Of the total production in 1919 about 25 per cent, $12,774,124, was exported. With the annual supply of sewing machines in the United States greater than the demand, the American manufacturers will have a considerable quantity each year to export to foreign markets. Just prior to the war Germany was exporting more sewing machines than the United States.

Many American manufacturers assert that the American sewing machine industry is threatened not only in foreign markets but in the domestic market.

Summary table-Sewing machines and attachments.

PAR. 441. Free list. * * * sewing machines, * * * all the foregoing, whether imported in whole or in parts, including repair parts.

DESCRIPTION.

There are two general classes of sewing machines-household machines and factory machines. Household machines are designed for work on light material and at low speed and the greater part are

built with a stand and treadle for operation by foot power. A portable hand-operated type is also used to some extent in this country and to a much greater extent in foreign countries. Electrically driven machines are now increasing in favor. The motor may be attached either to the stand machine or to the portable model. There are minor differences in the stitch and in the design of the mechanism, but these are not of importance. Factory machines are usually designed for high speed, and are generally built without stands. They are of many types, often highly specialized for use in particular industries, and changes in design are frequently made to supply special needs. Sewing-machine attachments are made in great variety, both for household and factory machines, by means of which operations such as embroidering, hemming, ruffling, and others may be done automatically. A set of the more commonly used attachments is usually supplied with household machines.

DOMESTIC PRODUCTION.

In 1914 there was $34,466,624 invested in the manufacture of sewing machines, and the value of the output was $27,237,580. Reports to the War Industries Board in 1917 indicated that the output in that year was about $38,000,000. The output for 1919 was over $54,000,000.7

Materials. The principal materials used in the construction of sewing machines are gray-iron and malleable-iron castings, steel, japan, leather belting, and lumber, the latter principally oak, with some walnut. Alloy steels are used by some makers, and a small amount of brass is used, principally by the makers of factory machines. About 75 pounds of metal is in the average domestic machine, and approximately 39,000 tons of iron and steel are annually used for the manufacture of family sewing machines. All of these materials may be obtained in sufficient quantity in this country and the quality of the domestic supply is equal to the foreign.

Equipment. The equipment used is all of American make, with the exception of a small number of Swiss files, which are used in fine work. American shop equipment is generally superior, but foreign manufacturers are making considerable use of American machinery.10

Methods of production.-Sewing machines consist largely of small parts which are produced in large quantity and are highly standardized. The methods of production in the factories of this country are similar to other metal-working and woodworking operations producing a standardized product. Practically all of the parts are produced with machinery, the comparatively small proportion of hand labor used being employed in the making of tools. Automatic and special machinery is used to a considerable extent, especially in the metal-working plants, for the production of interchangeable parts. Although American methods for the manufacture of machines in quantity are generally superior, the manufacture of sewing machines is well developed in Germany, where, it is stated, American methods are in use to a considerable extent.10 The American manufacturer had an advantage until the foreign manufacturers began to employ

8 U. S. Census, 1914.

7 Answers to questionnaires.

Files of War Industries Board.

10 Commerce Reports, Mar. 5, 1913.

the latest American machinery, American ideas, and American superintendents in their factories.

Organization. The efficient conduct of the sewing-machine industry requires large factories and ample capital, a highly developed. organization, and a large market. All of these now prevail in the United States. Replying to the Tariff Commission's questionnaire, one manufacturer said: "This industry should be centralized into one or two large factories." Another makes this statement: "The conduct of a family sewing-machine business requires large expenditures for factory and equipment, and a highly developed organization to produce as well as to sell." In 1914 there was $34,466,624 invested in the manufacture of sewing machines, a large portion of which was confined to a few manufacturers.

The Singer Manufacturing Co. is the leading producer. It is estimated that this company makes 80 per cent of the world's production." It operates five factories in the United States, one each in Canada and Scotland, and before the war had factories in Germany and Russia. It owns and operates its own iron mines and timber lands. It produces about half of the factory machines and more than half of the household machines made in the United States. In addition to this concern there are eight firms in this country making household machines, of which two also make factory machines. Factory machines are made by some 50 or 60 companies; most of them are small, each producing a line of machines for a single industry.

Attachments for household machines are not generally made by the companies making the machines themselves. The Greist Manufacturing Co., of New Haven, Conn., supplies certain attachments for the Singer Co. and nearly all of the attachments for the other makers. Several of the family-machine makers do cabinetwork, but others purchase from woodworking firms, one of which supplies a large part of the industry.12 The Singer Co. sells its household product direct to the user, through retail agencies, of which it operates 6,000 throughout the world, with over 60,000 salesmen." The other makers sell principally through jobbers and retail dealers.

Geographic distribution. Sewing machines are made in this country principally in New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Indiana. A considerable number of small firms making factory machines are located in New York.

History of the industry.-Sewing machines were invented and constructed in England in 1790 and were in practical use in France in 1830. The industry started in the United States with Elias Howe's invention of the first practical sewing machine in 1845-1847.7 A first attempt to manufacture sewing machines was made in England in 1755, and in the United States in 1842. This industry has developed rapidly and other inventors supplemented the basic invention with valuable improvements, notably I. M. Singer, and Grover & Baker of Boston. The basic patents of family machines have expired, and therefore patents are not now a controlling factor in their manufacture. Factory machines, which are generally designed for very special purposes, are still largely protected. There are also patents on attachments and details of design on family

Answers to questionnaires.

