New Britain herald., 1929-07-15
TARIFF ON RAY0N.
 UNDER DISCUSSION
New England Interested in Rates
 on New Product
By GEORGE H. MANNING

wv Ndsnlnglon CorreSponQent, IN. 5. HerdlQ)
 Washington, D. C., July 15.- Rayon manufacturing, the latest infant industry" to develop into a giant of American business, received a large share of the attention of the senate finance committee sub-C com mittee engaged in taking evidence on the textile schedules when the subcommittee today turned to 9, study of the material presented to it in the last few days.
 Hearings on the rayon schedule, newly incorporated schedule. were concluded Saturday by this sub- committee. Today the five senators composing the subcommittee turned their attention to the statements of witnesses, the bill as passed by the house, and the evidence compiled for it by experts of the tariff commis- sion.
 Bingham on Committee
 The sub- committee is composed of Senators Sackett of Kentucky, Greene of Vermont, Bingham of Connecticut, Simmons of North Carolina and George of Georgia. Sackett Is chairman of the rayon sub- committee.
 Witnesses heard on the rayon schedule included Dean Hill of the Silk association. New York city; Royal Little of the Franklin Rayon corporation, Providence, R. l.; Hiram S. Rivitz of the Rayon insti- ute; M. R. Roscott of the Irving Horowitz Co.,, New York city; Henry w. Aiming of the Commercial Fibre Co. of New York city; Matthew H. O'Brien of the Celanese Corporation of America; H. H. Shelton of the Rayon institute; and Irwin E. Weber of the American association of Felt and Straw Goods importers, New York, members of which import braids made of cellulose, an in- gredient coming under this schedule of the bill.
 New England Interested
 All of these men represented the growing rayon industry in New Eng land, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia, as we'll as their particular cities. By agreement with the other concerns they acted as spokesmen for their respective groups.
 The chief figures adduced during the hearing were cited by both im- porters and manufacturers, the na- tural enemies in tariff battles. to prove their cases. It was shown that the production of rayon in the United States rose from 15.000.oOO pounds in 1921, the year before the present tariff act was enacted, to approximately 69,000,000 during the first six months of the present year. On the other hand, imports of rayon, it was stated, jumped in that time from 100000 pounds to 12,00O,0oo or more annually.
 The committees attitude in the matter of increasing or decreasing the rates provided for rayon in the bill as passed by the house was not clear, and these statistics did little to clear up the matter. In respect to the mott question of definitions of various rayon processes, the sub- committee at least holds an open mind, it was apparent.
 Definition Asked
 Pleas that cellulose acetate be sep arately defined were favorably re- ceived, the argument being that such a definition would promote the use of similar definitions in the trade. result regarded as highly desirable. The committee was asked to de- fine celanese as distinct from rayon produced by other processes from other materials.
 It is not impossible that a d1- ferent set of rates also would be provided for this commodity. all though such action has not been sought.
 The definition of rayon established by the subcommittee of the house ways and means committee in draft ing the present bill, and later adopt cd by the house. reads as follows
 Whenever used in this act the term 'rayon' means the product made by any artificial process from ccllulose, a ccllulose hydrate, con- pound of cellulosc, or miXture containing any of the foregoing which product is solifed into fla ments, fibers, bands, strips, or sheets, whether such products are known as rayon, staple fiber, visca, or cello phane, or as artificial imitation or synthetic silk. wool, horsehair. or straw, or by any other name what soever."