PARAGRAPH 670-SHOTGUN BARRELS. that is at present sold for a nickel and a decrease in the size of the 10-cent package and would be felt keenly by the great mass of the people who are using prepared mustard because, you must know, prepared mustard is used to make the coarser foods more savory and palatable. In many instances the poorest class of people spread it on their black bread or their rye bread, sometimes with a piece of meat-often without. Under the regulations of the pure-food laws the goods that are sold are healthful and are a part of the daily food of the very great majority of the American people, and it would seem to me that it is very far from the intention of the committee to increase the cost of such staples to the poorer consumer. In addition to the above we have built up an export business with the Dominion of Canada; one city alone buying from five to seven carloads of these goods per annum, and we are shipping these goods from this point. A duty upon mustard seed would ruin this business. There have been inquiries made from the finer trade in England for the best American prepared mustards and there is a possibility of a growing export business on account of the excellence of American manufacture, the standard of purity, and the quality; and a duty upon mustard seed would prevent the business, not only of shipping into England and into Canada, but of taking advantage of the business that the South American trade is now opening to the American manufacturer. Of course the manufacture of mustard is one of the small spokes in the great wheel of national manufactures but it is an important one, as it is in the multiplicity of the minor manufactures that a country or city is made strong rather than by concentration of all of its help and its interests upon one single line of manufacture whereby an accident of trade or the advances of the competition might create a serious injury to the business and to those interested in it as earners. We believe that the smaller manufacturer has your interest and we are only one of a very great many, and we appeal to you for free crude material in the process of our manufacture. We are perfectly willing to meet any competition on the manufactured product. Canada offers a large and growing market; it would be impossible to take advantage of rebates of duty into Canada, under their "dumping" clause, and the business could be ruined. We hope this will meet your favorable consideration; and, in addition, we want to call your attention particularly to the fact that the woman who goes out and buys a little 5-cent tumbler of mustard containing 8 ounces which lasts her for two or three days is not going to be content with one that will cost her a higher price, because as the cost of the material increases that is contained in the package so also must the cost of the container decrease in proportion in order to produce the same pro rata cost of the finished article, which is, in this instance, the mustard in its container ready to be handed to the consumer. There are retail grocers in this city that sell from 5 to 10 dozen of these tumblers containing 8 ounces, every week to their small trade. We write this to give you an idea of the enormous consumption and the enormous number of people that this little interest affects. We sincerely hope that our letter may have sufficient interest for you to read it and to accept it as a faithful presentation of the facts as the writer sees them, and that it may have not only your favorable consideration, but that, as in the last bill that was proposed a year ago, mustard seed may remain as it has, upon the free list. Very truly, yours, PARAGRAPH 669. Sheep dip. PARAGRAPH 670. GEO. J. FRENCH, President. Shotgun barrels, in single tubes, forged, rough bored. SHOTGUN BARRELS. BRIEF SUBMITTED BY J. G. RIGA, SPRINGFIELD, MASS. Hon. OSCAR W. UNDERWOOD, Chairman Ways and Means Committee, SPRINGFIELD, MASS., February 15, 1913. House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SIR: Having been informed that it is proposed to take shotgun barrels from the free list and levy a duty thereon of 25 cents per pair of tubes, I desire to earnestly protest against this proposition for several reasons. PARAGRAPH 670-SHOTGUN BARRELS. First. Shotgun barrels are not made in this country and they can not be bought, and all the small gun manufacturers are obliged to buy all their barrels abroad and this duty would really work a great hardship to all the double-barrel gun manufacturers, such as the Hunter Arms Co., Fulton, N. Y.; Ithaca Gun Co., Ithaca, N. Y.; Baker Gun & Forging Co., Batavia, N. Y.; Lefever Arms Co., Syracuse, N. Y.; the Crescent Fire Arms Co., and the Hopkins & Allen Arms Co., of Norwich, Conn.; A. H. Fox Gun Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; N. R. Davis & Sons, Assonet, Mass., etc. All the above manufacture double-barrel guns, which is a real sportsman's gun. Winchester Arms Co. and Remington Arms Co. manufacture mostly rifles, and automatic shotguns, single barrels, which are called "game destroyers;" these latter two manufacturers would not be affected by the duties, as their barrels, being single barrels and heavy, are made by themselves. My second reason is a selfish one, if looking out for one's business interests can be so called. The proposed duty would in a short time prohibit the importation of shotgun barrels, for the reason that the manufacturers would install machinery to make their own barrels in this country rather then submit to a duty of 25 cents per pair, and if the idea of your committee is to get some revenue from the gun barrels imported into this country in levying this duty it will work only long enough to give time for the manufacturers here to install machinery to make their own barrels, for the price of a pair of plain steel barrels which are used most altogether here runs from 95 cents to 79 cents per pair, and