Grave doubts were voiced four
! years ago when Congress wrote into
i the tariff act sections giving the
' President the right, under certain
conditions, to increase or decrease
j rates of duty after investigations had
! been made by the Tariff Commission,
j These doubts were in regard to the
I constitutionality of the provisions,
i All the doubts are summed up in
j the briefs in the barium dioxide case,
the first of several tests which are in
progress to reach a stage where early
I action may be expected. It is con
-1 tended that import duties are taxes,
and that Congress cannot delegate
the taxing power under the constitu
tion. In amplification, it is asserted
that the tariff act as passed by Con
gress is the law, and that the execu
tive branch of the Government can
not amend a law constitutionally.
This is as far as the present case
goes, although there are ramifications
of this line of argument.
But some attorneys believe that if
to be trying to do with the dollar what Bis
marck did with Moltke’s armies, what the con
querors of Napoleon Hid with their successful
coalition forces.
Now. it Is perfectly true that most of the
suggestions made by Americans of all sorts
have no political background. Senator Borah,
who has done as much harm to the L'nited
States in Europe as the Kaiser did to Germany
in his time and has created precisely the same
conception of national imperialism, is a moral
ist. not an imperialist. He does not want to
disarm France to weaken her to the advan
tage of the United States. He wants to disarm
the world, because he believes disarmament is
a step toward peace all around.
