SCHEDULE B-EARTHS, EARTHENWARE, AND GLASSWARE. COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, January 8 and 9, 1913. The committee met at 10 o'clock a. m., Hon. Oscar W. Underwood in the chair. Present with the chairman: Messrs. Harrison, Shackleford, Kitchin, James, Rainey, Dixon, Hull, Peters, Palmer, Ansberry, Payne, Dalzell, Hill, Needham, and Longworth. THE CHAIRMAN: The committee will come to order. PARAGRAPH 84. Fire-brick, weighing not more than ten pounds each, not glazed, enameled, ornamented, or decorated in any manner, one dollar and twenty-five cents per ton; glazed, enameled, ornamented, or decorated, thirty-five per centum ad valorem; weighing more than ten pounds each and not specially provided for in this section, not glazed, enameled, ornamented, or decorated in any manner, thirty per centum ad valorem; glazed, enameled, ornamented, or decorated, thirty-five per centum ad valorem; magnesite brick, chrome brick, and brick other than fire-brick, not glazed, enameled, painted. vitrified, ornamented, or decorated in any manner, twenty-five per centum ad valorem; if glazed, enameled, painted, vitrified, ornamented, or deco rated in any manner, thirty-five per centum ad valorem. PARAGRAPH 85. Tiles, plain unglazed, one color, exceeding two square inches in size, four cents per square foot; glazed, encaustic, ceramic mosaic, vitrified, semivitrified, flint, spar, embossed, enameled, ornamented, hand painted, gold decorated, and all other earthenware tiles and tiling, by whatever name known, except pill tiles and so-called quarries or quarry tiles, valued at not exceeding forty cents per square foot, eight cents per square foot; exceeding forty cents per square foot, ten cents per square foot and twenty-five per centum ad valorem; so-called quarries or quarry tiles, forty-five per centum ad valorem; mantels, friezes, and articles of every description, composed wholly or in chief value of tiles or tiling, sixty per centum ad valorem. For tiles and quarries, see W. S. Pitcairn, page 584. TILES. THE ATLAS ROOFING CO. SUBMIT BRIEF ON ROOFING TILES. WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE, Washington, D. C. ATLAS ROOFING Co., Newburgh, N. Y., January 20, 1913. DEAR SIRS: We desire to call your attention to paragraph No. 85 of Schedule B, as it relates to roofing tiles. This section fixes the tariff on roofing tiles at 4 cents per square foot, and so far as it applies to what is known as shingle tile it is an unreasonably exorbitant tariff. For instance, we have been importing some shingle tile, each piece of which is 6 inches by 104 inches, making a total area of 681 square inches. The tariff applies to the whole surface of this tile, although 4 inches by 6 inches is exposed to the weather only. This requires a duty to be paid on 681 square inches for every 26 square inches 435 PARAGRAPH 85-TILES. which is actually exposed to the weather on the roof. actually $10.50 per square of 100 square feet on the roof. American tile are sold for at the factories. In other words, the duty is The only advantages of the English tile are the better range of color and shades, and this makes these tile desirable for a certain class of buildings and considerable revenue could be derived from importers of this tile if the duty was reduced to a reasonable price. The price of the English tile at port of exportation is about the same as the price of the American shingle tile at the factories in this country. To the export price of the English tile must be added the heavy freight rate and the tariff of 10.5 cents per square foot of roof covered, the breakage which is sometimes nearly 50 per cent, and the cost of handling at the import point. This brings the price of this material, when delivered to the railroad station nearest the building on which it is to be used, when same is within 100 miles of the point of import, to about $30 per square, whereas the American tile can be delivered to the same point for from $9 to $12 per square. Considering the expensive freight to this country, the breakage, which is often excessive, the expense of handling at the import point, there should be no protection needed for the domestic manufacturer; but if it is considered advisable to maintain a tariff on this material, it should be reduced to a reasonable figure, and it would be more nearly fair to the roofers of this country if the tariff were based on the amount of roof which the tile would cover. You will note by referring to paragraph No. 85 that the 4 cents per square foot applies also to other tile which lay the full amount of surface on which duty is placed, as floor tile, wall tile, and tile for other similar purposes that lay without any lap, and 100 square feet of tile cover a little more than 100 square feet of surface, but with the roofing tile mentioned in this letter, 262 square feet are required to cover 100 square feet of surface, and for that reason the present method of fixing the tariff is unfair to this particular industry. That you may better understand the material involved, we are sending you by parcel post one sample of American shingle tile and one sample of the imported. You will note that the American shingle tile is one solid color over the whole surface, while the imported tile has a certain mottled effect which softens the color and takes away the checkerboard effect produced on the roof by the domestic tiles when they are laid in several different shades of color. The domestic tile can be secured of various shades of red continuing through shades of brown to a tile that is almost black. The same shades are obtained in the imported tile, but there is enough variation of the surface of each tile to soften the coloring and make it look better on the roof. It is more than probable that reducing or removing the duty would cause the American manufacturers to make a tile similar in coloring to the imported, but at present they