Evening star., 1934-03-25
Reciprocity Tariff Bill.

he IdIIll Olll, WHICH Will DC hIlUWll
as the Doughton- Harrison act in the
future. but which for present purposes
is designated the Roosevelt tariff bill.
! is under consideration finally by the
House. Chairman Doughton Of the
Ways and Means Committee led off
the debate for the Administrl lion
forces. and Representative Treadway
OF Massachusetts,. the ranking Rerub-
: lican member, made reply. In large
measure these opening speeches sum
up the arguments pro and con. They
will be repeated in different form,
with different illustrations, during the
week Of consideration which the bill
seems bound to have in the House,
and during the expected longer period
it will be under discussion in the Sen
ate. And when the bill has become
law, as now seems entirely probable.
the discussion will continue into the
campaign for the election Of a new
House and of one-third of the Senate
The terrible tariff" becomes, there
fore, again an issue before the people.
The administration forces maintain
that the passage Of the Roosevelt tariff
/ bill is essential to the revival Of
| American foreign commerce, an es-
sential of business and agricultural
recovery in this country. Under the
bill the President is given authority to
make reciprocal trade agreements, and
in order to grease the ways for such
agreements, to lower or raise the tariff
duties by so per cent. His word in
such deals is final. In support of the
proposal the Democrats argue that
other nations have adopted This plan
of reciprocal trade agreements and
that the United States has more end
more been squeezed out Of foreign
markets thereby. This country. they
say. must be in a position to 60 into
this trading process in order to get
its fair share Of international trade
To these arguments the Republicans
reply that the Congress is the tariff
making body under the Constitution
and our system Of government. They
add that it would be a rash act to
place such vast powers in the hands
Of any man, whether he be President
or some other officer; that under
these powers individual industries in
this country could and would be
wiped out for some fancied advan-
tage to other industries or to agri-
culture. And what reason, they con-
tinue. has the administration to be-
lieve that it would be successful in
the long run in reviving American
foreign trade by such trading?
And the Republicans continue that
of all the markets in the world the
American market is the richest and
the most desired. Why. they say,
should the American people give up
this market, even in part, in a
will-o-the-wisp chase for markets
abroad, which are not and cannot
be OF value? To this the Democrats
reply that If the foreigners are able
to sell their goods in America they
will be in a position to afford good
markets themselves for American ex-
ports.
In the end the tariff bill Is ex-
pected to pass by substantial majori-
ties in both houses of Congress, al
though the road may be rougher in
the Senate. The President has said
that the administration will 90
slowly about making reciprocal trade
agreements and has warned the coun-
try not to expect immediate results.
The first effect will be to throw the
issue into the congressional campaign.
If no agreements are entered into un-
til after the November elections it will
be more dificult for the voters to
pass intelligently on the tariff ques-
tion.