PARAGRAPH 51-VARNISHES.

Mr. CALLAHAN. We would either do that or go out of business. That is another case of self-preservation.

Mr. PALMER. Is it not a fact that the varnish people think that the reduction of the duties on varnish would result in a large increase in the imports of varnish?

Mr. CALLAHAN. I believe they think that way. Of course, to my mind, we are in advance of the world in the scientific development of the varnish business. Germany, within the last few years, has given us a very hard race. It is because of the scientific development of our business that we do not fear competition so much.

Mr. PALMER. Do you not have confidence in your ability to compete with the foreign manufacturer by the reduction of your price to some extent, if necessary, to so compete with him?

Mr. CALLAHAN. We can not make any further reduction in our present prices.

Mr. HARRISON. Is not that Gov. Murphy's idea?

Mr. CALLAHAN. I do not think so, for we can not make any reduction in our present prices.

Mr. Chairman, I am very much obliged to the committee.

STATEMENT SUBMITTED BY BERRY BROS. CONCERNING CHANGES IN VARNISH SCHEDULE.

Hon. OSCAR W. UNDERWOOD,

NEW YORK, January 9, 1913.

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

DEAR SIR: Confirming my brief conversation with you when introduced last Monday by a letter from Mr. Edwin Sefton, I wish to put in writing our strenuous objection to any change being made in the varnish schedule, and particularly so in what is known as spirit varnishes; for if the duty is taken off of these articles, it will be impossible for us to compete with the German manufacturers, as they have no internal-revenue tax, and we have to pay $2.10 per gallon revenue for every gallon taken out of the bonded warehouses. Please give this your very careful consideration.

We are also very much opposed to a duty being put on china wood oil and soya-bean oil, as it is impossible to raise it in this country, and it is absolutely a raw material.

If there is any information I can give you from a technical standpoint, please do not hesitate to call upon me.

Thanking you for the courtesy extended me on Monday at 1 o'clock, I remain,

Yours, very truly,

PARAGRAPH 52.

BERRY BROS.,
Per H. P. STEPHENSON.

Vermilion reds, containing quicksilver, dry or ground in oil or water, ten cents per pound; when not containing quicksilver but made of lead or containing lead, four and seven-eighths cents per pound.

PARAGRAPH 53.

PARAGRAPH 53-WHITE LEAD.

White lead, and white pigment containing lead, dry or in pulp, or ground or mixed with oil, two and one-half cents per pound.

For white lead, see also Pomeroy & Fischer, page 349.

WHITE LEAD.

BRIEF SUBMITTED BY R. S. HUBBARD, REPRESENTING THE PAINT MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES.

PHILADELPHIA, January 7, 1913.

To the COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

GENTLEMEN: As chairman of the tariff committee of the Paint Manufacturers' Association of the United States, I beg leave to present the following brief on the subject of proposed tariff revision as it may affect the interests of the members of our association.

I do not desire at this time to make any specific recommendations on behalf of our association as to changes in the duty on any special item. Briefs and arguments were presented, both by our tariff committee and by a number of the individual members of this association, at the hearings before the Finance Committee of the Senate last year, when the proposed Underwood bill was under consideration. We venture to express the hope that the arguments and briefs then submitted will have due weight in any further consideration of changes in the present tariff.

We do wish to file an urgent request that in making revision of the tariff careful consideration be given to the relation between raw materials and the finished products of our industries.

We submit that in justice to the manufacturing industry in this country any reductions in duties on the finished product should be accompanied by an equitably adjusted reduction of duty on the articles entering into the manufacture of that product as raw material.

For instance, we contend that the duty on paints, white lead, etc., of Schedule A can not be fairly and equitably apportioned without intelligent and careful consideration at the same time of the proposed duty to be levied on pig lead and lead ores, Schedule C.

We urge further that due consideration be given to the fact that the subject of chemicals and allied manufactures is necessarily highly technical in its nature. We believe, therefore, that this should be the subject of expert investigation, and that the duties levied upon such products should be based upon the findings of a nonpartisan board or commission.

