson.
Mr.. ItabSon was one Of those in close
communion with the Wilson regime
during its aSrcnd"nCy in Washington.
Since h a time h" has been drvOt-
ing his talents to tn" advocacy of
Wilson policicssuch as the cancella-
ton of our foreign debt, participation
in European affairs, free trade. etc.
Mr.. Babson. in a copyrighted art
iclc printed throughout the country,
expresses great fear h a the Amer
lean people are going to have their
living costs hOiStcd because of the
Republican tariff. but. says Mr.. Bah
son, according To the copyrighted art
icle, "thcre is one compensation. the
Republican party signed its own death
warrant with the same pen that
signed the <ariff bill"
n of the indictments Mr.. Babson
draws against the g tariff bill is
lard and pork that have been duty
free under the old tariff will nOw be
taxed II cent on every pound i'm
ported" wh"rofrom Mr.. BabSOn
draws the conclusion that our morn
ing meal is going to be ~outragcOusly
high.
We very much fear that Mr.. Bah
sons sOliritudc over Saving Eu-
rope" has so occupied his attention
during the last Is months that he
never knew an emergency or farmers
trriff urlc IprpipI and nut inIn of,
feet May. 1921. which placed a duty
of two cents a pound on pork and =
- per c"n ad valorem duty or
bacon. These rates have beer in Of.
feet lS months. If the imposition
of a protective duty on these articles
would necessarily result in an in.
crease in the price of breakfast bacon
and lard. as Mr.. Babson says, IS
months should be sufficient time tC
demonstrate the fact.
The Department of Labor issued Il
bulletin giving the average retail
price Of food articles as OF April Is,
1921. one month before the farmers
tariff went into effect. and the retail
price of food as of April Is. 1922, II
months after it went into effect. This
official table shows that instead of
the tariff on pork increasing the liv-
ing costs insofar as that article of
food is concerned. the retail price
of pork decreased II per cent, 1t
also shows the retail price of bacon
decreased II per ent and tn" retail
price of lard decreased eight per
cent!
Mr.. Babson continues. according
to tn" copyrighted article:
"Whcat, which. like pork and
lard. onjnvod immunity under the old
tariff. will be taxed rs cents per
hundred pounds under tn" n"w tariff
and this is particularly riiicUlouI.
The few pounds Of wheat that Canad-
ian growers sent into this country
kept the price of bread somewhere
whore it b~elOnged?"
Now the only thing ridir1lOus about
this statement is Mr.. Babeon'5 gross
ignorance Of the whole situation. an
inorance which. while "ycusuble in
the average citizen, b"c0moS astound
ing and incxcusahlc in II who makes
p~retcnsions of being the wOrld'3
gr"at"st living statistician. In tn"
first place. the tariff upon wheat is
not rated on per hundred pounds. II
is rated on the basis Of per bu7h"l.
Under the Underwood law wheat was
admitted free. In May, 1921, the
farmers tariff placed Il duty of %
cents a hUShcl on wheat.
According TO Mr.. Hab-On this
should have resulted in an increase
in the price of bread becaGs" h" says
'"Iho Canadian wheat s,nf mo this
country kept the pri'" 81 bread
somewhere where it belonged" What
happened after the pmcrg"HrE tariff
wont into effect and STOPPED III" inn
nortatiOn Of Cadadian wheat? Re-
i"rrtnr again % II report upon re-
tail prices issued by the department
Of Labor. We find the recall DIic" Of
bread decreased 16 Ter c.ml after
this tariff Of 80 cents Il hHsEnl wa
placed On wheat! The price Of flour
decreased 10 per cont! y" Nr5c" Of
cream of wheat decreased - per
cent,
What is still more riit,"IUu5 Is
tn" fact hat Mr.. BdbsOu al'lrEs the
new duty on wheat when in puiu' Of
fact it is only 80 cents I hush"l,
which is five cents a hU-h"l less
than has been in effect inc" Nav,
1921. If we had a decrease in til"
price of all wheat food products with
a tariff Of 35 cents a bushel on
wheat. there is certainly no basis for
the wild assertion that a reduction
of that tariff will result in an in
e in the cost of food products.
Mr.. Babson drags out the tariff
schedule on beef. butter. sugar and
eggs and asserts the protective tariff