So tariff legislation goes.
I was not sufficiently prominent in manufacturing to take part in getting the tariff established immediately after the war, so it happened that my part has always been to favor reduction of duties, opposing extremes--the unreasonable protectionists who consider the higher the duties the better and declaim against any reduction, and the other extremists who denounce all duties and would adopt unrestrained free trade.
We could now (1907) abolish all duties upon steel and iron without injury, essential as these duties were at the beginning.

Europe has not much surplus production, so that should prices rise exorbitantly here only a small amount could be drawn from there and this would instantly raise prices in Europe, so that our home manufacturers could not be seriously affected.

Free trade would only tend to prevent exorbitant prices here for a time when the demand was excessive.

Home iron and steel manufacturers have nothing to fear from free trade.

[I recently (1910) stated this in evidence before the Tariff Commission at Washington.].