"Theodor Kundtz Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Moody's Manual, 1920.

machines. The invention was developed in the United States, and foreign manufacturers copied the American machines, as they were superior, and thereby avoided the great expense of perfecting the sewing machine.

Singer was the first sewing machine company in the United States and was organized before 1850. The next largest company began All the manufacturers have been in business 27 years or more. Very few concerns have entered the family sewing machine field in the United States in recent years.

Domestic production and consumption.-Between 1899 and 1904 the annual production of sewing machines, as shown by the Federal Census, was approximately $20,000,000. The production in 1910 of household machines was $26,603,109 and of factory machines was $3,698,993, making a total production for that year of $30,302,102. There was a great increase in production for 1919, which amounted to $54,215,410, of which $44,086,778 was represented by household machines, and $10,128,632 by factory machines."

Domestic production of sewing machines is sufficient to supply all domestic demands, with a considerable surplus for export. In 1919 about 25 per cent of the domestic production was exported. The annual production of sewing machines in the United States is estimated at 2,000,000.13 It was estimated in 1912 that 1,250,000 sewing machines per year were sold in the United States."

Domestic exports.-Between 1910 and 1914 exports of sewing machines ranged between $7,500,000 and $11,500,000. In 1916 they decreased to less than $5,500,000, but increased in 1919 to nearly $13,000,000. Although the American manufacturers exported sewing machines for household use and manufacturing purposes to practically all the markets of the world, they report keen competition and many disadvantages because of the high cost of labor in the United States. The foreign competition met with in these markets was principally from Germany and Great Britain.

In Germany under present Government restrictions (1920) no family sewing machines are allowed to be imported under any circumstances, and a special import license must be obtained from the Government for the importation of manufacturing sewing machines.'

FOREIGN PRODUCTION.

The two principal foreign countries manufacturing sewing machines are Germany and Great Britain. Before the war Germany had 20 factories besides the Singer factory, all highly organized, with the manufacture of sewing machines well developed. These factories ran to capacity, and supplied the dealers' trade throughout the most of the world. Their costs of production were said to be about 66 per cent of that of the American manufacturers. For each of the years 1910 to 1913, inclusive, the total value of exports from Germany was greater than the exports from the United States. In 1911 the export from Germany was $13,108,000, and the export from the United States was $9,039,840. One manufacturer stated that during the decade before the war Germany exported five times as many machines as the American manufacturers, Singer being excepted.

7 Answers to questionnaires.

13 Sewing Machine Times, Oct. 10, 1919.

"Senate hearing, 1912, p. 1076.

Singer has its second largest factory, if not its largest factory, in Scotland. The production of sewing machines in Great Britain in later prewar years exceeded 1,000,000 per year. The Vickers interests in England adapted one of its munitions factories to the manufacture of sewing machines, which have now become one of its lines. This combine has a tremendous capital and extensive manufacturing facilities and may become a very formidable competitor in the world market. German factories and Singer plants in foreign countries are rapidly attaining normal output. In 1919 the German factories were capable of turning out one-fourth of their prewar output, with very large orders on hand. It was then estimated that it would take Germany over one year to get her output up to prewar standard. Germany's output of machines is estimated at 2,000,000 per year.13 France recently established two sewing-machine factories. There are small plants in Sweden, Italy, and Switzerland.

IMPORTS.

Imports were first reported separately in 1910, amounting to $77,000 in the last nine months of that fiscal year. The imports in 1911 were only $53,000, but they increased to $109,000 in 1913. The removal of the duty by the act of 1913 was followed by an increase in the imports in the fiscal year 1914 to $586,945, over five times that of the previous year. Almost all of this importation was entered free of duty. The imports in 1915 were somewhat less, and after that year, during the war the imports were greatly reduced. The imports for 1918 were $98,245. In 1919 importation again increased to $225,541. The source of the imports is not shown before 1915. In that year 80 per cent was from Scotland. Importation from Canada has been increasing, and in 1918 amounted to nearly 50 per cent of the total. Canadian imports in the prewar period, however, were never more than a very small fraction of those from Scotland. The Singer Co. imports some sewing machines each year from Great Britain, for which they claim that the domestic demand is so small that it will not justify them to equip themselves for manufacture in this country.

PRICES.

Since 1913 or 1914 the prices of sewing machines have increased 50 to 100 per cent for the higher priced machines and about 200 per cent for the cheaper machines. The cost of labor has more than doubled and the materials have greatly increased in price. One American manufacturer states that before the war an imported German machine, which was a copy of his machine, was sold for $84, while his machine sold for $128. Another manufacturer stated that a machine similar to a type they made was imported into this country in 1914 and delivered at Cincinnati, Ohio, at a price less than their price f. o. b. Cleveland, Ohio. According to an article in the Sewing Machine Times (Oct. 10, 1919) postwar prices of German machines are four times prewar; an example is cited where the cost to the English dealer was 30 shillings before the war and in 1919 £3. The latter price compares with £4 for an American sewing machine of similar design.

Sewing Machine Times, Oct. 10, 1919.