Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-08-21
THE NEW TARIFF BILL

After the tariff bill passes the
senate it will 60 to conference with
the house committee. Mr.. Fordney,
the author of the house bill, will be
a member of that conference. He
will not know his bill when he sees
it. More than a thousand amend
ments to the house bill have been
made in the senate. Nearly all OF
them consist in raises in the tariff
rate over the house figures, but
some of them 60 to change the prin-
ciples in the house bill. One Of
these amendments eliminates 1.-THE
American valuation" plan. That
was one of Mr.. Fordney's pet
ideas. 1t made the tariff duties
apply to the value of the imported
articles in the United States in
stead of applying the duty to the
invoice cost in the country of their
production, as has been the proceed
ure in all other tariff bills. Osten-
sibly, this was to offset the ex-
change value of money in the diff
ferent countries. It's practical ef-
feet in most cases would be to
greatly increase the tariff rates. A
hot campaign has been waged on
this subject. For months now The
Tribune has been in receipt of
printed propaganda both for and
against the American valuation
plan. Home manufacturers are
generally for it, and importers and
consumers of foreign goods and re-
tail merchants are against it. There
will be a hot fight in the confer
ence committee over this point.
Mr.. Fordney will not give up his
American valuation plan in the face
of an approaching election without
a struggle. Then there is the So
called flexible" feature of the tar
iff bill. AS the bill left the house.
the president had power to change
the tariff rates named in the bill
up or down at his pleasure in order
to meet changing conditions. The
senate took most of the f~lexibility
out of this provision. 1t limited
the presidents power to change
tariff rates all around. He was for
hidden to change advalorem rates
to specific rates or the contrary.
He was forbidden to exercise his
power by taking articles off the
free list or putting dutiable articles
in the free list. A percentage max
imum limit was put on his power
to change rates Finally, he was
forbidden to change rates at all
except on the Recommendation of
the tariff commission. This latter
provision is sure to excite much
opposition, for the tariff commits
sion as at present constituted is not
a body Of tariff experts at all. 1t
consists of a lot of lame duck poll
ticians. Woodrow Wilson tried to
take the tariff out Of politics and
hand it W. to an expert commits
sion. That move was resented in
congress. They said it was dele
eating the authority of congress
and unconstitutional. But the re-
publicans did not abolish the COM
mission. 1t paid some good sal
aries and gave them a chance to
provide jobs for deserving repub-
licans, SO they simply fired the old
crowd and filled it up with poll
ticians. The law provides that it
shall be a bipartisan board, but it
was easy to find some democratic
politicians whose services to the
republican party entitled them to
reward, and the tariff commission
is now composed of men who know
very little about the tariff, but
know a fat job when they see it.
The present tariff bill was made up
without consulting the tariff COM
mission. Congress ignored the tar
iff commission entirely in making
up the rates. The beneficiaries of
these rates were allowed to make
them. Congress had no respect for
the tariff commission, because they
knew how it was made up. This
proposal to give it a say as adviser
10 the president is looked on as
something of a joke in Washing
ton, but it will encounter a good
deal Of opposition just the anne.
Til. republican leaders say that
they hope to get the tariff bill out
Of the conference committee by
October /. and passed into law just
before election day. They figure
that this is their safest plan. If it
had been passed and put into force
a month or two before election so
that the voters had a chance to