The Wenatchee daily world. [volume], March 15, 1909, Page 3, Image 3

About The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971

Image provided by: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA

                
NOBODY LOVES A FAT MAN
COPYRIGHT, 1909.8Y THE AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION
TASK TO ADJUST A FAIR TARIFF
OVER THREE HUNDRED HEAR
INGS HAVE BEEN GIVEN BY
THE COMMITTEE TO THOSE
ASKING CHANGES.
(By Associated Press.)
Washington, D. C, March 15. —
Fully three hundred importers and
exporters, manufacturers and agri
culturists, and tariff experts appear
ed before the house committee on
ways and means at the various
hearings which began on November
10 and continued daily until Decem
ber 23, and also at several supple
mental hearings. Some of the most
dSminent men in the manufactur
flK and financial worlds presented
testimony of a varied and interesting
character. In addition to this testi
mony there were thousands of briefs
filed with the committee which,
added to the statistics furnished by
the various government departments
and agents sent abroad, together
with special data compiled by Thos.
J. Doherty, assistant counsel of the
treasury department, and Major Her
bert Lord, who was clerk of the
Ways and Means Committtee when
the Dingley tariff was framed, has
given the committee information
more complete than has ever been
at the disposal of a tariff framing
committee.
Andrew Carnegie, Charles H.
Schwab, Judge E. H. Gary, and oth
er steel magnates, furnished the
most interesting testimony. Mr.
Carnegie, who caused considerable
discussion by proclaiming, in a mag
azine article, that the sled manu
facturers of this country do not
need any tariff protection, was be
fore the committee for nearly eight
hours. His testimony, while witty
and entertaining, did not offer, the
tariff makers much specific informa
tion regarding the cost of manufac
turing steel rails and other articles
of steel. He dealt largely in theo
ries and deductions and avoided fig
ures, claiming that he was not fami
liar with the details of the steel busi
ojLs at the present time, but spoke
Coffee
The kind that makes the break
fast—real Coffee through and
through—always the same.
Your grocer will grind it
better if ground at home—not
too fine.
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THE WENATCHEE DAILY WORLD, WENATCHEE/ WASHINGTON, MONDAY, MARCH 15, 1909.
! from his general knowledge gained
in the business before he retired to
! private life.
Judge Gary, who was one of the
I best equipped and most satisfactory
i witnessesses who appeared before
the committee preceded Mr. Came!-
-! gie by several days. He declared
j that the independent steel manufac
turers require tariff protection and
said that the duty on steel should be
I removed, the United States Steel cor
jporation, of whose board of direc
tors he is chairman, would secure a
monopoly of the market. The cost
of labor would be reduced, he said,
if the tariff on steel was taken off
entirely. Tn the course of his tes
timony Judge Gary declared in fa
vor of government control of manu
facturers to prevent them from
charging a price which would give
them more than a fair return on
their investments.
Mr. Schwab, who was formerly
president of the steel corporation,
was one of the most earnest advo
i cates for protection for the steel in
dustry to appear before the commit-
I tee. His replies to the questions of
members of the committee were re
plete, with figures and arguments.
He declared that the Bessemer proc
! ess of steel manufacture will, with
in five, years, be superseded by the
open hearth process, which, he pre-
I dieted, will, in turn, be abandoned
j for the electric system of manufac
ture being developed in Germany.
The agitation for free lumber by
those In sympathy with the move
ment for the conservation of the
forests of the country resulted in
a strong appeal from the lumber in
terests of the south and the north
west. Representative Champ Clark,
iof Missouri, the minority leader of
\ the house, submitted the lumber
; magnates to severe cross examina
: tions, and these hearings were
'among the most interesting. T. B.
; Walker and Edward Hines. two of
I the largest lumber dealers in the
'northwest, argued for the retention
iof the present duty on lumber,
claiming that the United States can
not compete with Canada in facili
! ties for cheap transportation or
! cheap labor. A number of southern
lumbermen also asked for protection,
contending that the cost of produc
tion has increased.
A severe arraignment of the so
called paper trust by John Norris,
representing the American Newspa
per publishers association, and a de
fense of the International Paper Co.
by Chester W. Lyman, assistant to
the president of the company, of
fered one of the sensations of the
hearings. The Ways and Means
committee, while taking the keenest
interest in the testimony, was pre
disposed to depend upon the report
of the special committee which con
ducted hearings on wood pulp and
print paper last year for the informa
tion upon which to base the conclu
sions regarding the paper and pulp
schedule.
The proposition to have the values
of articles upon which an ad valorem
duty is imposed determined by the
wholesale prices in this country as
well as the cost at the place of pro
duction, was first discussed at the
hearings given the pottery interests.
This method of collecting the duties
would permit the appraisers to call
upon witnesseses in this country for
information which, under the pres
ent method of collecting ad valorem
duties is not possible. The plan
was advanced as a means for pre
venting under valuations, of which
there has been complaint wherever
ad valorem duties have been impos
ed. Several cases of under valua
tion were presented to the commit
tee by the pottery manufacturers,
who favored an increase in the du
ties on the better grades of china.
The importers advanced arguments
for a reduction of 25 per cent in the
duties on pottery.
As at all former tariff hearings
there was a fight between the shoe
and leather manufacturers of New
England and the cattle raisers of
the west. The leather manufactur
ers wer loath to admit that their in
dutry could stand a reduction in the
duties on shoes and other leather ar
ticles, but urged that the raw mate
