PARAGRAPH 6-ARGOLS. the latter especially an industry which appeals for free raw materials, owing to the wide scope of its bearing on the economic life of the Nation. Refined sulphur, which under the present tariff is taxed $4 per ton, should, for like reasons, be placed on the free list, but especially so in order to avoid in future a repetition of the unsuccessful attempt that was made about a year ago to have the purer grades of brimstone classified as refined sulphur and thus made subject to duty. This chamber, therefore, recommends that sulphur in any form be exempted from duty. Talc.-This article, which under the present tariff is admitted free of duty only in a crude or unground condition, is subject to a duty of 35 per cent when ground. Although talc is produced largely in the United States (about 120,000 tons annually), the quality of the domestic talc, chiefly fibrous and used as a filler in paper making and in paints, is different from the imported, which serves, as a rule, a different purpose. The notable difference in cost between imported talc-selling, the Italian from $35 to $40 per ton and the French from $15 to $25and domestic talc, selling as low as $9 at the mine, shows clearly the difference in the quality and principal use of the two articles. The imported talc is used chiefly in the preparation of toilet powders, which, on account of their extensive use among all classes, can not be considered a luxury, but an article of necessity in the household. For this purpose whiteness and fineness are required in the talc, and these qualifications the imported article possesses in a greater measure than the domestic, to which it is therefore preferred. The consumption of ground talc is increasing with the increase of population. In the Dingley tariff ground talc was taxed at the rate of 20 per cent. The act of 1909 increased the impost to 35 per cent, with the result that importations, which had averaged annually in the previous three years about 16,833,000 pounds, fell in the following two years to about 15,518,000 pounds, showing that the increase of duty was responsible for the falling off of importations, and therefore of revenue, on this article. This chamber respectfully recommends that tale in a crude or unground condition be maintained on the free list, while the duty on ground talc be reduced to 15 per cent. Sienna. The importance of lightening fiscal burdens on pigments required in the preparation of paints, which absolve not only an esthetic function, but the more important one of preserving and securing a longer duration of the materials to which they are applied, is self-evident and in line with the policy of conservation, so much insisted upon in these days, when the consequences of a wasteful past of many national resources are beginning to be felt. Sienna earths, like umbers and ochers, enter in paints used principally for staining wood. They are imported chiefly in the crude state and powdered here and made ready for use. American mines produce a lower grade of sienna than the imported article, as shown by the marked difference in price. While domestic PARAGRAPH 6-ARGOLS. sienna is quoted from $50 to $60 per ton, the imported sells from $80 to $140. At present crude sienna earth, i. e., when not powdered, washed, or pulverized, is subject to a duty of one-eighth of 1 cent per pound. The milling of imported sienna gives employment to American labor, a reason which, together with the fact that raw material of this class can not be replaced by domestic production, ought to be sufficient to exempt it from duty. Should, however, a duty be deemed unavoidable for revenue purposes, this chamber recommends that the present specific rate be maintained in preference to the proposed 10 per cent ad valorem contained in H. R. 20182, and also that the word "washed" be omitted from the first portion of paragraph 47, Schedule A, of the present tariff, because a considerable part of the sienna earth imported in lumps is naturally washed and should not thereby be made to incur the classification of powdered or artificially washed sienna, and thus be subjected to the higher rate of three-eighths of 1 cent per pound, without having undergone any process that has materially enhanced its value. As in the case of the crude sienna, in that of the powdered also, a specific rate, as in the present tariff, is preferable to an ad valorem rate. BRIEFS SUBMITTED BY TARTAR CHEMICAL CO. The Tartar Chemical Co. filed the following papers with the committee: RATES OF DUTY ON TARTARIC ACID AND CREAM OF TARTAR. [Tartar Chemical Co., manufacturers of cream of tartar and tartaric acid, No. 135 William Street.] NEW YORK, January 2, 1913. COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. SIRS: In relation to the proposed increase in duty on our raw material and the decreases in the duties on our manufactured products, we desire to meet your committee in a right spirit and to ask you to consider the following: Assuming that bill H. R. 20182 may serve as basis of the new tariff legislation, it is stated in Paragraph I, to