The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-12-03

dealers and getting, with the assistance
Of an interpreter, all the details OF the
wool business, the cost per pound to the
producer, the profits of brokers. and so
forth. Other men made similar exami-
nations in Australia, Europe, and Great
Britain.
"Our agents have called on 100 wool
growers in this country, have driven to
their homes, questioned them and look
ed over their account books In some
instances professional accountants ac-
company the investigators. We have also
had the assistance Of many OF our con-
sular officers who are scattered all over
the world. The government has develop
ed body of Investigators in the depart
ments Of Agriculture and Commerce and
Labor, and we have been permitted to
use some Of them In this country and
elsewhere.
Cloth has been purchased in Europe
and America and has been analysed at
textile institutions and by our own eS-
perts. We have bought coats, trousers,
and vests in London, Berlin, New York,
and Chicago, and have gone through
the largest ready-made clothing estab-
lishments In the United States, noting
the methods of manufacture, the wages
paid to workers and the quality of the
cloth used. Also We have called at
the offices and examined documents and
books
I'm short. we are following the wool
from the backs OF the sheep to the
dealers, brokers, weavers, clothing manu-
facturers and clothing merchants and
finally to the consumers, comparing cloth
scientifically and getting prices and the
facts OF the whole industry. Meanwhile,
we are learning all about wooden shirts,
wooden blankets, and carpets"
Getting ut Costs in Europe.
But how can you obtain the actual
cost of an article made in England or
Scotland?' I asked.
ITO obtain the producing cost OF any
thing is a serious. undertaking" DR..
Emery answered. THE methods for
learning the cost of a table, a pair of
shoes. or a tin cup may be different in
every factory. Operation. too, is more
expensive during some months than
others But by applying good sense to
figures-and the tariff Is something more
than q statistical problem-we can get
a knowledge Of cost conditions which will
be both comprehensive and workable.
am bound to say, however, that we can
seldom reduce a case to dollars and cents
and say, This is the actual cost of pro-
0uCtlOn. Yet we cdn-ReI CLOSE eHOuSu
to the truth with respect to standardized
articles as to be practically accurate
Our investigators abroad, some OF
whom speak the language of the coIn-
tries in which they are employed, visit
manufacturers, wholesale dealers, COM
mercial associations, merchants, labor
unions and Individual workers. We have
found little difficulty abroad in getting
Information because we know where to
go and where not to go. In our own
country it is the exceptional manufac-
turer who shuts his books and closes his
door in our faces.
Cotton manufacturers, as a rule, have
permitted our agents to look at their in
ventories, financial statements, balance
sheets and accounts, only asking that the
information be regarded as confidential
and that 1t be withheld accordingly from
their competitors In some instances
our investigators have worked six weeks
in the offices of single mandatory, and
have not only been treated courteously,
but have been assisted in their labors.
Going to representative mills. we pro-
cured labor cost, cotton cost, administra-
ton cost and the proper charge for the
uepreUTdtTUn pTdnJ. WIN SUCH
figures 1t is possible to ascertain the
producing cost of standardized articles.
During our inddiry into the pulp and
news-print paper industry we obtained