Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-12
EFFICIENCY AND PUBLIC SERVICE.
OBJECTS OF TARIFF COMMISSION
Chairman Fletcher Says Pub
Iicity Will Be Given All
Activities.
Subcommittee Plan of Hoo.
yer to Be Used in Groups
Work.
by REX COLLIER.

by REX COLLIER.
Tariff revision, as practiced by Chair,
man Henry P. Fletcher and his col
leagues Of the reorganized Tariff Com
mission, Is to be q business-like, non
procrastinating enterprise, shorn of gov
ernmental red tape and bathed in thu
fun light Of new era Of publicity.
The genial and aggressive veteran o.
the foreign service whom President Hoo.
yer has chosen to pilot the commission
through the hazardous seas of the tariff
is not given to secret diplomacy-in for
eign service or in domestic.
Tariff Is Public Problem.
Tariff problems, Chairman Fletcher
holds, are public problems, and beine
public problems, should be threshed out
from beginning to end with the thor
oughness and frankpess and dispatch tc
which the public business, as rightfully
as private business, is entitled.
In his new Office in a corner room oi
the old Land ONCE Building, at Seventh
and F streets. the tariff chairman yes
terday disclosed to The Star two inno-
vations in tariff procedure which he and
his fellow members believe will inject
new life into the troublous work Of the
commission.
The FIRST is a policy of full publicity
1880.
Plan subcommittee.
The second Is q new subcommittee
plan OF apportioning work of the COM
mission, so that members of the COM
mission, as well as stan, will keep In
constant touch with each Schedule I'M
der consideration and "chaperon" its
course.
THE tariff is the peoples business u
Chairman Fletcher said, in explanation
of the first-named policy. "The people
have right to know at all times ex-
actly what the commission is doing or
planning to do.
In the past 1t has been the policy
10 surround much Of the Tariff Com
missions activities with great secrecy.
Inc outside world, with the exception
OF parties directly interested in cases
involved, had little opportunity to learn
about the commissions operations.
Dispense with Secrecy.
I'VE have done away with secrecy.
We are going to function with an open-
door policy. We have PROMULGATED a
new set OF rules to govern procedure,
ana prominent among the new regu-
lations Is one decreeing that every APP
piication for Q rate revision must be
given wide publicity. The public will
know VINO the applicants are and what
they are seeking. And the public not
only may attend the hearings on those
applications, but may, by proper process,
appear as witnesses"
The chairman explained that, in ac-
cordance with specific provisions in the
tariff law, certain data regarded as
trade secrets" will be held in strict
confidence by the commission. In other
words, the commission will not give
away TO competitors business secrets Of
an applicant. If an applicant wishes
TO protect such trade secrets, he will be
permitted to file them in a separate re-
port for confidential information Of the
commissioners themselves.
VIII Use Bulletins.
The fact that q certain manufac-
turer or industry or individuals has
filed an application for revision,
either upward or downward, In q cer-
tain tariff schedule. will be published
through q number Of channels, Mr..
Fletcher pointed out.
First Of all, q notice viii be posted on
the ofiictal bulletin boards of the COM
mission here and in New York. In adj
dition, the notice will be inserted in
the Treasury Departments publication,
Treasury Decision, in the weekly edi-
ton Of the Commerce Department.
Commerce Reports and possibly in O
leading trade journal. Similar pub
hcity will be given to plans Of the
commission for every investigation of a
rate schedule and TO announcements of
all public hearings.
Resembles Hoover Plan.
rrV.n {ftaa v,1av, ~ 90 ciIifo ting
action on tariff cases is in accord with
the best business practices of private
industry. incidentally, the plan has a
distinct Hooverian flavor. 1t amounts
to the creation of a number OF little
commissions within the main commits
sion. President Hoover has found quite
effective the commission plan OF get
ting things done.
One of the criticisms aimed at the
Tariff Commission in the past has been
the lethargic way in which it has gone
have Jagged before the body for many
months. The delays have created I'M
certainty, and uncertainty is not con-
ducive TO success In business.
Perhaps Chairman Fletcher became
inoculated with the Hoover ideas OF
political economy during those long
chats which he had with the then
President-elect on the Quarterdeck OF
the u. S. S. Maryland and Of the U. S.
s. Utah during the goodwill trip to
South America. Perhaps he already
was imbued with ideas similar TO those
of Mr.. Hoover, and later, finding Mr..
Fletcher a man after his own heart,
chose him for the tariff job with a
definite purpose in view.
Efficiency is Object.
At any rate, the commission" form
of tackling big problems has been APP
piled now to the tariff.
I'VE are going to divide ourselves up
into small groups In the interest OF
effciency," Chairman Fletcher declared.
When an application for a tariff ad-
justment comes in we will assign 1t TO
a particular subcommittee of one, two
or three members. This subcommittee
will chaperon the case to final conclu-
sion. 1t will be charged with the re-
sponsibility of keeping itself informed
completely on that specific case. The
subcommittee will consider the facts in
volved In an application and recon-
mend to the full commission whether
the application warrants a formal in
vestigation. II so, the subcommittee
will be empowered to conduct hearings
and assemble all the evidence needed
for a determination by the whole COM