reduce tartaric acid to 3 cents per pound against the existing rate of 5 cents and the Dingley tariff rate of 7 cents; Paragraph IX, to reduce cream of tartar to 2 cents per pound against the existing rate of 5 cents and the Dingley tariff rate of 6 cents; Paragraph XI, to increase the duty on argols from 5 per cent (present rate) to 10 per cent (or 100 per cent increase). Argols are the crude material from which the two above-named products are made in this country, and of which at least 98 per cent must be imported from wine-producing countries-principally France and Italy. We produce cream of tartar and tartaric acid in such proportions that the average duty would be 2.7 cents per pound, from which must be deducted the duty on the raw material of 10 per cent, and this, at the present price of argols, would be 1.7 cents, leaving an apparent protection of 1 cent per pound, which the foreign manufacturer can far more than offset in the lower cost of his raw material, in addition to which he has the far lower cost of all classes of labor, which in the competing countries is onehalf of what we pay, and in some cases even less than half. Under the present tariff the foreign manufacturers have an advantage of at least 44 cents per pound on cream of tartar and 6 cents on tartaric acid, but with the proposed increase of duty on raw material it will be over 5 cents on cream of tartar and 64 cents on tartaric acid. 1. They use a lower testing grade of crude material, which will not bear transportation here because of chemical disintegration before it could be brought here and PARAGRAPH 6-ARGOLS. employed. To prepare these goods for transportation necessitates special preparation, and the handling, packing, and freight charges are the same on crude material testing 25 per cent as on the argols averaging 70 per cent, which latter we must employ here for the reasons just mentioned. The crude material employed by the foreign manufacturers costs them 24 cents per pound, based on 100 per cent purity, less than it would cost us here. 2. Labor cost is unquestionably higher here than with the foreign manufacturer situated in the argol-producing countries generally in southern Europe. We employ skilled labor steadily in our works, as well as a large number of ordinary workmen, who, as you know, are paid more than double here than in France, Italy, or Spain. This difference amounts to 1.2 cents per pound. 3. Italy has an export duty, which amounts to about 3 per cent ad valorem on argols, while on the lower grades, which they mostly employ, it amounts to 6 per cent or more. This differential duty amounts to an average of 0.6 cent per pound. Besides this, all foreign manufacturing countries have a protective duty on the manufactured products. 4. The manufacturer in the United States is further handicapped by the much higher cost in this country of the various chemicals and other materials employed in the process of manufacture compared with those in Europe. REVENUE ACCRUING TO THE COUNTRY ON PROPOSED TARIFF CHANGES. Estimated revenue from duties on argols, cream of tartar, and tartaric acid under the proposed bill is figured as $312,250, of which $300,000 is on crude material, but for the reasons stated above this latter sum will fall away if our domestic factories are forced to reduce their output. The Government will not be the gainer in the revenue from the importation of the manufactured product. Even under existing tariff the importations of tartaric acid have increased from 36,389 pounds in 1907 to over 300,000 pounds in 1911, and on cream of tartar from 6,000 pounds in 1907 to over 100,000 pounds in 1912. Combinations of large European manufacturers have been going on; are legal and encouraged by their governments; and we allege on best information and belief, from facts in our possession, that the people of this country would not receive benefit of any reduction in the tariff of the United States, but on the contrary a combination of large European manufacturers of cream of tartar and tartaric acid would result, and prices be increased after makers in this country cease to exist. Tentative statements to this effect are in our possession, and should you desire any substantiation of the above-cited facts we will gladly submit it. We have been in business over 30 years Capital employed is over $2,000,000, and our annual disbursements for pay roll and other expenses are about $500,000. For the above-explained reasons we pray that you allow the duties to remain as they are, but if it seems necessary for you to increase the revenue as estimated, it will be 78959°-VOL 1-13-8 PARAGRAPH 8-BLEACHING POWDER. obtained by advancing the duty on crude material from 5 per cent ad valorem to 10 per cent ad valorem, as proposed, and continuing the present duty of 5 cents per pound on manufactured cream of tartar and fixing the duty on tartaric acid at 6 cents per pound to make the equivalent. Respectfully submitted. TARTAR CHEMICAL CO., The COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, TARTAR CHEMICAL CO., Brooklyn, N. Y., January 25, 