The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-10-14
washiiston. D. C.. Oct. IRWIN

washiigton. .. c.. Oct irwin
the enactment Of the new tariff
Law the power Of the president Of
the United States has been in
creased In = way and to q degree
that doubtless was never dreamed
Of by the trainers Of the constitu-,
ton. The American executive has
long been the most powerful In the
world, but from now on, unless the
new Law is amended or repealed,
he may exercise authority under
which he might become the abso-
lutte autocrat Of the business at
fairs of the nation.
Briefly stated, the provisions Of
tho new Law make It possible for
the president to reduce or to. In.
crease customs duties. This is &C.
complished through what 10 termed
the flexible tariff"
When 1t is considered that al
most every business enterprise
may be prospered or wrecked by.
the tariff, il we are to believe halt
that is said when such legislation
is under consideration, some idea
of the nature and extent of the nav
powers of the president may be ap-
pro1imated. The American manu-
fecturef, the American laborer, and
the American farmer may find
their welfare entirely dependent
upon the decision Of one man.
That is something that would
have been bitterly opposed 3 few
years ago and it Is a matter of sur
prise to many veteran observers of
national affairs that congress
should have gone 20 far in the dele
| cation Of its powers. But Mr
Harding suggested it and it wen,
through. Now congress can blame
only itself If it discovers one Of
these days that it has little to dc
except pass appropriation bills.
1t Is true that tariff making /:
not placed entirely In the hands o.
the president under the new law
Some limitations are thrown
around what he may do and he ha.
to advise with the tariff commits
sion. However, it is certain tina
the president now has power
such as none of his predecessor
ever exercised and their full extan
may not be realized until they hav
been tried out. Incidentally, IL
the course of the tryeut it is quit
possible that the constitutionalit
OF this phase of the law may b
attacked and the case carried t
the supreme court for final de
cision.
What the President May Do.
Under the head of special provis
ions, the new law gives the presi
dent authority ~ to raise or t
. lower any rate in the bill not I
exceed so per cent, and (2) t
apply the American valuation pla
of assessing ad valorem duties, an
to exclude articles of foreign pro
, duction in special instances.
Essentially an exemplification c
the protective policy, the theory
the new law is that the duties ley
led on imports shall eQualize tn
, costs of production at home an
! abroad. 1t recognizes the fact tina
American standards Of living ar
generally better and higher tina
in any other country, and tina
American labor is and must be bel
ter paid. To maintain these stand
ards American producers an
American labor must not be sui
jected to competition from abroa
except on terms that approximat
! equality in production costs, an
the only way to accomplish this
{ through a tariff that will make
!. impossible for foreign producers
: undersell US in our own markets.
A sThe schedules of the new Ia
> are supposed to do this, but it
: admitted that conditions surroun!
q ing production both at home ar
abroad change constantly and TIL
tit Is desirable to have some so
l of fiexibility in the tariff rate
: Hence, the discretionary authors
t vested in the president to rail-
/, or lower duties within a range
o so per cent. Furthermore, Il
9 president may exclude any artic
I il in his judgment its importatit
s would tend to injure an America
t industry.