PARAGRAPH 442-HUMAN HAIR.

little, yet that it was not the drawn and cleaned hair of commerce, it being dirty, inasmuch as it contained dead nits. The evidence adduced further show that while the drawn hair of commerce consists of bunches of individual hairs all of the same length and all of the roots being on one end, the points at the other end, and very highly cleaned the merchandise in question consisted of small bundles tied together at one end, the individual hair being all varieties of lengths, with roots and points at both ends. The question involved seems to be entirely one of fact as to the condition of the merchandise, and the verdict of the jury was substantiated in accordance with the evidence. Upon submitting the matter to the United States Attorney General for his certificate under act of March 3, 1875, that officer advises under date of the 7th instant that no appeal or writ of error will be taken by the United States from the judgment of the circuit court in said suit. The department therefore concurring hereby directs you upon due entry of judgment to take necessary steps for its settlement and payment. Any other suits of the same character may also be settled in the usual manner, provided it is ascertained that the requirements of law as to protest appeal, institution of suit, etc., has been duly complied with, and this ruling will apply to further importations of such merchandise, decision 8729 being modified accordingly.

"Respectfully,

Decision 14252; G. A. 2216:

"Human hair, raw, uncleaned and not drawn.

"G. S. BATCHELLER,
"Acting Secretary."

"Before the United States appraiser at New York, July 18, 1893.

"In the matter of the protest 46164 A 2772 of A. Musica, against the decision of the collector of customs at New York, as to the rate and amount of duty chargeable on certain human hair imported per Elysian, December 21, 1892.

"Opinion by Sharretts, General Appraiser.

"The protest in this case is lodged against the assessment of duty of 20 per cent per hundredweight ad valorem on 20,400 kilograms of human hair, being a part of 266,600 kilograms of this substance, all of which was classified by the collector as human hair cleaned and duty assessed thereon at the rate complained of in paragraph 447 of the present act. The board has samples of the merchandise in dispute taken from the importation in question. The samples show that this hair has been put in small bundles assorted as to color and we think it has been drawn and cleaned to some extent. The hair, however, contains dead nits, is otherwise unclean, and is not arranged with all the roots at one end and the points at the other. In these respects it differs from the drawn and cleaned hair of commerce. We find as a fact, that the merchandise is human hair raw, uncleaned and not drawn. We sustain the claim of the appellant that the merchandise in question is entitled to free entry under paragraph 604. The collector's decision relative thereto is reversed."

In order to avoid these complications, would suggest that paragraph 442 reads as in the present law, and as a substitute for 583 the following:

"Human hair, uncleaned and cleaned, drawn or dyed but not commercially and not manufactured into switches, hair braids, curls, and ringlets, free."

Respectfully, yours,

78959°-VOL 5-13-45

ALEX. E. KLAHRE & Co.

PARAGRAPH 443.

PARAGRAPH 445-HAIRCLOTH.

Plushes and woven fabrics (except crinoline cloth and hair seating) and manufactures thereof, composed of the hair of the camel, goat, alpaca, or any animal, combined with wool, vegetable fiber, or silk, shall be classified and dutiable as manufactures of wool.

PARAGRAPH 444.

Hair, curled, suitable for beds or mattresses, ten per centum ad valorem.

CURLED HAIR.

BRIEF OF THE HAIR SPINNERS' UNION NO. 10399, CHICAGO, ILL.

CHICAGO, January 11, 1913.

Hon. JAMES T. MCDERMOTT, Representing Fourth Congressional District, Chicago, Ill., House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.: Regarding our telegram of January 8, 1913, we beg to state that we are in need of your valuable assistance in the coming fight of our very existence and hope by heart not to meet a failure in our appeal to you. Reports in our local newspapers Tuesday, January 7, 1913, stated that Mr. Charles Delaney, of Philadelphia, Pa., has been agitating before the Ways and Means Committee to place curled hair on the free list. Mr. Delaney, owner of the curled-hair works in Philadelphia, Pa., and Toronto, Canada, as well as South America, is able by employing cheap labor to manufacture a cheaper hair, and placing curled hair on the free list would mean an open market for him, thereby seriously ruining the curled-hair business in this country. The curled-hair trade right here in Chicago is in full flower, called for by consistent hard work in fullest sympathy between employer and employees. We fought hard and honorable for the past 12 years for our rights and a decent living, and we succeeded. Would you like to see us in despair if you can help to avoid it? We know by heart you do not. We know you will protect home industry and the American working class. You will remember when last spring before election you gave us the pleasure of your welcome visit at Armour's curled-hair works in this city and we promised to stand by you, and your election to the honorable office shows the result. We do not intend to take up your valuable time in writing long epistles; all we ask you is stand by us as we did; use all your influence and fight for us to a finish against removal of duty on curled hair. Thanking you in advance and wishing you a great success in this very important case, we beg to remain,

Respectfully, yours,

PARAGRAPH 445.

