PARAGRAPHS 95-96-CARBON. batteries. We have less than 50 per cent of the total business, including petroleum coke carbons, high-grade carbons, flaming arc carbons, carbon brushes, electrodes, and batteries. In addition to the National Carbon Co., the following are manufacturers of carbon products in the United States: American Carbon & Battery Co., East St. Louis, Ill.; Champion Carbon Co., Loveland, Ohio; Nungesser Carbon & Battery Co., Cleveland, Ohio; Speer Carbon Co., St. Marys, Pa.; Stackpole Carbon & Battery Co., St. Marys, Pa.; Corliss Carbon Co., Bradford, Pa.; Pure Carbon Co., Wellsville, N. Y.; Electrode Co. of America, Niagara Falls, N. Y.; International Acheson Graphite Co., Niagara Falls, N. Y.; Holmes Fibre Graphite Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; Manhattan Electrical Supply Co., New York, Jersey City, N. J., and Ravenna, Ohio; Jos. Dixon Crucible Co., Jersey City, N. J. While dry batteries constitute about 60 per cent of the total annual sales of this company, we supply probably not more than 40 per cent of the dry batteries used. The principal other manufacturers of dry batteries are: Manhattan Electrical Supply Co., New York; American Ever Ready Co., New York; Stackpole Carbon & Battery Co., St. Marys, Pa.; Nungesser Carbon & Battery Co., Cleveland, Ohio; Rock Island Battery Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; French Battery Co., Madison, Wis.; American Carbon & Battery Co., East St. Louis, Ill.; and a number of smaller manufacturers. Reference was also made to cost of labor and raw materials. We pay our labor more than three times the wages paid for similar work in France and Germany, and lampblack, an important raw material, costs here almost twice as much as in Europe. On account of its nature the freight rate is high and cost of package very expensive for which reason we do not import it although duty is only 25 per cent. In addition to Mr. Reisinger, the following are known to us as importers of carbon products: L. Frorup & Co., New York; H. M. Hirschberg Co., New York; E. E. Cary Co., New York; W. J. Jeandron, New York; Morgan Crucible Co., New York; Kiewert & Co., Milwaukee, Wis. We know also that carbon electrodes are imported from Sweden and a factory in southern France, but we do not know names of agents here. Electro Metals (Ltd.), of Welland, Canada, also sell electrodes in the United States. If Mr. Reisinger's business has fallen off as he intimated, it must mean that other importers have increased their sales, which we believe to be the case, as the Government statistics show an increase in both value and amount of importations. Since we began making high-grade carbons the price in this country has greatly decreased and the cost of high-grade inclosed-arc carbons, the kind chiefly used for street lighting, is less than 75 cents per lamp per year. Respectfully submitted." Hon. OSCAR W. UNDERWOOD, Chairman Ways and Means Committee, NATIONAL CARBON CO., J. S. CRIDER, General Manager. NATIONAL CARBON Co., Cleveland, Ohio, February 4, 1913. House of Representatives Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: In reviewing the testimony submitted at the tariff hearings and in the preparation of a new bill, we ask your consideration of the petition and supplemental letter and statements submitted by us. We wrote on January 2 that we expected to present a statement but in some way our name was not put on your schedule, which was no doubt due to the great amount of work in connection with preparations for the hearings. The writer was present and, when it appeared that there would be no time for appearances other than those on the calendar, filed the statement with Mr. Roper late on January 9, the last day for hearings under Schedule B. When the Payne bill was being prepared and during its consideration by Congress many misleading, and in some cases manifestly untruthful, statements were made by importers of carbon products, in circular letters and in the public press, one of them being that if the proposed duty on electric-light carbons was adopted it would mean an increase in cost to electric lighting companies of $9 per thousand, which in later statements was reduced to $3.50 per thousand. Instead of the large increase in price predicted, the prices on high grade electric lighting carbons are now about 20 per cent lower than they were prior to the adoption of the present law, and the statistics apparently show that the importers have at least 50 per cent of the total trade