Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-23

CHIEF Economist
Former North Dakd ia College
Head Takes View
Post Here.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM NILE.

An earnest exponent of the fA IN de
benture plan-Dr John Lee q oulter
late president of the North "a akots
State Agricultural College-will taNnor'
row take ONCE as chief economiN o.
the United States Tariff CommissA IN
DR.. Coulter was appointed to that pea t
which is considered the pivot" arourA
which the commissions entire activit
ties revolve as a result of his able pres
entation of the case for raising the tariff
on fiaxseed.
Largely because of his argument on
behalf of the flax-growing States of
Qfinnesota. North Dakota. South Da-
kota and Montana, the commission rec
Commended increasing the duty from 40
to, Sc cents bushel. President Hoover
recAntly approved the recommendation,
in the teeth of bitter protests from the
Argentine governm9NS. DR. Coulter s
call tn the Tariff Commission, which
he villa now serve as its principal adj
wiser, was the immediate result.
Apart from the circumstances-of
current Importance in the congressional
situation---that DR.. Coulter is d believer
in the debAnture export bounty on sur
plus crops, thiS achievement of the key
position on the Tariff Commission is
highly significant on general grounds.
It is q conceAsion to the paramount
place that agriculture now has in the
scheme OF things at Washington, both
executive and legislative. The Tariff
Commission has had no chief economist
for the past six Or seven years. the
previous occupant Of the berth, John r..
Of the endless Squahbltng over the
sugar tariff.
Fox Was. Filling Post.
The functions of the post have been
fulfilled by Emanuel Fox, the head Of
the economies division. a job entirely
disassociated from that of chief econ
omist. DIR. Coulter's appointment to the
last-named position is an unmistakabie
acknowledgment that the farm has
mounted to, the level Of the factory in
the business. of American tariff making.
The appointment at least IS so cousid-
cred in Tariff Commission quarters
themselves.
DR.. Coulter came before the Senate
agricultural committee. last Winter and
Spring as a spokesman Of the North
western farming country and reviewed
agriculture's plight and needs in gen.
eral. In particular. he disclosed him.
self as. q believer in the project first
National Grange, i.e., the now celebrat-
ed debenture scheme. for paying an ex-
port bounty on surplus crops. His APP
pointment to the Tariff Commission
was strongly urged by Senators Frazier
and Nye of North Dakota, both of whom
voted consistently for the debenture
plan during the recent ruction in the
Senate.
DR.. Coulter's new billet will pay him
$1,000 a year. 1t Is the highest salaried
job on the commission, next to those
of the commissioners themselves, who
got only $500 until the WEIGH civil
service. pay-increase bill raised their
wages to $4,000 year. Coulter's work
will consist of sitting, co-ordinating and
surveying the world tariff situation for
the commission. To O. considerable ex-
tent he will influence its entire policy.
During the. past Ia months more than
half Of all commission business has con-
cerned agricultural tariff,
An Eminent Student.
When the Tariff Commission was con-
sidering REVISION of the customs duties
on fiaxSeed DR.. Coulter won his, spurs
as an eminent student Of the tari6
structure He submitted what the COM
missioners later confessed was virtually
an unansWerable case on behalf Of the
group of Northwestern States in which
FAX Is a major crop. The consequence
was O. boost OF 16 cents q bushel in the
import rate. much to the indignation
and practical disadvantage Of Argentina.
which has been shipping large quanti-
ties Of fiaxseed into the United States.
DR.. Coulter made the Tariff Commits
sion see the uneconomic situation which
was working to the serious injury of
American fiaxgrowers. He pointed out
that instead Of building the mills which
grind naxseed into linssed oil near the
fields where. fax is grown-in such
places, for example, as Minneapolis or
all located along the Atlantic Seaboard.
Flaxseed. which Is the chief in
gredient of hnseed Oil, has therefore
to be shipped all the way from the.
Mississippi Valley to the Eastern sea-
board before 1t reaches the mills. The
result is that the high freight rates are
prohihitive, when American fiaxseed
comes in competition with the fiaxSeed
from Argentine, which arrives by cheap
water routes from South America. 1t
costs our farmers $2.54 huShel to lay
down fiaxseed in New York, as against
an Argentine cost of $l.52. This point
was eloquently and effectively delineated
by DIR. Coulter when he appeared before
the Tariff Commission, and his plea
won the day. One of the immediate
effects has been the planting OF ex-
tensive new FAX acreage In North Da-
kota. and other States, automatically
reducing the. production of an equiv
alently large amount Of surplus"
wheat.
DR.. Coulter is a native Minnesotan
and in his forty-eighth year. He,succeed-
ed the hate Senator Laid Of North Da-
kota as president Of North Dakota
state Agricultural College ia, 1921.
Coulter has served the, United States,
Government previously in various ca
pacities. including service as an agri-
cultural expert in the Census Bureau.
Just before going to North Dakota he
was. dean, of the West Virginia College
-