JACOB HANNEMANN,
Recording Secretary.

Haircloth, known as "crinoline" cloth, eight cents per square yard; haircloth, known as "hair seating," and hair press cloth, twenty cents per square yard.

HAIRCLOTH.

BRIEF OF T. S. TODD & CO., CUSTOMHOUSE BROKERS AND FORWARDERS, NEW YORK, N. Y.

The WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE,

Washington, D. C.

NEW YORK, January 29, 1913.

GENTLEMEN: Hair press cloth pays duty of 130 to 170 per cent.

The United States appraiser claims that because it is made of camel's hair or alpaca it should be classified and assessed under the wool schedule at 44 cents per pound and 50 per cent, notwithstanding it is specifically provided for in paragraph 445, at a duty of 20 cents per square yard.

The result of the above is that none of the hair press cloth, such as was at the time of the passage of the present act and is now commercially known by this designation, can possibly be imported.

This material sells abroad for from 33 cents to 44 cents per pound packed in condition ready for shipment, and a comparison of these figures with the selling price of the

PARAGRAPH 446-FUR HATS.

American product, namely, 70 cents per pound, except in large quantities, when it is 65 cents per pound, is a most forceful example of abnormal and wholly unwarranted protection.

We most strongly incline to the belief that no such rate as 130 to 170 per cent was intended by Congress to apply to this product, nor in fact anything even remotely approaching such a rate, which belief is based on two propositions:

First. Hair press cloth is used in the operation of, as its name implies, pressing the oil from oleaginous seeds. such as cotton seed, linseed, castor seed, etc., therefore, a very essential and almost indispensable agent in the operation of producing various vegetable oils of very large commercial importance, and as such the law making body would not, in our judgment, desire to subject it to more than nominal taxation. This reasoning would appear justified when we find that silk bolting cloth, an article of high price and very fine texture, is free of duty, as provided for in paragraph 514 when used in the operation of bolting flour, which use is quite removed from that ordinarily applied to silk, therefore accounting for the absence of duty, whereas silk fabrics for their accustomed use are taxed 50 to 60 per cent.

Second. Paragraph 445 as enacted in the House reads "and hair press cloth, 20 cents per square yard. The Senate added the words "any of the foregoing not composed of wool," which words were stricken out in conference and the original wording of the House bill became the law.

This we think amply demonstrates that Congress had full knowledge of the fact that the hair press cloth of trade and commerce was composed of camel's hair, alpaca, or wool, and that in view of its use it should only be taxed at 20 cents per square yard.

The question of the duty on press cloth has been the subject of several decisions by the Board of General Appraisers, as well as the circuit court of appeals. In the latter case Judge Townsend, in overruling the board's decision assessing the wool rate, uses the following language:

"Paragraph 366 provides only for manufacture of wool not specially provided for. Paragraph 431 provides specifically for hair press cloth eo nomine. The construction given to these words by the board would seem to deprive this specific provision of all effect."

Under the present provision the only imports as hair press cloth are those comprising the lighter material made of horse hair, which is unsuitable for the heavy-oil trade above mentioned, and the duties collected are insignificant. The annual consumption of this material is about 2,500,000 pounds, and if a rate could be established, having in mind the use to which it is applied of say 5 or 10 cents per pound, it would undoubtedly afford a considerable revenue, at the same time giving an apparently adequate protection to the American manufacturer, without absolutely closing the foreign markets to the American seed crusher as at present, and we therefore hope you will afford him some relief.

We have the honor to be,

Yours, respectfully,

PARAGRAPH 446.

T. S. TODD & Co.

Hats, bonnets, or hoods, for men's, women's, boys', or children's wear, trimmed or untrimmed, including bodies, hoods, plateaux, forms, or shapes, for hats or bonnets, composed wholly or in chief value of fur of the rabbit, beaver, or other animals, valued at not more than four dollars and fifty cents per dozen, one dollar and fifty cents per dozen; valued at more than four dollars and fifty cents per dozen and not more than nine dollars per dozen, three dollars per dozen; valued at more than nine dollars per dozen and not more than eighteen dollars per dozen, five dollars per dozen; valued at more than eighteen dollars per dozen, seven dollars per dozen; and in addition thereto on all the foregoing, twenty per centum ad valorem.

FUR HATS.

TESTIMONY OF JAMES MARSHALL, OF FALL RIVER, MASS.

Mr. Marshall was duly sworn by the chairman.

Mr. MARSHALL. First, let me say that I represent the manufacturers of fur felt hats, who want me to state that, after they have had a fair hearing and get what they deserve, or what they prove they deserve,

PARAGRAPH 446-FUR HATS.

they stand ready and willing to sail under any flag that you may nail up, and the last thing that they would think of doing is cutting down wages or shutting up shop and running away.

