New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-09-09


than 10000. as compared with slstV" from the
United Kingdom Mr. Turner, OF Georgia, who IL
anxious that bagging for cotton, as well as
chinery for the manufacture OF the same shall be
admitted free of duty. asked MI stevens num-
Der of questions and suggesteh tnat the cotton
States OF the South are conpehed 10 compete with
the cheap labor Of India withou; any protection
I'm tba form NJ duties on their product. a very
large proportion of which is sent To foreign mar
kets Mr. Stevens remarked that the prices Of
most agricultural products nave pe'" '~o''dlhSE
low during the last few months al" 'hat te
farmers Of New England a. vel hs "i the South
have suffered and are now suffering from 'he gen
eral depression Mr.. Turner did not meh,loh me
fact that the average weekly wages paid by jute-
bapginp manufacturers (who are forced To COM
pete with the Calcutta factories) are more than
four times as large as the wages pad 10 labor on
the cotton plantations Of Georgia me total Amer
lean production Of binding Irvine last year was
about 100000 pounds, and the average price was
~ cents a pound
Leopold Moritz Of philadelphia spoke earnestly
in behalf Of the retention Of the duty on buttons
made Of bone horn etc He said that in 1883 for
cign manufacturers and importers brought IN Tor
eign goods and cut their prices 10 sue" d" 'Nte"t
to break down home competition u1at 'pe "ie'lcai'
industry was on the verge OF ruin ana eNtihcuon.
Buttons which it cost 81 a gross 10 manufacture
were invoced so low that they cost only ~ cents
AT an advance OF only L. cents gross THOUSANDS
of persons we're thrown out Of employment. ana
button machinery was sold at aucuoh III ihiid-
dephia at the price Of scrap iron bY the 'hrlH "c'
OF 1880 the duty was raised To ~ per ce" Il"
yalorer and although lmportations are sun under
valued TO a considerable extent American manu-
facturers are able to pay good wages ana realize
fair profit while the OF the buttons to the con
sumner is lower than II was before the forcing down
of prices In 1889
Mr. Moritz exhibited a sample Of pumce-stone. an
article which is largely used I'm the button industry
and which is imported free of duty WITHIN the iast
fifteen months the price of this article has been ad
v,nced from u, cents a pound to az cents pound.
or 100 per cent in Philadelphia by combination OF
importers and foreign producers. III ms stone
could be- produced in the United states the nm
porters could not squeeze us In that manner sHii
MIR Moritz who added. THAT case shows that the
importer is not always busy looking out for the
interests of the consumer" Mr. MOritZ Is Ger
man American. and he apologzed for his Imperfect
English but he need not have done so Ills earnest
ness and his opposite illustrations. as well as the
homely but pertinent and welshty facts drawn
from his own experience. made his statement an
exceedingly strong one.
The duties ON hops were discussed for some time
bv Representatives Storer. Of Ohio: Fitch Of New
York and Never Of Louisiana. and Hugh +. Fox.
of New-York The duty on foreign hops was in
creased from cents pound to l. cents a pound by
the tariff act Of 1880, and II Is now contend"d by
the representatives, OF importers and exporters Of
hops a. well AZ by the representatives OF the
brewers that the existing rate Is too high ana
should be reduced To cents pound. The latter
rate 1t il urged would not only afford all n""iili
protection to the American hop grower. but would
yield more revenue than the present duty does.
II is asserted that the Il cent duty has checked Inn
portations OF hops. and caused an increase IN the
importations Of foreign beer II appears from the
statements submitted that American brewers use
foreign hops chiefly in fact almost solely. for
navOring purposes. and that the amount used addS
from one OF two To five six cents to the cost OF
a barrel of beer Many brewers usr no foreign hops
whatever II the average quantity used D. III"
rest Of the brewers adds four cents barrel To tn"
cost OF the beer it amounts to an eighth OF cent
a gallon. ana one thirty-second Of cent -
quart. This. n should be- remembered. Is thu total
cost Of the favorhs addition hops duty AMI all.
and the tax must be- imperceptihlr To- the retail
dealer and certainly cannot fall JpOn the thirsty
consumer.
After Mr. Fitch had concluded his statement he
introduced MIR Fox. whom he described a. - hop
grower. hop-importer. and a hop-exporter without
guile to grind. This introduction how
ever. ala not disarm Mr. Payne. who piled the
unselfsh and versatile hop man with questions
Of which clearly proved that the New ork
member has devoted considerable attention 10 TIE
hop question. II appears that Mr.. Fox holds his
title Of "hop-growe 10y virtue OF N" fact that
h. owns stock I'm a company which Is engaged In
hop growing I'm on" OF the Pacific states. III" APP
peared to be thoroughly convcrsant with the busi-
ness OF hop importing ard exporting. and his
statements clear and intelligent. a. well a.
exceedingly interesting. Among oiher things h"
said that the cost Of production Of hops In the
State OF New-York il about II cents pound
compared with 9 cents in thr Pacific States This
places the hop-grower In the former stat" at Il
fna fr.iyh raj
from the Pacific Coast States to Ncw-York is only
cents a pound. Taking the imports and exports
Of hops for a series OF years Mr.. Fox said that he
had found that the latter largely exceeded IN"
former which h. regarded a strong evidence
that the existing rate Of duty was not required In
order to protect the American grower. who Is n
strong competitor against the German grower in
the English market
What Mr. Fox mag have regarded as ON" Of his
stronges' arguments in favor OF reduction Of
duty that In cas-" OF total fnilur" OF the
hop crop In the United States IN any year the
brewers Would be obliged to import all the hops
they consumed. He spoke Of the failure Of the
New York crop in 1885, and remarked that hop
growing In the Pacific States and Territories was
small Industry at thai time He also said that the
hop-growng industry had increased to large pro-
portions I'm the Pacific States and is growing at an
exceedingly rapid rat- Last year 1900 bales Of
hops were raised In -Ie state OF Washington and
duce 1909 bales this year on land which has just
been made available by irrigation. The Pacific
States already produce about onc-half Of the hops
raised in the United States. The average yield to
the acre in these States II about three times "a
heavy as In New-York 1t would appear from
these facts that the danger Of the recurrence Of
a hop famine In the United states II exceedingly
remote and insignificant
At the outset OF his remarks Mr. Fox said that the
average price Of domestic hops in NewYork for the
eleven years ending with 1915 during which period
the duty was ) cents pound. was Il cents pound
for the fourteen years ending with 1sc, with a
duty OF a pound. the average price had been
n cents "A pound, and during the last three years
with a duty OF II cents pound the average price
had shrunk to 70 cents pound. These cOmpifative
figures appeared to show according to Mr. Fox >
theory that every Increase In the rate OF duty
had been attended by fan In the price Of
The domestic product. Unfortunately for the
theory Mr. Payne. after making some computa-
lions convinced Mr.. Fox from his own figures
that he had fallen into error, and that the average
nricc during the three years prior TO the enactment