The Farmer and Taxed? In Democratic maxim. There is no prospect passed as introduced, will be followed by a whatsoever that this country will produce definite and progressive increase in sheep enough wool to clothe its one hundred million husbandry throughout the country. We people, and provide for the other uses to predict that there will be no decline in the which raw wool is subject. President Wilson demand for mutton, and that the price of faced this matter squarely and encouraged wool will be high enough to justify farmers the revisionists in Congress to place wool on in keeping as many sheep as they can conthe free list. As for the manufactured goods veniently manage in connection with a scheme made wholly or principally of wool, the new of farming suited to their land. As for the tariff bill makes a sweeping reduction of rates, business of making woolen cloths and carpets while leaving duties that will afford consider- in this country, it will have the opportunity able revenue and incidentally give some pro- to buy raw material everywhere in the world, tection. Thus the kinds of woolen goods from and will be protected by a tariff which, which clothing is made, which pay, under the though not exceedingly high, is substantial. present duty, what averages about 100 per cent. tariff tax, are reduced in the new bill to While it remains, of course, a Should Sugar 35 per cent. Blankets and flannels are someBe question of judgment to be what similarly reduced, and the same thing is solved in the light of full experitrue of carpets. To sum up Schedule K, which ence, there is much reason to believe that deals with wools and woolen manufactures, the the farmer, as well as the ordinary citizen. new bill makes raw wool free of any duty, and of towns, will be better off with free wool and cuts down the present duties on woolen manu- a thorough revision of Schedule K. When it factured goods, ranging from 60 to 100 per comes to the question of free sugar, however, cent., to a range of from 20 to 35 per cent. the factors in the case are quite different. The tariff on sugar, while incidentally protecting the cane-growers of Louisiana and the beet industry of the West, is to be regarded chiefly as a matter of public revenue. our opinion the sugar tax is a good thing, and might well be maintained as a convenient way of giving the Government a large and constant source of income. It ought not, of course, to be a heavy impost. The bill as introduced keeps a moderate tariff on sugar for three years, and then abolishes it. This would seem a good compromise to make at the present time, since it leaves ample opportunity for the next Congress to decide, in the light of revenue experience, whether the threeyear period should be further extended or not. The beet sugar men of the West say that if only the tariff can be kept up a little longer they will be able to supply this country with all the sugar it needs, at rates lower than those for which cane sugar can now be produced in the West Indies. But they have already had a considerable period in which to demonstrate this, and it would seem as if the beet-sugar culture of America ought not to be so perilously dependent upon a protective tariff. Going back over a long period of years, the sugar interests have not made a very favorable impression upon the country by the arguments and methods they have used at Washington. Undoubtedly our Western farmers need the sugar beet to add to the variety of their crops; and it is to be hoped that the beet-sugar industry can be maintained and further developed in this country. The first question that arises is, How will farmers be affected by His Flocks free wool? The large flocks, like those of Senator Warren of Wyoming, may be placed at some disadvantage by the removal of protection. But intelligent farmers have long since learned that the kinds of sheep to be raised in this country are the English mutton varieties, rather than those which are maintained for wool alone. There ought to be some sheep on almost every farm, as a part of a scheme of mixed or varied agricultural effort. We will venture to predict that instead of destroying the American sheep industry, the new tariff bill, if Schedule K is LED TO THE SLAUGHTER AT LAST From the Sun (Baltimore) Cotton Goods, Flax and Linen In the arrangement of schedules, which have heretofore paid 25 cents a bushel, the vegetable fibers such as cot- are now made free. Even at the present ton, flax, and hemp, and the fabrics made from them, precede Schedule K, which deals with wool. Cotton threads and PRESIDENT WILSON HANDING LOUISIANA A SUGARCOATED PILL From Pioneer-Press (St. Paul) cloths are not now dutiable at as high a rate as those made of wool, but their range is from about 30 per cent. to 60, and the Underwood bill makes a cut of something like one-half, although the reductions differ greatly with different items. Thus the cut on readymade cotton clothing is from 50 per cent. to 30, on stockings from 75 per cent. to 50, on underwear from 60 to 25, and on plain cotton cloths from about 43 to about 27. Raw flax and hemp are reduced from $22.50 per ton to $11.20. This is one of the few concessions to the demand for the continued protection of a crude agricultural product. Linen goods are correspondingly reduced. The objections to the cotton-goods reductions are urgently made by the milling interests, particularly those of the Southern States. In former times, New England bore the brunt of the fight to maintain high rates on the manufactures of cotton. Now that the Southern Democrats are in control of Congress, New England relies upon the Southern manufacturers to urge their common cause at Washington. rate, large quantities of potatoes come to New York from Germany and Ireland. Wheat and the staple cereals, except Indian corn, are not made free but are greatly reduced. Beef, mutton, and other meats, whether fresh or cured, are all put on the free list; and the same is true of wheat flour. If, however, the products of the farm are not longer protected to any great extent, the farmer in turn is permitted to buy many of his most important supplies under full freedom of competition from other countries. Thus his wagons and agricultural implements are now on the free list, and so also are the nitrates and phosphates and other chemicals that are used for fertilizers. All leather goods, such as harnesses and boots and shoes, are on the free list; and so are the kinds of wire used for fencing, baling hay, and other purposes. The farmer will find that all ordinary kinds of lumber are now made free of duty, and that furniture is reduced from a rate of 35 per cent. to 15 per cent. Changes More Vital It is quite true, however, that Nominal Than most of these reductions in duty, or additions to the free list, whether seemingly against the farmer or in his favor, will have rather nominal than important results in current market prices. It is simply a good thing to clear away