require the roofers to use what they make or substitute some other material, as they are averse to increasing the variety of tile now on the market. If you desire any further information in regard to this matter, we will be very glad to furnish same so far as we may be able. We are, Very respectfully, ATLAS ROOFING Co., BRIEF SUBMITTED BY THE MEYER CO., NEW YORK CITY. PARAGRAPH 85. Assesses duty on quarries or quarry tiles 45 per cent ad valorem and in accordance with section 18 the same duty is assessed on the crates, barrels, etc., containing same, in which they are packed for protection from injury during transportation. The sizes of these quarries are 9 by 9 by 11 and 6 by 6 by 1. They are used for flooring, interior and exterior work. It is impossible to bring these goods forward from the works loose, as the breakage and damage by handling is excessive, and furthermore the transportation lines, railroad and steamship, will not handle them loose. Bringing them forward in large crockery crates which weighed from 1,000 to 1,500 pounds demonstrated that breakage through jarring was a large percentage. Packing in barrels, it was also found, did not overcome this breakage, and finally experiment proved that packing 16 pieces of the 9 by 9 in a little crate and 48 to 54 pieces of 6 by 6 overcame the difficulty; that the breakage was insignificant, and these packages many years ago became the unit of sale. PARAGRAPH 85-TILES. It is necessary to make this statement to prepare you for the following: The average cost of the 9 by 9 and 6 by 6 is $15.50 per thousand. The average cost of packing same in crates, carriage from the manufacturers' works to Liverpool, and freight by steamer from Liverpool to New York, Philadelphia, and Boston is $19.50 and irrespective of any United States duty is 1263 per cent of the cost of the quarries at the manufacturers' works. The average rate of duty which is paid on the quarries and the packing is over 67 per cent of the value of the goods at the manufacturers' works. The American manufacturer of similar goods, if made, is therefore protected to the extent of 1933 per cent on the basis of said American manufacturer delivering his goods on rails or by boat from his works at the initial competing point, an Atlantic port. To all points west of the seaboard the American manufacturer is further protected to the extent of the freight from the Atlantic seaboard. By the excessive duty imposed by the Payne-Aldrich bill the purchasing power of the dollar of the ultimate consumer is greatly reduced. We appeal for an abolition of the assessment of duty on the value of the crates or coverings to protect these goods from injury during transportation, and a reduction of the duty from 45 per cent ad valorem to either a specific duty of one-half to threefourths cent per square foot or an ad valorem duty of 20 to 25 per cent. We submit the above. We wrote asking to be heard by the Committee on Ways and Means, on January 6, 1913, but received no reply. JANUARY 9, 1913. THE MEYER Co., 253 Broadway, New York City. BRIEF OF ADOLPH GRANT & CO., NEW YORK CITY. The CLERK OF THE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SIR: We desire to submit to your honorable body the following brief, regarding duties on tiles which will come up for your consideration on January 8. There is at the present time a combination among the tile manufacturers of the United States. These manufacturers being the following: Alhambra Tile Co., Newport, Ky.; American Encaustic Tile Co., Zanesville, Ohio; Architectural Tile Co., Maurer, N. J.; Beaver Falls Tile Co., Beaver Falls, Pa.; Cambridge Tile Co., Covington, Ky.; Grueby Tile & Faience Co., Boston, Mass.; Mosaic Tile Co., Zanesville, Ohio; The Empire Floor Tile Co., Zanesville, Ohio; National Tile Co., Anderson, Ind.; Robertson Art Tile Co., Trenton, N. J.; Matawan Tile Co., Matawan, N. J.; Old Bridge Tile Co., Old Bridge, N. J.; C. Pardee Works, Perth Amboy, N. J.; Star Encaustic Tile Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.; Trent Tile Co., Trenton, N. J.; United States Encaustic Tile Works, Indianapolis, Ind. This combination was formed about four months ago, for the purpose of regulating the price on tiles made in this country. Prior to this combination we could buy a satisfactory white glazed wall tile at 15 cents a square foot; but since the combination, we are charged 18 cents a square foot. Prior to the combination we bought the vitreous floor tiles, known as ceramics, sizes being 1 inch and 1 inch, shapes being square, round, and hexagon, for the sum of 10 cents a square foot. To-day we are charged 14 cents for the same tiles and 15 cents per square foot for the 14 inch. Prior to the combination, we bought 2-inch in size vitreous tiles at 16 cents a square foot, and to-day we are paying 22 cents for the same tiles. I have found, upon investigating, no advance in the cost of material, nor has labor advanced. The present duty on glazed tiles, less than 40 cents per square foot, is 8 cents a foot, which makes the cost of tile brought into this country, buying the tile at the cheapest possible market in Europe, and including the duty, 24 cents a foot. These tiles compare with the tiles sold by the American manufacturers, as above stated, at 18 cents a foot and are known as Standards. The American manufacturers have also made a tile known as selected tile at 224 cents a square foot. It is my contention that the American manufacturers can make tiles in this country as cheap as they are made in England, as tile sold formerly (before this last combination of the manufacturers) at 15 cents a square foot compared favorably with the tile bought in England at 16 cents a foot, on which we had to pay 8 cents duty as well as freight. The tile industry in this country would not suffer in the least if the entire duty were removed. The only sufferers would be the excessive profits to the manufacturers. |