PARAGRAPHS 97-98-GLASS AND GLASSWARE. Besides this limitation as to the variety of patterns, each factory is held down to manufacture only up to a certain amount, to límit production. You will therefore readily see that such conditions tend in a very high degree to monopolize the market on a product of necessity in numerous trades. The present rate of duty, in view of the machine production being detrimental to the skilled glass blowers and not offering any revenue is entirely inconsistent, and we would therefore respectfully suggest that the rate on bottles for use as containers should be considerably reduced to enable the foreign product to get into this market and compete with the American product, which shows a monopolizing tendency. The producing cost of machine-made bottles compared even with the lowest wages paid in Germany is still from 20 per cent to 40 per cent lower, and if such bottles can not be put on the free list, the rate of duty, in our opinion, should be lowered to 10 per cent. At this rate, there is a possibility to place the imported article in this market and offer the consumer a product at competitive prices. The cut in duty will not be detrimental to the wage-earners but simply serve to cut down the large profits of the American manufacturers, who, under the present tariff, have held great advantages. We respectfully offer the foregoing for your earnest consideration and action. Very truly, yours, VEREINIGTE LAUSITZER GLASWERKE, A. G. PROTEST AGAINST REDUCTION OF DUTY ON GLASSWARE. The SECRETARY OF THE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE, House Office Building, Washington, D. C.: Under the present tariff law the glass-bottle blowers of this country are protected against the products of the lower-paid workmen of Europe, and which is necessary in order to create the opportunity or basis upon which we have been enabled to maintian a living wage. There are in this country about 11,000 skilled glass-bottle blowers, whose average wage per day is not in excess of $4.60 as against the lower wage of the foreign blower. The entire membership of our association favors a continuation of the present tariff, and instructed us to make this known to you. Dependent upon the glass-bottle industry are about 35,000 unskilled workmen and their families, who would be affected by the importation of bottles into this country in competition with the American bottle blower. The necessity for maintaining the present tariff is as great now as at any former time, for work is not as plentiful as it once was, and the effort to maintain wages is harder now than heretofore, especially in view of the fact that improved machinery has come into our trade. This in connection with a lower tariff rate would force the bottle blowers' wages down to such a low rate that they would hardly make a living wage. A reduction in the tariff on glass bottles is always followed by a strong demand from the manufacturers for a reduction of wages of the workmen, basing their demand on the importation of bottles from foreign countries filled and unfilled. We would urge that where bottles are sent in filled and no duty is imposed, except on the contents therein, that the same rate of duty be imposed as though they were empty or separate. Much of the ware imported under this guise is again used in other channels. For instance, claret wines imported into San Francisco filled with Apollinaris water are afterwards used for claret wine. If these bottles were made in this country and not imported it would furnish employment for several thousand more skilled workmen and a proportionately large number of unskilled workmen. Therefore, in view of the facts as above stated, we would urgently request that there be no reduction from the present rate of tariff on foreign-made glass bottles. Respectfully submitted. Attest: [SEAL.] D. A. HAYES, President Glass Bottle Blowers' Association. WILLIAM LAUNER, Secretary. Executive board: John A. Voll (vice president), J. E. Daily, James Maloney, E. E. Tharp, J. L. Lanoux, F. M. Edwards, Arthur Muhleman, E. E. Evans, Harry Jenkins (secretary), executive board. PARAGRAPHS 97-98-GLASS AND GLASSWARE. Hon. OSCAR W. Underwood, M. C., House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. HONORABLE SIR: Our attention has been called to the fact that the Ways and Means Committee is now considering a revision of the tariff laws on imported glass wares, and has the subject under consideration known as paragraph 98, Schedule B. We most respectfully call your attention to the fact that a reduced tariff means reduced wages to our members and other sacrifices, such as were experienced under the Wilson tariff law. We therefore beseech you and your committee to not make any reduction on the present tariff rates on imported glass wares, as the present tariff rates do not afford sufficient protection to the American workman, as considerable glassware is now being imported, notwithstanding the extraordinary keen competition prevailing in the glass markets of our country. There is no monopoly on glass wares in the American trade, and no organization among the flint-glass manufacturers. All are free to sell as they please, and prices are very low. There will be no relief afforded to the citizens of our country if the tariff rates are reduced, as it will only intensify the present deplorable state of affairs. . Therefore we most respectfully protest against any reduction in the tariff rates, and we trust you will act favorably on our appeal. Sincerely, yours, [SEAL.] ALEXANDRIA, IND. JOHN A. ROSENBERGER, (A communication identical with the above and signed by the officers and 61 members of Local No. 127 of the American Flint Glass Workers, Lancaster, Ohio, was also filed.) STATEMENT OF T. W. ROWE, IN BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN FLINT GLASS WORKERS' UNION. Mr. Rowe. