All briefs and other papers filed with the committee should have indorsed thereon the name and address of the persons submitting them and the numbers of the paragraphs of the present tariff law to which they relate. More than 1,100 persons sought a hearing as a result of this notice, and instead of the 35 days indicated in the notice the committee was compelled to sit 43 days and 5 nights in order that all might be heard, concluding its labors on February 27, 1929. Stenographic reports of the hearings were printed and distributed daily, which reports in addition to the oral statements contained briefs, resolutions, and other data pertinent to the subject under discussion. Copies of the daily prints were furnished to all witnesses who were requested to revise and correct their statements for this edition. The subject matter of the testimony presented, together with the papers and other data submitted, have been grouped together, as far as practical, and arranged in the numerical order of the paragraphs of the Tariff Act of 1922 to which they apply. The sequence of the statements and the order of appearance were thereby necessarily abandoned in the compilation of this edition. CLAYTON F. MOORE, Clerk. TARIFF READJUSTMENT-1929 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Monday, January 14, 1929. SCHEDULE 3 METALS AND MANUFACTURES OF The committee met at 10 o'clock a. m., Hon. Willis C. Hawley (chairman), presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. We begin to-day the hearings on Schedule No. 3, Metals and Manufactures of Metals. One hundred and thirty-one witnesses are asking to be heard in the three days assigned to this schedule. The committee will endeavor to give every one a hearing as extended as possible under the circumstances. But it will be of assistance to the committee, and no detriment to the witnesses, if concerns having the same interest should unite upon some one person to present their case, who may be given a little more time than the usual allotment, and if varied interests should appear, supplementary briefs could be filed. We desire the fullest possible information, but the information of the greatest value to us will rather be that submitted in the briefs, those being the most carefully compiled and carefully digested, with the arguments supporting the proposals for increases or other changes in the tariffs affected. The chairman suggests, as he has suggested to all preceding schedules, that if combinations of the kind that have been suggested can be effected so that the number of witnesses can be reduced, it will be of advantage to the committee and in all probability to the interests affected. Let the witnesses take note of this statement: The hearings are being taken stenographically and, when transcribed, are sent to the Public Printer for printing. They are ready for distribution the second day after the hearing. Each witness who appears will have mailed to his home address a copy of the hearings at which he participates. They are for the correction of the witness. Be sure that what is printed in the hearings is an accurate statement of that which you wish to present. Such changes as are necessary in your own statement to represent the facts are authorized, and minor additions, if your statement does not exactly represent what you had in mind. Please review that promptly and return to the clerk of the committee, so that the corrected copy may be printed for the use of the committee as soon as possible. TABLES OF WAGES IN VARIOUS EUROPEAN The CHAIRMAN. The chair submits for the record the following letter and tables from the United States Tariff Commission. Especial attention is called to the letter of Chairman Marvin of that commission. (The matter referred to is as follows:) Hon. W. C. HAWLEY, UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION, Chairman Committee on Ways and Means, House Office Building. MY DEAR MR. HAWLEY: The headquarters of the Tariff Commission at Brussels sends to the commission from time to time copies of articles appearing in foreign papers, and official and semiofficial reports dealing with industrial conditions, wages, hours of labor, etc., in foreign countries. In some of the recent reports of this character, there have been tables of wages of various European industries. This information has not been checked by the commission and, of course, is not a report of the commission and is not submitted by the commission for publication in the record. I asked that copies be made of some of the tables contained in the report from our Brussels headquarters, and inclose them herewith for such use as the committee can make of them. You will note that the source of many of these tables is The Ministry of Labour Gazette, an official publication of the British Government. The tables may be serviceable as a check upon information submitted by witnesses at the hearings before the committee. The commission is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the figures contained in the reports. Sincerely yours, THOMAS D. MARVIN. WAGES IN THE GERMAN IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY [Source: The Ministry of Labour Gazette, November, 1928] It is maintained that the percentage increase in wages since 1913 is greater in the iron and steel industry in Rhenish-Westphalia than in the German metal industry as a whole. The following figures are given for the Rhenish-Westphalian steel industry, including rolling mills and steel forges: The actual wages, which were being earned per hour and per shift in one of the largest Westphalian steel works prior to the dispute, are said to be as follows (social allowances and extra payments for overtime, Sunday work, etc., are not included): It is stated that at the present time about 50 per cent of the labor employed in the Rhenish-Westphalian steel industry is working an 8-hour day, while the other half, mainly in the finishing industry, is employed on a 9-hour shift. The following table is quoted to illustrate the proportions of workmen over 21 years of age in certain wage categories in an important steel works in the northwest group in August, 1928. The figures include overtime but not social allowances. Percentage of men over 21 in each category The same newspaper gives the following average monthly earnings for certain classes of workmen in the finishing department of an important steel works in July, 1928, as typical: In another works engaged in the production of metal goods and machinery, the average monthly earnings in July, 1928, were said to be as follows: It is alleged that, if the increase of wages conferred by the award under dispute were conceded by the employers, the cost of production would be increased by 4 or 5 per cent, and that the economic limit in the iron and steel industry has already been reached, if not exceeded. RELATIVE LEVELS IN ENGLAND OF RATES OF WAGES, AUGUST, 1914, AND SEPTEMBER, 1928 (ENGINEERING AND SHIPBUILDING AND OTHER METAL TRADES) [Source: The Ministry of Labour Gazette, October, 1928] Engineering and shipbuilding.—In the engineering industry the general advance over pre-war rates for men on time-work now amounts to $4.61 a week, except in certain districts where the men are paid at hourly rates, in which it is $4.82. In the shipbuilding industry the general advance on time rates amounts to $4.13 or $4.32 a week. In some cases, however, further advances have been granted to particular classes in both industries. The following table shows the unweighted averages of the district time rates of wages of men in certain representative occupations in 16 of the principal engineering centers and nine of the principal shipbuilding centers at August 4, 1914, and at September 30, 1928, with the percentage increase over pre-war rates: For semiskilled classes the percentages range between those shown for skilled men and those for laborers. The above figures relate to a full ordinary week of 53 hours in some districts and 54 in others in 1914, and of 47 hours generally at September, 1928. The percentage increase in hourly rates is thus nearly 70 per cent for skilled workers to about 105 per cent for laborers in the engineering trade, and from about 60 to 65 per cent for skilled men to about 100 per cent for laborers in the shipbuilding trade. In the case of pieceworkers the general advance over pre-war rates in the engineering industry amounts to 10 per cent on basis piece rates, plus a flat rate advance of $2.43 a week. In the shipbuilding industry the general advance is 10 per cent on basis piece rates, plus a flat rate advance of $1.70 a week; in addition a portion of certain special advances, granted during the war under the "Standard Ship Cycle" of awards and consequential extensions, is still paid to some classes of men. The information at the disposal of the department is not 1 In the computation of these averages no account is taken of any variation of individual wage rates from the general district rates, statistics not being available as to the extent of such variations. |