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    "title": "TARIFFS",
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    "verified_text": "the history of commercial tariffs dur- ing the first quarter of the 2zoth century divides itself into three periods: the years prior to the world war, those covered by the conflict itself, and the years of readjustment that followed. i. the pre-war and war periods the early years of the 2oth century had found france, germany and the united states definitely committed to protection, while in england the free-trade policy, though still dominant, was be- ginning to be seriously criticised. in the first three countries, the tariff schedules were already distinctly protectionist in char- acter, the united states leading the way among these three in the application of high tanff rates for the encouragement of domestic manufactures, and france and germany, in addition to indus- 731 trial protection, endeavouring to assist home agricultural pro- duction. the institution of imperial preference by canada (1897) soon to be followed by similar measures on the part of other self- governing colonies and by chamberlain’s advocacy of reciprocity by england, unloosed a potent force toward protectionism. not since the repeal of the corn laws had conditions appeared so favourable for a change in the free-trade policy of england. the german tariff—among the four countries above men- tioned, the first after 1900 to effect a general amendment of its tariff was germany. the agrarian interests, especially the large- scale producers of cereals, felt that their advantage had been sacrificed to that of the manufacturers and merchants in the commercial treaties negotiated by count caprivi in 1891-4. the new tariff of 1902 provided for equal protection of manu- factures and agricultural commodities, but on the whole support to the latter was the more conspicuous feature. especially sig- nificant in this regard were the minimum tariff rates for certain agricultural products u.e., rates below which the government might not make reductions in its negotiation of treaties), and the fact that the products thus particularly protected were rye, wheat, spelt, malting, barley and oats—the articles in which the large-scale producers were peculiarly interested. industrial protection was enhanced in the law, however, and a much greater differentiation of rates was introduced. objections had been raised to the whole system of “ general ” and “‘ conventional ” tariffs on the ground that concessions in the latter often affected a wide variety of articles, since the individual items in the tariffs often covered broad classes of goods. as many as 1,446 items were separately enumerated in this act, whereas the older law had specified only 387 items. it was thus possible to limit the scope of concessions. | the french tariff—the increased height and the greater specialisation of the german tariff formed one basis for agitation in france in favour of a modification of the tariff law of that country. further, it was held that for bargaining purposes the spread between the french minimum and the gencral or maxi- mum tariff schedules—25 to 40% ad valorem in typical cases— should be increased. finally, the french tariff had remained substantially unchanged since 1892, and in the interim new industries and new branches of old industries had arisen for which protection was believed advantagcous. in 1910 a new act was passed which increased appreciably the protectionist character of the french tariff law. the rates of the maximum tariff were generally raised, new items were added to the law and numerous old minimum rates were increased or differentiated in a greater degree than before. higher duties on special types of steel, on iron and steel products, especially tools and certain machinery, and on boots and shoes were typical and important alterations in the new act. in marked contrast to the earlier german act, the act of r910 was chiefly a vehicle for expanded protection to french manufacturers. the united states tariff—the united states tariff of 1909, amending that established in 1897, failed appreciably to change the situation. it made certain reductions in duties, such as the rates on hides, wool tops and various iron and steel products; but, except in the case of hides, the reductions were in most cases more nominal than real. the lower rates were substantially as protective as the higher ones had been. furthermore, the act included various increases in duties, e.g., on silk fabrics, certain forms of cutlery, hosiery and the like. the net result was to leave the general height of the tariff at much the same level as had previously ruled. the revision of 1909 in the end proved a politi- cal blunder as far as the republican party in power was con- cerned. jn the next presidential election (1912), the democrats gained control of both the executive and legislative branches of the government for the first time since 1892-4. immediately the democratic leaders began the revision of the tariff law. most raw materials, including the most-favoured raw wool, were placed upon the free list; the complicated specific and compound schedules that had grown up in the republican tariffs were largely scrapped; and the effective protection upon semi-manu- factured and wholly manufactured articles was markedly de- 732 creased. the new act had not been in operation a year when the world war broke out, and under the stress of that conflict the course of production and trade began to change rapidly and decisively. not only was there no adequate test of the lower rates, but the conditions ultimately reached were so dissimilar to pre-war conditions that hopes of permanently lower tariff rates built upon the latter were rendered illusory. the war period with the outbreak of the world war came a break in the tariff expcrience of most important countries, especially