ARSENIATE OF LEAD. [Paragraph 3.] HEMINGWAY & CO., NEW YORK, ASK FOR REDUCTION OF DUTY ON ARSENIATE OF LEAD USED AS AN INSECTICIDE. WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE, 133 FRONT STREET, New York City, February 4, 1909. Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: On October 31, 1908, Mr. L. A. Coolidge, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department, Division of Customs, Washington, D. C., wrote to me advising that arseniate of lead as wet pulp and arseniate of lead as dry powder is assessed with duty as chemical compounds under paragraph 3 of the tariff act at the rate of 25 per cent ad valorem. I venture to call your attention to the fact that absolutely the only use of arseniate of lead in either pulp or dry powdered form is as an insecticide, and that other insecticides, namely-Paris green and London purple-are specially provided for in the tariff at 15 per cent ad valorem. I respectfully suggest that, insomuch as agriculturists, horticulturists, and particularly cotton planters, would greatly benefit by a lower rate of duty on wet pulp or dry powdered arseniate of lead, and as the existing tariff on this commodity is for revenue purposes only, that it be assessed with duty at the rate of 15 per cent ad valorem. Respectfully, FRANK HEMINGWAY. HON. ROBERT L. TAYLOR, SENATOR, FILES LETTER OF H. A. MORGAN, KNOXVILLE, TENN., ASKING REDUCTION OF DUTY ON ARSENIATE OF LEAD. SENATE CHAMBER, Washington, D. C.. February 21, 1909. COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, Washington, D. C GENTLEMEN: Letter of Dr. H. A. Morgan, Knoxville, Tenn., respectfully referred to committee. Doctor Morgan is a scientific man and his opinion should carry weight. ROBERT L. TAYLOR. KNOXVILLE, TENN., February 17, 1909. Senator ROBERT L. TAYLOR, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: I beg to call your attention to the effort that has been made during the past few years to develop a powdered form of arseniate of lead. This insecticide will have a much wider use than Paris green or London purple and will be especially valuable in the control of fruit, truck, tobacco, and cotton insects in Tennessee. In the proposed revision of the tariff I understand that Paris green and London purple are scheduled for about 12 per cent ad valorem, while arseniate of lead remains 25 per cent. If a reduction can be made in the case of arseniate of lead, it will place upon the markets of our State a cheap and most effective insecticide. Anything you can do toward having the tariff on arseniate of lead reduced will, I am sure, be greatly appreciated by the farmers of Tennessee. With kindest regards, very truly, yours, H. A. MORGAN, Director University of Tennessee, College of Agriculture and Experiment Station. C. E. JACKSON, MIDDLETOWN, CONN., WISHES ARSENIATE OF LEAD PLACED ON SAME BASIS AS OTHER INSECTICIDES. Hon. E. J. HILL, M. C., MIDDLETOWN, CONN., February 25, 1909. Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: Your kind assistance in reference to the establishment of an experiment station in Mississippi to deal with the boll weevil has been so much appreciated by some of our southern friends that they have asked us to call your attention to another matter which has been called to their attention by Mr. Wilmon Newell, secretary of the State Pest Commission of Louisiana, that is, in regard to the proposed changes in the tariff in regard to Paris green, London purple, and powdered lead arseniate, the duty on all of which now stands at 25 per cent ad valorem, and it is proposed to reduce the duty on Paris green and London purple to about 12 per cent or 15 per cent ad valorem, leaving the duty on the powdered lead arseniate as it now stands, at 25 per cent. During the past two years powdered arseniate of lead has been used with excellent success on cotton, and it is stated that it is quite certain that this insecticide will replace Paris green for use in fighting cotton insects, particularly the cotton-leaf worm and cotton bollworm. It is barely possible also that it will prove more or less effective against the boll weevil, for experiments in this direction are now being conducted with promise of some success. The powdered arseniate of lead is preferable to Paris green for use on cotton, for the reason that it is cheaper, and also that it contains no soluble arsenious oxide which Paris green contains in amounts varying from 2 to 5 per cent. The high content of soluble arsenic in the Paris green causes it to injure and stunt cotton to which it is applied. In view of these facts it will undoubtedly be a marked advantage to the southern cotton planters if Congress would reduce the tariff on powdered arseniate of lead to the same basis as that of Paris green and London purple. Much of the arseniate of