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I represent the American Flint Glass Workers' Union of North America. I am here representing the workers. I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Carey, and I never met Mr. Dorflinger until yesterday. I am here representing the workers in this industry. Mr. HARRISON. What paragraph do you refer to? Mr. RowE. Paragraph 98. I am here to protest against any reduction in the present tariff rates on all plain glasswares. I represent the men that make the blanks, the men that do the cutting, and the men that do the engraving; I represent the workmen that make everything in the illuminating line, from the incandescent electric bulb up to all the shades and globes; I represent the men who make everything in the pressed line, common ordinary tableware; in fact, everything that is made in the general glass trade in the United States, except window glass. We are opposed to any reduction in the present tariff rates, because we have been obliged to make many, many sacrifices to meet the evil of foreign competition. Our organization has spent an enormous amount of money to investigate this situation. Ten years ago, in the interest of our organization, I toured France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Italy, Scotland, and Ireland. Last year I attended the International Congress of Glassmen in Berlin, and again toured all the continental European countries and the British Isles. The conditions under which the people are employed around the glass works in continental Europe are so horrible that they defy exaggeration. Wages of continental European glassworkers are about one-fourth PARAGRAPHS 97-98-GLASS AND GLASSWARE. that paid to American glassworkers, and in addition to that there is female labor and child labor. I saw married women carrying their babies to the factories-the manufacturer having provided a nursery, so that when the baby became hungry, the mother could leave her work and go nurse the baby. I visited the large factory at Val St. Lambert, referred to by one of the previous speakers, and I saw young girls wheeling cinders and coal, and carrying boxes that I am sure would tax the strength of an ordinary man. Ten minutes is almost too brief a time to cover this matter, in the way I would like to do it, and I believe I had better confine myself to what we have done in the United States as workmen, trying to meet this evil of foreign competition. When the tariff was reduced in 1893 or 1894, goods were shipped into this country by the boatload, loaded in cars and laid down in the factory yards in competition with the products of the American workmen, cheaper than the labor cost. A large number of our plants were thrown into idleness. We accepted a 20 per cent reduction in wages. We doubled our production of goods in a large number of lines, particularly the blown stem ware, such as plain tumblers, glasses for wines, cordials, cocktails, and that class of goods. When the tariff was changed the American manufacturer restored that 20 per cent reduction in wages, but we have never changed back to our old system of production. That increased production that was granted at that time still remains in force. Two years ago on chemical lines, or wares used in laboratories and hospitals, which I understand comes in free of duty and on which class of goods I understand there is considerable deception-not smuggling, but deception-practiced by the importers of this country, we increased our production 90 per cent. We removed the limit of production and reduced the wages on certain lines with a view of enabling the American manufacturer to meet the foreign competitor and at the same time protect the American workman, so as to assure him a little more steady work than he had enjoyed. I am glad to say it has done some good, but that it has not entirely remedied this evil. I want to say that every time the tariff has been touched and there has been a reduction in glassware, it has meant a reduction in wages and increased production. It has meant a change in system and it has a general disturbing effect upon the American glass industry. I do not want you gentlemen to think that the American glassworker receives a very high rate of wage. I am familiar with the general cut-glass industry. I am familiar with the man who makes the blanks and am thoroughly familiar with the general cut-glass industry of this country. The men who cut the glass are the lowestpaid skilled mechanics in the United States of America. The men are obliged to serve five years' apprenticeship in that department of the trade. There are men working in that industry for $9 a week, and they are not the youngest men. The minimum rate for the union glass cutter is $15 a week for 55 hours' work. I do not think anybody will say that is an exorbitant wage. The average wage is just about as Mr. Carey states, at union shops, sixteen to seventeen dollars a week. There are nonunion shops in the State of Pennsylvania and in south Jersey that employ boys and girls. The average wage is about $7 a week. PARAGRAPHS 97-98-GLASS AND GLASSWARE. Mr. PALMER. How much do the blowers get? Mr. Rowe. Gentlemen, I do not want you to be timid about asking me questions. I am familiar with the wage paid in every line, from the small incandescent electric bulb on up. À man