PARAGRAPHS 97-98-GLASS AND GLASSWARE. because of the influence and power of the General Electric Co. and Westinghouse over the bulb manufacturers. Practically speaking, the independent lamp producers, for their supply of bulbs, are at the mercy of their powerful and ferocious rivals. It needs no argument to convince this committee that since the General Electric Co. and the Westinghouse purchase, say, 90 per cent of the output of Libbey and Corning, they also can and do influence and determine the policy, conditions, and prices on which the two bulb manufacturers supply the independents with the remaining 10 per cent. And the discrimination may operate in many ways in addition to that of price. It may be concealed in the form of delay shipments, poor boxing, bad selections of bulbs. And it is in the power of the bulb houses to inform the General Electric Co. just how many and what types of bulbs are being purchased by the independents. This enables the trust to know at all times just what outsiders are doing. I say the bulb makers have it in their power to give this information and it is to their interest, they have a motive for giving it. Where power and interest coincide, activity usually follows. EXORBITANT PRICES. I have already remarked that the General Electric Co. has four bulb plants of its own. It certainly would not have gone into the manufacture of bulbs unless it knew that a substantial saving in the cost of materials would thereby be realized. Undoubtedly it can and does make bulbs at a cost to it far below the prevailing prices and it continues to purchase of Libbey and Corning, to fortify and perpetuate its monopoly of the lamp business by taking away the inducement of the bulb makers to make lower prices to outsiders. If it should cease to purchase from Libbey and Corning, it is obvious those concerns must go into the lamp business themselves or stimulate others to do so. This could only be done by offering bulbs at a price comparable to what they cost the General Electric Co. and Westinghouse. Taking the standard size bulb again as an illustration, as before stated, Libbey's and Corning's price to outsiders is $18 per thousand. But in addition they charge on an average about $2 per thousand for boxes. Importers at the present time are offering to deliver the same bulbs at New York, the 60 per cent duty paid at $16, and they make no charge for boxes. Here, then, importers offer the bulbs at $4 per thousand below Libbey and Corning and at the same time assume a duty of 60 per cent. On larger size bulbs the duty is prohibitive and renders the cost above that of the American producers, high as it is, and as to these outside lamp concerns have no choice but must buy of Libbey and Corning. Now, what is the cost of producing these bulbs? When anything is said about lowering the tariff a great cry is raised in the name of the American laborer. Fortunately we know in this instance precisely what part of the $18 goes to the workingman. The wage scale of the American Flint Glass Workers Union is now in force at the Libbey Glass Works. From this we learn that the total cost of labor in a thousand bulbs is $7.25. The material is glass only. The bulb makers pay the lamp makers 1 cent per pound for the glass of broken Eulbs. A thousand bulbs contain about 125 pounds of glass, which is worth $1.25, so that the total cost of labor and materials in a thousand bulbs sold for $18 can not exceed $8.50. If we add to this for overhead expenses, such as fuel, superintendence, interest, office expense, etc., $1 per thousand, the entire cost does not exceed $9.50. It is easy to see why the General Electric Co. has set about manufacturing its own bulbs. In additional consideration, it is well known that the Libbey Co. has about perfected an automatic bulb-blowing machine. This will probably be introduced within the next year or so. This machine, like the bottle-blowing machine owned by the Libbey Co., will largely replace hand labor. Then the tariff can not protect the laborer blowing bulbs for he will not blow any. It will, if left undisturbed, only protect a monopoly built up by unlawful agreements and a patented machine owned by the combine." Respectfully submitted. FRANK Y. GLADNEY, Counsel to the United States Incandescent Lamp Co. JANUARY 14, 1913. PARAGRAPHS 97-98-GLASS AND GLASSWARE. RETAIL PRICE OF ELECTRIC-LIGHT BULBS. SPOKANE, WASH., January 11, 1913. The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: I know you are a busy man and I do not wish to weary you with trifles; yet I know, too, that, even though your path is not a rosy one, still you are anxious to do that which you as a citizen and as a Representative of the country learn to be the best thing for all the people. I appreciate fully the difficulties which surround your official position. You are right when you base your course, not upon any fears of the future, but upon the facts of the day-the things that are now. Proper action upon them secures the future. Last night I purchased a couple of electric-light globes from a local dealer and he charged me 40 cents apiece for them. I regarded the price exorbitant and made a slight remonstrance, when he began to tell me all about them. He said the Consolidated charged him 30 cents each for them, or $3.60 per dozen, and that besides he had to pay $3.30 per hundred pound freight on them and that he could not sell them any cheaper. So far as this retail merchant may be concerned this may be true. I used to live in the glass-making country, and I know that 25 cents each would be a good price for the consumer to pay if the retailer bought them at a reasonable price. While it may not be convenient for the committee to procure evidence of this kind from the laymen as it were-the consumer-I have often wished that some arrangement for its admission could be devised. It is hardly, however, within the practical purview of a committee such as that on Ways and Means, unless it had some subagency to do this work for it—some agency similar to that of a commissioner in chancery of a court of chancery-the latter being the fact gatherer