tariff rates that are no longer useful, and to give everybody a freedom that is in itself desirable and ought to exist unless some strong argument can be made against it. At present, with free hides, the boot and shoe industry has a 10 per cent. protection, and the harness industry 20 per cent. It is not likely that the removal of these tariff rates will make ordinary leather goods any cheaper to the American consumer than they already are. Nor is it likely that the New England shoe factories will suffer appreciably from foreign competition. Yet there are, -as respects these articles and various others,-some real advantages in granting unrestricted free trade unless it can be shown that a protective tariff has an important part to play in the establishment of a desirable industry. We have reached a point when the tariff ought to be greatly simplified, so that its further operations may be plainly seen and well understood by everybody concerned. Necessities THE DEMOCRATS AND THE TARIFF From the Journal (Minneapolis) The Underwood bill must, of Low--Luxuries course, undergo various modificaHigh tions before it becomes a law, and we shall not now attempt even in the most summary way to recapitulate all its important items. A few things, however, may be mentioned. Thus in the metal schedule, iron ore becomes free, and all duty is removed from steel rails. Most articles of iron and steel manufacture are considerably reduced, but articles of gold and silver are cent. to 15 per cent. Wood pulp of all kinds, dutiable at 50 per cent., on the theory that for making paper, becomes free. Different they are luxuries. In general, the new tariff kinds of paper, also, are dutiable at low rates. undertakes to keep the duty as high as is practicable upon articles that are unquestionably luxurious. Thus chinaware is dutiable at 55 per cent., glassware at 45, automobiles at 45, silks, laces, and articles of jewelry at from 50 to 60 per cent., and so on. Paintings and sculpture remain at the existing rate of 15 per cent. Books are reduced from 25 per Copyright, 1913, John T. McCutcheon Remarkable It is important to note the changed tone of discussion since the new tariff bill was made public with the opening of the session on April 7. Thus the New York Tribune, which has always represented the high protectionist doctrine with ability and consistency, praises the bill as expressing fairly and justly the tariff attitude that the Democratic party had assumed during the campaign. Furthermore, the Tribune does not predict calamity, but seems to admit that the business of the country can adjust itself without fatal shock to a tariff measure that from beginning to end represents a tremendous pruning down of the Payne-Aldrich rates. It was of course known that the sugar interests, the wool interests, those of cotton, and the spokesmen for the citrus fruit production of Florida and California would enter protests. But the country has not seemed much impressed by any of these pleas for special consideration. The so-called "interests" have written the tariffs for fifty years. The people have made up their minds to try a tariff constructed in a different way. The Republicans and the protected interests had their easy opportunity four years ago. Mr. Payne, Mr. Aldrich and Mr. Taft yielded much too easily to the plausible arguments of scores of indus A NEAR-FUTURIST PAINTING BY PRESIDENT WILSON, tries that were not willing to yield even to the ON THE SUBJECT OF THE TARIFF From the Sun (New York) suggestion of moderate changes. A straight forward observance of the pledges of the Republican party four years ago would have settled the tariff question for at least eight years. The Republicans had their chance, and threw it away with reckless fatuity and folly. It was inevitable that the country would call the Democrats to power, with a mandate to revise the tariff sharply and unsparingly. It was not merely Democratic sentiment that was aroused to rebuke the tariff work of 1909, and the later vetoes. Republican sentiment was just as strongly aroused as that of the opposition. Thus the Underwood tariff, though offered responsibly by the Democratic party, is not a partisan affair. It represents the country's demand for a new deal altogether. Its chief fault is in its failure to impose sufficient duties of the revenue-yielding sort. Attitude of It was stated, soon after the Progressive Underwood bill became public, Senators From the Tribune (New York) that the principal opposition to it PRESIDENT WILSON DOING THE TARIFF JOBS HIMSELF would develop in the Senate. The Democratic majority in the House is overwhelming, with those Senators, he could have secured a and is in sympathy with President Wilson's real tariff revision, and could have been redesires. The progress of the tariff bill nominated by a united Republican party. through several days of cross-examination in Several of these progressive Senators are expert the House caucus showed that Mr. Under- students of the tariff schedules. Their former wood's Democratic colleagues would support proposals do not go quite so far as the Underthe work of the Ways and Means Committee. wood bill. It is possible that they may be In the Senate, however, the Democratic able to induce the Senate to modify the measmajority is small, and several Democratic ure at some points. Nevertheless, they should Senators have greatly wished to safe-guard remember that the situation has changed in sugar or some other interest. The most ac- four years; and that the country is now pretive Senator in formulating a definite opposi- pared to accept a more radical movement tion to the bill was Mr. LaFollette of Wiscon- toward free trade than it desired in 1909. sin. The changed situation that has brought us to the threshold of tariff reform, has been greatly due to the group of Republican progressive Senators. Their fight for tariff reduction in the Senate four years ago was the turning point for everything that has happened since. If Mr. Taft had stood firmly The New Business " Even a good many business men Attitude of having their money invested in protected industries have caught the new spirit, and would like to see what they can do on the higher plane of world competition. For several years, the protected industries have seen the handwriting on the wall, have been putting their houses in order, and have been preparing for what they had been accustomed to call "the worst" but which may prove to be the best. That sensitive index, the Stock Exchange, showed no ominous disturbance when the Underwood bill was made public. Shares of stock in the industries that have enjoyed the protection of high duties are still worth something in the market; and nobody has taken seriously the statements that the Underwood bill, if passed as introduced, would shut up the cotton mills of the South, the shoe factories of New England, the carpet mills of Philadelphia and Yonkers, and the great establishments in |