Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 82, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1909 — TARIFF BILL IS IN THE HOUSE [ARTICLE]

TARIFF BILL IS IN THE HOUSE

Synopsis of the Measure as Introduced by Payne. REVISION IS DOWNWARD Maximum and Minimum Provisions, However, Will impose an Average Maximum Duty 20 Per Cent In Excess cf the Present Tariff—lnheritance Tax Provided—Free Tobacco and Sugar from the Philippines as Recommended by the President. Downword revision, maximum provisions which will impose an average maximum duty 20 per cent in excess of the present tariff, and provisiono by which it is estimated that the revenue to the government will be Increased from $40,000,000 to $50,000,000 are the salient features ot the new tariff bill Introduced In the house by Representative Sereno E. Payne, chairman of the ways and means committee. It Is provided that the bill shall go Into effect the day following Its enactment. The recommendations by President Taft that an inheritance tax be enacted and that a limited amount of tobacco and sugar be admitted free from the Philippines are followed in the bilL It provides also for the issuance of Panama canal bonds to the amount of $40,000,000 to reimburse the treasury for the original purchase of the canal, and contains a provision for the iaauance of treasury certificates, the amount being increased from $100,000,000 to $250,000,000. No Coffee Tax; Cigarettes Higher. Although there is no suggestion of a duty on coffee, tea is taxed 8 cents when imported from the country w here It is produced and 9 cents when from any other than the producing country. The internal revenue tax on cigarettes Is Increased materially, while the tax on beer and whisky is not changed. A cut of 50 per cent is made in the steel and lumber schedules. Iron ore, hides, tallow, cottonseed oil and works of art hore than twenty years old are placed Jn the free list.

The tariff on boots and shoes is reduced 40 per cent, and that on other leather manufactures In proportion. The pottery schedule remains about the same, but the duties on window and plate glass of the smaller sizes are Increased, while those on the larger sizes are reduced. The tariff on wool of the first and second classes, used principally in clothing, is not disturbed, but that on the third class, known as carpet wool, is reduced for the cheaper grades. A 5-cent cut is made on shoddy and waste, while wool tojps are assessed 6 cents a pound more than scoured wool, which is not changed. Recommendations for placing wood pulp on the free list and reducing the duties on print paper, with certain instructions, made by the Mann committee of the house are incorporated. Duty on Refined Sugar Cut. The duty on refined sugar is reduced .05 per cent on a pound and that on dextrin half a cent a pound. A reduction of half a cent a pound is made also in the duty on starch, with the exception of potato starch. Zinc in ore is assessed 1 cent a pound for the due contained. The tariff on pig iron Is reduced from $4 to $2.50 a ton. The principal increases are made In the duties on lemons, cocoa and substitutes for coffee, coal tar, dyes, gloves, coated papers and lithographic prints. As expected, the bill is made on a maximum and minimum basis, with the provision that the maximum rates are to go into effect sixty days after the passage of the measure. Reciprocity provisions are written Into the paragraphs assessing duties on bituminous coal and coke and agricultural Implements, by which these articles are given entry free of duty when imported from countries which permit the free importation of these articles from America. The legal deduction of 1 per cent on the drawback is provided, but the exportation upon which the manufacture proposes to collect the drawbacks must be made within thve£ years after the importation of the foreign material used or checked against. Important Provisions in Bill. Free list —Hides, iron ore, wood pulp, coffee, tallow, workß of art. New taxes —Inheritance, tea. *'• Decreases—Leather goods, boots and shoes, barley, malt, lumber, printing paper, steel and iron products, lead, wool, cotton seed oil, flaxseed, linseed, firebrick, window glass, sugar, bacon and hams, fresh meat, lard, starch, threads, carpets. Increases —Cigarettes, watch movements, gloves, cement, asphalt, lithograph prints, perfuqferles, fancy soap, spices, paper envelopes. Reciprocity—Coal, agriculture Implements. No change—Beer and whisky. Treasury—lssue of $40,000,000 In Panama canal bonds and an increased Issue of $150,000,000 in treasury certificates.

Expected annual revenue—approximately $300,000,000 over the Dingley act. Inheritance Tax Provisions. Petroleum is retained on the free list and the countervailing duty provision is retained. The inheritance tax paragraph Is similar to the New York state law. It places a tax of 5 per-cent on all Inheritances over SSOO that are collateral inheritances or in which strangers are the legatees. In cases of direct inheritance the taxes prescribed are: On slo,oou to SIOO,OOO, 1 per cent; on SIOO,OOO to $500,000, 2 per cent, and on more than $500,000, 3 per cent. It is esthnatod that $20,000,000 annually will be derived from this tax. The probabilities are that when the h-mse begins the debate of the bill the bc.nl3 cf the sessions will be extended. I s s:Uir,rg will probably begin at 10 ‘n :I> mining and continue until 10 ' 1 o'clock at night. , c:.t T::ft sent his message tc r Tuesday and made It clear ■ :ji v . U action was necessary foT .. . I.;, et ike country and of the o ija i ; inity especially. The vs: •-he cenaie and House of Repre- • ii.r'.r.tives: I have convened the renin khla extra session in order tc e..s.t\o it to give immediate conrideraticn to the revision of the Display tariff act. Conditions affecting produc-' tion, manufacture and business generally have so -hanged in the last twelve years as to require a readjustment and revision of the import duties Imposed by that act. “More than this, the present tariff act, with the other sources of government revenue does not furnish income to pay the authorized expenditures. By July 1, next, the excess of expenses over the receipts of the current fiscal year will equal $100,000,000. “The successful party in the late election la pledged to a revision of the tariff. The country, and the business community especially, expect It. The prospect of a chanqe In the rates of import duties always causts a suspension or halt in business because of the uncertainty of the changes to be made and their effect. It is, therefore, of the highest importance that the new bill should be agreed upon, and pasted with as much speed as possible consistent with its due and thorough consideration. For these reasons, I have deemed the present to be an extraordinary occasion, within the meaning of the constitution, Justifying and requiring the calling of an extra session. “In my Inaugural address I stated In a summary way the principles upon which, In my judgment, the revision of the tariff should proceed and indicated at least one new source of revenue that might be preparly resorted to in order to avoid a future deficit. It ie not necessary for me to repeat what I then said. “I venture to suggest that the, Vital I business Interests of thy. country re-'

quire that the attention of the congress in this session be chiefly devoted to the consideration of the new tariff bill, and that the less time given to other subjects of legislation in this session, the better for the country. (Signed) “WILLIAM H. TAFT." Committees Named. Sneaker Cannon’s ways and means and rules committees are: Rules —The Speaker, Dalzell, Pennsylvania; Smith, Iowa; Clark, Missouri; Fitzgerald, New York. Ways and Means Payne, ' New York; Dalzell, Pennsylvania; McCall. Massachusetts; Hill, Connecticut; F.outell, Illinois; Needham, California; Calderhead, Kansas; Fordney, Michigan; Gaines, West Virginia; Cushman, Washington; Longworth, Ohio; Crumpacker, Indiana; Clark, Missouri; Harrison, New York; Broussard, Louisiana; Underwood, Alabama; Griggs, Georgia; Pou, North Carolina; Randall, Texas. Nominations Sent to Senate. The president sent to the senate the following nominations: Consul general at Stockholm, Swe'JAn, Edward D. Winslow, Chicago; T >’Ted State - ? circuit Judge for Sixth ’.ll:'M circvit, John W. Warrington, _> Ohio; tin'ted States attorney for '•vcstsin district cf Pennsylvania, John H. Jordan.