| rial should be placed on the free
: list. An amusing incident occured
when one of the shoe men admitted
; that with free hides the shoe man
iiifacturers would be able to compete
I with foreign manufacturers without
tariff protection. This caused the
leather manufacturers to assemble
tneir forces and present arguments
to show that the duty on the manu
factured article,should not be reduc
ed.
Elisha W. Cobb, a manufacturer
of heavy leather, of Boston. Mass..
told the committee that the tariff
on hides accrued only to the bene
fit of the packers and not to the
farmer and cattle raiser. He declar
ed that the large packers of Chicago
jare engaged in the tanning business
and look forward to the time when
I they will have complete monopoly in
| the hide business and in the sole
: and upper-leather business.
The wool schedule was the occa
sion for more contention than any
other and during its consideration
there was much criticism of the
methods by which tariff bills are
framed. While William Whitman,
of Boston, representing the National
Wool Manufacturers, was on the
stand. Representative Clark, of Mis
souri, placed in the record a pam
phlet which purported to inform the
Ways and Means Committee "how
tariff laws are framed." The name:
of the author of the pamphlet was
given as Frank P. Bennett, of Bos
ton.
"The place you get in your work
is not in the House of Representa
tives or Ui the Ways and Means!
Committee, but is* in the senate, isn't
it?" was one of the characteristic
questions asked by Champ Clark, of
Mr. Whitman.
The wool growers of Ohio and the!
western states declared emphatical
ly to the committee that further pro
tection must be given the industry
or the wool growing business would
be entirely wiped out. The woolen
manufacturers also asked that the
present duties at least be retained
on their product. There were sev
eral supplementary hearings on the'
[that the various branches of the in
iwool schedule, all of which indicated
dustry differ as to the proper classi
fication and differentials to be es
tablished in the tariff. The carpet
manufacturers declared that the
classification in the present tariff is
i unjust to their industry and similar;
' claims were made by other manufac-
Iturera. There was much testimony!
i which shed considerable light on
the methods employed in the manu-1
j facture of woolen fabrics, indicat
ling that much so-called pure wool
clothing contains considerable shod
dy and rags. This called forth the
suggestion from Representative
' Clark that there should be a pure
! clothing law, similar in its objects
to the pure food law.
The admission from the Philip
i pines, free of duty, of 300,000 tons
of sugar was the first proposition on
which the Ways and Means commit
tee agreed. This action was taken
'by the committee following a con
i ference with Mr Taft. The state
ment by Edwin F. Atkins, of Bos-1
ton. that there was great danger of
an insurrection in Cuba if the tariff
on sugar is not reduced and the
arguments made by Claus R. Sprec
kles of New York in favor of a re
duction In the duty were the strik
ing features of the hearings on the
sugar schedule. Secretary of War
Wright appeared before the commit
tee in favor of fr.ee sugar from the
Philippines. He declared that the
so-called sugar trust was understood
to own 51 per cent of the stock of
the beet sugar refineries and that
that is possibly the reason why the
beet sugar industry has not grown
in this country. The Louisiana cane
sugar growers claimed that the
price to the consumer of sugar and
and the price paid to the farmer for
his product is fixed by the "sugar
trust."
The California fruit growers were
arrayed against the importers, and
one argument advanced by the lat
ter for reduced duties on lemons was
that the recent earthquake in Sicily
had resulted in the scarcity of labor
and the destruction of lemon groves.
Senator Hale appeared before the
committee to ask that tapicoa flour
be specially provided for in the bill.
Similar requests were made on nu
rous articles. The committee found
considerable information at its dis-'
posal in a volume giving statistics
regarding imports and duties pre
pared by William W. Evans, assis
tant clerk of the committee. Wm.
K. Payne is the clerk of the com
mittee.
Unequaled as a Cure for Croup.
"Besides being an excellent rem
edy for codls and throat troubles,
Chamberlain's Cough Remedy is un
equaled as a cure for croup," says
Harry Wilson, of Waynetown, Ind.
When given a3 soon as the croupy
cough appears, this remedy will pre
vent the attack. It is used success
fully in many thousands of homes.
For sale by all dealers. .
Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Hoffman came
back yesterday from Long Beach,
California, where they have been
spending the winter.
More lots sold
ARE you taking advantage of
the opportunity to get in on
the ground floor?
LET us tell you how cheap you
can get a good lot in
MALAGA.
AT THESE PRICES you can
afford to
Go at once and make
*
A SELECTION
I. M DERIFIELD
Townsite Owner
WENATCHEE - - MALAGA
New Spring
Millinery
The largest and most varied assort
ment of beautiful Millinery ever
shown in Wenatchee is here. A col
lection of beautiful creations from
the fashion makers of America.
There is such a diversity of shapes
and trinunings thnt it will be easy
for you to find a becoming hat. There
is a particular hat for each part i< ular
face, and it may be either large or
small and still be absolutely correct.
A SfKH-ial showing of Easter Hats
this week.
NEW TAILORED SUITS
NEW SILK PETTICOATS
NEW HAIR ORNAMENTS
NEW WAISTS
NEW WASH GOODS
NEW BELTS, ETC.
MRS. E. H. D. WEBB & COMPANY
Wenatchee's Exclusive Milliners
Major Hailing Bought Tract.
Major W. H. Hailing, a recent ar
rival here from Chicago, has com
pleted the purchase of a five-acre
tract from W. R. Prowell and the
Columbia Valley bank. The land is
all set to the best varieties of ap
ples and the consideration was $7,-
--500. Mr. Hailing will commence the
erection of a building on the place
at once and will make it his home.
Ladies, have you tried denatured
alcohol for your chafing dishes. It
Is cheap, safe and clean. Phone 573.
You can cross the Columbia on the
ferry at Orondo Monday morning,
March 15. **?
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