PARAGRAPH 295-SALT.

Cuba, and there it is ground and sold as table and dairy salt in competition with that imported from England. The amount of salt imported in the years 1910 and 1911 was 291,340,000 pounds.

Now, salt is sold to the consumer, usually, in small packages, and the ordinary package is usually retailed for 5 cents, and surely there is no hardship to anybody in paying 5 cents for a 5-pound bag of salt. If salt is put on the free list the salt industry of New York State suffers a very serious drawback, for if we concede that salt in England can be manufactured at the same price as it is in New York State, we must certainly admit there would be a serious drawback to that industry in New York State. The rate of freight from Liverpool to New York, as I was told by an importer in New York in December, is $1.50 of our money, while the lowest freight rate we have to the seaboard is $2.40, that is, to New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Mr. HAMMOND. Do you take into account what the freight rate may be from the place where the salt is produced to Liverpool?

Mr. SAMSON. That is a very small amount, because it is produced on the Mercy River and floated by lighters to Liverpool, and the salt is sold f. o. b. the vessel in Liverpool, including the lighterage. In addition to the salt fields on the River Mercy there are large salt fields on the Manchester Ship Canal, where the salt is loaded direct from the plant to ocean-going vessels; so that, in case the duty is removed from salt, we fear a very serious setback and probably the ultimate closing up of the salt plants in New York State.

During free trade in salt under the Cleveland administration from 1893 to 1896 inclusive there was quite an increase in imports, and it was only by the most strenuous efforts of the salt manufacturers that it was not more. All possible economies were practiced, repairs curtailed, and a great reduction of wages introduced, and still the manufacturers, especially of New York State, could not hold their own. Wages at that time were as low as $1.10 to $1.25 per day of 10 hours, while now the lowest class of laborers get from $1.75 to $2.

There is practically no evidence before your committee that there is any demand for either free trade or a reduction in the tariff on salt, and as such a reduction means suffering for the employees, a wiping out of the income of the manufacturers, and a turning over of a part at least of this production to foreigners, without any compensation for American citizens, it does not seem that any change should be made. There are 15 States producing salt, extending from New York to California, including Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma, and competition will keep the price down without the aid of foreign competition. The pamphlet "Foreign salt market and industry," shows that salt is produced in almost every country on the globe, and in most cases under Government protection.

The Geological Survey says that "the United States is amply able to supply all the domestic demands, as the capacity of the active mines and plants is largely in excess of the present output."

The table of exports shows that there was practically no salt exported from this country, and of what was exported, only two countries, Cuba and Canada, took any quantity. Canada imposes a duty of 5 cents per 100 pounds, and a duty on packages, so that the United States can not ever export much to Canada, as she has a large deposit of salt which is close to the New York and Michigan fields. The ex

PARAGRAPH 295-SALT.

port to Cuba is mineral salt from Louisiana, which is the lowest grade of salt produced in the United States, and this trade is not large enough to be considered any factor.

It therefore would appear that free trade would bring in a large quantity of salt, which would displace an equal quantity manufactured in this country.

That there would be no increase of exports, as this matter has been fully canvassed by the salt manufacturers many times.

That there would be no decrease in retail prices, as these are usually fixed by custom.

That there is no demand for a reduction of the tariff, and the amount of salt used in any manufacturing industry is so small that free salt would not affect the price of any manufactured article. MEMORIAL IN OPPOSITION TO THE REDUCTION OF THE PRESENT DUTY ON SALT, BY SALT MANUFACTURERS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

JANUARY 20, 1913.

SIRS: As representing the salt producers in the United States, we beg to present for your consideration a memorial in favor of retention of the present tariff on salt, believing that the facts herein set forth and the arguments presented will convince you that the present rate of duty should not be reduced.

The duty on salt, as provided in Schedule G, paragraph 295, of the tariff act of 1909, is 7 cents per 100 pounds for salt in bulk, and 11 cents per 100 pounds for salt in packages. It is provided, however, that the duty on salt used for curing fish may be remitted, and also that the duty on salt used for curing and packing meats for export may be remitted in amounts not less than $100. The duty on salt for many years prior to 1909 was 8 cents per 100 pounds in bulk and 12 cents per 100 pounds in packages.

