Evening star., 1929-11-17

AyuJ vi blldb E1OlOllkCO ChRCAAC SOAlC~
thing must have been learned by every
body concerned-those who want
higher tariff, those who want a lower
and neutral observers. Moreover, this
recent seven months is by no means the
total of experience that many leaders
have had with tariff making. Senator
Smoot of Utah has now been through
four general tariff revisions like this.
The Democrat who sits across the aisle
from him, Senator Simmons of North
Carolina, has been through five. The
Oldest of the Senators, Warren of
wyoming. has been through six. Even
comparatively young Senator like
Borah, whose services began in 1907.
has been through four. The late Sem
ator Burton of Ohio, counting his Serv-
ice in House and Senate both, had been
through seven. In the Lower House.
Congressman Cooper of Wisconsin has
been through six. The Democratic
leader. Garner of Texas. has been
through four. Speaker Longworth has
been through four.
Something Learned.
From the aggregate of this expert
ence something must have been learned
1t is a fact that this present tariff ses-
sion reveals some new conditions-not
new conditions in the sense of any
material change in the method of tariff
making, but new conditions in the
United States, which have bearing on
the tariff.
One Of these new conditions is the
arising In the United States of a con-
siderable number of very important in
dustries which do not care much-at
least they do not care directly, whether
a tariff is high or low, or whether there
is any tariff at all. This new condition
has not yet, apparently, registered upon
the consciousness of some of the high
tar1h leaders, such as Grundy of Penn
sylvania.
When Joseph Grundy began to come
TO Washington as a lobbyist Che does
not in the least object to that world,
during the '90s, the industries he rep
resented, and for which he demanded
high-tarif protection were relatively
more important in the fabric of Amer
lean business as whole than they are
now. Grundy represented mainly tex
tiles, together with iron and steel.
(Though in a generous freemasonry he
has always been for high tariff for
every sort of nanufacture.) At the
time Grundy first began to come the
textile industry bulked large. But at
that time there was no automobile in
dustry whatever.
Rode In Victoria.
Mr., GrlIndy in his early peregrina-
tions about Washington rode behind a
horse In Victoria Of the ancient type.
Today automobile manufacturing is the
first American industry in volume and
tmportance-while Mr.. Grundy's textile
industries have gone way down the list;
cotton goods is the ninth industry:
woolen and worsted goods is the eight
zenith; knit goods (huSiery, underwear,
etc) Is tWenty-second silk manufac-
lures is near the bottom Of the list,
twenty-third.
The point about this contrast is that
the automobile industry does not want
any tarln for itself. The significance of
the contrast goes even farther; not only
does the automobile industry not want
any tariff for itself-it rather deplores
the idea Of too high a tariff on other
commodities. The reason is that the
automobile industry has become a great
seller of goods to foreign countries; the
automobile industry, indeed, looks to
It's sales in foreign countries as the
future field of its expansion. Having
this relation to foreign markets the
automobile industry does not want
to offend foreign countries-and high
tariffs against imports do give offense
70 foreign nations
Further yet, the automobiles shipped
abroad must be paid for. Speaking
broadly, they can most conveniently
be paid for by other goods shipped to
the United States from foreign coun-
tries. Consequently the automobile in
oustry prefers to see the shipment Of
goods to the United States facilitated
rather than impeded by a high tariff.
This one example is the most pointed
illustration of what has happened since
the 90s. The change, however. goes
much farther. When Mr.. Grundy first
fA 81 I'D
was hardly any gasoline business; there
was very little business in electrical
machinery apparatus and supplies;
there was no radio business whatever.
Growth m 80 Years.
All these lines of business have arisen
or become important during the last
80 years and most of them have come
to have a larger weight in American
business as a whole than the textile
business or any of the other forms of
manufacturing to which the tariff is a
life and death matter.
Further still, there are lines of busi-
ness which do not care about the tariff.
whose only concern is that business of
the United States be good. Examples
Of this type are the railroads and bank
ing. These very important factors tend
to side with the tariff beneflciaries at
a time when those beneflciaries were
the most important businesses in Amer
lea. Today the railroads and banking
are either indifferent, or If they have
an inclination at all it is toward the
lines of business which have become
most important and which do not care
about the tariff.
The net of all this is that the center
of gravity. so to speak, of American
business has shifted from those that
strongly want tariff TO those that do
not need a tariff for themselves and
on the whole prefer not to have a very
high tariff for the country generally.
The really important leaders of Amer
lean business, the ones that count for
most, are now on the side that wants
low tariff or is indifferent. In short
Grundy and those like him do not cut
as big a figure today as they did when
he first came to Washington.
Mobility of Capital.
To the writer of this article the most
Interesting development coming to the
surface in this tariff revision was a
proof of the mobility of capital, the
way capital moves to the point where
conditions are most favorable.
What emerged in this tariff revision
was associated with two American polr
icies-our tariff policy and our policy
about immigration. So long as we well
coined and brought great masses of i'm
migrants to America, 1t was labor that
was looked upon as mobile and fluid.
Labor in enormous quantities was i'm
ported by capital to the point in Amer
lea where 1t was convenient for capital
to make use of it. Then We changed
our policy about immigration, limit
ing 1t to roughly about one-tenth of
what it had been. Thereupon capital
promptly packed its bag and went
where labor was
This development, as 1t emerged ir