in the United States in high grade carbons. PARAGRAPHS 95-96-CARBON. We supply about 50 per cent of the total number of high grade electric light carbons used in this country, and even including the low grade electric light carbons, the use of which is rapidly disappearing, our proportion of the total trade in all kinds of carbons used for lighting is less than 60 per cent of the total value. The sworn statement which we submitted shows that our profit on high grade carbons, from January 1, 1910 to October 31, 1912, was but 5.97 per cent, and in view of this we earnestly hope that your committee will make no reduction in the duty on regular high grade electric light carbons. We have suggested an ad valorem duty to cover flaming arc carbons on account of their great range in prices and the uncertainty as to what the future may bring forth, but the established prices on regular high grade carbons are within a comparatively close range, and we therefore ask for a continuance of a specific duty on them. We manufacture a complete line of carbon products, but our production is probably less than 50 per cent of the total consumption of these products. High grade carbons for electric lighting comprise only about 10 per cent of our total sales, while dry batteries constitute about 60 per cent of our total business, and yet we supply as near as we can estimate not more than 40 per cent of the total number of dry batteries sold. We have very active competition in all branches of our business, the other domestic manufacturers being as follows: American Carbon & Battery Co., East St. Louis, Ill.; Champion Carbon Co., Loveland, Ohio; Nungesser Carbon & Battery Co., Cleveland, Ohio; Speer Carbon Co. and Stackpole Carbon Co., St. Marys, Pa.; Corliss Carbon Co., Bradford, Pa.; Pure Carbon Co., Wellsville, N. Y.; Electrode Co. of America and International Acheson Graphite Co., Niagara Falls, N. Y.; Holmes Fiber Graphite Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; Manhattan Electric Supply Co., New York, Jersey City, N. J., and Ravenna, Ohio; Jos. Dixon Crucible Co., Jersey City, N. J. In addition to these there are a number of companies which make dry batteries only and it will therefore be apparent to you, despite statements of importers to the contrary, that we do not have a monopoly of any branch of the carbon business in this country. This company is not a trust and is not interested in any other carbon company. Yours, respectfully, NATIONAL CARBON CO., BRIEF OF CORLISS CARBON CO., OF BRADFORD, PA. [Carbon (Pars. 95 and 96. Tariff of 1909).] CORLISS CARBON CO., Bradford, Pa., January 9, 1913. As the representative of one of the independent carbon manufacturers, I beg to state that the company I represent, namely, the Corliss Carbon Co., was organized and incorporated about three years ago under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania. That the present existing tariff laws have some bearing upon the existence of our enterprise can not be doubted. Our capitalization is $200,000, fully paid in. The stockholders of the company are mostly business men of Bradford, Pa., and Buffalo, N. Y. These gentlemen furnished the capital for this industry with the natural expectation of at least receiving a fair remuneration on their investment, but as yet said remuneration has not been forthcoming. During the period of the operation of this plant, to wit, two years, money has been actually lost. The perfecting and manufacturing of highgrade carbon product is exceeding slow, tedious, and expensive, and with the continued demand and the rapid development in the electrical world for higher efficiency in carbon brushes the cost of operating the plant is growing more expensive. Particularly is the work of experimenting of necessity very costly. In the manufacture of carbon products we must employ workmen who are exceptionally skilled, their wages ranging from $2 to $5 per day, and as a result our pay roll constitutes the largest item of expense. Besides these skilled mechanics, we employ electrical engineers, as well as expert electrical chemists. Competition at the present time is very keen owing to the existence of a number of large manufacturers in this country. Under the present tariff the sale of foreign brushes has increased amazingly, and we are very apprehensive of the result from any curtailment of protection. In fact, we feel that the circumstances warrant an increase of tariff. Our company is engaged exclusively in carbon brush manufacture, and whether we will eventually expand to include other carbon materials-for example, electric-light carbons, battery carbons, etc.