The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-07-05
Tariff Retaliation
easy

ogden l. Mills. undersecretary of the treasury
has been sent to Paris on a confidential mission to
settle the tariff war started by the blliondollar
Grundy law. according to news dispatches. If this
report is accurate, Mills has gone on wild goose
chase.
The administration does not need to send a spe
cia agent abroad to discover the protests and plans
of retaliation 1t can get that from the newspapers,
any day On the same day that Paris officials di
vulged Mills visit. Italy increased duties Amer
lean automobiles and there was general attack on
the American tariff at Paris meeting participated
in by such important persons as Poincare and
Canadian Minister Roy
Poncare deplored these unhappy incidents, above
all those of the last two three months which come
as the result of blind economy and selfish national
ism" Roy referred to three attempts on the part
of the United States to seduce Canada, which failed
because Canada is bound to remain faithful to Great
Britain"
Such is the atmosphere of dstrust and even of
hatred. which is spreading against us.
The administration need not take the word Of the
foreign press dispatches for that. Let it consult
the reports of its own consular officers to the same
effect And let it study the reports of Ambassa-
dor Edge.
Or there is even quicker way for the admin
istration to get a line what the foreign govern
ments are doing and intend to do in the matter OF
tariff reprsals All it has to do is to read the pro-
tests submitted to the state department by upward
OF forty governments and the retalatory tariff rates
which Canada Italy and others already have raised
against
And if the administration does not believe that
the foreign governments intend to carry out their
threat To hit back at us the administration con-
suit its own trade figures showing that our export
losses this year are more than 20 per cent
We started this tariff war-that is the admin
istraon started -over the combined protest OF the
American press. American economists, bankers
manufacturers and consumers.
There is only one way to stop it. That is by
lowering the unjust and prohibtve rates as quickly
as possible under the Presidents flexible provision
of the law To plead with foreign governments and
business interests that We did not mean to inJure
them and that they must not strike back at us
merely adds to the mstrust abroad. If we insist
on hitting them. we have to take their blows in
return.
In signing the disastrous Grundy law, the Presi-
dent stated that he and the tariff commission could
and would use the flexible provision to correct IN
justices. That was not the record of the Hoover
and other administrations in using the previous
flexible provision. But if there is to be action in
lowering rates it can not come too soon.
Even the congress which passed the Grumpy law
turned around at once and instructed the tariff COM
mission to investigate the Grundy rates on many
important commodities. including shoes cement
furniture. farm implements and sugar.
Undersecretary Mills can not stop the tariff war
nv going to Paris 1t will have to be stopped in
washington. where it started.