you can readily see that the proposed duty would add greatly to the cost of the barrels. So in levying such a high rate of duty on these barrels for revenue only the very fact that the duty is excessive will in a short time defeat the object of the duty, for I repeat it is prohibitive, and all it will do will be to stop all importations of gun barrels into this country, and do no good to anyone, but instead it will ruin my business and increase the cost of manufacturing double-barrel guns in this country. I sincerely hope you will look into this side of the question and give it due consideration before incorporating in the new tariff law the proposed 25 cents duty per pair of tubes, and after you have considered it well, if you still believe that the shotgun barrels ought to pay a duty, compromise by putting on one somewhat more reasonable, say, about 10 cents per pair, this I believe would bring in more revenue than the higher rate, as it would last longer; that is, the manufacturers in this country would not be so liable to install machinery so soon to make their own barrels, but even with the 10 cents per pair duty, in time it will stop all importations of barrels, and the Government will not derive any revenue from them. Trusting that you will present this question to your committee and look into it from every point of view, and that you will see your way clear to leave the barrels on the free list, but if this is asking too much, you will at least reduce the proposed duty to about 10 cents per pair, and thereby postpone for a longer time the entire stopping of importation of barrels, I am, Yours, respectfully, PARAGRAPH 671. Shrimps and other shellfish. PARAGRAPH 672. J. G. RIGA. Silk, raw, in skeins reeled from the cocoon, or rereeled, but not wound, doubled, twisted, or advanced in manufacture in any way. PARAGRAPH 673. Silk cocoons and silk waste. PARAGRAPH 674. Silkworm eggs. PARAGRAPH 675. Skeletons and other preparations of anatomy. PARAGRAPH 676. Skins of all kinds, raw (except sheepskins with the wool on), and hides not specially provided for in this section. Chairman Ways and Means Committee, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: On behalf of the Merrimac Chemical Co. I beg to submit herewith the following brief: NITRATE OF SODA. Under the act of 1909 nitrate of soda is entered free of duty. The same is true of all previous tariff acts in the history of this country. It is of the utmost importance that it should remain upon the free list. Nitrate of soda is not only indispensable to the chemical manufacturers who use it as a basic raw material for many products, particularly in the manufacture of nitric acid, which is itself on the free list, but it is also consumed in large quantities by several other industries. It is one of the three chief sources of nitrogenous fertilizers used so extensively for agricultural purposes. It is also one of the chief elements entering into the manufacture of dynamite. All the nitrate of soda consumed in this country is imported from Chile, where it is known as Chile saltpeter. Its importance will be seen from the amount imported. The Government statistics for the year ending June 30, 1912, show that there were imported into this country 481,786 tons, at a total valuation of $15,420,904. To place a duty on this basic material would simply raise the price to the American consumer of the many finished products of which it is an essential ingredient. Respectfully submitted. S. W. WILDER, President. BRIEF BY THE COCHRANE CHEMICAL CO., BOSTON, MASS. Hon. OSCAR W. UNDERWOOD, BOSTON, MASS., January 31, 1913. House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: On behalf of the Cochrane Chemical Co. I beg to submit herewith the following brief: Nitrate of soda.-Under the act of 1909 nitrate of soda is entered free of duty, and if our data is correct nitrate soda has always been on the free list, where it properly belongs. Nitrate of soda is not only indispensable to the chemical manufacturers, who use it as a basis of raw material for manufactured products especially nitric acid, which is itself on the free list-but it is also consumed in large quantities by other manufacturers, chiefly the fertilizer and powder industries. There is not a pound of nitrate soda produced in this country so far as we know, the entire consumption coming from Chile, where it is known as Chile saltpeter, and by a tax levied upon its production is the chief support of the Chilean Government. Its importance will be seen from the amount imported. The Government statistics for the year ending June 30, 1912, show that there were imported into this country 481,786 tons, at a total valuation of $15,420,904. To place a duty on this basic material would mean the raising in price of many of the important chemicals entering into the manufacture of our cotton, wool, iron, and steel industries, etc., and consequently advanced prices on the finished products. The farmers especially would suffer, as it is they who indirectly, but ultimately, are the largest consumers of nitrate soda, therefore we again urge you that we most earnestly believe that any change in the present laws regarding nitrate soda would work a very serious injury to the interest of this country. Yours, very truly, COCHRANE CHEMICAL CO., PARAGRAPH 678. PARAGRAPH 679-SPICES. Specimens of natural history, botany, and mineralogy, when imported for scientific public collections, and not for sale. PARAGRAPH 679. Spices: Cassia, cassia vera, and cassia buds; cinnamon and chips of; cloves and clove stems; mace; nutmegs; pepper, black or white, and pimento; all the foregoing when unground; ginger root, unground and not preserved or candied. SPICES. STATEMENT OF W. J. GIBSON, ON THE SUBJECT OF SPICES. Mr. GIBSON. Mr. Chairman, and gentlemen of the committee, I appear to advocate a duty on unground spices, for the reason that they are luxuries, and so long