The San Francisco call., 1897-01-03
INDUSTRIES THAT
:.
NEED PROTECTION
Flax, Hemp and Their Man
ufactureS Are Con-
Sidered.
William Rutherford of Oakland
Suggests Changes in the
Tariff Law.
Increased Duties Required in the
Competition With Foreign Pauper
Labor.

was the fifth day OF the tariff hearing
before the House Committee on Ways and
Means, the subject of discussion being
FLAX, Hemp and Their Manufactures. I"
There was quite large attendance OF per-
sons interested in those industries.
The first manufac turer to be heard was
William Rutherford of Oakland, Cal, who
said that in California they were engaged
in making twine, yarn and cloth in a
great many varieties. The first of these
mills was started there about thirty years
ago and W thin that time the business had
increased largely. They now wanted a
reasonable protection to run their mills
and he suggested such changes in
the tariff as were considered necessary for
the purposes. The manufacturers of Cali
3 ornia, he said, in the last election had
D. given their votes for protection, thinking
THIS the quickest way to give employment
for the idle, protection to themselves and
revenue to the Government. The mills OF
the. United States had been active in
Keeping down the price of these goods to
the farmers. Up to the passage of the
Wilson bili a fair duty had been given the
industry.
The measure. benefited the mills of Cal
.eutta and other foreign countries at the
expense of the. domestic manufacturers.
Between 1898 and 1895 the imports of jute
and burlaps more than doubled. Under
the clause in the free list admitting cotton
s;baggIng and certain goods made of bur-
laps. importers. were bringing in cloths of
various kinds. including horse and car
riage robes. This was not fair nor the in
tent of the act, but rhe words 'all such
: material used IN the act enabled the
goods to be brought in. The makers of
=. mIxed.jute and cotton goods suffered from
this. He had called the attention Of the
customs officials to it and he understood
that they now had the matter under con-
sideration.
Zone of the Oldest plants in the United
: States, established at Black Point, Cal,
during'the war, had been taken down and
Transferred to Japan. He had been ad-
1ised to transfer his plant to Yokohama,
being Told that he could get his labor at
from 6Ao II cents per day and his coal for
about 80 cents per ton. But he had found
that foreigners could not hold property in
:. Japan and therefore he had to give up that
idea.
The summing up of Mr.. Rutherford's s
statement was the suggestion of the fol-
lowing rates in the new tariff:
"Burlaps of any width, OF fax, jute or
'hemp'or of which fax, jute or hemp, or
either of them, shall be the component
material of chief value Except SUCH as
may be suitable for cotton), ~ cents per
pound; bags for grain, made of burlaps, 2
'' cents per pound
= He presented a comparative statement
of the cost of making burlaps in the United
States and in India, showing that the
total cost in the United States is 6.46
cents. per pound and only 63 cents in
India} or a difference of 1.S3 cents per
pound in favor of India. 1t was partially
. to- make up this disadvantage against
American manufactures that the increase
in duty was necessary.
Mr. Rutherford expressed the hope that
the present conditions would be changed
F. by the fixing of tariff sufficient to pro-
tect the industrious citizens of the United
States in their respective fields of useful
ness.
The chairman inquired of Mr.. Ruther-
ford whether his industry had been sue
cessful after the passage of the tariff act of
1890. ~'
Mr.. Rutherford-Yes, sir. The duty
was taken IN that account off The raw ma
terial, and that gave us an assistance of
about Ia per cent per ton on jute. We
were never better off than from 1890 to 1895
when the Wilson tariff act was passed.
II suppose that your enterprising young
men," Mr.. Payne suggested, "were
not going then to control America as they
are now."
mo, sir" Mr.. Rutherford replied.
California is peculiar place. It has
warm weather nearly all the year and peo-
pie lind no inconvenience in living in
tents. So the idle people, the Industrial
Army as they called themselves, came
from the north land south and located
near San Francisco. l was one to help to
feed them and to provide accommodation
for them; and we were very glad to get
. them away, for their presence there was
very serious. That was the beginning of
our trouble, when all these mills and in
dustrial enterprises stopped"
The chairman stated that up to the tariff
act of 1894 some two million dollars of
revenue had been derived from buraps
and that that amount of revenue had
been thrown away.
Crawford Lyon of Baltimore was the
next speaker. He began by characterizing
50 the last witness as misleader and alarm
ist., aud he contradicted a statement of
Mr.. Rutherford's as TO the admission of
iute fabrics free of duty. The interest in
which he himself appeared was that of
oilcIoth and linoleum.
The oilcloth and linoleum business here,
he said was in the hands OF a few com na-
nies. Any increase in the present duties
would prohibit importations and place
the makers here in position to squeeze"
the public, an opportunity they have
. never been known to overlook. The cost
of making these products was nowllower
than ever before, and in addition the i'm
provement of machinery enabled one en-
ploye to do great deal more work.
Mr.. Rutherford replied that he did not
object to being called an "alarmist," but
,he would not submit to being character
.ized as a misleader. and he went on to
argue that he was right in his original
statement.
John Wilson of Newark, N. j., a fax
worker, asked for the restoration of the
duties of 3 cents per pound on dressed
fax. with free raw material.
]. N. Bemis of Boston, representing the
burlap bag manufacturers of this country,
claimed that there was no burlap industry