Show national affairs affair S by FRANK P LITSCHERT when the fight to get the united states into the league of nations was up a decade ago those opposed to our joining declared that it would not be long until until the league would seek to have some say in such questions as tariffs immigration and other matters in which the view held in the united states Is directly divergent to that held in europe rn pe friends of ours joining the league made ado light of these charges called the t men who were making them alarmists alarmiste alar mists and declared that men of air straw were being raised to frighten th the people I 1 against the league 0 i tin view of all this it Is interesting etore to note that the united states I 1 a few days ago received an all invitation from the league to participate with a delegation in the conference to be opened at geneva for the purpose of discussing a tariff truce the united states government sent a note to the league declining c to participate in the conference sit although ough stating that the united states Is 1 s sympathetic toward movements tor fw I 1 improving world alde economic rela relations timm the united states as Is customary will will have an observer at geneva n an unofficial clai capacity to see what is going on but will take no part in the confer I 1 ence of course there are many reasons r L as 0 ns why the united sta states I 1 es does not wan wont t to participate office officially in such a con ference ithe the one chich occurs most readily Is 19 that the tariff making power in the united states rests solely with congress and no other governmental authority can I 1 say just what Is I 1 to be done or not done 1 about our tariff or the principles to be I 1 used in its opp application I 1 ica t ion it Is also true 0 of course that even at this time the I 1 congress of the united states Is engaged in an effort to revise the tariff with the ultimate result it Is hoped of giving protection to certain industries including agriculture which are in sore eore need of help ot of this kind 01 but it Is to be remembered also that tariffs in the united states and europe are rl regarded in it a tar far different light in I 1 our own country it has come pretty gen g i rally to be the theory that we should give industries which need it enough enouf 11 protection to equalize equa lise the cost of production at home and abroad this Is to assure good wages and steady employment to our workmen a high standard ot of living and prosperity in general in europe tariffs are generally not levied to equalize production costs or to calsel raise the standard ot of living they are usually put into effect as r retaliatory etall atory measures and are used to put something over on the other fellow or to get even with him for something he has already put over the changing of the map of europe following the world war gave rise to many new national boundaries and to a great many tariff barriers most of which were of a retaliatory nature it cannot be questioned that these barriers have interfered with the economic recovery of europe but they are not to be compared to our protective tariffs they can be better illustrated by what would result it if our own forty eight states should hould erect economic barriers one against the other tor for political reasons 0 E 0 4 0 now the tact fact that europe and america have different theories for dealing with the tariff Is enough proof of the theory that we do not want to have the league regulating our tariffs even were such a thing possible under our constitution the league invited us into the tariff conference and we respectfully declined our refusal to come across has hardly created a ripple on the surface of international affairs but suppose uncle sa sam in were a full fledged member of the league and should refuse to get into a diplomatic tariff poker game he would at once be denounced as a Is shirker birker not only by the european statesmen but by our own international cl ackers in america every year brings some fresh proof to sustain the notion that we are much better off outside of any european en tangle ments and anT minding our own bustness business so tar far as european affairs are concerned berned |