Evening star., 1933-04-23
Hull's Career of Statesman Begun
By School Debate 40 Years Ago

date to Mr.. Roosevelt and to the party
to put that tariff plank into operation.
Owing to these considerations, Hull per-
haps feels that legislation in conformity
with his view may be passed by the
Democratic party in Congress in spite
Of the sinister" tariff influence which
has swerved some Democratic members
from the path Of duty In the recent
past.
But the tariff is not the only subject
on which Cordell Hull is an expert.
When he resigned his circuit judgeship
in Tennessee and was elected to Con-
greSs in 1906 from the fourth (Car-
thage) district he managed to get on
in intensified fashion, his study of the
tariff and took up the close study of in
ternal taxation. He is man who never
INDUCED in any form Of personal rec
reation, but has found his greatest
pleasure, all his life, in reading the best
literature and works on economics Even
since his marriage, in 1916, he has in
dulged in few social diversions. Mrs
Hull has seldom been able to drag him
away from their modest hotel suite for
dinners or social gatherings and never
to the theater. His idea of a great
night is to find a new book on taxation
or tariff and to spend hours devouring
1t. Holidays are delight to him be-
cause then he can 60 to his Office and
keep two or three secretaries busy all
day without interruption from callers
These habits have made him a master
OF domestic taxation, as well as Of
tariffs, so. when it came time to enact
the first income tax laws in the first
Wilson administration, Hull, from his
superior knowledge and his key position
on Ways and Means, became the author
Of the bill. He continued as income tax
author throughout the war and post
war period. Every tax law of that i'm
portant era bears his name.
Choosing of Difficult Task.
Asked recently why he chose such a
difficult subject as tariff and taxation
upon which to specialize when he ar
rived in Congress, Hull gave one Of his
frequent manifestations of quiet humor
With a timid, almost a boyish smile
he replied, In the vernacular of his boy
hood, to which he often reverts:
We'll, it was like this: When ]
got here-and saw how many other fel-
lers were in the House, why, realized
that, if feller wanted to do anything
outstanding, he'd have to specialize on
some one thing. No feller could know
about everything, so I looked around
and. well, I figgered that tariff and
taxation were so tough not many fellers
would want to tackle 'em. I picked
that field. really. for selfish reasons,
cause thought wouldn't have much
competition in it."
Hull knows that field SO we'll by this
time that it is never dull or uninterest-
ing or complicated in his hands and he
can make it a vital. absorbing subject
to those who hear him talk about it
His analysis Of the tariff and trade
situation today. as an underlying cause
Of world distress, and his remedies
which he will endeavor to have adopted
by the world. are simple, understand
able and convincing as he presents
them. Hull has never been the sort ol
statesman to condemn only. When he
has attacked Republican policies and
institutions in the past he has always
offered specifically what he would sub
stitute in their stead. He did SO in
this case
The usual high tariff system" he
explains as a preliminary to setting
forth his remedies. ''only contemplates
manufacturing output that will mee1
home consumption. 1t breaks down
completely and becomes serious i'm
pediment when a creditor nation pro-
duces substantial surpluses of manu-
factures and agricultural products
which must be sold elsewhere"
Number one of Secretary HuIl's
remedies for world economic conditions
will begin to unfold in the internation-
al conversations starting this week. II
is that suggesting an international tar
i'll conference. His hopes for such a
conference in his own words, were ex-
pressed in the Senate as follows:
The first proposal is for a world