as we have duties on imports for the purpose of raising revenue for the support of the Government, there ought to be a duty on spices, unground, that being the condition in which they are almost entirely imported. The spices to which I particularly refer are those included in paragraph 679 of the present tariff act, on the free list. They are: Cassia, cassia vera, and cassia buds; cinnamon and chips of; cloves and clove stems; nutmegs, pepper, black or white, and pimento, all the foregoing when unground; ginger root, unground, and not preserved or candied. Those are the spices on the free list, and they form nearly the whole of the spices which are imported, as they are imported in no other condition than in the unground condition. The spices which are on the dutiable list in paragraph 298 are mustard, ground or prepared-mustard is hardly a spice in the strict acceptation of the word-which is dutiable if prepared in bottles or otherwise, at 10 cents per pound; capsicum or red pepper, whether ground or unground, 2 cents per pound; sage, 1 cent per pound. The balance of that dutiable paragraph is "Spices not specially provided for in this section, 3 cents per pound." That is very misleading, but it means that that applies only to ground spices or spices in their ground condition. To show you that it is simply absurd to put such a clause as that in the tariff, all the revenue derived under that provision of 3 cents a pound for spices not specially provided for in the year 1911 amounted to $1,016, while there were 54,000,000 pounds of the other spices which I have named which were imported and came in free. The policy of this Government has always been, from the very beginning, that luxuries should pay high rates of duty. Our forefathers at the beginning of the Government said that they did not want to encourage the people in extravagant living or the high cost of living and where they only put 5 per cent duty on manufactured articles, such as woolen cloth, cotton cloth, they put a very high rate of duty upon spices, and they followed out that principle from the beginning of the Government down until 1883, when the policy of protection came in and spices were put upon the free list. Now, to give you an idea of the history of this matter, in the tariff act of March 7, 1804, it imposed a duty on cinnamon and cloves of 20 cents a pound, nutmegs of 50 cents a pound, and mace of $1.25, 78959-VOL 6-13-16 PARAGRAPH 679-SPICES. and under the tariff act of April 27, 1816, nutmegs paid a duty of 60 cents a pound, cinnamon and cloves 25 cents, and mace $1. These duties were put on these spices unground, because no revenue would be derived from them if imported ground. In the tariff act of June 30, 1864, these spices, all the ones that I have named, in the unground condition, had a duty on them from 15 cents up to 40 cents. I won't read that over; it is not necessary, as I submitted my brief. That rate of duty continued, according to my recollection, down until 1882, when, as I say, the idea went into operation of not putting any duty on noncompetitive articles, so they went upon the free list, except cayenne pepper, which was raised to some little extent in Louisiana, and the duty on that was 2 cents a pound. There was also some mace produced, and mustard. Those are the only three articles that paid any duty; the others came in free. I present this matter as revenue measure. When this question was before this committee, before the act of 1909, when the gentlemen in the minority were presiding, I presented the same question to the chairman of the committee in practically the same brief that I have here to-day. I think the committee recommended a duty of 30 per cent ad valorem on these spices. I think that bill passed the House and went to the Senate, and the Senate struck out that clause and substituted for it a clause which had been in the act of 1897, and also in the acts of 1890 and 1883. So I think the minority of this committee were evidently with me then on this duty on the spices that I have named. I assume that the Democratic members of this committee can not well take a lower position on this matter of these spices. I think they ought to have a duty of at least 50 per cent. I observe from reading the proposed bill that the duty proposed by this committee on these spices is from 15 to 20 per cent. With all due respect to you, gentlemen, I think you are making an error in regard to a duty on luxuries. Here is an article that had its origin in the south of Italy, along the Mediterranean shores. The people who indulged in those articles at that time were called Sybarites. There was a city called Sybaritis, where the people were voluptuous and extravagant, and they had recourse to the East in order to get these spices. Spices are used, as you know, to make things more agreeable. They were considered effeminate. They were so considered by our forefathers, and they were not used by the general masses of the people. They do not produce the virile qualities, nor have they any place in that category. I presume you have briefs before you saying that these spices are largely used almost as necessities. Now, so far as I have been able to investigate this matter, these spices are used largely, most largely, in their natural state; less than half of them are ground. A large quantity of them are used in barrooms. You will find cinnamon, cloves, and pimento in most every large barroom in the country. They are used in the household in the whole condition. As I say, of these spices about 60,000,000 pounds were imported in 1912, and that is just a little over half a pound per capita. Then they are used for perfumes. Oil is made from them, which is used for perfumed soap. There is the oil of cassia, the oil of cloves, and so on, and they are thoroughly identified with luxuries in every sense of the word. They are of no substantial nutriment. They are not produced |