factured in Montreal, Berlin, or Paris. There is some slight difference in wages in the three cities; my figures are the average and are based on data obtained from various sources, including that given by impartial experts from these cities, and which will be gladly detailed or explained by experts in person at the election of the committee. 66 Cost of production of 5-foot church statue cast, technically known as religious casts of sculpture," painted and decorated. Labor, including casting, molding, cleaning, painting, packing, and shipping.. Material, including plaster of Paris, cement, fiber, iron, dexterine, oil, turpentine, paints, gold leaf, use of brushes and wood.. Model and mold, including labor and material (this amount is only the proportionate amount of cost to each of the several casts made from the mold)- Loss and collection (5 per cent).. Transportation: Average cost to New York of 250 pounds from Chicago and vicinity... Duty of 35 per cent (such as we ask)..---. 9.68 Total cost f. o. b. New York of domestic as compared with foreign statue.... These figures do not include the selling costs or sales, commission, interest on principal, capital, etc., or profit of any kind. They represent rock-bottom costs, and show that even with the duty we ask put on the importer can undersell us. The cost of material is about the same in each of the foreign cities, but the cost of labor differs slightly. Plaster of Paris, pure, or terra-cotta statues cost 15 per cent to 25 per cent more. The smaller statue is proportionately cheaper as to material, but the labor is only slightly reduced. The foreign houses are paying American agents from 50 per cent to 100 per cent commission. Well-known houses in addition to this are paying dividends of from 25 per cent to 35 per cent on their stock. The catalogue prices of the various foreign and domestic manufacturers, while not uniform and not altogether a fair basis of the selling prices, still show the selling prices of the statues, such as we describe, will run between $40 and $50 for both foreign and domestic. These prices give the American manufacturer a loss in some instances and in others a profit of not more than 10 per cent, providing the selling cost is reduced to a minimum by the manufacture in numbers. Ten per cent is not a proper working profit for this line of work. Competition is so keen and the selling prices so close that smaller statues of the 1 and 2 foot style are frequently sold at a considerable loss. The one of the largest houses in the business, a house established in 1860, has seriously and is seriously considering a plan to move its factory to Europe and there manufacture the article for pur poses of American sale. This they claim is necessary if they wish to remain in business, as the time is close when the domestic manufacturer must close up in the event of another cut in the competitive prices. An illustration of the hardship worked may be gathered from a comparative estimate of statues made in and about Chicago and shipped to New York with the same statue made in Montreal and shipped to the same point. A Canadian statue reaches New York free of duty at a freight rate of $0.55 per hundred and takes less time than the statue manufactured in Chicago at almost double the expense and paying a freight rate of $0.75 per hundred. We need more protection against the Canadian trade than we do the European. In conclusion, we state that the condition of the American industry is growing poorer each day. The prices obtained for religious statuary average far less than the prices obtained for the same goods. made up into profane statuary. The profits of the business are reduced to a minimum, and in many cases are wiped out altogether. The American manufacturer must undersell the importer to secure the home market. When the production of any one style of article or any one house interferes with the sale of foreign goods, the manufacturer drops his prices to a scale below profit or even the cost of the American manufacturer and still nets a handsome profit. With the increased cost of labor and material in the United States in the last ten years, the prices obtained for statuary have not increased, but in numerous cases decreased, although the quality of the material and the grade of workmanship has been materially bettered. The industry has increased in volume fully 200 or 300 per cent, while the profits have as rapidly decreased. It is only by the number of sales and by superior selling methods and by representing a superior article that the domestic manufacturer has been able to keep his head above water. We ask, therefore, that the paragraph 649, as amended in the proposed form contained in this memorandum, be inserted in the new revision of the tariff by this committee. Yours, Daprato Statuary Company, Chicago, Ill.; Bernardini Counsel, 27 William Street, New York City. HON. WILLIAM J. CARY, M. C., SUBMITS LETTER OF THE M. H. WILTZIUS COMPANY, MILWAUKEE, WIS., RELATIVE TO CHURCH STATUARY AND REGALIA. Hon. WILLIAM J. CARY, MILWAUKEE, WIs., November 28, 1908. Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: No doubt you were a little surprised to receive a message from me to-day, for which this letter is a confirmation. To explain more closely the reason for the telegram it will be well for you to know that the Munich Statuary Company, in which I am interested and of which I am the manager, in conjunction with nine or ten other manufacturers of the same article of church decoration commodity, feel that our manufacturing business not alone particularly in this line, but also the manufacturers of church ware, such as chalices, candelabra, vestments, and all other kindred articles that are used for church purposes being now largely made in this country, our tariff needs revision, so that our industries may be protected. There exists at the present time a clause in the tariff which permits all of these various church goods, articles, statuary, etc., to be entered, free of duty in this country upon affidavit that the same are intended exclusively for church purposes, and through this fact our American or domestic manufacturers do not receive the benefits that our import tariff should give. You will readily see that through this means our American manufacturers are brought in direct competition with the goods that are manufactured in foreign countries by much cheaper laborers, and through this reason our American manufactured goods of necessity draw the short end. In connection with statues particularly the combined statue manufacturers of the United States, among which the Munich Statuary Company is one, have had the matter studied up by one Mr. William L. Tierney, an attorney and counselor at law, of No. 27 William street, New York City, and through some unaccountable manner our firm was not apprised of the date when this matter was to be taken up, and we this morning received a communication which notified us that this subject