KEENER COMPETITION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1755, 21 May 1913, Page 8

KEENER COMPETITION.

AMERICAN VIEWS ON LOWER TARIFFS. EFFECT ON WOOL TRADE. President Wilson's insistence on the necessity that American manufacturers should match themselves with foreign competitors, taken in conjunction with tho moderate reductions proposed in the new Tariff Bill, lias had on the whole a remarkably favourable reception. Manufacturers liavo recovered from the hysterical fright • with which thcy_ first anticipated a Democratic tariff. "We aro not apprehensive," now represents their attitude. . .

A typical expression of opinion was that made by one of tlio directors of tho General Chemical Company, who, after a beard meeting held to consider tho Bill, observed, "It is true that wo went to Washington and heaped up argument above argument as to why tho tariff wall should be raised and should stay high, but we now sco that this policy was a mistake and recognise that ours has been an over-protected industry." In a similar manner crockery, china, and glassware manufacturers aro resigning themselves to the inevitable. They declare that they can, with the tariff reduced from 55 to 35 per cent., easily undersell British competitors in the American market. Boot manufacturers . are equally confident. England is our chief competitor, they say, but we are not afraid, for "whils tho cost of labour in England is lower than here, tho English production is correspondingly lower owing to the slower speed with which English operatives work. We can easily beat tho English in tho style of lwots, and, as tlie English havo an unconquerable aversion to rapid changes in styles, Ihcy are not likely to do much business in this country.' Steel manufacturers profess to regard tho liill with indifference, declaring that the German and British works have so many orders that tboy are unable to pay "any attention to the American market. "\Vc> are now able to stand oil our own foot,'' was Sir. Carnegie's verdict. The packim industries assume a nonchalant altitude, arguing that there is a real shortage of meat the world over which the reduction in this tariff will not affect.

The alarmists arc the paper manufacturers and certain branches of the ?o|. ton industries. •

The wool trade is the petted child ot American industry, but the proposal for fieo wool is surprisingly enough widely accepted as a step in the right direction. The Ho per cent, duty on woollen cloth, however, is criticised as insutlicient to overcome tho great advantages Britain possesses in her more intimate knowledge of the vastly differing finalities ns regards texture, shrinking, and blending. Moreover, it is pointed out that despite the higher wages paid here, British operatives are incomparably more efficient than American.