New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1877-05-12

Cincinnati Commercial writes as follows
under date of May q:
At noon tomorrow the great monopoly
on sewing machines expires, and from
that time forward the most improved ma
chine will be sold for at least one-third of
the former prices. The only patents on
all sewing machines that will remain in
force will be on the minor details. The
vital points, such as the vibrating needle
and reciprocatipg shuttle, the vibrating
needle and rotating hook, continuous
feed in connection with the above, whether
wheel or what is known as the fore-motion
feed, will expire. In other words, the
combination consisting of Grover &
Baker, Wheeler & Wilson, Howe and
Singer companies, will come to an end.
They owned the John Bachelor patent,
which was the only one besides the A. B.
Wilson, and which was valuable as a con-
tinuous feed motion. The profits of this
patent have been not less than $4,000, 900.
In 1851 or 1852 the combination was
formed, by which the patents belonging to
the several companies were made common
use of. A stipulation was made, however,
that no machine should be sold for less
than an agreed price, which has always
been about six times the first cost. They
would also license other companies to
manufacture machines for fee of from
So to $50 per machine, according to the
number manufactured, and then only
when the combination price was adhered
to in the sale of the same. So strong has
been this combination that it virtually
controlled the price of every machine in
the country. The Bachelor patent was
twice extended, A year ago the combination
raised million dollars to get it extended
again. The ablest lawyers in the country
were retained, and appeared before the
congressional committees. Since efforts
have been made to get a patent on some
minor detail by which the monopoly could
be continued. 1t is the testimony of any
reputable person acquainted with the sub.
ject that these machines can be turned out
at cost of So rs, and that $40 at the out
side for retail price would give all hands
large profit
The Louisville C0urier.JouTnal of the
eighth, on this subject, says:
To-day the term of the last sewing ma
chine patent will expire, and hereafter no
royalty can be exacted from manufac.
turers, fact which will, of necessity,
cheaper these useful household machines.
For many years the Wheeler & Wilson,
the Singer and the Grover g. Baker com
panies have controlled all the inventors
patents, and have, consequently, placed
restrictions upon the manufacture of sew
ing machines. The Bachelor needle
plate patent is the one expiring to-day. A
royalty of So on every machine sold hav-
ing this plate attached has been paid, one
company, it is said, having paid to the
controllers of the patent in the last ten
years as much as 100000. There is an
impression widely prevalent that the sew
ing machine men have been making the
most fabulous sums out of their business.
The have. all become rich, undoubtedly,
but still they have their drawbacks, and
justice must be done them, for the sewing
machine fraternity has been greatly
abused. A recent article in the New York
World on the business says:
"In regard to the cost of a sewing ma
chine many erroneous statements have
been published, and the general impress
sion of the public has been that the profits
have been enormous, and that this royal
ty was much larger than it really has
been. The sum of So is but I small item
on a seventy-dollar sewing m achine, but
a good machine of that kind costs lust
about SIS to place completed in the ware
rooms. The cost of selling the machine
is much more than the cost of producing
it. The following statement was OBJ
tanned from a careful average of the bust
ness of first class company, and was
based upon the sale of 4C00 machines
upon the lease system:
Cost Of manufacturing a seventy dollar ma
cnlne's'''. .,..........S Is co
Proportion of expenses OF distributing
Offices on each machine. ......,....,,,,, 10 90
Commission paid to canYassers, thirty per
,..................,.. 81 90
Cost OF collecting quarterly payments..... 90
I NO years interest On same, 3 so
margin OF Prent''''''' 10 so
Total. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS $50 90
"And from the margin must be deduct
ed the losses arising from the carrying
away of machines by dishonest people.
'I tell you, said the gentleman from
whom the foregoing statement was OBJ
tanned, this lease business must be aban-
doned, and will be by almost everybody
in the business this year, for prices are
going down twenty-five per cent, and we
can't do that kind of business except
upon large margin
"The president of the Wheeler & Wilson
Company said: 'We will furnish our S65
machine to any one who will take the
number from US which we sell annually
for $50 each. Nothing but the protection
afforded by patents has brought the sew
ing machine to its present perfection, he
added. In other countries, like Germany,
where they have been allowed to pirate
our inventions, they have never made
single original improvement in their ma
chimes, but here there has been q con-
slant strife to improve them by outsiders,
and we inside have had money to work on
them. 1t cost us three years time and
$500, 600 to produce our No. s machine
from our No. 9. We have not vet decided
what will be done in the way of reduc-
lion in prices. We shall probably put our
s55 machine down to $45, which was the
price before the war.
"At the Singer Manufacturing Com
pany's Office the president said: There
WAS q time when a great competition
arose as to who should sell the most ma
chimes. The Singer outsold the Others
largely, but there was looseness in the
way in which people who could not get
trusted for bushel of'coal were put in
possession of $75 sewing machine,
which resulted in many losses to the COM
papies and great clamor, from dishon-
est people mainly, against the lease sys-
lem. Thatsystem will have to be stopped
now, as we shall have TO reduce our prices
almost Immediately. The lease system
has been the means of enabling many
poor people to buy sewing machine who
would never have got one in any other
way. This change will undoubtedly
prove Of benefit to people with cash to