Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-13
FOREIGNERS MAKE
BALLOT PENCILS
ENGLISH MANUFACTURER is
AGAINST FREE TRADE
Declares That His Designs Are Copied
by Foreign Firms and Used
in Markets He Cam
not Reach

members of the new house of com
mons were elected with foreign lead
pencils, some of which were made in
Germany. 1t is by means of the pencil
that the cross is made which registers
''the will of the people" and thus it
becomes the most important imple-
ment in the whole paraphernalia of
the polling booth.
1t is not suggested that a pencil of
foreign make is anything but per-
fectly serviceable for the purpose for
which it is intended, and, although the
superior person may regard it as
ridiculous to make a fuss about pen
ellis it is, perhaps, worth while to take
pencils as a type of many other things
in everyday use in this country, which
are largely manufactured in foreign
lands. The testimony gathered from
two of the largest firms of retail sta
TONERS in London goes to show that
of pencils sold to the public two thirds
are of foreign make. The retailer nat
urally does not trouble his head about
the place of origin so long as he gets
his own reasonable profits and the
general public apparently does not
care much that makers profit and all
the wages go into the pockets of for
eigners.
Free Trade Is Blamed
How is It that the pencil trade, like
so many others, is passing into the
hands of foreigners" was asked of a
gentleman who is connected with a
firm of black-lead pencil manufac-
turers which has been established in
this country for more than century
and perhaps turns out more English
pencils made by English labor than
any other in existence. He pointed to
two things-dumping which benefits
the foreigner, and also to some extent
the retail vender, and the general
handicap which is imposed on the
home maker in his contest with for
eign rivals
England" he said, "can produce
pencils which are as good as, and in
many cases better than, those made
abroad, but the foreigner can send
over here free of all duty his surplus
stock and deliver it at a price with
which it is impossible that the home
maker can compete. Then what is our
position when we attempt to invade
the market in other countries? We
find a tariff wall built up against us
so high that it is impossible to jump
over it.
Il do not saye that foreign markets
are wholly closed against us. There is
always a certain demand for our
specialties, but even these may some-
times be copied and the goods dumped
back again in this country. Let me
give you examples. I will take the
cheapest kind of pencil. 1t is sold at
one cent. American money. I will give
the other rates in the same coin. The
import duty on this in the United
States is 45 cents per gross and % per
cent ad valorem. In Austria the duty
IS 1929 per cwt., in Germany it is s.
per cwt. in France SLIP and in Rus
sia 80 cents per pound. The duties on
the dearer kinds of pencils are pro
rata. Thus the American duty on a
penny pencil works out at 60 per cent -
Designs Are Copied
The same authority stated that
after the passing of the ballot act his
firm was the first to introduce the
ballot pencils" made of special
kind Of lead which leaves a firm black
impression that cannot easily be
.smudged over" or erased. They have
now the satisfaction" of seeing their
designs copied by foreign rivals and
those rivals getting the lions share of
the boom which arises out of a gen
| eral election. The home firms are by
no means excluded, and the original
ballot pencils made in England are
still in use to a very considerable ex-
tent, but many a voter during the last
fortnight registered his cross with an
article bearing the stamp, ballot pen
ell: made in Bavaria"
Blaek-lead pencils are Of English
origin and came into use Immediately
after the discovery of graphite at Por-
rowdale, near Keswick, in 1864. The
| demand for pencils is increasing con-
stantly. The population grows. and
nearly everybody carries a pencil and
a box of matches (also a huge foreign
( import) in his pocket
One of the professional scare
! mongers has been attempting to make
capital out of the fact that the German
emperor has never been crowned by
| recalling that his grandfather was
crowned emperor at Versailles, and
! suggesting the possibility that William
II waits for the time when he is,
| in fact. admiral of the Atlantic the
/ Mediterranean and the Indian seas, to
/ be crowned as king of Neue Deutsch-
| land-the United Kingdom-in West
minister abbey" The reason the Ger
man emperor has never been crowned
| is because coronations are not the
custom of the house of Hohenzollern
| It is not true, as the author of the
was crowned emperor of Germany at
| Versailles. He was merely ''pro-
/ claimed'-which is quite another mat
/ ter A coronation for the present
/ kaiser is entirely out of the question
though his majesty would dearly love
it. By the conditions of the Fedora
tion of the German Independent States
/ it was expressly stipulated that the
/ emperor should never he crowned