1913. House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: On page 101 is printed the memorial of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in New York. The seventh paragraph begins with our raw material, argols, and wine lees and goes on to the products manufactured therefrom. This memorial favors leaving the duty on the raw material, where it now is, and reducing the tariff on cream of tartar and tartaric acid from 5 cents per pound to 3 cents per pound on tartaric acid and 2 cents per pound on cream of tartar. This would leave the European manufacturers, who almost wholly work in agreement, as open a market here for their manufactured products as would H. R. bill 20182, and this is of course the desire of the Italian Chamber of Commerce. This chamber is subsidized by the Italian Government and is designed to promote the industries of Italy rather than of this country. On pages 282 and 284 of Tariff Schedule A, No. 2 Hearings, you will find admissions from Mr. Mariani to Mr. Palmer that the Italian Government subsidizes the Italian Chamber of Commerce in New York. Naturally, therefore, this institution favors throwing down the bars here for the benefit of the Italian industries without regard to the consequences to the same industries of this country. Very respectfully, PARAGRAPH 7. TARTAR CHEMICAL CO., Blacking of all kinds, twenty-five per centum ad valorem; all creams and preparations for cleaning or polishing boots and shoes, twenty-five per centum ad valorem. For blacking of all kinds, etc., see also Park & Tilford et al., page 66. PARAGRAPH 8. Bleaching powder, or chloride of lime, one-fifth of one cent per pound. BLEACHING POWDER. THE DOW CHEMICAL CO., MIDLAND, MICH., SUBMITS BRIEF REGARDING BLEACHING POWDER. By the tariff act of 1897 bleaching powder was taken off the free list and a duty of two-tenths of 1 cent per pound was placed upon it. Prior to this change the price of bleaching powder, in the United States, was about 2 cents per pound. Either simultaneously with the placing on this two-tenths of 1 cent per pound duty, or shortly afterwards, the United Alkali Co. of Great Britain, who controlled more than 90 per cent of the bleach sold within the United States, lowered the price in the United States to about $1.87 per 100 pounds and also paid the import duty. The placing of this small import duty that was only about 10 per cent of the ruling price proved to be sufficient to inspire enough confidence among capitalists so that two bleaching-powder plants were PARAGRAPH 10-CHARCOAL. erected in the United States, one at Niagara Falls and the other at Midland, Mich.; both plants increased their capacity from time to time until competition became very keen and prices were reduced to $1.25 per 100 pounds, which is the ruling price to-day on yearly contracts, the price being substantially the same in the United States and Great Britain. The United Alkali Co. of Great Britain, and not the consumer, is paying the two-tenths of 1 cent per pound now assessed on imported bleach, and if the duty is reduced we do not think that any more bleaching powder would be imported or the price to the consumer reduced, for the following reason: A bleaching-powder plant costs several times the annual output of this plant and if the selling price changes 10 per cent, it would only affect the return on the investment in the bleaching-powder plant by a small part of the 10 per cent. It is not likely that the proposed reduction in the import duty will cause any plants now built to discontinue their operations, and thereby permit any increased amounts of bleaching powder to be brought into this country from abroad, neither would the prices be likely to change for the reason that the selling price at the present time does not return a normal profit on the investment and new competitors are not likely to enter this market and thereby cause a still further reduction in the selling price. To summarize: We believe the present import duty will furnish a larger revenue to the Government than a lower import duty, and at the same time the risk of an American industry being blotted out by a foreign monopoly is less than it would be if the import duty were lower. Respectfully submitted. THE DOW CHEMICAL CO., MIDLAND, MICH. PARAGRAPH 9. Blue vitriol or sulphate of copper, one-fourth of one cent per pound. See W. H. Bowker, page 416. PARAGRAPH 10. Charcoal in any form, not specially provided for in this act; bone char, suitable for use in decolorizing sugars, and blood char, twenty per centum ad valorem. CHARCOAL. PROTEST OF MICHIGAN CARBON WORKS AGAINST DUTY ON CHARCOAL, ETC. Hon. OSCAR W. UNDERWOOD, Chairman Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. SIR: As manufacturers of charcoal (animal), bone char, or bone black, we beg to submit our most earnest protest against a possible reduction in the duties on these materials. At the present time this company has invested in the portion of its plant devoted to the manufacture of charcoal (animal), bone char, or bone black, approximately $100,000. During the five-year period |