TARIFF BILL AND
Side Lights oi the Great
Fight In Congress to Re
vise the Dingiey
Schedules
win ix
Meaning of the New Tax to
Business Interests and to
the Public In
General.
By FREDERICK K. 1UUMBS,
THE making of a tariff law for a
country with interests as large,
important and varied as those
of the United States requires as
much labor, thought and time and the
attention of as many expert minds as
the founding of an empire.
And always there is the chance that
the measure finally produced and start-
ed on its way through congress will
be defeated or else amended to a point
of uselessness, as witness the vote on
the new Payne tariff measure, which
was squeezed through the lower house
a few days ago by the close vote of
195 to 183. Presuming a quorum to
be present, it requires a majority of
these to pass a bill under the rules of
the lower house. Therefore the chang--lng
of the votes of but six members of
-congress to the negative would have
defeated the bill .on which, such tre
mendous and vital interests depended.
.A tie vote, 189 to 189, would have re--sulted.
, As a rule, there are sections in every
tariff bill which are objected to by
Individual senators and congressmen.
Framers of national tariffs find it im
possible to please every one, public and
legislators and president. Yet, so far
-as the legislators are concerned, they
.-supply the votes that pass the bill;
therefore those that revolt must be
- tenderly nursed along under the scien
tific system of intensive political agri
culture. Perhaps a promise of a com
mittee chairmanship or of an appoint
ment to an important commission,
-etc., will bring over some of the in-
DUlgCULS IU LUC Ui LUC It I I J
'"whip." While it is amazing how
much independence and insurrection in
Washington wilt before the persuasive
Toice of the dispensers of party patron-
corporation tax law is section 6, which
reads as follows: !
When the assessment shall be made as
provided in this section the returns, to- j
gether with any corrections thereof which
may have been made by the commission
er, shall be filed in the office of the com
missioner of internal revenue and shall
constitute public records and be open to
inspection as such. j
This section is an evidence, it is
claimed, that the tax is levied not ;
solely for the purposes-of revenue.'
Certainly it gives the national govern- j
ment a measure of control over cor- i
porate institutions (excepting certain ;
defined organizations), and the bill also, '
through section 6, goes further and
opens up the annual summary of each ;
corporation's business to the public.
Producer of Inside Information.
That is to say, every corporation
which must make a return (report)
under the law will thus place at the
convenience of the general public "in
side" information as to the annual
amount of business transacted ty the
corporation. Business rivals will prob
ably take advantage f this oppor
tunity to learn something about the
operations of their competitors. Per
sons intending to purchase stock or
bonds of the corporations affected will
have a new and accurate source of in
formation from which to ascertain the
desirability or undesirability of the
contemplated investment. Employees
will be able to learn whether or not
their employers are making enough
money to be able to pay a raise in
salary. Inquisitive wives will be in
a position to learn how much the com
panies controlled by their husbands are
netting annually, and other effects of
the new . era of corporation publicity
could be enumerated.
Among the facts which under the
Taft provisions will be placed before
the public each year regarding the
tEutt It 'Is unreasonable to assume that
j any president of the United States
j would make an inquisitorial -use of
:- this power. "He would be guilty of
-malfeasance in office," they say,' "and
would place himself open to impeach
ment proceedings." ,
I When it is considered that the eor
' poratiou tax is but one item of the
I new tariff bill and that the measure
contains, over 4,000 items, it may
I perhaps, and only perhaps, be real-
ized by the general public how glgad
j tic a task is the drafting and per
fecting and enacting of such a statute.
Many of the so called items or articles
in the tariff bill are divided and subdi-
i vided , and resubdivided into a be
j wildering number of classifications
I that is, bewildering to the lay mind.
For instance, take thread made from
hemp, flax or ramie. This sort of
I thread is given a tariff graded accord
ing to the fineness of the yarn from
j which it is made. While the actual
bill does not show them in detail, yet
the drafters and enacters of a tariff
bill for the United States must cal
culate what the tax should be-on over
150 different qualities of such thread
before intelligently making a tariff
schedule. The qualities, grades or
sizes range from "yarn not finer than
15 lea or number" upward to that
likewise technically described as 322
lea or number;" also the tariff fram
ers to work intelligently must con
sider the known value or amount of
imports of each grade or size and the
revenue that a given rate of duty will
produce.
Busy Days Tor Legislators.-
Tariff making days in Washington
are busy days for congressmen and
senators. During the controversy over
the new tariff bill the Payne bill-rthe
daily mail of members of both houses
averaged 120 letters a day. Most of
the correspondents wanted copies of
the Payne bill or of schedules of cer
tain classes of goods or of the tariff
on some particular article named In
the bill. Owners of factories, import
ing houses, mills, cattle, etc- not
only wrote or visited their representa
tives themselves, but had their thou
sands of employees write letters also.