We also beg to urge that, so far as possible, all duties be made specific and not ad valorem. There appear to us to be many objections to the ad valorem method of assessing duty. In the first place, the ad valorem duty is more difficult to determine and collect fairly. It makes it more difficult for the manufacturer to figure his cost in advance, and therefore unnecessarily increases his risk of doing business. An ad valorem duty automatically decreases when a foreign manufacturer is dumping his surplus product here at low prices, and is automatically increased when such products are scarce and command a high price. Thus, it produces to the Government a minimum revenue when imports are plentiful and tends to decrease imports

PARAGRAPH 54-WHITING.

when prices are high, because of the rapidly increasing load of duty added onto the higher price.

Finally, I wish also to say that the tariff committee of the Paint Manufacturers' Association will be only too glad, at any time, to render any assistance they may be able to give in expert investigations to insure equitable and scientific readjustment of the present tariff. Respectfully submitted. R. S. HUBBARD,

Chairman Tariff Committee Paint Manufacturers'
Association of the United States.

GRIFFIN DRUG CO., OF PEEKSKILL, N. Y., URGES REDUCTION OF DUTY ON WHITE LEAD.

Hon. OSCAR W. UNDERWOOD,

Peekskill, N. Y., January 10, 1913.

Chairman Ways and Means Committee, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: Won't you please look into the tariff on white lead? We understand the Smelters' Trust, controlled by the Guggenheims, make the price on all the lead made in the United States, and Mr. Guggenheim has been in the Senate voting on the tariff on goods he controls. Reduce the tariff on lead and give the poor man a chance to paint his house, which he can't do now.

We are paying $7 per hundred pounds for lead, and we are told they (the Lead Trust) are selling the same thing in London for $4. We are Progressives, but we hope you and President Wilson will make good, so there will be no need of a Progressive Party.

Yours, very truly,

PARAGRAPH 54.

GRIFFIN DRUG CO.

Whiting and Paris white, dry, one-fourth of one cent per pound; ground in oil, or putty, one-half of one cent per pound.

For Paris white, see also Frederick N. Tirrell, page 131.

WHITING.

THE HIGGINSON MANUFACTURING

CO., OF NEWBURGH,

N. Y., SUBMIT BRIEF ON WHITING AND PARIS WHITE.

To the WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

SIRS: We, as manufacturers of whiting and Paris white, wish to enter a protest against the proposed reduction in duty on whiting and Paris white, and respectfully request that the present tariff on these commodities be maintained and for the following reasons:

First. There are no chalk deposits in this country from which the American manufacturer can draw his supply of raw material, hence all chalk and cliff stone must be imported from England and France, and ocean freight paid on the same. The advantage to the foreign manufacturer is at once apparent; he has his whiting factory adjoining his chalk quarry.

Second. There is no demand from the American consumer for a reduction in the duty on whiting and Paris white. The present

PARAGRAPH 54-WHITING.

prices are low, and the freight rate usually determines the market in which the buyer places his order. There is no combination or or trust to maintain prices, and competition is and always has been keen.

Third. The yearly importations of chalk and cliff stone amount to about 100,000 tons, which is manufactured into whiting and Paris white, the industry furnishing employment to laboring men of the United States and pays them, in the aggregate, approximately $500,000 per annum. The daily wage ranges from $1.75 to $3, as against less than one-half of this sum in the same industry in England. Fourth. The crude chalk, from which whiting is manufactured, contains a very large percentage of moisture, sand, and flint, which is eliminated in the process of manufacture and will average about 25 per cent; in other words, a ton of crude chalk produces only threequarters of a ton of whiting. The amount so lost the manufacturer in this country is obliged to pay for, both cost f. o. b. shipping point in England or France and cost of ocean freight on the same.

