The Lake County star., 1877-05-24

From the Nsw York Evening Post ns.
A .cdmbinstion Of sewing machine
manufactures, including the Singer,
the Wheeler q Wilson and the Grover
q Baker Companies, have for many
yeans controlled the patents ON some
ofthe essential patts of every sewing
4a3klney end have exaOeed Z royalty
sffom A1i other manufhc fhctorors. The
important Howe patent o. the eye
pointed needle expired About tan years
Ago, and the FifxSeriId gpatent on the
f0uisrnotion feed about three ysan ago.
The last Of this series Of patents VIII
expire on Tuesday next, And the man.
ufacture OF sewing machines will
thenceforth be free ? TO every one, al
though, Of course, large number Of
patents on nOn-essential details and at
tachments will continue In force.
The patent which expires Is the one
known % the Bstchelder patent, and
covers the needle-plate, together with
all devices by which cloth can be fed
between two clamping surfaces. This
patent was granted In 1855, and re-
newed In 1870. For the use Of the
needle plate, which Is essential, every
company outside Of the combination
has been required to pay q royalty Of
three dollars on each machine sold.
unless It was Intended for export. A
royalty ofany amountc could be charged,
however, II 1t was was desired to limit
the manufacture of any new machine.
One company, It IL said, has paid
$500, 900 In the last ten years to the
companies controlling this patent.
The simple fact is that the margin"
Of profit in the sewing-machine busi-
ness has been 30 enormous rs to allow
manufacturers, agents and canvassers
q joint profit Of 400 to 500 per cent. on
their wares. The actual first cost Of
the $50 and $40 machines sold by the
leading companies Is, on the c0nfes-
sion of their own officers, from $l1 to
$l5apiece. The additionaI5O 500 per cent.
Is distributed In royalties, commissions
to agents, commissions to canvassers,
taxes, Office rent, and profit to the
manufacturer. The canvasser rarely
makes less than $50 ON each machine
sold, and when, as In the case of the
Singer and other large companies, the
years sales are computed by hundreds
Of thousands, the amount which the
"middle men" receive becomes enOr-
nous.
The manufacturers claim that their
own share ofprofit is only 80 per cent,
and that large portion Of this IL swal-
lowed up In the maintenance Of their
immense establishments, in taxes, and
in the constant and extensive litiga-
ton which the protection OF their re-
spective patents entails upon them. In
one case, recently pending In the
courts of Baltimore, one company Is
said to have paid out SEC, 600. The ex.
tent and value of the sewing-machine
trade may be gathered from the fact
that the Singer Company, which last
year sold over 26O, 900 machines, has
from SIC, ,O00, 900 to SIS, ,000, 900 invested
in its business. The Howe Company
has $1,000, 900, to $4,000, 900, and the
Wheeler & Wilson and other large
companies have amounts In proper
ton. .. -. -fift
Up to the present time the Singer
Co. has taken the lead in the reduction
Of prices, and announces that the re-
tail price of its $50 machines will here
after be reduced b, SEQ for cash, and
their $40 style to $40 cash. The other
companies will probably follow In their
wake, and most Of them have made
considerable reductions in their respec-
tive price lists. 1t is thought that this
general fall In prices, while benefiting
the public, win be the means of weed
ing out the weaker companies, and es-
tablishing the stronger concerns on
more profitable basis than ever.