New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-09-11
AT THE TARIFF HEARINGS.
FOREIGNERS WHO WANT DUTIES RE
-. PEALED.

COMPARISONS BETWEEN FLAX MANufAtIUKE
IN IRELAND AND rs THIS COUNTRY
e.. INDIAN COMPETITION IN BURLAPS.
IBr TELEGRAPH TO THE TRrBUNE.l
Washington Sept. lo.-In addition TO the work
ngmen. whose arguments before the Ways ana
Means Committee were outlined in these dispatches
Yesterday there appeared before the committee on
Saturday various representatives Of foreign pro-
ducers, importers and domestic producers Inc
conmittee had already heard appeals from
official representatives OF of the British colonies
for reduction OF duties in the interest OF British
PRODUCERS but the first person TO appear as a
representative of any class Of producers In the
United Kingdom itself was Mrs. Ernest Hart from
Ireland who is interested in certain Industrial
and philanthropc enterprises for the beneht OF the
poor peasantry Of that country Among these IN
dustres is the manufacture. chiefly by hand Iapor'
of certain woollen and linen goods, linen laces en-
broideries etc Mrs. Hart has been in charge OF
an Irish village at the Worlds Fair. where many
products of the Industries mentioned are on eN-
hibtion. She read to-day wcl-turned essay
the statistics in which must have cost somebody
good deal Of time and research The author OF the
essay contends that the duties on the wooien soodS
and other fabrics already mentioned are so high
as TO be virtually prohbitory, and that the Uhied
States tariff actually Expresses the lrish' men
women and children who produce goods WINCH II
admitted into the United states. would compete
ia, ~ do,nss,,c fabric whatsoever Mrs.
Hart asserted from her own personal
knowledge that American women who travel abroad
buy large quantities of these articles and snugse
them into the United States. thus defrauding inc
revenue She also complained that the prices OF
these desirable fabrics much cheaper In ireland
than they would be II II were not for the hgh
duties imposed by the existing tariff laws of the
United States. This would appear TO be additional
evidence offered by a British subject that duties
are paid by the foreign producer or importer. rather
than by the American consumer. Perhaps 1t ought
| to be added that. In order to palliae the onence
| Of the American women whom she accused OF
smuggling Mrs Hart remarked that they were
moved to purchase the contrabsnd articles through
sympathy for and desire to relieve. the needy per-
sons who had manufactured them
| A. d. Rosenfeld "A New-York importer Of linen
collars cuffs and shirts. submitted an argument In
| favor of a large reduction of the duties on these
! articles Before ne ended Mr.. Rosenfeld. with the
| generous assistance OF Mr. Reed. OF Maine sue
ceeded In convincing the committee that II the
| duties should be reduced as he desires he would
be able swell the profits OF his business 3''s per
! cent that being the share of profit which was
| lost by the foreign manufacturer ana importer
through the enactment OF the law OF 1890 1t APP
! pears that the increase in duties added . cents
a dozen to the price paid Mr. Resented for linen
collars and cuffs by his customers. who arc In
| the retail trade. but this increase has not been
| charged 70 the consumers Mr. Rosenfeld said that
importations and. therefore. the revenues have
| increas ed He wants the duties reduced 10 81 per
| cent ad valorem.
| Louis Raegner OF New-York appeared az the rep
resentative OF firm OF manufacturing chemists
! in Germany. and submitted an argument In favor
| of the repeal OF large reduction In the duty
! on saccharine which is now 20 or % per cent ad
| yaloren Benzoic acid, OF which sacchsrine is one
of the derivations is admitted free OF duty. but
the latter substance is protected by letters patent
which were issued to the discoverer. who formerly
lived in the United States Mr.. Raegner explained
that saccharne. which Is from 300 TO 200 times az
sweet as cane sugar. costs sl2 TO so a pound II Is
used In many pharmaceutical preparations, ana
also as a remedy in the treatment Of certain dis
eases II It were not for the high duty 1t would
also be extensively and prohably used IN swee'eh-
ing glucose 1900 pounds Of which, he said, could
be made. as sweet cane sugar by the additloh
of three-n,iar:ers OF a pound OF saccharlne The
latter Possesses no nutritive qualities whatever.
The manufacturers OF 1aX hemp and jute yarns
thread buraps. baggng. etc. were strongly repre-
! scnted by Mcssrs Turner. Barbour, Bemis and
Others who submitted many pertinent and interest
ing facts relating TO this important branch OF
American industry The mportations OF unmanu-
featured fax and hemp in 1892 amounted TO about
s2es0OOO and the importatons Of manufactures
OF fax hemp, jute, etc. amounted to s21jSUn
The duty on jute fibre was repealed by the act OF
1890 A. r. Turner. OF Paterson. " j.. said that
nearly all the materials used In the manu-
facture OF fax. hemp and Jute thread and yarns
are imported from Europe and India, and large
proportion of the machinery used is also of foreign
manufacture. In any deduction Of duties the fact
should be- taken into consideration that the wages
paid In the United States about twice or two
and a half times large wages In the same in
dustry i'm Great Britain. The difference Is still
greater between the United States and France and
italy On this point Mr.. Barbour who Is interested
in mills both In New-Jersey and Ireland corrobor
ated. Nr. Turner's statement About the same differ
ence he added in response to questions asked by Mr.
! Turner of Georgia exists in Insurance rates, cost
. | OF buildings etc. AS To the relative productive
and efficiency OF the operatives, he said there
was practically no difference between the two
countries, but the hands employed in the New
Jersey factories work only ffty-fve hours week
in ireland they work sixty hours. Mr. Turner con
tended that any material reduction OF duties would
, inevitably cause a reduction Of wages and In al
probability end I'm the closing Of the mfSlu
factories, and the transfer OF the capital and abo
! now invested and employed TO other branches o.
industry. There has been increase. he said il
the prices paid by the consumer since the enact
J ment of the Tariff law OF $780, and this statemen
was corroborated by Mr. Barbour Mr.. Barbour
further supplemented Mr.. Turner's statement b,
saving that the repeal Of the duties on raw materi
ais would give the manufacturers an advantage
NJ about 3 per cent. The ad vaorem equivalent o
the average specific duties on manufactured fla
last wear was 10 10 per cent and on unmanufacture
bemn Il was 1920 per cent. The foreign producers
therefore would he benefited TO the extent o
10 ner cent IN the one case and 1871 per cent q
tho other case. by the repeal OF the duties tn
+, raw, materials" while the burden upon the Amer
z lean manufacturer would be lghtened to the TX
q tent OF per cent He might divide portion o