According to statistics published by the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce and Labor for 1909 (which is the latest report obtainable), there were at that time in the United States 124 salt manufacturing establishments, with an aggregate invested capital amounting to upward of $29,000,000 and employing 5,580 persons, who earned in wages and salaries per annum $3,250,000; and, in addition, there was paid out by these salt manufacturers during that year for materials used in their business the sum of $5,203,000.

As shown by the report of the Geological Survey of the Department of the Interior for the year 1910 (which is the latest complete report issued), the total production of salt in the United States for that year was 30,305,656 barrels, or approximately 4,329,379 net tons. In these figures are included the equivalent of 9,389,226 barrels, or 1,341,318 net tons, of salt in the form of brine in its natural state, not evaporated into salt, which should be deducted to give the actual production of salt, namely, 20,916,430 barrels, or approximately 2,988,061 net tons. According to this report the total value of the above production (exclusive of the brine, which was reported at a valuation of about $500,000), amounted to $7,400,344, or an average of about $2.47 per net ton.

The reported production and valuation of salt by States (including the brine, not shown separately), for the year 1910 was as follows:

PARAGRAPH 295-SALT.

As stated in the Geological Survey report from which the above figures were taken, other grades of salt are combined with brine in some States, in order to conceal the individual production of evaporated salt.

Taking the above figures of production, 2,988,061 net tons, deducting therefrom the salt exported in that year (49,000 tons), and adding the salt imported during that year (137,102 tons), makes the total tonnage of salt available for consumption, and which represents fairly the actual consumption, that year 3,076,163 tons, or 6,152,326,000 pounds. On this basis, taking our population of, say, 90,000,000 people, it would make the consumption of salt in this country, for any and all purposes, approximately 68 pounds per capita per annum. In figuring on the consumption of salt per capita, it must be borne in mind that over 75 per cent of the salt produced is used for commercial or manufacturing purposes, and that, as nearly as can be determined, the average consumption of salt for household or so-called domestic use does not exceed 15 pounds per capita per annum, so that the average family of five persons would use not more than 75 pounds of salt per year.

By referring to the Geological Survey report it will be seen that there are several kinds of salt, although actually salt is produced by only two methods, viz, by evaporation of brine (salt in solution), and by mining. The former process porduces what is commonly called "evaporated" salt, and by the latter method "rock" salt is pro

duced.

Evaporated salt is divided into two general classes, dried and undried; the former being known to the trade as table and dairy salt, and so designated in the report, and the latter (undried) embracing practically all the other grades of evaporated salt.

The grade of salt chiefly used for household purposes is the dried product, which is generally put up and sold at retail in 3-pound and 5-pound bags or packages. These packages are sold by the retailer to the consumer almost universally at 5 cents and 10 cents each, respectively.

As nearly as can be ascertained, the prices received by salt manufacturers since the present tariff became effective in August, 1909, have been on the average, for dried salt about $3.70 per net ton, and for undried salt about $2.40 per net ton, in bulk, f. o. b. cars at works.

Taking as a basis the dried salt at $3.70 per ton, and allowing for a consumption of 15 pounds per capita per annum, shows the actual cost of the salt itself, for household or domestic use, to have been less than 3 cents per capita per annum. Therefore, it is perfectly clear that the chief cost of salt to the individual consumer is not in the price of the salt, but is made up of the other necessary expenses incident to the business and none of which is affected by the tariff on the salt, to wit: bags and barrels, freight, storage, and handling, and the wholesalers' and retailers' profits. It is a positive fact that the purchaser at retail of salt for household consumption pays the same price for his salt regardless of the prevailing cost of salt at the plant. In other words, fluctuations in the prices charged by the manufacturer are customarily absorbed by the so-called middlemen.

The grades or kinds of salt chiefly used for commercial or manufacturing purposes are the undried (evaporated) salt and the rock (mined) salt. These grades are principally sold to chemical companies, ice cream manufacturers, packers, tanners, railroads, dairymen, and for various other manufacturing purposes, and in all cases the cost of the salt is relatively such a small proportion of the cost of their respective products that it does not affect the market price of their goods to the consumer.