-will depend largely upon what measure of protection we enjoy. PARAGRAPHS 97-98 GLASS AND GLASSWARE. The personnel of our stockholders comprise practically the principal stockholders in an independent oil refinery located in the city of Bradford, Pa. Petroleum coke is one of its by-products which constitutes the base for raw material in the carbon industry. It is an undisputed fact that three years ago this product was a drug upon the market and hard to dispose of, which, together with the fact that fuel oil, another by-product of the refinery was also a drug on the market, the market price of which was 2 cents per gallon at that time. Undoubtedly this condition was the principal reason for this company engaging in the carbon industry. I trust this committee will consider all the foregoing facts carefully and before making any recommendations procure further facts pertaining to this industry. PARAGRAPH 97. CORLISS CARBON CO., Plain green or colored, molded or pressed, and flint, lime, or lead glass bottles, vials, jars, and covered or uncovered demijohns, and carboys, any of the foregoing, filled or unfilled, not otherwise specially provided for in this section, and whether their contents be dutiable or free (except such as contain merchandise subject to an ad valorem rate of duty, or to a rate of duty based in whole or in part upon the value thereof which shall be dutiable at the rate applicable to their contents), shall pay duty as follows: If holding more than one pint, one cent per pound; if holding not more than one pint and not less than one-fourth of a pint, one and one-half cents per pound; if holding less than one-fourth of a pint, fifty cents per gross: Provided, That none of the above articles shall pay a less rate of duty than forty per centum ad valorem: Provided further, That the terms bottles, vials, jars, demijohns, and carboys, as used herein, shall be restricted to such articles when suitable for use as and of the character ordinarily employed as containers for the holding or transportation of merchandise, and not as appliances or implements in chemical or other operations. For glass bottles, see Italian Chamber of Commerce, page 481. PARAGRAPH 98. Glass bottles, decanters, and all articles of every description composed wholly or in chief value of glass, ornamented or decorated in any manner, or cut, engraved, painted, decorated, ornamented, colored, stained, silvered, gilded, etched, sand blasted, frosted, or printed in any manner, or ground (except such grinding as is necessary for fitting stoppers or for purposes other than ornamentation), and all articles of every description, including bottles and bottle glassware, composed wholly or in chief value of glass blown either in a mold or otherwise; all of the foregoing, not specially provided for in this section, filled or unfilled, and whether their contents be dutiable or free, sixty per centum ad valorem: Provided, That for the purposes of this act bottles with cut glass stoppers shall, with the stoppers, be deemed entireties. GLASS AND GLASSWARE. STATEMENT OF HARRY JENKINS, ALTON, ILL. The CHAIRMAN. What do you wish to talk about, Mr. Jenkins? Mr. JENKINS. The bottle schedule. The CHAIRMAN. All right; proceed. Mr. JENKINS. We ask that this committee do not reduce the tariff on bottles any lower than it is. We have always had the bottle tariff and been protected from the lower-paid workmen of Europe, whose bottles are shipped in here in greater quantities than one would imagine. It has been helpful to us in the years gone by, and we believe we have been able to maintain a living wage by that tariff being on there. The CHAIRMAN. What is the production of bottles in this country? Mr. JENKINS. I could not say as to that, sir. I do not know. I have not the least idea in the world. I speak from a workman's PARAGRAPHS 97-98-GLASS AND GLASSWARE, standpoint. I do not know anything about the manufacturing end of it. I am a workman, a member of the union, and only know just exactly what I see in traveling around, and could not tell you what the production of bottles is. But we do believe we have perhaps had it drilled into us in years gone by, that as a result of a reduction of tariff on bottles, upon the goods of foreign workmen, we know it to be a fact that there was, in the years gone by, some 10 years ago, perhaps, on the Pacific slope, bottles sent in