Fifth. During the last half of the year 1912 the cost of ocean freight has advanced to such an extent the delivered price of the crude chalkto the manufacturer in the United States has advanced approximately 35 per cent to 40 per cent.

Sixth. The industry as a whole is not a large one, and if the entire quantity of whiting and Paris white consumed in this country was imported the revenue to the Government would be small, and to obtain this would mean the sacrifice of approximately $500,000 yearly which is paid to labor.

We have endeavored to put before you, in a brief way, the main facts in connection with the industry, and sincerely hope wou will retain the present duty of one-fourth of 1 cent per pound.

Respectfully, yours,

THE HIGGINSON MANUFACTURING CO.,
T. H. MILLSPAUGH, President.

NEWBURGH, N. Y., December 18, 1912.

BRIEF OF M. EWING FOX & CO., NEW YORK, N. Y.

Hon. STEVEN B. AYRES,

NEW YORK CITY, January 9, 1913.

Congressman, Washington, D. C.

SIR: Referring to proposed changes in tariff and the hearings on Schedule A (paints, oils, and chemicals) by the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives:

We manufacture calcimines, paints, and varnishes, in which some of the materials that will be considered are used in large quantities. We urge your consideration of the following statement and its presentation to the committee if you think best:

Chalk (erude or lump; now on free list).-Is only found in Europe, is very cheap, and is used in great quantities for the manufacture of whiting and Paris white. Any duty placed upon it would result in considerably higher prices for the materials made from it, reduced consumption by the public, loss of business to American manufac

PARAGRAPH 54-WHITING.

turers, and loss of employment to their men. We strongly protest against any tariff being imposed on this material.

Chalk (ground or powdered; now on protected list). Some of this is simply the crude chalk passed through ordinary separating and grinding processes, the cost of which is considerably more in America than in Europe. We estimate this manufacturing cost to be at least 50 per cent more in United States than abroad, and believe that such a duty should be imposed.

Whiting and Paris white (now on protected list).-These two materials are practically alike, the latter being made from a slightly harder kind of chalk and by a more elaborate method. The chalk is dug from hillsides and pits adjoining certain European waterways, is then crushed, washed, refined, graded, dried, recrushed or ground, packed, and shipped direct from adjoining wharves to various American seaports, particularly those in Canada, Central and South America. Very little of it is sold in United States because the present tariff is sufficient to protect our manufacturers. Most English manufacturers of Whiting and Paris white are also owners of chalk mines, so that if the tariff is lowered sufficiently to enable them to compete with United States manufacturers (to whom they are now simply selling their crude chalk) the latter will be simply eliminated, their investments ruined, and their employees thrown out of work.

We made a careful investigation of English chalk, whiting, and Paris white mines and plants in 1911, and found the cost of production there much lower than in United States. English labor was plentiful, intelligent, and industrious, the average workman received $10 per week of 60 hours (about 17 cents per hour). The same man could not be duplicated over here for less than $15 per week of 54 hours (about 28 cents per hour).

The English building, machinery, clerical, and sales costs were also much lower than ours, so that we do not see how it would be possible for the United States manufacturers of whiting and Paris white to compete, unless protected by a tariff of at least cent per pound, which is, we believe, the present duty on such material.

Shellac (dry gum in flakes; now on free list).-This is made principally in the Orient and is imported in large quantities. It is the crude material from which many other materials, varnishes, and lacquers are made in the United States, and has hitherto been admitted free. The only effect of placing a tariff upon it will be an increase in the price of materials made from it to the public and an increase in revenue to the Government. There are practically no American substitutes for shellac. We protest against any duty being imposed.

Summary. We believe that to as large an extent as the necessities of the national finances permit, all raw or semiraw materials should be admitted free, but all manufactured materials should be taxed, particularly those competing with American industries already established, unless the latter are members of a trust or similar combine. There are no trusts, combines, or anything of a similar nature manufacturing whiting, Paris white, powdered chalk, or shellac varnishes. All American manufacturers of these materials are and always have been competing keenly for trade.