The following examples are given as being fairly indicative of the relative cost of salt used in the most important food products. On the basis of an average price of $2.50 per ton for the salt in bulk, f. o. b. cars at works, which is a fair average price for the grades of salt used for such purposes, the actual expense for the salt itself entering into the cost of some of these products is as follows:

For packing hogs the average quantity of salt used over all is 20 pounds of salt to 100 pounds of hog, and on the present market a dressed hog would average worth about 11 cents per pound, which figures 24 cents expense for salt on $11 worth of hog. For capping a barrel of fresh pork, weighing 300 pounds and worth about $45, there is required 45 pounds of salt, worth 5.6 cents.

To cure a hide, worth about $15, there is required 20 pounds of salt, which figures 2 cents per hide.

For a sheep's pelt, varying in value, about 7 pounds of salt is required, worth 0.0087 of a cent.

For a calf's skin, value about $4, there is required 6 pounds of salt, worth 0.0075 of a cent.

For 100 pounds of butterine, worth, at 20 cents per pound, $20, it is necessary to use 10 pounds of salt, worth 14 cents.

PARAGRAPH 295-SALT.

For 100 pounds of butter, worth 30 cents per pound, or $30, there is required 6 pounds of salt, worth 0.0075 of a cent.

For 100 pounds of casings, worth about $40, there is required 15 pounds of salt, worth 0.0187 of a cent.

For pickles, 1 bushel of salt is used to 9 bushels of pickles, the salt being worth 7 cents and the pickles selling at about $1.25 per bushel.

For fish curing approximately 25 pounds of salt is used to 100 pounds of fish, the salt being worth 3 cents.

For freezing ice cream the quantity of salt varies according to the machinery used, but on the average it does not exceed 10 pounds per gallon, the cost of the salt being less than 2 cents.

The above figures of quantity of salt used for the various purposes and the value of such products were obtained from packers and manufacturers of the same.

Farmers and stock raisers are the only class of individuals whose salt consumption exceeds on the average the per capita quantity mentioned above, but they would not benefit or profit by any reduction of the tariff for the reason that their points of consumption are located at such a distance from the seaboard that the transportation charges from English salt-producing plants are prohibitive, as compared with the freight rates from American salt plants.

There is to-day open competition in the salt business of this country, and the aggregate maximum tonnage that might be produced annually by the salt plants now in operation is at least 40 per cent greater than the annual consumption. There is such an abundant supply of salt in this country that the business can never become a monopoly, and the public is always assured of reasonable prices.

Less than 5 per cent of the salt consumed in this country is imported, obviously for the reason that the domestic manufacturers are selling their product at seaboard points at prices but very little above cost. It is indisputable that the prices at which salt is sold in this country are considerably lower than the prices in any other country of the world, and no country produces any better or purer salt than is made here.

Salt is imported chiefly from England, the West Indies, Italy, Spain, and a very small tonnage from Mexico and Canada. The total importations for the year ended June 30, 1911, were as follows:

Net tons.

51, 427

38, 119

10, 463

41, 735

2, 472

739

715

145, 670

Practically all the salt imported from England is evaporated salt, of about the same grade and produced in the same manner as the evaporated salt of this country.

The salt imported from the West Indies and the Mediterranean countries is a coarsegrain product made from sea water, which is let into lagoons and evaporated by the heat of the sun without the use of plants or machinery. In this country no salt can be produced by evaporation of sea water to compete with the West Indian or Mediterranean salt.

The cost of labor for producing salt in this country is double that of England and triple that of Italy and Spain. In England the ordinary laborer employed in salt plants receives from 75 cents to $1 per day, as against wages averaging from $1.75 to $2 per day for similar labor here. Skilled labor, such as engineers, mechanics, etc., receive $1.25 to $1.50 per day in England, as compared with $2.50 to $3 per day in this country. In the West Indies and Mediterranean countries the wages paid to not exceed 60 to 65 cents per day.

