Schedule I.-COTTON MANUFACTURES. COTTON YARNS. (Paragraph 250.) TUESDAY, December 29, 1896. STATEMENT OF MR. ARNOLD B. SANFORD, OF FALL RIVER, MASS.1 Mr. SANFORD said. Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee: We come before you this time, the Cotton Yarn Spinners' Association of America, to present to you our argument, written, as we understand that it is the wish of the chairman and the committee that this hearing shall be as brief as possible and the arguments condensed, so we prefer simply to hand our argument in in this form, and if the committee wish to ask any questions, of course we will be very glad to answer them. The Cotton Yarn Spinners' Association of America would respectfully submit for the consideration of your honorable committee the following schedule for cotton yarns: PROPOSED TARIFF. Schedule I.-Cotton manufactures. 250. Cotton-carded yarn, warps or warp yarn, in singles, whether on beams or in bundles, skeins or cops, or in any other form, except thread of cotton hereinafter provided for, not colored, bleached, dyed, or advanced beyond the condition of singles by grouping or twisting two or more single yarns together, three cents per pound on all numbers up to and including number fifteen; on all numbers from number sixteens to thirties, inclusive, one-fifth of one cent per number per pound, and on all numbers exceeding number thirties one quarter of one cent per number per pound. Colored, bleached, dyed, combed, or advanced beyond the condition of singles by grouping or twisting two or more single yarns together, whether on beams or in bundles, skeins or cops, or in any other form, except thread of cotton hereinafter provided for, six cents per pound on all numbers up to and including number twenty, and on all numbers exceeding number twenty three-tenths of a cent per number per pound. Cotton manufactured in the form of card laps, roping, sliver laps, or roving, fortyfive per centum ad valorem. After a thorough trial of the practical working of he present cotton-yarn schedule during the past two years, while still believing in and recognizing the correctness of the principle upon which it was originally drawn, and which we indorse as the only practical method of levying duties on cotton yarns, the same has been rendered inoperative by the provisos adopted by the Senate Finance Committee, and against which our association, through its president, promptly put on record their protest in the 1 Mr. Sanford represented the Cotton Yarn Spinners' Association of the United States. form of the following letter, of date June 12, 1894, addressed to Hon. Nelson W. Aldrich, of the committee: Hon. NELSON W. ALDRICH, FALL RIVER, MASS., June 12, 1894. United States Senate, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. ALDRICH: This morning's papers inform us that the cotton schedule has finally been adopted in the Senate, without any opposition. I note your remarks in regard to the same, as being the most scientific schedule that has ever been presented. This is so; you have made no mistake in making that statement. There has been a great deal of time and hard and intelligent work put into this schedule, and it has been the endeavor of those interested in the preparation of these cloth and cotton yarns schedules to have them made scientific and applicable to the business which we are following. The McKinley bill, by assessing duties on the values of the yarns, has become, by the lowering of the values during the past three or four years, largely inoperative, especially on fine counts above 60's yarn, for the simple fact of the fearful decline in the valuation of yarns in England. Yarns that were formerly valued at 40 cents per pound have declined to about 25 cents per pound. Hence the duty which is applied to yarn worth 40 cents per pound three years ago becomes inoperative to-day. The yarn schedule, while prepared scientifically, I regret to say has not been adopted so by the Senate. In other words, the committee which had this in charge here in New England tried to make a just discrimination between carded yarns and combed yarns, and accordingly prepared their tables to give a proper discrimination between the carded and combed yarns and twisted, bleached, and colored yarns, on account of having a great deal more labor involved in their cost of manufacture; also combed yarns should have received at the hands of the Senate proper and just recognition for that classification of yarns. As adopted by the Senate it gives us the same duties on the carded or cheaper qualities as it does on the combed or more costly qualities of yarns. The latter should have had a different rate of duty allotted to them. In other words, the schedule should have been at the rate of onethird of a cent per pound per number instead of one-fourth of a cent per pound per number, and the provisos to the present bill, which I have always objected to, should have given a larger rate per pound on combed, twisted, bleached, and colored yarns than on the ordinary carded yarns. As president of the Cotton Spinners' Association of New England, embracing all the leading cotton-spinning yarn mills of New England, I desire to go on record at this time by saying that, while we are very grateful for what we have received from those in charge of the tariff bill in the Senate, by according to us the duties passed by the Senate, yet I feel it is my duty to say that we accept it under protest, as we are not properly protected on the fine-carded yarns, combed yarns, bleached and colored yarns. The duties as now given to us practically give to our foreign competitors our markets, both on carded and combed work, after we pass No. 50's. We have been struggling for all we are worth to obtain proper recognition for the finespinning industry of this country, such as the making of 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and 100's yarn, of which there are large importations constantly coming into this country. Our large spinning mills in New England have been built during the past four or five years with this trade in view, and now by the adoption of the present schedule we shall have to give up all fine yarns above 50's to our foreign competitors and make yarns in coarse numbers up to No. 50's. The provisos to the present schedule should never have been adopted. But, of course, we who have been framing and preparing this schedule know very well from whence the opposition emanates. Nothing that would exceed the McKinley bill would be adopted. If provisos had to be adopted on this specific schedule the rate should have been 10 cents per pound on yarn valued up to 25 cents per pound and 18 cents on yarn valued up to 40 cents per pound, and, if it is possible, I wish this might be adopted now. It is too bad to cut us down to 8 cents and 15 cents respectively. While we recognize that we have received a much better bill than the Wilson duties ad valorem would have given us, and have obtained the valuable point of specifie duties, yet it is only operative up to about No. 50's yarn. After that it prac tically becomes ad valorem, on account of the provisos as now adopted. So, with this end in view, I desire to protest against the provisos as adopted, also that no discrimination has been made between carded single yarns and combed, twisted, bleached, and colored yarns, which should have received a higher rate of duty-onethird of a cent per pound per number. We trust sometime when our friends can have the framing of the bill that proper recognition will be taken of the fine-spinning industry of New England. Yours, truly, ARNOLD B. SANFORD, President Cotton Spinners' Association of America. P. S.-If within your power, please get the Senate Finance Committee to change the proviso from 8 cents to 10 cents and from 15 cents to 18 cents, and on the |