SISSON MARBLE Co.,

PARAGRAPHS 111-112-ONYX.

JAMES B. CLOW & SONS,
Chicago, December 16, 1912.

West Twenty-third Street and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad,

Baltimore, Md.

GENTLEMEN: I think if we let the Democrats alone they will put the tariff down low enough. I never did see any reason except from the standpoint of revenue, why there should be a duty on a noncompetitive product like Italian marble that is used for different purposes than our regular run of white American marble.

Yours, very truly,

W. E. CLOW, President.

The SISSON MARBLE CO.,

Baltimore, Md.

JOHN H. SHIPWAY & BRO.,
New York, December 17, 1912.

GENTLEMEN: Replying to your favor of December 14, which has just come to hand, the writer has taken the matter up with two or three different manufacturers in New York, and we are going to bring it before our executive committee of the Marble Industry Employers' Association. As soon as something definite has been decided upon we shall be very pleased to immediately communicate with you.

We believe that the duty on block marble should be abolished, and we shall work toward that end, keeping you informed of everything that happens before the time when the matter is to be heard.

We wish to thank you for your kindness in bringing this matter to our attention, and beg to remain,

Yours, very truly,

JOHN H. SHIPWAY & BRO., Per J. H. SHIPWAY.

DEAR SIR: I would appreciate your cooperation in the following matter pertaining to the removal of the import duty of 65 cents per cubic foot imposed upon our product at the present time, and concerning same I wish to present the following facts, which I believe justify the attitude of myself and associates in this company in this matter. First. Should this duty of 65 cents per cubic foot be removed from our product, it would still be absolutely impossible for us to produce and land our product in the United States for the price at which domestic marbles are sold to the retail trade. The majority of the domestic marbles commands a price of from $1 to $1.25 per cubic foot less at retail than that at which we can produce and land onyx in the United States. Second. There is absolutely no onyx in the United States of marketable quality in sufficient quantity to warrant placing it upon the market. Consequently we would not be competing with home products in any way.

Third. We are at this time at a great disadvantage with our competitors in the importation of foreign colored marbles into the United States, because of the inaccessible location of our quarries and the peculiar conditions surrounding them necessary to the production of our onyx, which preclude even a legitimate competition on our part with any of the imported colored foreign marbles.

Fourth. We also wish to call to your attention at this time that our company is strictly an American company, organized in the United States and operating in Mexico, whereas in 99 per cent of the cases our competitors in the importation of foreign colored marbles are controlled by foreign capital, and the United States thererore derives no benefit whatever from them. But, on account of our financial back

PARAGRAPH 114-GRANITE.

ing, as above stated, being in the United States, the sale of our product is not a drain upon the financial resources of the country, as is naturally the case with foreign corporations operating in the United States. On the contrary, the proceeds of this company are a direct asset to the general financial condition in this country.

Your requests for any further information or data will receive my prompt attention. Your cooperation in this matter, as previously stated, will be personally appreciated. Thanking you in advance for an early reply, I beg to remain,

Yours, very truly,

PARAGRAPH 113.

PEDRARA ONYX Co.,
F. J. LEA,

Vice President and General Manager.

Burrstones, manufactured or bound up into millstones, fifteen per centum ad valorem.

PARAGRAPH 114.

Freestone, granite, sandstone, limestone, and all other monumental or building stone, except marble, breccia, and onyx, not specially provided for in this section, hewn, dressed, or polished, or otherwise manufactured, fifty per centum ad valorem; unmanufactured, or not dressed, hewn, or polished, ten cents per cubic foot.

GRANITE.

STATEMENT OF FRANK J. HANOLD, REPRESENTING THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GRANITE DEALERS.

Mr. HANOLD. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I am not Mr. William M. Dodd. Mr. Dodd telegraphed me to represent him.

The CHAIRMAN. Give your name and address to the stenographer. Mr. HANOLD. My name is Frank J. Hanold, of Townsend, Townsend & Co., 453 West Twenty-first Street, New York City. I might also say that you have allotted me from 3.40 to 3.50 p. m. on behalf of my own firm. In what I have to say as representing the wholesale granite dealers, I will cover ground on behalf of my own firm at the same time, and it will be unnecessary to give me that time this afternoon.

The CHAIRMAN. What paragraph are you interested in?
Mr. HANOLD. Paragraph 114.

On behalf of the National Wholesale Granite Dealers Association, comprising 18 firms engaged in the business of selling domestic and imported granite monuments at wholesale, respectfully recommend that section B, paragraph 114, of tariff act of August 5, 1909, be amended by reducing the tariff on manufactured granite mentioned in said paragraph from 50 per cent ad valorem to 20 per cent ad valorem.

The present rate of 50 per cent ad valorem is prohibitive to that extent, that the cost of imported granite monuments is far in excess of the cost of the same article of domestic manufacture, so that the importation of granite monuments has diminished, resulting not only in preventing the imported article reaching the consumer of moderate means, but must have resulted in decreased revenue to the Government.

PARAGRAPH 114 GRANITE.

I have prepared a brief in which are submitted plans of certain classes of monuments that we deal in, the class of goods that we import. I do not wish to take up your time to read this brief, but I wish to state that in computing the cost of these monuments we first show the cost of imported granite monuments, delivered f. o. b. cars at New York, at the present tariff rate of 50 per cent ad valorem; then we show the relative cost of imported granite monuments, delivered f. o. b. cars at New York, based on a tariff rate of 20 per cent ad valorem; and then we show the present cost of the same article of domestic granite manufacture, delivered f. o. b. cars at the quarries. Your attention is specially directed to the fact that under a tariff of 20 per cent ad valorem the cost of the imported article will still be in excess of the cost of the domestic article, thereby furnishing protection to the American industry and at the same time will afford the consumer the opportunity to purchase imported goods at reasonable prices, which must result in increased imports and consequently greater revenue to the Government.

I am prepared now to answer any questions on the subject. The CHAIRMAN. Are there any questions, gentlemen? [After a pause.] That is all.

Mr. HANOLD. Thank you.

Mr. Hanold's brief is as follows:

The cost of monuments, as per plans attached, are computed as follows:

First. Cost of imported granite f. o. b. Aberdeen, Scotland, the place of manufacture, in pounds, at $4.8665. Duty at 50 per cent ad valorem. Freight from Aberdeen and delivery charges to f. o. b. cars at New York, based on actual experience on goods that have been imported.

Second. Cost of goods, same as above, but based on a tariff of 20 per cent ad valorem. Third. Cost price of same article in domestic granite, including delivery f. o. b. cars at quarry.

PLAN 7744.