The salt imported from the West Indies and Mediterranean countries is used for the same purposes as coarse evaporated and rock salt manufactured and mined in this country and competes with the same. The cost of producing rock salt in this country is on the average about $1.50 per ton, f. o. b. cars at mines, and the cost of producing the coarse grades of evaporated salt is on the average about $2.50 per ton. At the present time the prices of salt from the West Indies and the Mediterranean ports (which are higher now than they have been in several years), delivered at New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and other Atlantic seaboard points, including the duty of $1.40 per ton, are on the average about $5 per ton. The lowest railroad

PARAGRAPH 295-SALT.

rate of freight on salt from the nearest salt-producing plants in this country to Boston, for instance, is $2.80 per net ton, and to New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, $2.40 per net ton. If the duty were eliminated, the cost of the imported salt delivered at these ports would be only $3.60 per net ton. This price would leave the American manufacturer, after deducting freight, only 80 cents per ton for the salt at Boston, and $1.20 per ton for the salt at New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, which is much less than the actual cost of production. To most other seaboard points where imported salt might be received the rates of freight from salt plants in this country are still higher than to the ports mentioned, and the loss to the American manufacturer, in competition, would be even greater than these figures show. At the South Atlantic ports, where imported salt is received the prevailing cost of transportation from foreign salt-producing countries is even lower than to the North Atlantic ports mentioned, whereas, on the other hand, the prevailing freight rates from the salt plants in this country to such southern ports are higher than the rates to these northern ports.

Most of the West Indies and Mediterranean salt now being imported is used along the seaboard for curing and packing fish, and when used for this purpose the salt may be admitted free of duty under the provisions of the tariff act.

English salt brought into this country is largely used for curing and packing meats for export and also in the fishing industry, but principally for the former purpose. The users of this salt in some cases pay abnormal prices therefor, as the buyers of American meats in Great Britain absolutely require that English salt shall be used in curing and packing the same. A large proportion of the English salt is shipped to Chicago, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and other western points where packing houses are located. Even absorbing the high transportation charges in order to meet this requirement of the English buyer of American meats and regardless of the rate of duty the English buyer would insist that English salt be used for this purpose. It is only fair to state, however, that the English salt is no better than the American product for this or any other purpose.

The salt imported from England is produced in the Liverpool district, and by reason of the fact that these salt plants are located on the Mersey River and can load oceangoing vessels right at their warehouses, these manufacturers, with their cheap labor and cheap transportation facilities, can control the trade on foreign salt in all countries of the world. The salt industry of Great Britain is completely in control of the British Salt Union, one of the most powerful trusts in Europe, not only owning the plants but having also its own transportation facilities and equipment. In England the salt, coal, and facilities for water transportation are all practically together; and West Indian and Mediterranean salt is produced upon the seacoast, so they have no cost of land shipment.

On the other hand, the salt mines and evaporating works in this country are located 300 miles and upward from the Atlantic seaboard. Other than the brine used, and next to labor, coal is the most important factor in the manufacture of evaporated salt, and the American producer is obliged to stand a high rate of freight for transporting same from the coal fields to the salt plants, as well as for hauling the manufactured salt to seaboard.

As stated above, the prevailing rate on salt from the nearest plants in this country to New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore is $2.40 per net ton, and to Boston $2.80 per net ton. The rates to other New England seaboard points in some cases are higher, and the rates to southern Atlantic coast ports, via rail and water, are on the average at least $2.85 per net ton. During a limited season, while the Erie Canal is open, a few manufacturers are able to get an entire water rate to southern ports, but this water rate is not less than $2.45 per ton, and the tonnage possible to be so moved is comparatively

small.

For these reasons it will be seen that English salt, free of duty, can be delivered at Atlantic ports in this country for less than American salt can be delivered at the same ports, based on average cost of production and transportation over a recent period of years, and, therefore, by eliminating the present duty of $1.40 per ton, it would be impossible for the American manufacturer to successfully compete at any point on the seaboard or in the adjacent territory.

So far as Canadian salt is concerned the American consumer would benefit very little, if at all, by the removal of the duty, for the reason that the freight rates in effect from Canadian salt plants to the distributing centers in this country are on the average so much higher than the rates from the American plants. An evidence of this fact is the very small tonnage (only 739 tons) imported from Canada during 1911.

Salt is about the cheapest manufactured article of commerce. In most cases the cost of the package or container to the salt manufacturer is at least as much as the price