Employees are voters. Congressmen
need votes. All the communications
must be answered acceptably those
that want the duty on hides or gloves
Attorney General GEORGE W. WICKER
SHAM. Drafter of Corporation Tax.
age, yet these same insurrectionists
have sometimes lost only through lack
of the right sort of leader.
The Corporation Tax.
One of the reasons why the Payne
tariff bill was in unmistakable dan
ger of defeat in the lower house was
the corporation- tax provision. This
tax is an extension of federal power
into new fields and into which, accord
ing to many congressmen, it should !
3iot enter. The tax, they argue, is a
Hardship on many corporations that
iave had difficulty in recovering from
- the effects of the panic. They fur
ther assert that the provisions of the
act tend to a centralization of power
in the federal government and that
vtbls tendency should not be encour
aged. Members of state governments
who visited Washington during the
tariff controversy claim that the states
re continuously in need of money,
that they are constantly devising new
. and needed forms of taxation and that
the national corporation tax takes
money out of the states that is need
ed more urgently in the various states
than in Washington.
President Taft takes the stand that
the national government needs the
money and that, as it has a right to
tax corporations in this manner, the
objections raised are not vital. Sup
porters of the tax agree with the pres-
ad'ent and argue that the corporate in
. teuests of the United States derive
" most of the benefit of high or protec
1 tive tariff; that consequently it is only
. right that they should pay the national
impost.
Attorney General Wickersham and
Senator Elihu Root drew the corpora
tion tax under the direction of Presi
dent Taft. Its original form aroused
so much opposition as to cause re
drafting or amendment into the pres
et and final form.
As now provided for the corporation
. tax will bring in a total of $25,000,000
to the government from "certain
sources of wealth," to use the words
of Congressman Nicholas Longworth,
-"that today pay no tax to the federal
government." President Roosevelt's
son-in-law also supports the stand
-taken by President Taft by adding,
We need the Increased, revenue to aid
ot only in paying off a big deficit, but
o provide for a larger expenditure
-than bfi hitherto been made for the
Improvement of our Inland water
, -way." '
Radical Feature of the Tax.
What is considered In Washington to
a particularly radical feature of the
Senator NELSONjW. ALDRICH. Official
Author of Corporation Tax.
thousands of corporations affected, are
some which have always been ascer
tainable by the public, and others
"THE WASPSOF WAR"
French Military Official's Charac
terization of Aeroplanes.
HOW ARMY MEN REGARD THEM
Secretary of the Treasury FRANKLIN
MACVEAGH. Collector of Cor
po ration Tax.
or cotton, as the case may be, raised.
as well as those that want the same
duties lowered. The congressman
which have not so been. True state- -would of course do his best for both
ments of the following must be in- sides. Yes; a congressman,, especially
eluded in the report: i In tariff times, must have imagination
First. Total amount of paid up capital and a quick witted secretary. One
stock, outstanding at the close of the New York congressman represents a
Second.-Total amount of bonded or ; strict I hteh $175,O(K),00O in capl-
other indebtedness. , lai is invested in wooa puip inms.
Third. Gross amount of income re- He did not sleep much during the
ceived from all sources and it a corpora- weeks that the conference committee
tion or joint company, etc., ui a lorcigii . ,. ... . . . . .
countrv the total amount of income re- was Juggling with the rates on the me-
ceived within the year from all business cnanicauy ground ana tne cnemicai
transacted or capital invested within the -wood pulp schedule.
United States and any. of its territories;
also the amount received within the year
by way of dividends upon stock of other
corporations subject to the tax.
Fourth. The total amount of all the or
dinary and necessary expenses actually
paid out of earnings in the maintenance
and operation of business and properties
within the year: statins separately all
charges such as rentals or franchise pay
ments required to be made as a condition
to the continued -iiae or possession of
property and if organized under the laws
of a foreign country the amount so paid
In the maintenance and operation of its
business within the United States and its
territories, etc.
Fifth. The total amount, of all losses
actually sustained during the year and
not compensated by insurance or other
wise, stating separately any amounts al
lowed for depreciation of property,
ixth. The amount of interest actually
paid within the year on its bonded or
other Indebtedness and in the case of a
bank, banking association or trust com
pany stating separately all interest paid
by it within the year on deposits. -
Seventh. The amount paid by it within
the year for taxes imposed under the
authority of the United States or any :
state or territory thereof and separately
the amount so paid by it for taxes im-
posed bythe government of any foreign
country as a condition to carrying on
business therein.
