388 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



of the United States, and that such foreign country pays no export 

 bounty or imposes no export duty or prohibition upon the export of any 

 article to the United States, which unduly discriminates against the 

 United States or the products thereof, and that such foreign coun- 

 try accords to the products of the United States reciprocal and equiv- 

 alent treatment, thereupon and thereafter, upon proclamation to 

 this effect by the president, all articles from such country shall be ad- 

 mitted under the terms of the minimum tariff; that is, without the 

 addition of the 25 per cent, ad valorem. The proclamation may 

 extend to the whole of any foreign country or may be confined to, or ex- 

 clude from its effect, any dependency, colony or other political sub- 

 division, having authority to adopt and enforce legislation, or to 

 impose restrictions or regulations, or to grant concessions, upon the 

 exportation or importation of articles which are, or may be, imported 

 into the United States. 



It is further provided that whenever the president shall be satisfied 

 that the conditions which led to the issuance of the proclamation no 

 longer exist, he shall issue a proclamation to this effect, and ninety days 

 thereafter the provisions of the maximum tariff shall be applicable to all 

 productions of such country, whether imported directly or otherwise 

 into the United States. 



Then the amendment in the senate closed with this important clause : 



To secure information to assist the president in the discharge of his duties 

 imposed upon him by this section, and information which shall be useful to 

 congress in tariff legislation, and to the officers of the government in the admin- 

 istration of the customs laws, the president is hereby authorized to employ such 

 persons as may be required to make thorough investigations and examinations 

 into the production, commerce and trade of the United States and foreign 

 countries and all conditions affecting the same. 



This amendment passed the senate and went with the rest of the 

 senate bill to the committee of conference of the senate and house. 

 The provision in regard to the maximum and minimum tariff board 

 clause was cut down and made to read as follows : 



To secure information to assist the president in the discharge of the duties 

 imposed upon him by this section, and the officers of the government in the 

 administration of the customs laws, the president is hereby authorized to employ 

 such persons as may be required. 



In this form it was finally passed by both houses of congress, signed 

 by the president and is now the law. 



What are the powers of this board under this act and what further 

 authority, if any, ought to be given to it in order to make its usefulness 

 as effective as possible? 



The purposes of the board are twofold: (1) To secure information 

 to assist the president in the discharge of the duties imposed upon him 

 in the maximum and minimum section. (2) To secure information 