those belligerent. not only was the whole structure of conventional arrangements destroyed, but in the tariff legislation of the war years exigency replaced rational policy as the guiding motive. in part such legis- lation was dictated by desire for increased revenue. examples are the increase in the canadian tariff in 1915, the australian advance in 1917 and the additions to pre-existing rates in england, france and germany. many alterations, however, in tariff arrange- ments, especially in europe, were made for the control of commerce in the interest of the most effective prosecution of the war. in germany, rates were lowered or abolished to facilitate the import of essential commodities. in france the executive was authorised (1916) to increase import duties upon any or all goods, and even to prohibit wholly the importation of articles in the interests of the country. similarly, great britain in 1915 enacted the so-called mckenna duties: imposts of 333 % upon a number of luxury articles -——pleasure cars, motor-cycles, watches and clocks, musical instru- ments and cinematograph films. these duties were partly devised for fiscal purposes, but in part also for economy in tonnage. ultimately, as the war dragged on and the strain upon national resources increased, import duties were found to be inadequate for the commercial control desired, and nations resorted to direct governmental supervision of the export and import of essential materials and foodstutfs. licensing systems, supplementing govern- mental control of shipping and governmental bulk purchases, were adopted. the consumption of luxuries was thereby curtailed, cargo space in national and neutral ships conserved and the upward move- ment in the price of essential commodities somewhat restrained. thus the declaration of peace found commerce trammelled by a multitude of restrictions and regulations. il. the period of reconstruction the direct and indirect effects of the world war, including those flowing from the war-time tariffs and war-sprung “‘ con- trols,”’ were of such magnitude that at the conclusion of peace a commercial and industrial situation largely novel confronted the nations of the world. the pre-war balance between industry and agriculture within nations had frequently been upset; old industries had been stimulated to expand and new industries had been born during the war’s upheaval; while the prolonged rupture of pre-war commercial connections and the disturbed conditions of currency and exchange made it extremely difficult to gauge the strength of post-war basic forces. | moreover, the war revealed many weaknesses in the organisa- tion of industrial nations. england and germany were hard pressed for food; most belligerents were forced to seek substitutes for essential raw materials; and at times even the lack of cer- tain manufactured articles was annoying or really embarrassing. the last was especially true im cases where whole industries were throttled by scarcity of quantitatively minor clements: needles for knitting machines, dyestuffs for the textile manu- facturers, gauges or chemical glassware for many sorts of work. national acquisition of such “ key ” industries seemed desirable. finally, the peace treaties brought into being a group of new nations, largely constituted out of portions of pre-existing na- tions. upon separation, both the older nations and the newer areas—e. g., austria-hungary, czechoslovakia and yugoslavia found themselves with unbalanced economic interests. the old markets for their surplus products were now on foreign soil. fur- thermore, since many of the new nations were fired with an intense nationalistic sentiment, they were inclined to adopt measures to secure increased self-sufficiency. similar ideas domi- nated the economic policy of countries whose power had increased, such as australia, italy and turkey, or of countries which had gained more self-government, such as ireland and india. removal of control.—the first difficulty in the way of recon- struction—the licensing systems and other arbitrary methods of commercial control—was the easiest to surmount, although vari- tariffs ous restrictions were maintained for several years. in england the change was rapid. the spring of 1919 found war-time re- strictions still hampering bnitish trade in 260 classes of goods, but sept. of that same year saw the last of these restrictions wiped away. france moved in the same direction in the summer of 191g, but for a period in 1920 felt it necessary to reimpose control with respect to 175 articles. germany and other countries, on the other hand, made progress more slowly, and the first seven years after the armistice were marked by the frequent reintro- duction of restrictions in various commodities. by 1926 inter- ference with international trade by governmental systems of specific-commodity control had been largely eliminated. the re-establishment of a new network of commercial treaties (g.v.), especially with a general use of the unconditional m.f.n. clause, proved a more arduous undertaking. for a time after the peace it seemed possible that no re-establishment along these lines would be effected. to the pre-war scepticism as to the general advantage of such engagements were added the uncertainties of economic conditions in the post-war period, some remnant of con- viction among the allied nations that the central powers should be treated for an indefinite time in a hostile manner, and the constraint placed upon independent action by germany by the provisions of the versailles treaty. yet, despite these handicaps, the project of renewing relations upon somewhat the same grounds as erstwhile had prevailed was initiated and slowly gained ground, first between allied states, then between ‘‘ enemy ” states, between an allied or “‘enemy ” state and a neutral, or among the new nations created by the treaties of peace. while the process of “‘ de-control,’’ and the re-establishment of conventional tariffs and treatment upon the basis of the m.f.n., clause, modified interference in international commerce, the char- acteristic feature of the reconstruction period remained the trend toward increased protectionism. the movement was broader and seemed more profound than anything which preceding decades knew. great britain —colonial preference appeared for the first time in the british tariff system when in 1919 a reduction of a sixth was granted on dutiable goods (one-third off the mckenna rates above mentioned) which were the product or manufacture of british colonies; and in 1925 the preference on certain commod- ities, especially sugar, tobacco and dried fruits, was increased. in 1922 the safeguarding of industries act was passed, levying duties of 334% upon a number of “ key ” articles such as optical glass, scientific instruments, hosiery latch-needles, metailic tungsten and synthetic chemicals. attempt at further advance along such lines was temporarily blocked when in 1923 the conservatives appealed to the country and lost. however, after a short interval of labour government, during which repeal of the mckenna duties and a reduction of colonial preference were carried through, the conservatives were again brought into power. the mckenna duties were re-established, additional empire preferences approved and arrangements provided whereby the necds of individual industries (except the produc- tion of foodstufis) could be given separate consideration with a view to tariff protection. (see safeguarding of industry.) | the united states.—little was heard of tariff change in the united states for a year or two after the war. then the con- junction of the severe crisis of 1920 with the return of the re- publican party to control led to a renewal of tariff legislation. the crisis bore with somewhat exceptional severity upon the agricultural areas of the west, and for the first time in american tariff experience there appeared a broad group of agricultural interests asking for protection. at the same time industrial interests asked for a revision of the tariff, emphasising the in- creased competition of germany and japan, the need of protec- tion for the industries initiated or expanded by the abnormal war-time conditions of commerce and manufacture, and the necessity of special defence against countries with depreciated paper-money currencies. first the farmers were partially satis- fied by an “ emergency ”’ tariff law (1921), which carried en- hanced duties for a half-dozen important agricultural commod- ity classes. then in the tariff act of 1922 protection was carried out more broadly than ever before—not unaffected by the circum- stance of icgislative “ log-rolling.” agriculture secured dutics higher than had ever been enacted; the “ war babies,” such as toys, tungsten and dyestuffs, secured specially high rates; and tarkington—taussig manufacturing industries generally obtained something approach- ing the level of duties carried in the payne-aldrich act of 1900, though with some exceptions. a few of these exceptions, ¢.g., cotton yarns and certain steel products, were reductions from the 1909 rates, although usually these reductions were more nominal than real; while the increases included some duties, such as those on cutlery and laces. the rate upon laces, 90%, was the highest simple ad valorem rate ever enacted for purely protective purposes. france.—france established in 1919 a system of ‘‘co-eflicients,”’ multiples by which the pre-war specific duties should be multi- _ plied. in this way depreciation of the paper franc could be kept from weakening the protective wall. then, two years later, a new maximum tariff was introduced, increasing the spread be- tween minimum and maximum schedules. whereas the difier- ence had previously not been in excess of 100%, it became in some cases as much as 300%. other countries followed the lead of france in the adoption of the co-efficient system: belgium, italy, czechoslovakia, poland and turkey. germany delayed the enactment of any general tariff law until 1925, when an act was passed which placed the general level of the german tariff above that of the pre-war tariffs. certain manufactures re- ceived increased support in the new duties, but especially notable was the restoration of the system of protective duties upon agricultural commodities approximately to the pre-war standard. industrial protection spread in less developed nations. indeed, in one way or another, such protection coloured the post-war tariff enactments of ireland, india, south africa, new zealand, australia, hungary, lithuania, czechoslovakia, yugoslavia and poland. in fact, scarcely a country of the world escaped the in- fluence of the prevailing spirit. the course of tariff history in the early years of post-war re- construction manifested a trend in some respects more pro- nouncedly toward high and widespread protection than had been exhibited before the war. with the extension of the move- ment to the newer countries, and with the possibility of the down- fall of free trade in its oldest home, the policy of hamilton, list, carey and wagner seemed to carry everything before it. bibliograpily.