would be taken up before the Ways and Means Committee in Washington on Saturday, the 28th of November, and you can very readily realize then that we were driven to our wits' end in order to be able to get our friends busy, and having no friend at Washington other than yourself, we made free to address you first with a telegram apprising you of this matter, and which this letter now confirms. As the general subject of the tariff on all religious and church goods articles is one of considerable importance, we would consider it a great personal favor if we could be informed of the approximate time when this matter will be taken up by the tariff committee, and we would make it a point then also to visit you personally, either myself or Mr. Wiltzius, and talk over very carefully all matters that should be taken into consideration in connection. Now, Mr. Tierney, who appears before the Ways and Means Committee to-morrow, has for his subject the revision of the tariff only upon religious statuary, whereas in the general business in the church-goods line there are one thousand and one items that must not be overlooked and which require just as close consideration as the subject of church statuary, and principally to these articles do we refer. Church vestments, chalices, ciboriums, ostensoriums, which are made in silver, gold, and brass, are all on the free list where they are imported direct for churches, and in this line we have a large number of metal manufacturers that make it a business to supply these things, and in the vestment line our firm is one of the largest domestic manufacturers in this country, and through this free import clause we find ourselves greatly handicapped on account of the excessively high tariff that we have to pay on imported silks, which we use in our manufacture. Now, there is one thing which we wish to make plain. We would advocate a reduction of the extremely high tariff so that our American manufacturers in this line would be protected, but the free import clause we feel should be entirely eliminated, as that is radically unjust as against domestic manufacturers. Of course, when we hear from you in connection with this matter we assure you that it will afford us great pleasure to meet you in Washington, where matters of this kind can be better talked over and discussed. We again ask to kindly inform us when matters of this nature will probably come before your honorable body, and we shall do our best to give you full information as far as we are interested in the subject. Taking this opportunity to send you a friendly greeting, and hoping soon to hear from you, beg to remain, Most respectfully, yours, M. H. WILTZIUS COMPANY. HON. J. HAMPTON MOORE, M. C., SUBMITS LETTER OF THE WRIGHT MANUFACTURING CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA., RELATIVE TO SACRED VESSELS. Hon. J. HAMPTON MOORE, PHILADELPHIA, November 28, 1908. Congressman, Third District, Philadelphia, Pa. DEAR SIR: We wish to interest you on the subject of the free import clause under the existing tariff. Among other goods that we manufacture, we have a silver department in which we make a specialty of sacred vessels, such as are used by the clergy of the Catholic and Episcopal denominations, namely, chalices, ciboriums, and ostensoriums, etc. Under the existing tariff we have a clause known as the "free import," under which clause a clergyman by simply signing an affidavit can import these articles free of duty. Our domestic manufacture has by reason of this clause fell off to an alarming extent. Our domestic manufactures in quality are equal in every case and superior to the foreign in many instances, but we find ourselves unable to compete with the foreign manufacturer on account of the clause in question. The demand for these sacred vessels is in a manner limited, since a clergyman uses but one of each article. On the other hand, there are enough manufacturers who, with their present facilities, can well take care of the demand for these articles should this "free import clause" be stricken out under the tariff revision. We will be prepared to give you further information should it be desired, and we trust you will interest yourself and refer the matter to the committee in charge of the tariff revision. Yours, very truly, WRIGHT MANF'G Co. (INC.), Secretary and Treasurer. urer. THE W. J. FEELEY CO., PROVIDENCE, R. I., WISHES CHALICES, CIBORIA, AND OSTENSORIA MADE DUTIABLE. PROVIDENCE, R. I., November 30, 1908. Hon. JOHN DALZELL, M. C., Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: In reference to the "free list" of the present tariff schedule, we would call attention to article 649, and the abuse of this section as exemplified by the large importations of these articles into this country, as attested by the following facts: First. That French, German, and Belgian houses circulate catalogues in this country and have their agents in New York, as instance Exhibit A accompanying this letter, Le Roux, of Paris, whose representative is George Gregoire, 1170 Broadway, New York. Also the catalogue of Oberhauer, Budapest. Second. That many American houses advertise these goods free of import that formerly patronized American manufacturers, as instance Exhibit B, the catalogues of John P. Daleiden, of Chicago; of McKeown Brothers, of St. Louis; of the Stoltzenberg Company, of New York; of B. Herder, of St. Louis; of The T. F. Phillips Company, of Dubuque; of the M. H. Wiltzius Company, of Milwaukee and New York. Third. The abuse of this article has been so general that many stores not only advertise these goods free of import, but furnish a form of oath for their customers. Chalices are in many cases the personal property of individuals, and the importation of these articles free of duty, as advertised in many catalogues, defeats the object of that part of section 649 which excepts personal property of individuals. Ciboria and ostensoria are, properly speaking, furniture or fixtures, as they are used only at intervals and are then put away until again required, and are furniture or fixture in the same sense that they constitute a useful article or article of permanent ornamentation. In view of these facts, we petition that the words "borne in the hand" be omitted from this section and that the following be inserted as not free from duty: "Chalices, ciboria, and ostensoria." The manufacturing of these goods gives employment to 500 or 600 men in this country, and with no greater protection than is given to other manufactured goods would employ twice or three times that number. We desire that the duty on these goods be the same as on other articles of gold and silver, such as jewelry and tableware. The exhibits referred to have been forwarded to the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. We are mailing you a copy of our catalogue, under separate cover, to give some idea of the extent and variety of our manufactures in this line. Respectfully, THE W. J. FEELEY CO., |