The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-11-19
.SCRIBES LEARN
ABOUT CANADIAN
TRADE TREATY
Press Conference Brings
Many Questions on
New Agreement.
BY RUTH FINNEY
Times Special Writer


Subject was the new Canadian
trade agreement; teacher, the
President of the United States; text,
146 pages of documents. Glass was
in session an hour and a quarter.
To explain the agreement which
he believes will revolutioniza our
trade relations with the neighbor
which buys more from us than all
Latin America or all Asia, President
Roosevelt had his desk moved into
the state dining room and chairs
arranged in front of it for the press.
Hull, Wallace Attend
He sat at one end of the room
with Secretaries Hull and Wallace
on either side Of him and six tariff
experts back of them. Occasionally
he would ask the experts if he was
right, and he was. Frequently one
Of them would lean forward and
suggest additional information, but
when the questions started shooting
from all corners of the room the
professor COPIED with them himself.
Abraham Lincoln dominated the
scene from the wall behind the pro-
fesSor and if he felt any partisan
distress at the Scrapping of the
HooVer-Smoot-H aWley tariff rates,
since enactment of which this coun-
try has lost &C per cent of its ex-
port trade with Canada, there was
nothing to indicate it.
For any heroic spirits that might
have been lowering about, the
frank talk between teacher and
class was probably relief from for
NAL state dinner-table conversa-
ton usually heard within those
walls. The parts that made the seS-
sion worth tramping out for, in
chill rain on a Sunday afternoon,
were off the record, but this is the
way it went the rest of the time:
Reduced Tariff on Whisky
Does the reduced tariff rate Con
liquor only apply to whisky?"
asked Turner Catledge of the New
York Times, with a hopeful air. mo
other Spirits?" No other spirits.
Paul Ward of the Baltimore Sun
asked about the amount of cream
Canada will be able to send into
this country and was almost drowned
in sea of figures and percentages.
1t appeared that the concessions
cover enough cream to supply one
pint year for every Is Americans.
William H. Doherty of the I'M
friendly Hearst papers wanted to
know how long the agreement
would remain in effect and whether
Congress could set it aside. He
learned that the agreement could
not be set aside by either country
for three years.
Expect Collection Increase
How much will this cost us in
tariff duties?" asked Raymond P.
Brandt of the st. Louis Post-Dis-
patch, and was told that the agree
ment is expected to increase tariff
collections in both countries because
Of a larger volume of trade.
Jay Hayden of the Detroit News
reminded the President that a num-
Der of congressman are prepared to
press for legislation to get around
the agreement by applying new re-
StrictlonS against imports. He found
the President prepared for such &C
ton, and willing to negotiate new
agreements where real injury could
be shown by any substantial group
of citizens.
Catlege and Clarence Linz of the
New York Journal of Commerce
were uneasy about the Presidents
power to bind articles on the free
liSt-to guarantee, for the benefit of
manufacturers wanting to plan
ahead, that duties would not be i'm
posed in the immediate future. The
President explained that he had no
power to put any article Oh the free
list, but that the questioned guar
antee fell into the category of agree
mentS negotiated without treaty be-
tween countries. and that he de-
cldedly did have such power.
Bootleggers Hit
And if Congress repeats the reel
procal trading act next year :. ?"
1t seems that if the act is repealed
no new agreements can be entered
into but the old ones will be in eff
feet for three years at least.
1t developed that bootleggers
won't do so well under the new
treaty. They have been enjoying
an advantage of about S21 a case
in selling their goods here. They
will lose much of that advantage
when four-year-old whisky goes on
legal sale at lower prices due to the
90 per cent reduction in this coun-
try'S tariff.
examinations weren't held at the
END OF the session. If they had
been, here are some of the facts
and forecasts that would have been
required to win a mark of 100 from
the teacher.
Every section of the United States
and most branches of industry and
agriculture will benefit from the
reductions in the Canadians i'm
port duties.
Rates Low on so Items
In the case of so or more duty
reductions, rates are lower than
those heretofore paid to Canada on
goods from any non-British country.
These reductions benefit American
growers of fresh vegetables. of citrus
fruits. certain nuts and seeds. GER
tam tish products, a broad range of
machinery, electrical equipment,
manufactures of iron and steel.
dressed lumber and flooring. and
manufacturers of wood and paper.
Magazines and periodicals will en-
ter Canada duty free.
1t is expected that our factories
will sell enough goods to substantial
~ increase the purchasing power of
factory workers. so that they can
buy more products of both American
farms and factories.
The agreement is expected to pro-
vide substantial bonaE+e