The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-06-16
Hoover,s Disastrous Decision

President Hoover announced today that he would
approve the tariff bill.
BY signing this general tariff revision, with its
20 per cent rate increase, he viii violate his own and
his party's election pledges.
He viii disregard an unprecedented public protest
by the nations leading economists newspapers ner-
chants farm organizations manufacturers exporters
bankers and consumers representatives
He will disregard the retaliation acts and tnreaVs
Of thrty-tlree foreign nations, which already have
brought our foreign trade to the lowest seasonal level
in ten years.
Hoovers excuse for his dangerous course is that
the flexible provision will permit correction OF the
evil rates That excuse was expected and has been
exnosed in hundreds Of speeches. articles and
editorials
II has been shown that the so-called new pro-
vision is virtually the same the discredited and
ineffective flexible provision of the present law Inc
new provision by limiting the Presidents power 70
acceptance or veto of recommended changes IN raIeS
by the tariff commission, indeed takes away lloln
the President his present power OF fixing rates. re-
pardless of the commission. In that sense Cne ne"
provision is less adaptable to Hoovers argument than
Is the existing law.
The answer to Hoovers claims for the flexible
uroysion has been given by no less Republican ana
rrotectionst authority than Senator Reed OF PENN
take the tariff out of politics by these provisions In
nv Judgment we are putting the tariff deeper hOo
Yotcs bv these new flexible provisions than 1t ever
has been before and we will it when appointments
beoin tc come along for membership on the tarln
commission"
A GOOD example of what Reed fears is the mis-
leading tariff commission statement on the aHegeo
benefit of agricultural rate increases WHICH ~ie
President repeats in his announcement today
Those figures evade the fact that our farm prod
ucts are chiefly export instead OF import coiOoi'ie
and thus are not protected by this tariff Ihey alSo
evade the pont that the Grundy bill widens the gap
between the protection the farmer receives for Wna'
he sells and virtually everything ne must ouy'
So with the figures in the Hoover statement az
tenontinp to fix the Grundy rate average at 16 per
cent which apparently is arrived at by the unusual
method of Jumping dutiable and free commodltles'
Ne II nossble that the President does not know that
The tariff commission has fixed the average dutiaole
rate of this bill at more than 40 per cent and tnat
this figure was accepted and used by all advocates Oh
the bill in the congressional debates?
possible that the President does not know that
this is an increase of 20 PEI cent over the eXSVing
law according to the tariff commissions own hguresF
The arguments used by the President today are
dsuroyed by the arguments which Hoover, as Secre-
tarv of commerce. and Hoover, as presidential can
didate used to show the absolute dependence o.
American prosperity upon foreign outlets for our mass
production surplus-foregn markets no" Jeop@i leu
by foreign tariff reprisals.
No one can explain away the disastrous enecVS
If this suicidal legislation on American prosperity
Here are the facts as recorded on just one day:
ON the day the bill passed, Wall Street responded
with market drop which dragged several standard
stocks even lower than in the November crash
On the day the bill passed, there was general
fan in commodity prices bringing some to new 10"
levels for the year.
On the day the bill passed, all grain prices fell
n new low levels for the season-wheat went to the
lowest price in more than year, oats the lowest IN
eight years rye the lowest in thirty years.
On the day the bill passed, the price OF cotton
declined to the lowest level in more than three years
On the day the bill passed, the steel industry re-
norted further decline in operations to SO per cent
of capacity
ON the day the bill passed. European dispatches
reported that the copper interests OF Great Britain
Belgium and Germany had agreed to retanate Dy
withdrawing large orders in the United states 10
conner and non-ferrous metals. whereupon the Amer
lean Copper Exporters Association frantlcaLy CUT
prices.
C,, the day the bill passed, the Mexican govern
oant ofhcally announced it would erect retallatory
duties which follows similar retaliation against us
by Canada and others.
ON the day the bill passed, the United States de-
partmelt of commerce announced that american
exports dropped in May to the lowest point IN the
last six years.
The President in signing the bill is exercising
his constitutional right. We believe he is making
mistake. The President believes otherwise He be-
lieyes there is magic in the new flexible provision
a magic we have been unable to find. We hope
however, that it is there.
And we hope that he may be able to use 1t IN
such fashion as to hasten the return OF that pros
uerty which in recent years we had come 10 LOOK
upon as the normal state Of affairs IN America
The Sex FiascO in Missouri
OF he IIYi-