The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-03-03
QUESTION OF
VALUATION IS
NOT SETTLED
No Agreement on Tariff Plan
Reached Despite Frequent
Conferences-Claim British
Propaganda Being Spread.
LETTER IS MADE PUBLIC
PALLADIUM NEWS BUREAU


ment on the question of valuation for
the new tariff act has yet been reach
ed by the finance committee of the
senate and the ways and means COM
mittee of the house, despite frequent
conferences. The finance committe
still is engaged in drafting rates based
on foreign valuation. The ways and
means committee still stands pat ON
its declaration that the house will H.
sist upon American valuation for the
tariff
At the present rate of progress the
finance committee could report the
tariff bill by the middle of this month
but there is no assurance,th it will
do so.
Some very interesting correspond
ence directly relating to the tariff
question, recently passed between a
manufacturing concern in New YORK
state and the department of labor.
| The manufacturing concern received
| a letter from a corporation known as
| the 'Inter-Ocean Holding company"
| At the top of it's letterhead Is the
statement that the company Is or
ganized at the instance of various Ger
man-Hungarian and CZecho-Slovakian
interests"
Send Letter to Davis.
The letter informs the American
company that labor conditions in CEN
trail Europe, and especially in the
three countries indicated, are such
that it will be very advantageous fos'
the American manufacturers to trans
| fer at least a part of their production
to those countries The InterOcean
| Holding company asks permission to
"offer figures for reproducing your
article in, Germany for resale in
| America"
/ The American concern forwarded
! the letter to Secretary of Labor Davis,
with the statement that, this is ap-
parently a plan to transfer our indus
| tries bodily to Germany and work un-
told injury to both the business and
labor interests of our country. The
plan undoubtedly is to secure control
of the best of everything that we
have and doubtless later compete
here"
Compliments Concern. --s :
/ In response to this letter Secretary
/ Davis complimented the American
/ concern upon the very patriotic stand
| which you have taken in refusing to
! be led into such an un-Amerlcan
scheme for depriving American work
ing men of the means of securing an
honest living" He took occasion to
denounce the propaganda in support
of the transference of American indus
tries, in whole or in part, to central
European countries.
Those familiar with industrial con
ditions in Europe state that the labor
ing classes of all of central Europe
are being mercilessly exploited by
i manufacturing interests financed moi
only by the people of their respective
nations, but by interests in other ma
tions.
Reports which have reached Wash
ington indicate that British capita
has either bought outright hundred.
of industrial plants in Germany, Aus
tria, Hungary and other central Euro
pean nations, or has entered into
leases for the entire output of plants
in those countries covering Ions
period of years. These British inter
ests have selling agencies established
throughout the world, and British ship
ping is again supreme.
Claim Propaganda
It is generally understood in Wash
: ington that much of the propaganda
: now going on in the United State.
against the enactment of protectiv,
: tariff with an American valuation
clause emanates from British sources
This propaganda aims to arouse tn,
sympathies of Americans for the down
trodden working man of Europe, ant
!, particularly to arouse the sympathie
I ! nf Fol Of nxy,ln cd n,
ropean workmen in this country
The charge is made, however, tina
the real purpose back of this propa
ganda is not to uplift the workers o
central Europe but to enrich th
pockets Of the interests which hav
succeeded in getting control of centra
European industries and are selling
! the output of those industries in thi
country either through their own sale
agencies or through American import
ing concerns
: Protects Markets
: In the meantime it is mentioned
England has protected it's own hom
: markets by enacting tariff law whic
3 imposes 80 per cent duty on owe
: 5000 commodities manufactured b
"key" industries. Moreover, in thi
law there is clause which provide
2 against the importation of foreign
3 made goods valued on basis of TO
5 eign deprecated currency.
8 1t is also fact that practically a
5 European nations have tariff laws pr,
= tecting their own home markets an
. yet practically all of these nations ar
l engaged in an intensive and extensiv
y propaganda in the United States t
l prevent this country from protectin
5 it's home market, its home industrie
2 and its working classes.