Speech #670283650

What does that mean to the country at large If the Senator from North Dakota is correct about it? I will not discuss now the question as to how far the tax he levies on wheat is effect.re and is reflected into the pockets of the consuming masses of the American people. but we do know that on many other items in this bill the tax is effective and does go down and grapple the hardearned dollars of the American people and filches them from their pockets for the benefit of the few. Therefore. assuming that this great item in the bill. which the chairman of the committee. the Senator from North Dakota. believes in and has always defended. is the basis on which he has granted to others protection in the bill. it demonstrates that this bill is not written to protect American labor against the pauper labor of Europe. it is not written to equalize differences in cost of production at home and abroad. but it is written for tie purpose of raisang commodity prices in the United States for the benefit of special interests. and I care not whether those special interests are the producers of wheat or the owners of the steel plants of America. in the end it is the special interests which are being given an opportunity to raise commodity prices in order to take the dollars away from the masses of the American people for the benefit of the few. It is clearly demonstrable that there is no occasion for this tax to protect labor. there is no occasion for this tax to protect those engaged in this great agricultural business against undue competition. because all you have to do is to look at the undisputed facts and the reports. and it stands beyond controversy. Recently the Tariff Commission. which. if not a nonpartisan commission. can at least be said to be a bipartisan commission. have made a report on the operation of the rates of the emergency tariff act. and on page 7. in regard to wheat. this paragraph appears in their report: From this table it will be seen that this country produces from 600.000.000 to 800.000.000 bushels of wheat. exports 150.000.000. to 00.000.000 bushels. and imports from 1.000.000 to 50.000.000 bushels.