—a. arnaune, le commerce exterieur et les tarifs de douane (1911); p. ashley, modern tariff itistory, 3rd. ed. (1920); t. e. g. gregory, tariffs: a study in method (1921); sir g. peel, the tariff reformers (1913); f. w. taussig, tariff [history of the united states, 7th ed. (1923), and some aspects of the tariff question (1915); united states tariff commission, reciprocity and com- mercial treaties (1919), and colonial tariff policies (1922). (ast c3 tarkington, newton booth (1860- ), american author, was born in indianapolis, ind., july 29 18609. after studying at phillips academy, exeter, mass., he entered purdue university, lafayette, ind., but later transferred to princeton where he graduated in 1893. he was elected to the indiana house of representatives for the term 1902-3. his first story, the gentleman from indiana, was published in 1899, having appeared as a serial in afcclure’s magazine. in 1900 his reputation was es- tablished by monsieur beaucaire, which he dramatised (with ie. g. sutherland) in 1901. in torg he was awarded the pulitzer prize for his novel, the magnificent ambersons (1918). his other stories include the two vanrevels (1902); cherry (1903): the conquest of canaan (1905); guest of quesnay (1908); beauty and the jacobin: an interlude of the french revolution (1912); penrod (1914); penrod and sam (1916); ramsey mulholland (1919); alice adams (1921); fascinating stranger and other stories (1923); weimen (1925). his plays include cameo kirby (1907); your tumble servant (1908); afisier antonio (1916); the couniry cousin (1917), with julian street; the gibson upright and up from nowhere (1919), both with harry leon wilson; clarence (1919); seventeen (1925). tasmania (see 26.438), a state of the australian common- wealth. the island of tasmania, the smallest of the australian states, has an area of 26,215 sq. miles. its population in 1925 was 211,906, an increase of 20,695 since 1911. hobart (popula- tion 56,507) is the capital and chief port. launceston (popula- tion 28,000) is the principal town in the north. overseas mail steamers do not call at tasmania, but there are regular shipping services with melbourne and sydney. the states fos returns six senators and five members of the house of repre- sentatives to the federal parliament. the legislative council has 18 members and the house of assembly 30. since the war political power has fluctuated between the nationalists and country party on the one hand and labour on the other. the state owns and controls a hydroelectric undertaking, a shipping service and an insurance office production and industyy—tasmania reproduces many of the natural features of england, and its climatic conditions closely resemble those of western europe. drought is unknown, and the fruits, flowers and vegetables of the temperate zone are success- fully grown. in .1924, 34,076 ac. were under cultivation as or- chards and fruit gardens, of which 25,681 ac. were devoted to the production of apples. oats, beans, peas and potatoes are other crops and hops are grown. minerals to the value of £1,154,397 were produced in tasmania in 1923. in that year copper was the principal product, with tin, lead, limestone, flux and silver following 1n the order named. tasmania is the largest producer of “ free’ osmiridium in the world: in 1920, 2,009 oz., valued at £77,114, were produced. the development of secondary industries during the post-war period was due, to a large extent, to the utilisation of the great lake waters to develop electric power. in 1924 the state hydro- electric department had available from this scheme 63,000 h.p., capable of development to 500,000 h.p. foremost among the industries is that of the electrolytic zinc co. of australasia. messrs. cadbury, fry and pascall established a joint factory at hobart in 1922, and several woollen manufacturcrs from great britain have established factories at launceston (see australia). tata, sir dorabji jamsetji (1859- ), indian capitalist, was born at bombay on aug. 27 1850, being the elder son of the famous parsee industrial pioneer, jamsetji nasarwanji tata (see 26.448). upon leaving cambridge, he entered his father’s business and pursued his father’s great conceptions until they culminated in striking advances in indian industrial development and also in the establishment in 1905, by means of generous en- dowment, of the indian institute of scientific research at banga- lore. he was actively assisted by his brother sir ratan tata (t871-1918) and after many disappointments he secured by the end of rorr the establishment of iron and steel manufactures on a large scale with indian capital and under indian control. from the jungle of a remote bengal district there sprung the town of jamshedpur, so named (like the adjacent tatanagar) after the originator of the project. a population of over 80,000 1s there engaged in steel manufacture and many subsidiary industries. sir dorabji, who was knighted at the beginning of roto, showed pertinacity in carrying to realisation a succession of schemes for harnessing the heavy monsoon rainfall of the western ghats to provide the hydroelectric energy which has vastly increased the productive capacity and transformed the industrial conditions of the city and neighbourhood of bombay. altogether the tata concerns support 250,000 wage carners and their dependents, and represent a capital commitment (almost entirely indian), estimated at £50,000,000. suffering from the reactions of the speculative boom of the post-armistice period, and from severe external compctition, the parent steel company sought and was the first indian industrial concern to receive, by legislative enactment in 1924, the discriminating protection rec- ommended as a suitable policy for india by the fiscal com- mission of r92t-2. sir dorabji’s cousin, sharpuji saklatvala, was the first communist to be elected to the british house of commons, being returned for bat terseain 1922 and again in 1924. taussig, frank william (18509- ), american econo- mist (see 26.456), was during 1917-9 chairman of the u.s. tariff commission. in march 1919, he was called to paris to advise in the adjustment of commercial treaties, and in nov., attended the second industrial conference in washington for promoting peace between capital and labour. he was a strong supporter of the covenant of the league of nations. taussig wrote, principles of economics (1911; 3rd ed., 1921); some phases of the tariff question (1915); investors and aloney- makers (1915); and free trade, the tariff, and rectprocity (1919). 134",
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