lead is manufactured abroad, and American manufacturers are certain to keep up the price so long as this high duty on the imported articles remains in effect, and the farmer will have to foot the bill. I might add that this same preparation is being used very effectively in spraying shade trees, and has proved most effective in protecting them from the attacks of insects, and in view of the very apparent effectiveness of this article over all others it would seem very advisable that it should be placed in the hands of consumers at as low a rate as is possible, and certainly on an equal basis with other insecticides, so that the increased effectiveness of powdered arseniate of lead may not be offset by the higher cost. We ask your kind attention and action in this matter with the committee, as we are much interested with our southern friends and correspondents. Yours, very truly, C. E. JACKSON, Vice-President. BARIUM SALTS. [Paragraph 3.] JOHN T. WILLIAMS & SON, NEW YORK, RECOMMEND SPECIAL CLASSIFICATION FOR VARIOUS SALTS OF BARIUM. 114-116-118 LIBERTY STREET, NEW YORK, Hon. SERENO E. PAYNE, Saturday, January 9, 1909. Chairman of Ways and Means Committee, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: Not being advised when your committee will hear arguments as to the increase and decrease of duties on barium salts, we take this opportunity of presenting the matter to you. There have been several attempts in this country to manufacture barium salts, but up to the present time the business has not been found profitable, owing to the fact that the cost of labor, which is a large item of expense, has been too great to successfully compete with these products manufactured abroad. This applies to binoxide of barium, chloride of barium, carbonate of barium, blanc fixe (sulphate of barium), nitrate of barium. The duty on these salts of barium is 25 per cent ad valorem, except on blanc fixe (the sulphate of barium), which is one-half cent per pound. The carbonate of barium is imported under the name of witherite" (a native mineral) and comes in free, although there is now a suit between the Government and the importers as to whether the artificial precipitated carbonate of barium should not pay duty as a chemical salt at the rate of 25 per cent ad valorem, but this suit has not yet been decided. We would respectfully ask your committee to increase the duty on the following salts: Chloride of barium, carbonate of barium, nitrate of barium, blanc fixe or artificial sulphate of barium, satin white or artificial sulphate of lime, to 1 cent per pound, as this would enable the manufacturers of chemicals in this country to produce these articles here in competition with the foreign goods. Over 70 per cent of the entire cost of these articles would be in the labor, including the mining of the ore, the hauling of same, and the working of the ore up into these various chemicals. Binoxide of barium, another salt of barium, has never been made in this country, and is used for the purpose of producing peroxide of hydrogen. The duty on this salt is 25 per cent ad valorem; the product is only made in Germany and England, and we can not make it here in competition with the conditions existing in those countries. We would respectfully ask that the duty on this material be increased to 40 per cent ad valorem, which would allow of its manufacture here. We have not gone into the question of the amount of these materials which are imported, as your committee have this data before them, but the value, as you will see by the importations, exceeds the sum of $500,000, and the manufacture in this country would be of advantage, owing to the amount paid out for labar and also to the manufacturing chemists, as it would lead to the production of other material in connection with the salts of barium. Respectfully submitted. JOHN T. WILLIAMS & SON, Per JOHN T. WILLIAMS. ESSENTIAL OILS AND OLIVE OIL. [Paragraphs 3 and 40.] STATEMENT SUBMITTED BY THE FRENCH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, NEW YORK CITY, ON BEHALF OF THE IMPORTERS OF FRENCH OLIVE OIL AND ESSENTIAL OILS. 32 BROADWAY, New York City, February 27, 1909. COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: The importers of French olive oils beg to submit respectfully to your honorable committee the following remarks, and trust that it will give them the proper attention: We understand that the domestic producers of olive oils have requested your committee to increase the duty on imported olive oils, and, in fact, to double it. They claim that if their request was complied with California could supply the entire demands of the United States, and in their report of November 11 they state that the home production amounts to 350,000 gallons, or about, and they acknowledge that the importation of