AGRICULTURAL RELIEF 
367 
the scale which is included in the Ketcham bill, and taking the sta- 
tistics of actual exportation from month to month during—— 
Mr. Kercaam. I do not think that is the point I had in mind. 
Mr. STEwART. I think I will reach it in a minute. During the last 
six years. It becomes evident that there would be a seasonal fluctua- 
‘ion in the way the export debentures are issued. 
Now, if it ever so happened that you should put in such high rates 
or make the debenture applicable to so many commodities that you 
would issue more debentures during one month than there are duti- 
able goods coming in immediately thereafter, then you would set up 
what would be called a monthly overissue. Now, a monthly over- 
issue might require that the exporters would have to wait a month, 
or that the importers who purchased the export debentures then 
would have to wait a month, or maybe two months,, before they could 
use them. Debentures do not bear interest. It would be necessary, 
therefore, to discount the instrument because of the fact that it bears 
no interest. However, at the rates of debenture indicated I think it 
would be perfectly clear to anyone analyzing it that there would 
have been no discount during the last six years in which there would 
have been even a monthly overissue. 
Mr. Jones. Those figures were made from the schedules in the 
Adkins bill, were they not? 
Mr. Stewart. No. 
Mr. JoNEs. Are they not the figures that Mr. Adkins inserted in the 
record as coming from you about a month or six weeks ago, or did 
you see that? 
Mr. Stewart. What happened was that S. S. Knight, of Petaluma, 
Calif., made up some estimates at certain rates, and just for the sport 
of it I used those rates. 
Mr. Jones. The reason I broke in here was the fact that those 
rates and the schedules he put in the record were on a much higher 
basis than the ones here. 
Mr. STEWART. Yes. 
Mr. Jones. And I wondered if you made your graph from the 
old rates. 
Mr. KiNcHELOE. You say that will not show in six years where 
there was a monthly overissue of debentures in excess of the imports? 
Mr. Stewart. I think if you would take one month, which I can 
not recall off hand, in which there was the nearest equality between 
the amount of dutiable goods coming in duty paid compared with 
the amount of debentures being received by exporters that there 
would be twice, or at least half again, as much demand for the deben- 
tures as there would be supply of them. 
Mr. KincueLoe. That is based on all dutiable goods coming in 
ander the Fordney-McCumber bill, is it not? 
Mr. STewaRT. Yes; at those rates, which are higher than the rates 
in the Ketcham bill. whereas our tariff has been producing an aver- 
age of over $45,000,000 a month during the last several years, reach- 
ing $50,000,000 a month, or a little better than $600,000,000 last year, 
debentures issued would not have exceeded $15,000,000 a month. 
It would seem that while there is a difference in seasonal character 
you need not anticipate monthly overissue if there is a conservative 
use of this agency. It is like many other principles. if abused it can