Tariff Hearings Before the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, Sixtieth Congress Volume 18-21 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 Excerpt: ...not make that leather up with the labor we have here, that costs no more than the labor abroad, and export that leather in the form of shoes. That $22.000.000 worth of leather would represent $80.000.000 worth of shoes. The fact that we can not get the sole leather at the same price that the foreigner gets it at absolutely prevents us from using up that leather in this country. Mr. Longworth. I do not want to interrupt your statement, but The Chairman. WOuld it not be well to wait until he closes? Mr. Longworth. I simply wanted to ask The Chairman. I know but that " simply' leads to another question from another member, Will you not let him finish and then the floor will be yielded to Mr. Longworth to ask any question he pleases, first. Mr. Longworth. I-ield. Mr. Jones. I will get through very quickly. What we contend is that if what I said is true this duty is not protective; and it certainly was not levied for purposes of revenue because we only tax one class of hides, which represents one-third to one-fourth of the importation, and they get a rebate on every hide that goes out of the country. So that absolutely it was not a revenue measure; and if it was not a revenue measure it was not anything else but a bounty. Now, we claim that if the Government wishes to pay a bounty, the money for it should not be raised by a tax on one industry. We claim that it should be raised by general taxation. We claim that there is no propriety or justice in laying a bounty on the shoe-leather industry, and we say that it should not be described in the bill as a revenue for protection, but it should be described as a bounty to be paid from the proceeds of general taxation; and that one fact will account for a good deal of the feeling we have in the industry; and in th...