Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1929-08-30
The Senate Tariff Bill.

than that produced by the House Of Rep
re-c.datives. which was hailed by the
country as the summit Of extortion.
They lowered some schedules. but these
for the most part were those appertainins
to articles Of little importance in the
domestic economy Of the American public
Indeed, one Of these reductions that helps
to bring down the average was purely in
the interest Of the great steel corporations.
which. because Of their sdvanta eeous deal
with oOeiet Russia. are enabled. under the
Smoot mobilization Of the HaWley bill. to
bring in manganese free. TO the dismay Of
t.Cse States which have just begun TO
develop an industry based on the pfoduc-
ton Of this necessary alloy.
Another Of the steel companies was
favored by the Senate Combine for the
b nefit Of the Campaign Contributors to the
extent Of prohibitive duty on particular
class Of steel which insures them COM
plets monopoly OF the American market.
This. in the face Of the report made a
month ago to the directors Of the company
that their production and profits for the
previous year had exceeded anything in
the history Of that particular industry.
Chairman Jouett Shouse of the Execu-
tive Committee of the Democratic National
Committee. thus traced the progress Of the
administration tariff bill: The deliberate
purpose first of the Ways and Means Com
mittee Of the House, held TO shameful COM
plaisance by the administration leaders in
that chamber and then by the Republican
majority Of the Finance Committee Of the |
Senate in their star-chamber proceedings
has been perfectly apparent. The analysis Of
the schedules as they became known made
II plain that the motivating principles be-
hind the proposed enactment was not pro- |
lection Of American industry-stil less |
protection to American labor-but simple |
determination to enable special groups Of
industrialists to cash in on their last years |
campaign contributions
The reports from the Department Of
Commerce itself show" he continued that |
manding an opportunity to further raise |
prices is and has been operating at the |
very peak Of prosperity 1t is only the |
accident Of a special session that gives |
them the chance to dip still deeper into |
the public purse.
Such concessions as are made will turn
out to be those that are Of the least con-
sequence to the ordinary citizen. The poor
man and the man Of average means are
to pay more for nearly everything they
wear or eat or use otherwise. Against
this. he may take comfort from the circum-
stance that he may pay less for diamonds"
Congressman McClintic. Of Oklahoma.
voiced the same idea in a satiricaI COM
ment. what matters il" he said "if the
s0rhingman's Sunday suit is going to
cost HIN lot more. because the additional
.arif q wool scraps imposed by the House
biii b been tripled. The object Of the
tariff is TO improve the American scale Of
living and to make him buy hieh-priced
clothes 10 good for his morale.
He may worry some because his work
ing shoes will cost dollar or two more,
but there Is compensation in the discovery
that under the Smoot bill truffies for his
pate de fois gras are on the free list
There is compensation all around. His
sugar bill goes up. as does his milk bill and
meat bill. but he can get Gobelin tapestries
for his humble home duty free.
Greatest boon Of all. for the poor man,
is that under the new tariff law he can 60
TO his shooting preserve in Scotland and
bring in the grouse he slauehters unvexed
by tariff exactions-provided he consumes
himself or bestows On his friends the con-
tents Of his bag"
The fraudulent character Of the bill is
further revealed by Senator David |. Walsh,
OF Massachusetts, who showed that in the
effort to make increased rates sound like
reductions. the expedient has been resorted
TO Of employing unfamiliar units of meas
urement for the commodity as the base
for levying duties. He cites
Potatoes are raised and traded In and
statistically recorded by the u. S. Depart
ment Of Agriculture. and thought about by
everybody in terms Of bushels. Previous
20 the tariff Of 1922. potatoes. when not
on the free list. carried duty per bushe
rs cents per bushel. In the act Of 1922
the basis Of the duty was shifted from the
bushel TO the pound-the enacted rate
became IL cent per pound. In the House
bill the base Of the duty on potatoes is
again chenged-to the unit Of 100 pounds
The rate proposed by the House is so
cents per 100 pounds. and the Finance
Committee Of the Senate proposes to make
1t rs cents per 100 pounds. The object
Of this phaseoloey is to keep the consumers
from readily perceiving that they are to
be mulct As cents per bushel on one Of
the prime necessities Of life"
In the face Of the circumstance that the
newspapers have recorded that time after
time Senator Smoot. and others of the
Republican hieh-tariff makers. have been
at the White House in consultation with
the President, the effort is still being made
by puolicists friendly 10 PRESIDENT Hoover
that he is dismayed at the wide swing
Congress has made away from the spec-
Acations laid down by him for limited
tariff revision and, 1t is hinted that he
might even veto the bill. The President
himself has been very careful to abstain
from any such indication Of his attitude.
A veto is only probable in the event that
the popular revulsion against this erossest
oftariff robberies is so great as to be deemed
perilous to the political fortunes Of the ad-
ministration.
The proponents Of the iniquity are con-
fdent that they can pass the bill through
the familiar expedient Of log-rollins. They
think that they can break down the soil
darity Of the opposition Of the Progressive