Salt Lake Telegram | 1905-01-28 | Page 1 | Taft for a Lower Philippine Tariff

TAFT FOR A LOWER PHILIPPINE TARIFF WASHINGTON, Jan. 28. Secretary Taft made an argument today before the House Committee on Ways and Means in favor of the Curtis bill, reducing re-ducing the duty on sugar and tobacco from the Philippines. He contended that, as the Philippines belong to the United States, thereby imposing a sacred sa-cred trust on this Government, it is our duty to establish and maintain the best possible conditions there. "Certainly," he said, "the present status sta-tus of the islands, so far as our relations rela-tions to them are concerned, will remain re-main the same throughout the next generation, and probably longer." With this ?n view, Jie maintained It would be as Just to establish a tariff between the States of Ohio and Pennsylvania Penn-sylvania as between the United States and the Philippines. Ultimate free trade would have to come In the end between the Islands and the United States. Secretary Taft asserted warmly warm-ly that Congress had already enacted a measure which was eminently unfair to the islands.