Evening star., 1931-05-17
BY WILLIAM HARD.

BY WILLIAM HARD.
Acute interest was focused upon the
United States Tariff Commission dur
ing the last week because Of the now
famous resolution adopted by the Inter
national Chamber of Commerce here in
washington several days ago declaring,
among other things, that:
The machinery provided by some
countries for the adjustment of tarin
inequalities should be utilized without
delay"
This was a clear, direct allusion to
the tariff machinery" of the United
States Government, which provides the
only free forum known IN the world for
public discussions between native inter-
ests and foreign interests regarding the
| proper level Of tariff duties. The United
States Tariff Commission, In the course
Of operating the mathematical formula
whereby 1t balances the costs of foreign
| production against the costs Of native
| production in order to arrive ct the
recommendations which 1t makes to the
President for increasing or decreasing
our tariff duties, welcomes and invites
| the participation of foreign govern
| mental representatives. The 1nterna-
tional Chamber of Commerce appar-
emily wished that this opportunity,
| which Is unique in International ar
rangements, should be embraced freely
ana actively. The question which
arises Is:
To what degree has 1t attracted for
| eign friendly Intervention so far?
| The answer has to be, to begin with,
that the total number of applications
made so far to the United states Tariff
Commission for decreases in tariff
duties has been strikingly out of pro-
| portion to the amount Of earnest and
conscientious outcry hurled against our
tariff wall" in general by native inter
ests and foreign interests alike. There
are thousands upon thousands Of items
| in that wall" The total number of
| items upon which decreases have been
requested through petitions from inter-
ests of any sort is to date only seventy.
4&
It had been supposed that our agri-
| cultural organizations would directly or
| indirectly instigate the presentation of
numerous petitions to the Tariff Com
| mission for decreases in tariff duties
upon manufactured products said by
| them last year to be unduiy protected.
Events have proved that our agricul-
| tural organizations. quite contrariwise,
| are bent more upon maintaining their
own tariff advantages than upon at
tempting actually to destroy the tariff
advantages of their industrial rivals. In
| fact, the most prominent agricultural
| tariff lobbyist In washington, Mr..
Chester H. Gray, of the American Farm
Bureau Federation, has gone farther
than any industrial tariff lobbyist In
the National Capital toward decrying
any ardent tise Of our present tariff
laws flexible" up-arld- down provisions.
i Mr. TSrnv
Few investigations should be ordered
| by the Tariff Commission on comnnodi-
| ties upon which the rates OF duty have
been recently changed by Congress. A
period Of from two-and- -of1e-la1f to
| flye years Is none too much to try out
most rates Of duty"
1t viii be noted that this statement
makes no hostile distinction between
industrial rates and agricultural rates.
| In MIR. Grays view, 1t would seem,
most rates. whether enacted to bless
the farmer or enacted to crafty the
factory owner, should be left just as
they are for perhaps half q decade. 1t
| is Abundantly obvious that Mr.. Gray,
| though having often blown the trumpet
Of alarm and Of recrimination against
the wall of the industrial tariff
Jericho, has no intention whatsoever
VI ptoCeeuulE 10 Iy 10 Deat IL uoWH
with . statistical battering-ran1 in
Tariff Commission flexible" hearings.
~
The Tariff Commission, however, did
not choose to wait till the domestic
enemies Of the wall should approach
1t with the statistical arguments neces-
sary for bringing it down to the level
Of balanced costs between foreign and
domestic production and to the level
Of equalized competition between for
eign and domestic commodities. The
commission sought foreign assistance.
II employed Mr.. Leland Harrison, dis
tinguished ex-diplomat. to confer with
such foreign diplomats resident here
as might wish to confer with him. 1t
sent to the State Department o COM
which could be followed by foreign in
terests in laying their complaints before
the Tariff Commission and its staif.
The State Department conveyed this
information to the foreign embassies
and legations established here in wash
ingtofl. Foreign ENJOYS and foreign
commercial attaches thereupon found
their way In some numbers TO the Tariff
Commission Offices. The following di-
duty reductions enSued:
y -
On the fiaxseed, by the Association
Nacional de Agriculture of BuenoS
Aires, Argentina.
On slsimin and ferrosilicon aluminium
and ferroalurrlinutn silicon. by the
Lonsa Usines Electriques ct Chemidues
Of Switzerland.
On edible gelatin, by the Delft Celia
tin Works, through the Netherlands Le-
CATION In the United States.
On leather gloves, by glove n1anufac-
turers Of various cities Of france,
through the French embassy in the
United States.
On Sleeps milk cheese, by the Aux
niaire de agriculture ct de rIndustrie