The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1918-05-31
Washington Letter.

respondence)-The Daily Commerce
Reports, published by the Department
of Commerce, for May 2, contain a
number of reports from U. S. Consuls
in the British Isles relative to the
brick industry and brick-making ma
chinery. Vice-consul Robert F.
f'reer, at Bristol, believes that his dis
trict presents an attractive field for
American firms who wish to install
improved methods of manufacturing
and handling bricks, but he declares
that sit is practically impossible for
American firms to compete with Brit
ish firms in supplying bricks for the
European market" Consul j. N. Nc
Gum, at Glasgow, Scotland, reports
that building bricks are all made by
machinery, nearly all of which is man
ufactured in England" Consul C. M.
Hitch, Nottingham, says: GAIL brick
making machinery used in this coun-
try is of domestic manufacture" and
there appears to be no demand for
foreign-made machinery. Consul H.
L. Washington, Liverpool, finds that
"the machinery used for making brick
in this district is of home manufac-
ture," no foreign machines used. The
market for brick making machinery in
Dunfermline is reported to be largely
controlled from the Glasgow, Edin-
burgh and New Castle district.
Around Bradford the English have alb
solute control of both the industries,
brick-making and the manufacture of
brick-making machinery, besides
which "fairly large export business
is also done by some of the local fire.
clay works, bricks being sent to South
America, South Africa, Australia and
the Far East" To a considerable ex-
tent they escape high freight rates
because they go as ballast.
There doesn't seem to be anything
very encouraging with respect to our
future brick or brick-machinery ex-
ports to Great Britain. On the other
hand, due to the low wages which are
the rule there, it would appear that
there is considerable likelihood that
Great Britain will get into our own
market after the war, unless some
thing is done to protect our industry.
A few years ago the Stowe-Fuller
Brick Company, arguing for protec-
tive rates on bricks before. the Ways
and Means Committee, said: Labor
lin making bricks) generally consti-
tutes about 80 per cent Of the cost of
the article. The American manufac-
turer has absolutely no advantage in
any improved machinery or process;
he is aften at disadvantage in freight
rates on account of the European man.
ufacturer being situated on the wat
er's edge and shipping his product to
American ports in ballast at less rate
than the American manufacturer has
to pay the railroads"
Under the Republican law the tariff
rates on bricks imported ranged form
"a to 35 per cent ad valorem, i. e.,
the specific rate as applied to the
value per ton on importations. The
Democratic law, at present in force,
cut the whole brick schedule, with
the exception of some glazed brick, to
10 per cent ad valorem. The pres
ent law was in force nine months of
the fiscal year ended June 80, 1914,
and during that fiscal year our I'M
ports of ordinary brick increased
about rs per cent over the preceding
fiscal year under protective rates.
We have had opinions from a ma
jority of the tariff commission recent
ly, of which the following, from Mr..
w. s. Culbertson, is a sample: "From
the standpoint of the tariff, wages
per man here compared with wages
per man in foreign countries are re-
latively of small significance" Mr.
Costigan says "differences in the
rate of wages have comparatively lit
tie to do with trade" Apply those
two statements to the making of
bricks. If 80 per cent of the cost
Of making bricks goes to labor, and
we have no advantage over our Euro
pean competitors in any process or
machinery, while their wage scale
is about one-third that paid by US to
our laborers in the brick yards, who
logically, would win out in competi-
tion for the American market? And
what applies to bricks applies with
more or less equal force to thousands
of other commodities, the maximum
manufacture of which, by our owr
country, spells prosperity.