The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-11-14

dates and about one-third the dyes re-
Quired by The United States in 1918 were
made here-an achievement Of the frs
magnitude.
Long before the wal American dye
makers did make at least one dye
cheaper and better than the Germans
and sold il 10 Germans IN Germany.
Domestic competition in one year. 1882,
effected a 80 per cent decrease in the
sales price OF 1t least n dye. Be
yOnd question we can have ~dye-inde>
pendence II we want to pay the price,
and the time to decide that is now, be-
cause we can not expect eveT to have
better opportunity to become independ-
ent than now.
"Dye-makers contend that our dye
dependence has solely been because the
public refused to create favorable eco
nOmic conditions. No n seems to be
sure what those favorable conditions
are; the dye-makers are themselves
undecided; in 1916 they were sure that
they could give us neutrality-suspicious.
in five years il they had nothing but
80 per cent protection on Intermediates
and IS per cent on dyes. Congress gave
them 80 per cent on Intermediates. 80
per cent on some dyes, and IS per cent
on the remainder, and the dye-makers
promptly said they could not make us
independent. In 1919 the dye-makers
twice asked Iof Hlucn nlBner rates.
once without and once with imports eN-
clusion, and finally reduced those rates
somewhat and accepted a shorter ex-
clusion period
THE demand for imports exclusion
has merit In so far as it is true, as was
but very recently confessed on cha
Of the dye-makers before the ways and
means committee, that the manufae-
turikN technique or skill Of Our dye
third IT one-half, OF foreign manufac-
turing efficiency. In that event even
a 200 per cent tariff might not be eff
fective. This was Illustrated by a set
Of tables showing 1888 dyes imported in
1913 arranged by tonnage requirement
and the number Of each tonnage class
made here in 1918, together with an
| Illustration Of the protection afforded
| by the Longworth rates. II all an i'm
porter had to consider was the duty,
clearly he would bring in those colors
which were not made here, and out OF
this total of 3S3, 245 were not made
here. The foreigner can deliver those
245 in good prewar quality on very
short notice and at a price we could
not meet. In four years we learned to
make but 1873 of these 383. With am
pie quantities of good qualities Of those
245 dyes in Europe n just itching tn
get into this market Of no competition
and good demand, our domestic max
ers would be robbed of any opportunity
to learn to make those 245 dyes, and
before long, the foreigner would rave
his grip on those 245 and could then
commence to eat into the other 1873.
The ~dye-makers say they must be
assured of a remunerative market for
their output, and in the speakers opin-
ion the only way to do that is to pre-
vent foreign makes OF qualities and
kinds reaching this country in mounts
greater than the difference between
| NnprnrVaEIsY. Fonrfnnn 4oE,,nr,ar n M
American current manufacturing re-
uuirements. Price is to have nothing
to do with import permission because
the dye users nave for over three years
taken the stand that so long as they
can get quantity and quality price does
not interest them seriously. The dura-
ton of imports exclusion should be no
longer than necessary to permit do
nestle manufacturing skill to reach for
eign levels. and this the dye-makers
now seem to think can be accomplished
by about the enc of 1921.
'"The Longworth bill, 10Y before the
senate, makes dye prices a factor in
imports permissions, n the speaker
strongly advocated amendment Of that
bill, eliminating this price feature, and
for the reasons just given. The Brit
ish empire, France and Italy are en-
forcing, or preparing to enforce, such
dye n imports exclusion, thus shut
lillS US am olltCI IldhCIS VII lIOLi
rs per cent of the non-German mar
kets, and making our market, which Is
10 per cent of the nop-German mar
kets more h ever a target for all,
Under these conditions. and in the alb
sence Of a flexibly applicable defensive
measure, such as imports exclusion, our
industry can not hope to survive.
The Longworth bill also provides for
increasing the specific duty Of Z cents
per pound on dyes and the like by null
tiples ranging from 5 to II, so that a
15h c dye is to be compelled to pay
a 35-cent specific duty in addition to a
AZ per cent ad valorem or a total OF
271 per cent. In that way, dyes which
prior to 1916 were on the free list and
now taxed 80 per cent are to be made
to pay as high as 98 per cent.
"In the speakers opinion now is the
time to make sure that the dye-makers
have really asked for all they need;
they now confess to serious errors of
judgment in 1916 as to what they really
need, they find now that they need
very much more than they said they
needed In 1916; the public, through con-
gress, must make sure that the dye
makers have not again overlooked or
forgotten something essential to sue
the same ground again In the next few
years. If we really can not have dye
independence, the public Is entitled to
know it at the earliest possible mo-
ment, but we can not know that unless
and until everything has been done that
can or should be done to make for sue
cess; otherwise, only nonconclusive and
wholly unsatisfactory results will be
obtained"