Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-11
Reaping the Tariff Whirlwind.


It was manifest from the outset that
when the House of Representatives
sowed the wind of the Hawley bill, the
United States sooner or later would
reap the whirlwind. The anticipated
has been realized. 1t is literally whirl-
wind that has descended upon Wash
ington-a whirlwind Of protests from
foreign governments without parallel in
the history of American tariff making.
No fewer than twenty-five countries
have submitted complaints and repre-
sensations through the State Depart
ment. These in turn were commune
Gated by Secretary Stimson to the Sem
ate finance committee, which is now
molding the Senate tariff bill, and from
that quarter the protests are made
public.
When President Hoover summoned
the new Congress in special session
three months ago he used the following
language in connection with his pro-
posal Of Limited" changes in the Ford
ney-McCumber law:
In determining changes In our tariff
we must not fail to take into account
the broad interests Of the country as
whole, and such interests include our
trade relations with other countries. 1t
is obviously unwise protection which
sacrifices a greater amount Of employ
ment in exports to gain less amount
of employment from imports.
It is now plain that the House did
"fail to take into account the broad
interests of the country as q whole"
when it enacted rates which have stirred
the ire of the entire economic universe.
From Europe, Asia and from North,
South and Central America the pro-
tests have rained in. In at least one
case, that of Spain, there is definite
threat of drastic reprisals. They are
foreshadowed In other regions. The
Madrid government, over the signature
of Dictator de Rivera himself, suggests
its readiness to denounce the existing
INSTRUMENTATION modus vivendi with
the United States-adopted two or three
years ago pending conclusion Of a COM
mercial treaty-if the American Con-
gress insists upon blighting Spanish
trade on projected lines.
There are hardly less forcefln words
in the communications from other gov
ernments and from business associations
in their respective countries. Canada
and Argentina, our best customers in
this hemisphere, are sorely aggrieved.
Great Britain, France, italy, Belgium,
Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands,
Greece, the Irish Free State, Turkey,
Persia, Norway and Denmark comprise
the European chorus of indignation.
In the din Of remonstrance emanating
from the sister Americas, Cuba, the
Dominican Republic, Mexico, Uruguay,
Guatemala and Honduras join. The
Bahamas and Bermuda associate them
selves with the protests Of Great Britain.
From the other side of the globe echoes
a stentorian complaint from India
Even in the South Seas the Hawley bill
has generated hostility, for the COM
monwealth Of Australia, that vast po-
tential market for American trade,
proclaimed its feelings at Washington
in vigorous terms.
The magnitude and comprehensive
ness of these representations cannot be
ignored by Congress. They strike an
almost identical note, i.e., that the pro-
posed rates are arbitrarily high and
menace the American trade Of the pro-
testing country with something ap-
preaching ruin. The circumstances
from abroad go straight to the roots
Of that domestic prosperity which our
tariff system is designed to protect"
We can therefore hardly afford to
treat this Niagara of protests as a flood
that will trickle into an innocuous
rivllet II We are sufficiently Indifferent
to it. The backbone Of the United
States economical structure is, of
course, our colossal home market, with
its consuming and buying power. But
our foreign trade, in the development
of which Herbert Hoover has had 50
much to do, accounts for tidy item
Of 5000, 000, 900 year. An enormous
percentage Of 1t Is represented by manu-
featured goods turned out in this coun-
try on the production scale, which
has become the bedrock Of the Amer
lean industrial system. Shut or the
outlet for that trade by engendering
prohibitive tariff arrangements overseas
and you have about as classic an in
stance Of cutting of our nose to spite
our own face as can easily be imagined.
It was with . view to precisely such
q situation-the situation which has
now arisen-that President Hoover ad-
monished Congress TO go slow in tariff
tinkering If 1t did not want to aggra-
vate "our trade relations with other
countries" The United States, opulent
and independent as it is, cannot look
with equanimity upon international
tariff hostilities. It seems extremely
unlikely that MI. Hoover would sanction
such conflict by his signature to bill
that would be tantamount to declara-
tion Of economic war.
Aviation is q most versatile form Of
modern interest. There Is always some
I new kind Of record TO be broken.