there as ballast and used in the wine and water trade. The CHAIRMAN. Do you know of any bottles coming in on the eastern seaboard at all? Mr. JENKINS. I could not say that I do know anything about that; no, sir. I could not say that. But there are some that come in that way, there is no doubt, because we hear of that. The CHAIRMAN. Is that all? Mr. HILL. Of course, you are an American? Mr. JENKINS. Yes, sir. Mr. HILL. Born here? Mr. JENKINS. Yes, sir. Mr. HILL. Are you acquainted with any of your associates who are working in this industry who are foreigners? Mr. JENKINS. Oh, yes. Mr. HILL. Who have worked on both sides of the water? Mr. HILL. Is it your judgment that they are any more efficient here, can turn out any more work, than they would on the other side? Mr. JENKINS. According to the conditions, I think they turn out more work here than they do on the other side. or Mr. HILL. Are those bottles blown by machinery or otherwise? Mr. JENKINS. By both. Mr. HILL. Both? Mr. JENKINS. Yes, sir. Mr. HILL. Which method produces the larger profits, machinery Mr. JENKINS (interposing.) I presume the machinery. Mr. HILL. Is the foreign workman more or less efficient on the machinery or on the individual power than the American workman? Mr. JENKINS. There is hardly a comparison. They work in a different way here. There is a different way they have of working, and when they first come to this country a number of them work the same way as they did in Europe, but it has been gradually discontinued. That is what is known as "seamless bottles.' Mr. SHACKLEFORD. Then the disparity in wages is not compensated for, but the foreigner himself working here, you say, is more efficient than he is on the other side, to some extent? Mr. JENKINS. He makes better wages by reason of the fact that the list is higher on this side. Mr. SHACKLEFORD. That is not the question. You misunderstand my question. I do not care for theories. I want to know the facts. Mr. JENKINS. I am giving you the facts. Mr. SHACKLEFORD. It is piecework, is it? Mr. JENKINS. Yes, sir. Mr. SHACKLEFORD. Is it piecework on the other side! PARAGRAPHS 97-98-GLASS AND GLASSWARE, Mr. JENKINS. I believe so. Mr. SHACKLEFORD. Then the difference in the question of efficiency does not come in at all, does it? Mr. JENKINS. Yes, sir. Mr. SHACKLEFORD. How does it come in, if it is piecework? Mr. JENKINS. If he is not a competent workman he does not make a good day's wage, or does not make first-class ware. Mr. SHACKLEFORD. If his piece price over there and piece price here were maintained just the same, regardless of how much he does, it would not make any difference? Mr. JENKINS. Perhaps so. Mr. SHACKLEFORD. Consequently it is not a question of efficiency that counts. That does not count at all. Mr. JENKINS. No, sir; I did not say that, but the efficiency-I told you that he worked the same way in this country after he landed here until he became acquainted with the American way of working, that he worked the other way. Mr. SHACKLEFORD. The point I want to get at is the cost of the article, whether it is lowered by reason of superior efficiency. Where does that question exist, if it is a question of piecework? If it was by day's labor and a man could do twice as much, the American manufacturer could afford to pay twice as much, but if he pays by piecework there can be no question of efficiency in this trade any more than in any other, so far as the unit cost of the article is concerned. Mr. JENKINS. Well, the protection-according to what we understand from our point of view, they do not make much more than twothirds as much ware on that side of the water as we do. Mr. SHACKLEFORD. And do not get so much product? Mr. SHACKLEFORD. That is what I wanted to find out. In a ques- Mr. SHACKLEFORD. Have you any knowledge on the subject as to what the foreign wages are? Mr. JENKINS. They get about $2 I think, something like that; something like $1.25 to $2.50 a day. Mr. SHACKLEFORD. How do you get your information? Mr. JENKINS. From the workmen themselves that told me about it; that they got so many marks. Mr. RAINEY. You speak for the workmen, do you? Mr. JENKINS. Yes, sir. Mr. RAINEY. Your plant is at Alton, Ill.? Mr. JENKINS. I work there; yes, sir. Mr. RAINEY. You are employed in that plant? Mr. JENKINS. Yes, sir. Mr. RAINEY. They use machinery largely there in making bottles, do they not? Mr. JENKINS. Yes, sir. Mr. RAINEY. How many blowers were employed there before they introduced machinery? 78959-VOL 1-13- 45 |