Four years ago I came here on this same errand, and I was impressed then, as I am now, with the earnestness of the committee in its endeavors to arrive at what would make for the prosperity of the country, and though both of them, perhaps, are driving at it from different angles, I think that both mean to get at the same thing in the end, namely, the prosperity of the country. We do not care particularly whether it is called a revenue tariff, a competitive tariff, or equalization so long as we get what we prove we deserve to have. Call it by any name you like, it will sound just as sweet to us. I would like to present these briefs and then read this one that I have prepared myself, if I may.

The CHAIRMAN. What paragraph do you refer to, Mr. Marshall? Mr. MARSHALL. Schedule N, paragraph 446.

Mr. PETERS. Before you commence will you please explain to the committee the difference between fur felt and wool felt?

Mr. MARSHALL. Yes.

Mr. PETERS. So that we may have it properly in mind.

Mr. MARSHALL. Wool felt hat is a hat, either a derby hat or a felt hat, that is made from wool. It is felted in the same manner as any other kind of animal fur, but it is much cheaper and much coarser. Fur felt, the industry that I represent, comes mostly from the fur of a rabbit or a hare, and sometimes a nutria or a beaver. Fur from any fur-bearing animal that will felt can be made into a hat. There are many varieties of rabbits. Some are not good for hat-making purposes. There are no particular rabbits in this country whose fur is good for hat-making purposes. The breed is not just right, although their fur is used to a limited extent in fur hats that do not have to be colored.

I want to state to the honorable Ways and Means Committee that the present tariff is worse than competitive, if you take it on that ground.

If you had a competitor across the street whose business was increasing year after year, in fact doubling every four years, you would think he was a lively sort of a competitor and one to be very much feared. That is the case of our industry.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, Mr. Marshall, I would like you to show us on that proposition, because these figures do not prove that.

Mr. MARSHALL. Yes, sir. The figures which you have, if you have the right paragraph, show-how far back shall I go, Mr. Underwood? The CHAIRMAN. Let me see if I have the figures right. You have paragraph 446, hats?

Mr. MARSHALL. Paragraph 432 was the old law. You will have to look at the old law until the present law was enacted.

The CHAIRMAN. Maybe we have them combined here. The present

law is paragraph 446?

Mr. MARSHALL. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. "Hats, bonnets, or hoods for men's, women's, boys' "

Mr. MARSHALL. That is it.

PARAGRAPH 446-FUR HATS.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, the total production as shown by the census of 1910 was $46,000,000.

Mr. MARSHALL. $46,000,000, but it also says in that census that there is considerable duplication owing to the fact that some hats are bought in the rough-that is, partly finished-and sold to another manufacturer and then finished and counted double in the census; and the same census, 1910, makes that statement, so you have to discount it somewhat, although that is not what I meant by doubling up. I meant that the importations are doubling up.

The CHAIRMAN. Wait a minute and let me see. The total importations for 1912 were $375,000.

Mr. MARSHALL. That is right, for the fiscal year.

The CHAIRMAN. And before that time it ran along pretty evenly, about $564,000 and $593,000; but the amount of importations in this entire paragraph is hardly 2 per cent of the amount of the American production. However, here is what I wanted to call your attention to more particularly, that on the hats—that is, the cheaper grade of your hats the tax is prohibitive entirely. The total importations of the low-grade hats

Mr. MARSHALL. The bracket between $1 and $4.50, and there is practically no such hat manufactured of fur felt. It was in the original bill, and it was left there. Practically the cheapest fur-felt hat that is manufactured to-day is $9 a dozen. You would not get any particular importations in that bracket, from $1 to $4.50. There might be some come in in the rough, as we call it, partly finished, or the bodies or hoods ready to finish, but rather few; so you have to begin at the bracket from $9 up to get at the real hat that I am talking about. The CHAIRMAN. Well, from $9 up, the importations amounted to 2 per cent.

Mr. MARSHALL. Well, I took the year 1910, and, as far as I was able, I deducted the bodies in the rough, and figured it down into dozens and we always talk in dozens in the hat business-and I figured that there is something like 2,400,000 dozen hats made of the class I am talking about. Now, while it is true that the percentage of importations has been relatively small-and I show this in my brief, and as I stated the same thing four years ago-we do not care if we stand pat or if there is a moderate increase; but it is a fact, Mr. Underwood, that, in dozens, starting back as far as you like to go, for the last 12 years, they have doubled regularly every four years. For instance, when I was here before, the total importations, in dozens, were 21,000 dozens. Last year they were 55,000 dozens, and, what is more alarming to us, the first quarter of the present fiscal year shows that there has been 24,000 dozens imported, and at that rate there will be 96,000 dozens this year-almost double in one year. Mr. HARRISON. Where do they come from?

Mr. MARSHALL. Great Britain, Austria, France, and Italy-a few from Germany, but very few.

Now, if importations would only remain where they now are we would not care particularly; but as I have stated, we have that ever-increasing and doubling-up process, and anybody that has played any kind of a game and kept doubling knows where he will land if he keeps on.