THE AMERICAN TARIFF.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 274, 11 April 1913, Page 3

THE AMERICAN TARIFF.

TjJJE PRESENT DUTIES. J Under the present tariff boots and} shoes bear a duty of 15 per cent, ad valorem. Anthracite coal is free, and bituminous coal is charged 45 cents a ton. Timber is charged y 2 cent per cubic foot; lumber, boards, planks, not planed, 50 cents per 1000 feet; lumber, finished on four sides, '2 dollars 75 cents per 1000 feet: staves, 10 per cent, ad valorem; shingles, 50 cents per 1000 feet; wood, manufactures of, 35 per cent, ad valorem. The present duties on wool vary from j 3 cents to 33 cents per lb, and average I a little more than 44 per cent, ad val- j orem. On partly-manufactured wool) and on products manufactured in whole] or ill part from wool the present duty averages more than 00 per cent, ad valorem. On cheap and medium grade woollen cloths the existing rates are frequently as high as 150 per cent, ad valorem, and on some cheap goods they are 200 per cent. The findings of the UnitStates Tariff Board in 1911 showed that the cost of production of all kinds of wool in the United States was higher than the cost in the chief competing country. The cost of turning wool into yarn in the States was about double that in the leading competing country, and the cost of turning'yarn into cloth somewhat more than double. The American manufacturer, it was pointed out, had no advantage in the form of superior machinery or more efficient labor to offset the higher wages paid. President Taft, in commenting on the report of the Tariff Board on the wool schedule, said: "Although these duties do not increase prices of domestic goods hy anything like their full amount, it is none the less true that swell protective duties eliminate the possibility of foreign po#if»Btitio«, even in tine of scarcity: that tWy form a temptation ft) Bumwpolr aid conspiracies to ccmtyel pries*; that they are much in excess of the difference in the cost of production here and abroad, and that they should he i reduced to a point which accords wiWi this principle." 'fllie present sugaii duties range from 1 cent to 4 cents per lb. The fruit duties vary. Apples and peaches pay 25 cents a bushel, preserved fruits 1 cent per Hi. oranges and grape-fruit 1 cent per lb, pineapples in bulk S dollars per 1000. etc. Cattle, valued at over 14 dollars per head, pay 27'/> per cent, ad valorem. Tlovses and mules, valued at 150 dollars or le«s. pay 30 dollars per head; over 150 dollars. "25 per cent, ad valorem. Flax yarns, line, are charged 35 per cent, ail valorem at present; and flax, straw, 5 dollars a ton.