duction made from the wages of its employees under this agreement, and the said trustees shall likewise each month report to said amalgamated association the amount in its hands to the credit of said fund, showing the balance at last report, the deposits, the credits of interest, and the payments made out of said fund during the month. In witness whereof said Tin Plate Company has caused these presents to be executed in its behalf by and the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers have caused these presents to be executed by its president and secretary and by the tin-plate wage conference committee of said association the day and date aforesaid. Tin Memorandum of agreement entered into between the Plate Company, party of the first part, and Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers, party of the second part, this 19. This agreement to govern on all orders rolled prior 19-, and to expire to The 19-. Tin Plate Company agrees not to take during the period of this contract more reexport business than will require a general 3 per cent concession from scale rates, and also that the fund thus created shall be held in trust to reimburse the Tin Plate Company for rebates paid on presentation of documentary evidence satisfactory to a committee of your association indicating that Tin Plate Company has paid such rebates. TIN PLATE Co. AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION OF IRON, STEEL, AND TIN WORKERS. Tin Tin Plate It is also agreed that the following shall be the rules for interpreting the rebate or drawback agreement between the Plate Company and the Amalgamated Association. The Amalgamated Association agrees to pay the Company a rebate of 25 per cent from scale rates on all reexport plates (by which is meant such plates as are employed in place of imported plates, which, if subsequently exported, would entitle buyer to benefit of drawback clause of Dingley tariff). It being understood that the Tin Plate Company will not sell during the term of this contract more of above-described plates than will require a general 3 per cent allowance from scale rates; also, that such allowance shall be employed to create a trust fund to be used for reimbursing - Tin Plate Company for rebates paid by it on presentation of documentary evidence satisfactory to a committee of Amalgamated Association indicating that Company has paid such rebates. Tin Plate The following shall be the method of distributing the fund created, as arranged for above: The Tin Plate Company shall place before a committee of the Amalgamated Association evidence of the number of boxes converted into cans or other receptacles to convey American commoditics or products abroad; at which time the Tin Plate Company shall be reimbursed from said fund to the extent of 25 per cent of the scale rate of wages paid by them for making said plates. TIN PLATE CO. AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION OF IRON, The only possible justification for continuing the application of drawback clause to tin plate is that the concession enables American packers and can manufacturers to obtain foreign trade that otherwise they would lose. The present difference between market value of imported tin plate and domestic tin plate, exclusive of duty, would amount to less than 2 cents on a 5-gallon oil can, and would amount to approximately one-fifth cent per can on a 1-pound salmon or fruit can. In many lines like canned salmon and canned fruit this difference would amount to less than 2 per cent of the valuation. In some other lines it might amount to as much as 4 per cent and, in extreme cases, per cent of total valuation. 5 It is a natural inference that so small a difference would not appreciably affect our export trade in cans or canned goods. The largest beneficiaries of the drawback provisions of the Dingley tariff, as applied to imported tin plate, are the following industries: Oil refineries; tobacco manufacturers; exporters of cottolene, lard, and canned meats; fruit and vegetable packers; salmon and other fish canneries; can and tinware manufacturers doing an export trade. An examination of reports published by the United States Treasury Department will show that during the past six years a greater amount has been paid by the Government for drawback on imported tin plate used in the manufacture of exported articles than on any other one item. What the securing of the export business in tin plate will mean to the tin-plate workers and manufacturers of the United States. The amount of tin plate annually imported to the United States amounts to 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 boxes. Using 1,000.000 boxes as a basis for calculations, we have the following: One million boxes 100pound plate equals 50,000 tons. Hot-mill product per week_. Hot-mill product, ten months_ Tons. 40 100 1,600 Fifty thousand tons divided by 1,600 equals 314. In other words, it will take 31 mills running full time for ten months to make the 1,000,000 boxes. The hot-mill rate on 100-pound plate is $9.75 per ton, or $488,000 