BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SIXTIETH CONGRESS. FIRST PRINT, No. 41. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1908. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. TARIFF HEARINGS. COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, (The committee this day met, Hon. Sereno E. Payne in the chair.) ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF MR. W. A. GRAHAM CLARK, OF WASHINGTON, D. C. Mr. CLARK. I am here to answer any question, but I would like to make one statement before that. Mr. Longworth asked me a question during the last hearing in regard to the difference of cost in production in England and America on some samples of Bradford stuffs that I submitted, four samples, and on which I showed the comparative cost in England and America. He called my attention to the fact that the weaving wage in America seemed to be four and one-quarter times that in England, and I told him that that was too large. I desire to call attention to the fact that the dyeing wage in England was separate, and if the dyeing wage was included with the weaving wage, so as to compare it exactly with the American, including the cost of the yarn and the finished cloth The CHAIRMAN. As I understand your statement, it contains both the weaving and the dyeing wage in this country, but only the weaving wage in Great Britain; is that it? Mr. CLARK. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Can you give us the weaving and the dyeing wage for both countries? Mr. CLARK. On sample A, which is a cashmere made of cotton and low botany wool, the total cost in England is 15.6 cents a pound. In America the total cost is 26 cents a pound. The cost of the yarn to make that cloth in England is 9.3 cents a pound and in the United States it is 15.4 cents a pound; that is the cost of the yarn to make the cloth. The weaving wage in England would be 2.1 cents a pound and in the United States it would be 6.4 cents a pound, which is about three times. All other expenses in England would be 4.2 cents a pound and in the United States 4.2 cents a pound, making a total cost of 15.6 cents in England to our total cost of 26 cents. The figures of cost I gave before were correct, excepting that they were not exactly proportioned for comparison. In the English case they put the dyeing cost separate and in the American case it includes the weaving and the dyeing wage. One-third of the dyeing charge shown is for labor, which should be included in the total weaving wage. The CHAIRMAN. How is it on all-wool goods? Mr. CLARK. That was on cotton and wool goods. On sample C, which is an all-wool sateen, the total cost in England is 31.12 cents and in the United States 70.7 cents. The yarn cost in England is 22.35 cents and in America 56.7 cents. The total weaving wage in England is 2.92 cents and in America 5.83 cents, and all other expenses in England 5.85 cents and in America 8.19 cents, making a total cost of 31.12 cents in England and in America 70.7 cents a pound. Mr. CRUMPACKER. The big factor of difference is in the case of the wool? Mr. CLARK. Yes, sir. In this latter case the yarn costs them 71.8 per cent of the total cost of the cloth. The CHAIRMAN. You spoke of the duty on those goods where the warp was cotton and the filling wool, a specific duty. I do not remember what it was, but I think it was four times the duty on raw mineral wool-44 cents-was it not? Mr. CLARK. The duty is four times the duty on the raw wool, plus 55 per cent ad valorem. The CHAIRMAN. Where the warp is cotton? Mr. CLARK. No; that is all wool. The CHAIRMAN. Where the warp is cotton, what is it? Mr. CL(RK. The duty is 7 cents a square yard plus 55 per cent ad valorem. The CHAIRMAN. What paragraph is that? Mr. CLARK. Paragraph 368 of the tariff law. That is on part cotton and part wool cloths. The CHAIRMAN. Then the duty on the wool part of this cotton-warp goods would not seem to be excessive compared with the duty on wool, would it? Mr. CLARK. Well, the total duty on the cloth is 104.8 cents ad valorem. The CHAIRMAN. I do not remember what the weight of those goods was. Mr. CLARK. One yard weighs two-tenths of a pound-5 yards to the pound. That is sample A, a cotton and wool cashmere. The CHAIRMAN. The duty on the weight was 35 cents a pound. The CHAIRMAN. What percentage of those goods is wool and what percentage cotton? Mr. CLARK. The first sample was 29.8 per cent cotton and 70.2 per cent wool, or, say, 30 per cent cotton and 70 per cent wool, roughly. The CHAIRMAN. Then the duty on wool is 52 cents, upon that, to the pound; 7 cents a square yard? Mr. CLARK. A square yard; yes. The CHAIRMAN. And the duty on the weight is 7 cents a pound on goods under 17-that is over 17, is it not? Mr. CLARK. Do you mean a pound or a yard? The CHAIRMAN. A yard. Mr. CLARK. A square yard costs 14.7 cents. The CHAIRMAN. Then it is under 15 cents? Mr. CLARK. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And the duty per square yard is 7 cents specific; and you say there are 5 yards of that to the pound? Mr. CLARK. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And 663 per cent, or about, of that is wool? The CHAIRMAN. So that the weight of the wool in 7 yards will be a pound? Mr. CLARK. Five yards to the pound. The CHAIRMAN. That is of the wool material, and two-thirds of that weight is wool. Mr. CLARK. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. So that you add 50 per cent to the 5 yards, making 7 yards, which would contain a pound of wool? Mr. CLARK. Yes; roughly. The CHAIRMAN. And the duty on 7 yards would be 52 cents a pound on the wool in those goods. What is the filling made of? Mr. CLARK. Worsted yarn. It is made of wool, but it is worsted weft, cotton warp and worsted weft. The CHAIRMAN. What is the weight of the wool in the grease, in the process of manufacture of worsted yarn? Mr. CLARK. Ordinarily it would be between 40 and 50 per cent. From a hundred pounds of greasy wool you ordinarily get from 40 to 50 pounds of clean wool. The CHAIRMAN. Worsted yarn? Mr. CLARK. No; not worsted yarn. It is this way: Suppose you get 50 pounds of clean wool per 100 pounds of greasy wool, then you will get, say, 80 per cent tops from the clean wool, and that makes from the 100 pounds of greasy wool 40 pounds of tops. There is a little waste in combing; but it does not amount to one-half of 1 per cent. You get 40 pounds of tops from 100 pounds of greasy wool. Supposing 7 per cent spinning waste and 24 weaving and finishing waste, you finally get 36 pounds cloth from 100 pounds greasy. wool. The shrinkage varies with the different kinds of wool, but these figures give an idea. The CHAIRMAN. There were some statements made here that the waste in manufacturing wool into yarn, for instance, varies with the different varieties of wool all the way from 18 to 75 per cent. Do you know of any wool that wastes as high as 75 per cent in the process of manufacture from wool into varn or into cloth? Mr. CLARK. It is this way, Mr. Chairman: You will get from 100 pounds of greasy wool ordinarily 40 to 50 pounds of clean wool, and sometimes only 30 pounds, but that would be exceptional. Mr. HILL. Sometimes only 25 pounds in the Australian wool? Mr. CLARK. Possibly; and in some of this South American wool, where it is very burry and greasy, sometimes 30 per cent, and possibly down as low as 25 per cent but I have not heard of a case as low as that. The CHAIRMAN. What is the waste on domestic wool? Mr. CLARK. From the territorial wool, out in Wyoming and those places, ordinarily you will get about one-third, 334 per cent-334 pounds of clean wool from 100 pounds of greasy wool. The CHAIRMAN. How about Ohio? Mr. CLARK. In the Ohio wools you will get a much larger percentage; I should say at least 40 pounds from 100 pounds of wool40 to 50 pounds. The CHAIRMAN. How about the Rocky Mountain wool, if you might call it by that name? Do you say you sometimes only get 33 per cent? Mr. CLARK. Yes, sir. |