PRESIDENTIAL TARIFF

In reporting the new tariff bill the Finance Committee of the Senate has proposed four amendments which would permit a system more flexible, but at the same time more stable, than is the case at present; the chief feature of the amendments is that the President would have very broad powers. Provision for this is made in the first amendment suggested, which "states that the President shall have authority "to modify tariff rates either upward or downward, within prescribed limits and in accordance with definite rules laid down by Congress, so that the rates may at all times conform to existing conditions". The other provisions are of secondary importance; the first allows for American or foreign valuation, according to the reliability of the foreign rating; the second, for additional duties to counteract unfair competition; and the third, for duties to prevent discrimination against our over-seas commerce.

To give the President greater powers than he has at present, over the tariff, is an important step. If it is judiciously administered, there will be at least a partial elimination of the change in rates which comes often with succeeding administrations, and almost inevitably if they be of different parties. Economists have long argued for a stable and consistent tariff, and this measure seems to offer greater possibility for continuity than any suggestion now under consideration. And naturally it would relieve congress of a large amount of detail work; the fact that the tariff may be taken at least partially out of politics makes the amendment alluring. If it proves to be practically as well as theoretically sound, the measure may well prove as great an advance in economic organization as is the Federal Reserve System--which is invaluable.