for the court. The globes I purchased were of the milkglass kind and of the following shape: I am not making any complaint. This letter is not written in that sense at all, for instances like this come up often in my daily rounds; but I felt that if I were on the committee I should like to know these things and would be interested in them. Very respectfully, yours, W. C. MEYER. BRIEF OF IMPORTERS OF GLASSWARE AT THE PORT OF NEW YORK. [Re Glassware, Schedule B.] NEW YORK, January 7, 1913. Hon. OSCAR UNDERWOOD, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: We, the undersigned importers of glassware at the port of New York, respectfully submit for your consideration the inclosed exhibits, illustrating representative examples of articles which bave a large consumption in the United States and the importation of which is either restricted or prohibited under Schedule B of the act of August, 1909. The United States customs tariff now in force on these necessities of life, i. e., 60 per cent, is excessive First. Because the revenue collected on all the glassware imported stands in no proportion to the importance of the industry itself, as records will show that less than 2 per cent of the glassware consumed in the United States is of foreign origin. PARAGRAPHS 97-98-GLASS AND GLASSWARE. Secondly. Because it raises the price for the consumer on the few necessities which are still imported to an unnecessarily high figure. As a matter of fact, only a limited number of specialties can still be imported at the high rate of duty. The present duty of 60 per cent is taxed not only on the value of the goods, but also on the packing, wrapping charges, and cases in which these goods are shipped, bringing up the percentage of duty on the goods proper as high as 80 per cent and more. In adjusting the tariff on this class of goods attention is called to the great percentage of additional expenses which add to the cost of these goods to the consumer. The ocean freight alone, which has been advancing every year for a number of years, equals on some commodities as much as 62 per cent of the value of the goods at the factory. In addition thereto the very nature of the business makes it necessary to figure with a considerable amount of breakage with which the importer has to contend and for which the United States customs tariff offers no relief. A material reduction in duties on these commodities would allow these goods to be imported more freely from the principal markets of the world and enter the hands of the consumer at a more reasonable price and would increase the revenue under this schedule by permitting the importation of many articles which the present tariff has excluded from these shores. Inasmuch as imported merchandise must be ordered from six to eight months in advance, and can only be imported in bulky packages unfit to enter into the general trade without being repacked, while American manufacturers are in a position to supply the trade at short notice in any desired quantities, and also inasmuch as American manufacturers are in a position to export their goods very extensively, and enter in foreign markets into competition with foreign goods, we respectfully submit that this should be conclusive evidence that there is no necessity for the high rate of duty now prevailing. We offer to appear before your committee, either collectively or individually, and supply you with such further information and evidence as you may desire. Very respectfully, M. Kirchberger & Co., 374-380 Second Avenue, New York; H. G. McFaddin & Co., 38 Warren Street, New York City; Henry_Endemann, 32 Park Place; Oscar O. Snedlently, 127 Duane Street; Fonderille & Naw Idustrie, 37 Warren Street; Fensterer & Reihl, 47 Murray Street; B. Gunthel, 49 Barclay Street; Franz Enler & Co., 1 Hudson Street. Ten-inch ring top dome shades, opal. [A reflector used on most cheap metal lamps, the principal staple in this line. Are imported in cases of 6 dozen each.] Ocean freight: $1.75 per cubic meter; 1 case equals 0.75 cubic meter; $1.31 per case of 6 dozen.. Marine insurance, customs entry, consular certificates, expenses in Hamburg, 8 per cent of 40.8 cents.. Cartage.... Total cost laid down in United States.... Freight from factory to Hamburg, 2 marks per 100 kilos; 6 dozen weigh 120 kilos... United States duty, 60 per cent on 56.40 cents actually corresponds with 83 per cent on cost of goods (40.8 cents)... PARAGRAPHS 97-98 GLASS AND GLASSWARE. Ten-inch Rochester chimneys. [Cut ends. The cheapest chimney used on lamps. Are imported in cases of 24 dozen each.] Freight from factory to Hamburg, 0.2 mark per 100 kilos (24 dozen-100 kilos)... United States duty, 60 per cent on 13.68 cents actually corresponds with 77 per cent Ocean freight: $1.75 per cubic meter (1 case equals 0.90 cubic meter, 1.57). [One case contains 16 dozen.] Freight from factory to Hamburg, 2 marks per 100 kilos, 16 dozen-100 kilos... United States duty, 60 per cent on 66.12 cents, actually corresponds with 70 per cent of cost of goods... Ocean freight: 1.75 per cubic meter, 1 case-0.75 cubic meter, $1.31 per case of 16 dozen 8.20 Marine insurance, customs entry, consular certificates, expense in Hamburg, 8 per cent of 57.12 cents.. Cartage.... Total cost laid down in United States... 4.57 2.00 123.56 PARAGRAPHS 97-98-GLASS AND GLASSWARE. Fourteen-inch opal dome shades. [Used for parlor or dining-room oil lamps. One case contains 4 dozen.] United States duty, 60 per cent on 126.04 cents, actually corresponds with 81 per cent of cost of goods (92.44 cents).. 75.60 Ocean freight. 44.00 Marine insurance, customs entry, consular certificates, expenses in Hamburg, 8 per cent of 92.44.. Cartage.. Total cost laid down in United States.. 7.36 6.00 274.00 Flint-glass lantern globe, staple article with large consumption. Can not be imported under present tariff. Packed in cases of 12 dozen; gross weight, 100 kilos. 1.55 320 11. Difference, or cost of transportation and duty.......... 12. This difference expressed as percentage of foreign cost at factory, showing actual protection afforded domestic producer.. |