starts in at $2.80 a day. The blower gets $4.50. The man that blows that little glass globe that covers that electric bulb, when it is done on the American system, gets $4.50 a day, but when it is blown by the German method we have instituted the German method with a view of trying to meet the competition of Austria, Bohemia, and other southern continental European countries-the blower of that class of goods receives $6 a day. One of his helpers receives $4 a day; the next helper receives $3 a day. They are in a graduating period. The youngest man in the shop receives $3; the next man in the graduating period receives $4; and the next man $6 a day. Mr. PALMER. They are a very highly paid class of skilled labor? Mr. RowE. That depends upon how you place them. There are about 30,000 skilled glassworkers in the United States. We have approximately 9,000 members in our organization. The average wage of our members for the year is $14 a week. Mr. PALMER. For blowers? Mr. Rowe. Yes, sir. Mr. PALMER. The average wage of the blower is $14 a week? Mr. PALMER. Does that include helpers and apprentices? Mr. Rowe. No, sir. That includes only the glassworker. The average wage paid members of our organization for the year is $14 a week. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Palmer asked you to confine your statements to the blowers. Mr. PALMER. You just told me that the wages of the blowers ran from $3 to $4.50 a day. Mr. Rowe. From $3 to $6 a day. Mr. PALMER. Now you say that the average of the blowers in your organization is $14 a week. Mr. RowE. That is for the year; the average for the year. You will understand in the glass trade there is such a thing as the ingredients not running properly. The sand may not be in proper shape; the soda may not be in proper shape; the lead may be bad. A man reports to work on Monday morning, and it is found that the glass is bad and he is knocked out of that day's work. That glass is ladled out and remelted. Mr. RAINEY. It is piecework, is it? Mr. Rowe. About 85 per cent of the ware produced in the United States is on the piecework basis. Mr. DALZELL. There is a certain period of the year when the glassworkers do not work at all, is there not? The Mr. RowE. The only period is two weeks in the summer. only stop is the first two weeks in July. That is the only compulsory stop, and it is the vacation period agreed on between the manufacturers and the workers. Mr. LONGWORTH. Do you represent the same organization that is represented by Mr. Falkner? PARAGRAPHS 97-98-GLASS AND GLASSWARE. Mr. Rowe. No, sir; he represented the National Window Glassworkers and I represent everything that is made in glass, etc., except window glass. Here is a little pamphlet that I wrote, reporting to our convention held at Montreal, Quebec, in July, 1912, giving the conditions prevailing in the British Isles, England and Scotland, and particularly in France and Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, and Bohemia. I would like to leave a copy of this with the committee, and I would like to mail a copy of this to each member of the committee, if they have time to look it over. The CHAIRMAN. If you will hand that to the stenographer it will be printed in the record, where everybody will see it. Mr. Rowe. I would be glad to leave a copy of our quarterly report, showing that from June 1, 1911, to June 1, 1912, our average unemployed membership was 14 per cent. I would also like to leave a copy of the quarterly statement of the Glass Bottle Blowers' Association, which shows their average number of unemployed men in the past year was 25 per cent. We have a large number of idle men in the American glass industries. We have no stone wall around the industry; we teach the American apprentice, and admit him to our organization without any high initiation fee; and we do everything we possibly can. At the same time we try to work in harmony with the manufacturers, in order to have all glassware used in the United States made by American workmen. You can go into any 5 and 10 cent store in this country and you will see there the stem ware from Belgium and Germany. I visited the McAlpine Hotel on Monday and one contract for stem ware alone-bar goods such as cordial glasses, wineglasses, goblets, and high-ball glasses, etc., amounted to $30,000 in one order, to be supplied through Wanamaker, importers for Val St. Lambert Glass Co., of Brussels, Belgium. The chandeliers in this room are not made in this country. Mr. RAINEY. You say the chandeliers in this room are imported? Mr. Rowe. Yes, sir; they are not made in the United States. They can not compete with the imported article. Mr. RAINEY. You must remember that they were all put in before the Democrats got control. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Rowe, you may file your briefs and they will be printed in the record. BRIEFS SUBMITTED BY MR. T. W. Rowe. Hon. O. W. UNDERWOOD, WASHINGTON, D. C., January 7, 1913. Chairman Ways and Means Committee, Washington, D. C. HONORABLE SIR: In view of the following facts I hereby protest in behalf of the American Flint Glass Workers' Union against any reduction of the present tariff rates placed on imported glasswares. First. Approximately there are 125,000 people employed in the American glass industry. Of this number there are, at least, 30,000 skilled mechanics. Second. The wages paid the skilled glassworkers in continental Europe are about one-fourth and the unskilled labor about one-third the rate paid in the United States, while the cost of materials essential to glassware production is equal, and the advan |