foreign oils reaches 3,450,000 gallons, or about. Consequently it appears to us very difficult to reconcile their assertion with the facts, as there would only be two ways of arguing their side of the case as presented by them. Either many people in the United States would have to dispense with the use of olive oil—and, as you know, this product is commonly consumed all through the country for table and medicinal purposes, and it is a well-known fact that many invalids, amongst whom are consumptives, are prescribed olive oil by the doctors, as it is quite beneficial in many cases or the production of California olives would have to increase ten times at once to meet the demand, and everybody knows that the growth of the olive tree is exceedingly slow and that it takes many years to produce olives fit to be employed in the manufacture of oil. Consequently it would be impossible for the public to procure good olive oil, except at such high prices that very few might afford to pay. The result would be, therefore, that under the denomination of olive oil the public would be literally poisoned by all kinds of concoctions in which the fruit of the olive tree would play but a very small part, and we believe that it has been the purpose of the Government, as shown by the creation of the Bureau of Chemistry, to assure pure food to the consumer, and in the case of olive oil high duties would have exactly the contrary effect. On the other hand, as we understand that it is the purpose of the Treasury Department to try to increase its revenue from the collection of duties instead of being obliged to resort to direct or indirect taxation, it seems to us that, by reducing the duties on olive oil considerable revenue might be obtained without doing any harm to the home industry, which can only gradually develop and will always find a ready market for its products. Therefore we would suggest that in consideration of the above remarks your honorable body should take into consideration the advisability of reducing the present duty on olive oils, which amount to 60 francs per 100 kilograms for oil in wood, and 74 francs per 100 kilograms on the value of the oil besides the duty collected on the bottles, tins, labels, corks, etc., a duty that has no equivalent in the French tariff on any class of goods. We would call also the attention of your committee to some essential oils manufactured in France, which are actually taxed at 25 per cent ad valorem, and which are not manufactured and can not be produced in the United States, but which are employed here in large quantities for the soap and perfumery industries, and ought to be considered practically as raw materials. They are: Extracts of rosewood, produced in French Guiana; extracts of geranium, shipped from Tunis and Algeria, or from the Island of Reunion, or from Grasse and Cannes; extracts of myrtle, from the south of France, Corsica, Algiers, and Tunis; extracts of orange flower water and jasmine, from Cannes or Grasse. We ask that all these raw materials, employed extensively by the home industries, and which do not constitute a competition to any American manufacturers, should be placed on the free list. Trusting that you will give the above considerations the kind attention which they deserve, in our opinion, we remain, gentlemen, Respectfully, yours, THE FRENCH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF NEW YORK, SULPHATE OF AMMONIA. THE SEMET-SOLVAY COMPANY, SYRACUSE, N. Y., WISHES PRES- Hon. SERENO E. PAYNE, SYRACUSE, N. Y., January 12, 1909. Chairman Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: We respectfully petition that the specific tariff on sulphate of ammonia be retained at the present figure, on the ground that it is practically a revenue tariff paid by the foreign manufacturer. COMPARISON CHILEAN NITRATE OF SODA AND SULPHATE OF AMMONIA. For the purpose of the farmer and the fertilizer manufacturer, Chilean nitrate of soda (on the free list) and sulphate of ammonia are interchangeable, and on the basis of their ammonia or nitrogen content the prices are practically equal. During the calendar year 1907 the imports of nitrate of soda were 364,610 tons; of sulphate of ammonia, 35,220 tons. For the fiscal year ending June, 1908, the imports of nitrate of soda were 330,090 tons; of sulphate of ammonia, 38,273 tons. For nine months of the calendar year 1908 the imports of nitrate of soda were 220,382 tons; of sulphate of ammonia, 22,207, tons. PRICE OF SULPHATE OF AMMONIA BASED ON CHILEAN NITRATE OF SODA. Especial attention is called to the fact that, so far as we are able to obtain the information, Chilean nitrate of soda has always been on the free list; that it is always possible, if at any time the price of sulphate of ammonia appears too high to the fertilizer manufacturer, |