Evening star., 1929-06-30
BY WILLIAM HARD.

Now that the finance committee Of
the Senate has got fairly well into the
midst of its laborS on the tariff bill
the following things seem at this week
end to be reasonably apparent:
The report of the finance committee
to the Senate will recommend a range
OF duties not appreciably higher, on the
whole, than the range of duties con-
tained in the bill as passed by the House
OF Representatives.
In some OF the Is schedules-as. fol
instance. in the schedule. on "earths
earthenware and glassware" handled
by the subcommittee of which Senator
Edge of New Jersey is the chairman
the duties recommended to the Senate
may even average but a few points
lower than the duties enacted by the
House.
The prospect of a vast extended
tariff raid" by the Senate, If such q
prospect ever existed, has virtually dis
appeared.
Scant Interest Shown.
The country'S greatest industrial in
terests are for the most part showing
only a scant and slight concern for
increased duties on the bulk of their
products. Some of these interests have
established subsidiary plants abroad.
Where they operate with modern Ameri-
can machine methods and low foreign
wages they are on their way to be-
coming importers of their own foreign
goods into the American home market.
In such instances therefore they begin
to favor low American tariff duties, in
stead of high. They are delighted ac-
cordingly to stand back and watch the
senatorial "progressives" struggling to
establish q generally lower tariff level.
Our so-called international bankers"
have repeatedly declared for low-level
tariff systems throughout the world.
Our manufacturers who have invested
in plants abroad are now beginning TO
fall into the same column. In that
column, so far as duties on industrial
products are concerned, they happily
find themselves helped by the senatorial
"progressives" The two forces tending
at this moment to prevent the present
tariff bill in the Senate from going to
excessive extremes in its duties on in
duStrial products are as follows:
(a) The growing Observation-Disclosures
of some of our highest banking ana
manufacturing elements and their con-
seuuent growing indifference and even
hostility to the high tariff idea.
(b) The zeal of the 'progressives" for
the farmer and the consumer and the
common people"
The ultimate outcome of this alliance
might be, for instance, that our farm
ers would get their burlap bags--for
the sacking of their crops--at low
duty. or at no duty, from British India,
where with coolie labor that bagglng
is woven by American manufacturers:
It is noteworthy that the present tar1i1
bill. in paragraphs 1913 and 1Ol9s con-
tainS no increase OF duty on bags OF
sacks made from jute yarns" or on
'bagging composed of jute." The un-
deriving reason is the resistance of-
fered to increased duties on industrial
products by the "progressives' plus the
following fact as reported by the United
States Tariff Commission:
Jute From India.
Imported jute bagging comes prin-
cipally from British India. Tne IN
crease in imports of jute bagglng since
1918 ia explained by the fact that
domestic American manufacturers have
opened mills in India and they export
bagging from India to the United States.
The bagging from the India mllis OF
American. firms sells. in the united
States for the same price as the bagglng
produced in their American mills"
1t is manifest that combination be-
tween our most expansive manufac-
turers and our most ardent progress
sives" for the benefit of the American
farmer and for the benet1t OF foreign
goods made with American capitaf and
Oriental labor may have ultimate re-
suits of fundamental character In our
national economic life.
Against this combination, however. IN
the hearings before the subcommittees
of the finance committee of the Senate
on the present tariff bill, there have
been two active forces.
One is the smallish and so-called Gin
dependent" manufacturer, who does not
belong to the So-called trust" in his
industry and who is earnestly beseech-
ing the Senate finance committee to
save his little plant" from getting ex-
tinguished by foreign competition. His
voice has been loud before the finance
committee while the voice of the So
called trusts has been, on the whole,
low and weak and indecisive and divided.
The other force for higher industrial
duties has been the organization called
Americas Wage Farmers Protective
Conference"
It is composed Of some 20 important
and influential trade unions. 1t is
financially supported by these unions
through a system of monthly dues. 1t
is headed by Matthew Woll, president
of the Photo -Engravers' Union, presi-
dent Of the board of governors of the
Allied Printing Trades Association and
vice president of the American Fedora
ton OF Labor It's executive secretary
is NJ j. Flynn, an experienced manager
of legislative efforts by organized wage
earners. Under Mr. Flynn'S management
a long array of wage-earning witnesses
has passed before the subcommittee of
the Senate finance committee, present
ing the pleas of organized American
labor for higher duties on certain
numerous industrial products.