Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1877-05-24

business Whlcn stones tnem INTO DE-
spair. "Neither do / condemn thee.
Go and sin no more. THE Galaxy
for June.
THE SEWING MACHINE BUSI.
q NESS.
Fifty Per Cent. Reduction In
Prices.
From the New York Times, May 8.
The expiration of the Bachelor
needle plate patent, which takes place
at noon to-day, is expectad to work
important changes in the sewing ma
chine trade, besides reducing the enor-
Imous and artificially inflated prices
which have prevailed for SO many
years. The "Bsehelder" is the last Of
the series of patents held by the Singer,
Wheeler & Wilson, and Grover & Baker
which has controlled the
business and exacted royalties from
outside companies for long time.
The old Howe patent of 1916 for '.join-
ing two pieces of cloth together with
sewing machinery" consisting Of ian
eye punch needle and shuttle" was
also held by the same companies, and
ouCCtuhlly COutIOilcu tu0 lDduaAnNtaAO
of any and all machines. 1t expired
ten years ago. 10 addition to this, the
com bination, up to within three years,
owned the A. b. Wilson patent for .
four motion feed, which with the
Bachelor patent already mentioned,
gave them practical command OF the
entire business. Outside companies
paid royalties of from 81 to SO On each
machine manufactured by them, all Of
which went into the pockets Of the
combination. One of the outside COM
panies is said to have paid as high as
$50. 900 year in royalties for term OF
ten years, and still 10 have made i'm
mense profits. The simple fact is that
the '.margin" of profit in the sewing
machine business has been SO enormous
as 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 confession of their own officers,
from $11 to $751; piece. The additional
500 per cent. is distributed in royalties,
commissions to agents, commissions to
|canvassers, taxes, Office rent, and profit
to the manufacturer. The canvassers
rarely make less than $40 on each ms
chine sold, and when, as in the case Of
the Singer and other large companies,
the years sales are computed by hun
dreds of thousands, the amount which
the middle men" receive becomes
enormous. The manufacturers claim
that their own share of profit is only
about so per cent, and that q large
portion Of this is swallowed up In the
maintenance of their immense estab-
Iishments, in taxes, and in the constant
and expensive litigation which the
protection Of their respective patents
entails upon them. In one ease, re-
Gently pending In the courts Of Balti-
more, one com pany Ii said to have paid
out SO, 900. The extent and value q
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, 1000, 600
to SIS 600, 900 Invested in its business.
The Howe Company has 81 ,000, 900 TO
IS, 900 600, and the Wheeler & Wilson,
and other large companies, have
amounts in proportion.
Up to the present time the Singer
Company has taken the lead in the re-
duction of prices, and announces that
the retail price of its $50 machines wiz
hereafter be reduced to $50 for cash,
and their $40 style to $40 cash. The
other com panies will probably follow
in their wake, ard most of them have
made considerable reductions in their
respective price lists. 1t is thought
that this general fall in the prices,
while benefiting the public, will be the
means of wedding out the weaker COM
panies, and establishing the stronger
concerns on q more profitable basis
than ever.
The only patent which will remain
in force after to-day covers simply some
unimportant minor details Of construc-
tion. The vibrating needle and rota-
ting hook, and continuous feed, In
connection with the above, whether
wheel or what is known as four mo-
ton feed, will become common prop
erty. In 1865 q combination was
formed between Grover d Baker,
Wheeler & Wilson, Howe and Singer.
by which all patents belonging to these
companies were consolidated, and to
be used by each of them in construct
ing their several machines. One OF
the principal stipulations was that no
machine should be sold by either COM
pany in the combination for less than .
specified sum. This gave the four
companies absolute control Of the price
which should be charged for every
sewing machine in the United States.
The Brcbelder patent, under which the
ombination acted, has been twice ex-
tended, and the net profits Of the four
com panies on that patent have been az
least a. .OO0. .OO0. Strenuous efforts were
made to obtain q third extension Oh
the patent, bills for this purpose hav'
ing been introduced In the last three
Congresses, and some Of the ablese
lawyers in the country being employ
ed to argue for the extension befors
the Committee on Patents OF both
Houses. All efforts of the combination
to secure an extension having failed,
the manufacture of all sewing machines
under the Bachelor patent Is now freo
to all who desire to engage In the bu-
siness.