Eighth. The net income of such cor
poration, joint stock company or associ- j
atkm or insurance company after making '
the deductions in this section authorized.
Great Power Given to President. '
A powerful new executive arm is'
llrnn 1 . ,1 i. 4- 11 J H nrn 1
6"cu lug juieaiueuL to wieiu iu dcl-
tion 7. This section provides severe
punishment for, any government em
ployee who discloses to any person
any information which under the law
he should not disclose. But the pres
ident can cause him to disclose such
information or evidence, owing to that
part of section 7 which states that
the employee .shall divulge the facts
that we will assume to be In question
"upon the special direction of the
president" - -
In answer to the claim made by sev
eral United States senators that the
president is thus given a power -in
its nature inquisitorial by section 7
the administration authorities state
The Tariff and the Temper.
Tariff times make bad tempers, even
In a deliberative body like the United
States senate, better known in Wash
ington as "the millionaires' club." On
one of the recent days when every
body at the capital was wondering
what the conference committee would
or would not do Senators Joe Bailey
of Texas and Scott of West Virginia
were in a cantankerous mood. They
were on opposite sides In the tariff
row, .and the temperature was high
er than the Wright aeroplane. Bailey
continued a tedious oration on a point
of order growing out of a senate reso
lution affecting the granting of "unani
mous consent"' for the considering of
certain motions. Senator Scott could
finallj. stand it no longer. ' Laborious
ly wielding a palm leaf fan with one
hand and mopping a perspiring brow
. with a handkerchief in the other, he
rose. . . -
I "Mr. President," he snapped, "having
heard the gentleman from Texas talk
for some time, I rise to ask what Is
before the house."
Bailey was angry and yelled across
the senate chamber:
"The only thing before the house is
the gentleman from West Virginia,'
and Bailey abruptly sat down.
"The gentleman from West Virginia"
stood alone In his place before the
house for many seconds, completely
flustrated by the quick retort and
the wave of laughter that followed It
His words choked in his throat, and
he sat down with a grunt a growl
and a glare that boded 111 for "the
gentleman from Texas."
A Ppverty Show. ' ' - -L.
Next, year's International exhibition
In Brussels Is to have a very uncom
mon feature. It Is' proposed to give an
ocular display of the misery and pov
erty In which the Belgian home work
ers exist, with a view of bringing their
needs under public notice.
Colonel H. O. S. Heistand Points Out
Value of Wright and Bleriot Ma
chines if Used In Swarms Valuable
Adjunct to Troops In Many Ways.
.Wartime efficiency of the aeroplane
is at the moment a much discussed
subject among army men. It"is ad
mitted by many that the possibilities
in aerial warfare have yet to be devel
oped, but recent achievements by Louis
Bleriot and Orville Wright have given
rise to considerable speculation. There
are apparently few officers who are
prepared to assert that modern war
fare would be revolutionized by the
introduction of a fleet of Bleriot mono
planes or Wright biplanes. But there
are many who go so far as to say that
such a fleet would be of value to any
army
Speaking of Bleriot's flight across
the English channel, General Bran, the
new French minister of war, recently
characterized the aeroplane as "the
wasp of war.". -
As soon as it is perfect" he de
clared, "the French army will be pro
vided with a swarm of these wasps."
The figure, according to officers of the
regular United States army, was well
chosen. It illustrates, they say, ex
actly what the mode of aerial warfare
is likely to be.
There is plainly less skepticism
among army men concerning air craft
than formerly. Many have come to
the conclusion that it is high time to
consider seriously the adaptability of
aeroplanes to military purposes. It is
the signal corps, of course, that has
taken hold of the matter officially, but
interest has spread to every branch of
the service.
Colonel Heistand a Believer.
It- Is the opinion of Colonel O. S.
Heistand, adjutant general- of the de
partment of the east that the aero
plane will play an important part in
the warfare of the future. "I am not
. an expert," he said the other day "In
fact, 1 .have never seen an aeroplane
in a real test. Nevertheless I am con
vinced that our government ought to
be liberal in its appropriations for aero
nautics. There is no doubt that the
aeroplane, even in its present stage of
development, would be of service in
time of war. '' ' '- J"- .
I think that comparison of an aero
plane to a wasp is a good one. It sug
gests what could be done with, a fleets
of these craft For purposes of rec-
onnoitering . and scout work a single
aeroplane would have its place, but
with a whole fleet of them an army
would be able to do considerable dam
age.
