The Glenwood post., 1922-01-26
vacie Tets Bed Tune Stories
Current Events For the Childrsn
and 0rown-ups, Too
UNCLE TED GIVES
A Tariff TALK

Ruth and Jack were engaged in tho
hilarious occupation of making butter.
scotch candy and the kitchen looked
~ if Democratic caucus had been
held in it. The plates fii.cL with the
mixture had been placed outside to
cool in the crisp, cracking, COLI night,
and IN the course of the task Ruth g
frock had become unbuttoncl in the
back. With her hands smearsd with
sweets she approached Uncle Ted with
the request that he button hor up the
back, and while he employed his
thumb-like fingers the children asked
h;m for story to speed the time dur.
ing which the candy cooled.
"Wel. I thought candy making
would keep you kids busy this eve
sing," said Uncle Ted, "anl haven t
any story to tell. Hang those but
tonsl Why do they make 'cm so
smallf Oh, no! How would story
shout pearl buttons and their relation
to the tariff got"
"Why, what on earth can pea,l but
tons have to do with the tariff"
questioned Jack. And in jiffy bpth
children were seated in front If their
political mentor and he began:
"i shall begin by saying that the
pearl button industry in this country
furnishes typical illustration Of how
tho protective tariff law, advocated by
the Republican party, works to estab-
hsh and keep up industry in this coun
try. Prior to 1890 there was no pearl
button industry in the United States.
The rates of duty, that is, the tax
which importers of pearl buttons had
to pay to sell in this country pearl
buttons made abroad, was so small that
it did little to restrict imports, conse-
quently no home industry could get q
foothold. In that year our consul gen
eral at Vienna, Austria, wrote re.
port stating his belief that the making
of pearl buttons would never be un-
dsrtaken in the United States.
"iIut William Mckinley, who was
then ella rman OF the ways AMI means
committee OF the house of representa-
tives, which has charge of tariff lcgis-
lation, thought otherwise, and his tar
~ bill placed duty on pearl but
tons which gave birth to the Ameri-
can industry. Before lho Democrats
came into power in 1913 our pearl but.
ton industry employed $4,000 people
and there were plants in Alabama, III
inois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan
New York, New Jersey, Kentucky
Tennessee and Missouri. From the
time of the gathered shell to the fin
ihled product, 1900 men and women
were employed, while 5000 men work.
ed five months in the year digging
over $4,000 tons of fresh water shells
a product which, before the industry
was set going, had no commercial
value but which soon became worth $50
a ton. The capital at that time in.
vested in the industry aggregated over
$sOOo,0O0.
"When the Democrats secured con.
troll of the government in 1913 they
set about putting into practice a the.
ory which they had long advocated
but which has never yet worked out,
namely, that if very low rate Of
duty is placed on an imported article
this will increase its import to such a
aepree that more revenue will be Sc
cured for the government. If, for ex.
ample, an article under rate of duty
of 80 per cent was imported at the
rate of sl,o00000 annually, thus
yielding 100000 in revenue, the same
article with a duty of 10 per cent
would probably be imported at the
rate Of, say, $3,ooo,Ooo annually, thus
yielding duty of 100000. And they
applied this scheme to the entire tariff
law, W thout the slightest regard to
its effect on our domestic factories OF
farms. Moreover, they declared that
our own people would profit by this
lower duty by purchasing articles
cheaper.
"'You were too young before the
great war to be conscious of the eff
feet of this idea on the Industries and
agriculture of this country, but yor
will probably recall that your father