on 50,000 tons. The hot-mill workmen, however, are not the only beneficiaries, as it will give an ordinary sheet-bar mill twenty-three 61318--MISC-09-5 weeks' work at six days per week. It will require 55,000 to 57,500 tons of pig iron, or six months' work of a 400-ton blast furnace. To follow the 1,000,000 boxes from the ore mines, where the ore is worth about 50 cents per ton, or $50,000, to the finished product, which is worth for export purposes about $3 per box, or $3,000,000, a difference of $2,950,000, about $2,200,000 of which, after allowing for the pig tin, will go to the American workinen, manufacturers, railroad and vessel companies, all of which at present is absorbed by the foreign competitors. One million five hundred thousand boxes will keep 220 mills in full operation for a period of seven and one-half weeks, or 35 mills in constant operation for a period of forty-seven weeks. In view of the fact that the tin-plate mills of the United States have not operated during the past year more than 70 per cent of their total capacity for want of business, we petition your honorable body to recommend the abrogation of the drawback agreement and the maintenance of a duty sufficient to enable American manufacturers and workmen, not only to make the plate for domestic purposes, but that used for reexport purposes also. It is our opinion that a lowering of the duty would demoralize the tin-plate industry in the United States, which is apparent by a comparison of the wages paid in the United States with the amount paid by our largest foreign competitor. The following is a comparative statement of tonnage and day rates in Wales, with tonnage and day rates prevailing in the United States: Comparative statement showing rates and earnings of tin-plate workmen in the United States and Wales. As stated in previous statement relative to hot-mill product per week, the figures given approximately are 40 gross tons per week, or 2 gross tons per turn. In Wales the average weekly production of a four-mill plant is 700 boxes per week, or 1 gross tons per turn, or approximately 30 tons per week. You will note on examination of comparative statement showing rates and earnings of tin-plate workmen in the United States and Wales that there are four extra men employed in the mills of the United States-viz, rougher, doubler's helper, heater's helper, and screw boy-which in a measure accounts for the larger output in the United States. Total differential in favor of the United States, $5.28 per ton. Net differential on day rates in favor of United States, $54.87. There are fully 17,000 people employed directly in the tin-plate factories of the United States, receiving $12,376,000 a year in wages (year estimated at two hundred and sixty working days); the number is still larger of those employed in steel works, blast furnaces, ore and coal mines, box factories, acid works, machine shops, and other industries engaged in furnishing supplies to the tin-plate world, and the employment of all these would be seriously curtailed by a change of duty injurious to the tin-plate industry. British tin plates in the United States. For the purpose of showing how the customs drawback system in the United States works out in practice, the British consul in New York supplies figures referring to the tin-plate imports into the United States during the four years, 1904-1907. The first column shows the weight of tin plates imported and paying duty, and the second column shows the weight of tin plates exported with benefit of drawback. From this table it will be seen that in the four years 550,976,000 pounds weight of imported tin plate paid duty, while 486,504,197 pounds were reexported, 90 per cent of the duty being refunded. The duty on tin plates under the tariff being 13 cents per pound, the duty actually paid was only one one-hundredth of 1 cents. Sheet-mill schedule. The following is the approximate differential in labor cost on tonnage basis on sheet mills in the United States compared to labor cost on tonnage basis in Wales, taking 28 gauge as the standard: The above shows a differential in wages on hot mills alone of 120 per cent in favor of American mills. We presume that the differential on day rates will be approximately the same as that on tin mills. Bar iron and steel schedule. Under the subject of bar iron and steel we do not desire to burden the committee with a repetition of figures as to wages in other countries. In the brief submitted by Mr. J. H. Nutt to your committee on Friday, November 25, are to be found practically all the available data on the subject of comparative wages. So far as we can learn, those figures are substantially correct, and we take it that the difference in favor of the American workman is the best reason that we could advance against any change in the tariff rates that would materially affect the present competitive relations of the United States and foreign countries. While the brief of Mr. Nutt does not deal with the subject of bar steel we are convinced that the wages paid to the men employed in |