Imagine, for example, what might
be done If they were to be employed
In an attack on New York city, or any
city, for that matter. With one aero
plane going at the rate of forty miles
an hour it would be difficult to do
much harm in the way of dropping ex
plosives or - Inflammable materials
down upon our heads, but with a fleet
of them it would be different It
would then be the same as a volley
fired by a troop of soldiers. Some of
the shots would be almost sure to take
effect
An Attack by Sea. . ;
"Now, suppose a fleet of warships,
preparing an attack on New York
harbor, came equipped with a lot of
these wasps, as they have been called.
While still out of range of the harbor
guns they . could launch their aero
planes and keep them hovering over
our fortifications, -with more than an
even chance of doing us considerable
damage. Anyway, they wo,uld make
things uncomfortable for the noncom
batants of the city. As for the fortifi
cations, the fleet might succeed in
dropping explosives so as to strike our
magazines and storehouses, and you
can readily imagine what that would
mean.
All this would be accomplished
more easily with aeroplanes or tne
Wright or Bleriot type than with
dirigibles, because they would furnish
less of a target for our guns. Besides,
they are safer.- A dirigible is always
in danger of a spark from its own mo
tor, which would be sufficient to ex
plode the gas that supports it.
Harassed by a Torpedo Boat.
"Not long ago I - took part in some
maneuvers and was delegated to the
army of defense. Every night the at
tacking fleet had a way of sending out
one of those little torpedo boats, which
would come sneaking In close to shore
and give us all a scare. It became nec
essary to call out the garrison at all
hours just because of that one tor
pedo boat, and you can see that after
a few days the army of defense was
in sore need of a good night's rest The
men had been kept on the qui vive a
most- constantly, while the attacking
force was slumbering soundly well out
of our reach.
"That is the sort of tactics, it seems
to me, that aeroplanes would be able
to carry, out .effectively. They could
worry a whole army, if they did noth
ing else. It would be a sort of hit and
run game. They would be like so
many wasps about a man's head.
"If they wanted ).o, they could disre
gard the rules of warfare and destroy
a city without warning. And there is
not much doubt in my mind that the
rules would be disregarded by the
average army if the destruction of a
certain city seemed advisable. The of
ficer in command would no doubt
find a good military reason for it"
New York Post
V ajr
REMOVAL SALE
By September we will move to
our new location in the White
side Building, opposite the Pal
ace Theater, where we will
have a large and complete stock
of Millinery and everything in
Ladies' Furnishing Goods. A
A Store of Ladies' Merchandise
The only store of its kind in
the city.
Lie. B. ANDERSON
REST - -HOMP - -RECDPERATE
At the Seashore
NEWPORT
Is a delightful resort and a happy combination of pleas
ure ground possibilities. An ideal climate diversion of
recreation perfect bathing boating fishing riding driv
ing, and exploring, make Newport a most charming and
popular play ground. .
Southern Pacific Co.
HAS A
Special Summer Excursion Rate to Newport of
$3.75
From C0RVALLIS, OREGON
Ask for our booklet "Outings in Oregon." T
R. C. LINVILLE, Agent, CORVALLIS, ORE.
WM. M'MURRAY, General Passenger Agent
Portland, Oregon
I
HYDRAULIC WELL
DRILLING
GOPffeGHTED 1906 BV PC HQRTQN tt CO,
Fishing Tackle
and all kinds of
Soortina Goods
" -i
Can be found here at prices that
cannot be duplicated for goods j
of similar fine quality. A good
fisherman knows and appreciates :
good rods, lines, etc. All of j
which can be had at our estab
ishment. Heater & Harrington
SUCCESSORS TO M. M. LONG j
Phone 126 Corvallis, Oregon
Powerful and rapid well ma
chine run by gasoline engine.
Wind mill pump repairing,
and drove wells a specialty.
Place your orders now before the
season's rush work is on.
A. N. HARLAN
Box 526 Corvallis, Oregon
Taunton & Burnap
Cement Contractors
Makers of Best Cement Walks in Town
All work guaranteed first
class.
Corvallis, Ore
The Daily Gazette-Times
By carrier or mail, 50c per mo.
Let us send it to you
Che glty Stables
GEO. W. DENMAN
Attorney at Law
C0RVALXIS, OREGON
Office in Fischer building, over Graham
& Wortham drug store
THE PALM CAFE
: VTDITO ft RIETMAN, Props.
. Six o'clock Dinners Banquets, Dinner
- . Parties and Sunday Dinners
N ezt Palace Theater, CorraDisjOre.
E. E. WILSON
Attorney At Law :
Zierolf Bldg. Corvallis, Oregon
Everything new and up to
date. Rigs furnished on
short notice. Call
and give us 'a
trial. Cor.
Madison
and
3d
L. F.GRAY, -
Manager
JOSEPH H. WILSON
Attorney at Law
Office: Burnett Building,
Corvallis, Oregon
Phone 1333