The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-04-10

of the machines they manufactured anu
this royalty was made so small that 1t
could not have an appreciable effect upon
the price of shoes except to the wholesale
dealer. -,
We are assured that S. per cent. of the
manufacturers who use these machines
and pay the royalties cxacted BY the
Mckay association are in favor of hav-
ing this application for an extension
granted, thus presenting the paradoxical
position of the taxpayer asking to be
taxed. We are told that the association
owning the machine incurs all the ex-
pense of keeping the machine in order
that they send salaried "visitors" Mt their
own expense periodically to examine and
repair all the machines, even those ope-
rated in the remotest States; that the in
tricacy of the machine is such that only
the best mechanical talent can by con-
slant inspection familiarize themselves
with the machines sufficiently to properly
adjust and repair them; that the ma.
chine can be operated by an unskilled
mechanic without his discovering the
fact that it is out of order, and that in
this condition it will as surely do bad
work rs that it will do perfect work when
in perfect order; that the inferior work
cannot be discovered until the wearer of
the shoe discovers to his own chagrln
and to the injury of the reputation OF the
machine.
When told all this, Mr.. Speaker, we
arree with the manufacturers that they
should at least appear liberal in their
advocacy of this self-imposed taxation.
But. sir, when we remembe that in these
shoe manufactures the system is so per
feet that every branch of the trade is
really reduced to science; that, for in
stance, the soles themselves are weighed
and valued according to weight; that the
uppers and lining and binding and eye
lets, and even the thread, are all estima-
ted as constituting such a proportion Of
the aggregated cost of each pair of shoes,
that the labor is paid for by the piece;
and that the very waste of the manutac-
tory is made to become source of reve-
nue. to the manufacturer, we may very
we'll conclude that he can tell to q cent
the cost of pair of shoes or boots, when
and that to this aggregate
there never fails to be added the amount
of royalty he assumes TO advocate, but
which we see very clearly he must and
does necessarily exact from the whole
sale dealer.
Mr.. Speaker, allow me to illustrate
this idea. In Albany, New York there
is shoe manufactory that throws upon
the pnblic markets annually nine hum
dred thousand pairs of women's and
Misses shoes at an average cost OF few
cents over dollar per pair. An average
royalty of one and three-quarters cents
per pair is paid on these shoes for the
use of the nine Mckay machines upon
which they are manufactured, aggregat-
ing the handsome sum of S15,750. Now,
sir, can any man here or elsewhere for
one moment believe that this firm would
pay annually that sum as a protection
against the possibility of some manufac-
turers giving g bad name to machine
sewed shoes? No sir. These manufac-
turers know full we'll that every cent of
this royalty is paid back to them by the
parties to whom they sell, and hence
their advocacy of its continuance.
To my mind, MIR. Speaker, it is appa-
rent that if every patent included in the
machine had expired, it or something
better would still be used; these same
visitors" or some other substitute would
still be employed. and that, too, at less
expense than the aggregated royalty paid
by the manufacturers; and the Mckay
Association, which has managed its in
vestments so wisely, would continue to
have an opportunity to manufacture
shoes as we'll as build machines, while
the public would be saved the half mil
lion of dollars now annually paid as roy
atty to this Mckay Sewing Machine As
sociation.
The original Blade patent, Mr.. Speak
er, which is the controlling one in this
machine, has lease of two more years
of life. If the Mathies patent is denied
extension the Blade patent will protect
this association for that length of time.
In this material age, when progress is
the watchwood of the mechanical world,
who can say that within the next two
years better than Mathies will not be
found to anticipate the expiration of the
Blade patent and build us machine still
more perfect than the Mckay?
True, this machine has revolutionized
the manufacture of shoes. 1t has virtual
ly closed up the old-fashioned shoe-shops
thrown away the awl, the bristle, and
the short-legged bench; it has multiplied
the laborers, increased each ones power
to produce, and given him better wages
it has greatly reduced the wholesale
price of shoes, and probably given us
better shoes by retail for the money, but
beyond this it has in no wise benefited
the man or woman who buys a pair oi
shoes to wear. A pair of mems hand
made shoes of 1859 that cost $3.50 was
Just about such pair of shoes as these
machines turn out to-day and are sold by
retail for $3.50. A pair of woman's
shoes of excellent quality, in 1859, could
be bought at retail for 81. The ordinary
price to-day is perhaps little more for
the same quality of shoes. The present
style, Iadmit, is heavier, may be better
made, and contains far more stock than
the shoe of 1859. But, Mr.. Speaker, this
is simply fashion, which We all know is
tickle and changeable and as destructive
of capital perhaps as any other one
thing.
Mr.. Speaker, no one questions the inf,
mite benefit this machine has been to the
public, nor would I by any means
characterize it as an oppressive monopo'
" if it were not that through it there Is
established monopoly not anticipated
nor warranted by our patent system. Nc
one can doubt this.
The Mckay Association, Mr.. Speaker
l am told, has less than $4,000 invest
ed in the manufacture of these machines
and yet they propose to pay to the form
er Mrs. Mathies, now Mrs. Manville
$4,000 for a lease of fou. years and 6
half of life for her controlling patent, fol
YOU will remember that the ASSOCIATION
controls the Blade patent, which ha:
two and half years yet to live, and thi'
application is for an extension of sever
years. This association must have abso