which it is matle. We would be enabled, were it possible to obtain our plaster at a lower price, to lower the price of our products to the consumer, and we are consequently very much interested in having the tariff upon gypsum rock removed, in order that we may buy our plaster at a much more reasonable price. We hope that you will see your way clear to abolish that tax in the tariff bill under consideration. Yours, very truly, KEYSTONE FIREPROOFING Co.. Per H. S. ANDRUS. Letters similar in purport to the above, asking for the removal of the duty from gypsum rock, were received from the following: Wilbur Cement Company and other dealers in masons' and plasterers' supplies, Boston; Harry W. Bell, New York City; R. B. Dunning & Co., Bangor, Me.; Manchester & Hudson, Providence, R. I.; the American Hard Wall Plaster Company, Utica, N. Y.; J. W. & C. H. Reeves, Philadelphia, Pa.; Northampton Portland Cement Company, Stockerton, Pa.; A. H. Ward & Sons et al, representing contracting plasterers, Portland, Me.; James H. Furman, Chicago, Ill.; Horace Purinton Company, Waterville, Me.; E. A. Wilson & Co., Lowell, Mass.; Cawley, Clark & Co., Newark, N. J.; William Knowlton & Sons, West Upton, Mass.; Robert S. Sinclair, New York City; James T. Allen & Son, Philadelphia, Pa.; Fitchburg Hardware Company, Fitchburg, Mass.; the Burlingame & Darbys Company, North Adams, Mass.; Samuel Nevins Company, Philadelphia, Pa.; the Whitehall Portland Cement Company; Edwin A. Smith & Son, Philadelphia, Pa.; James C. Goff Company, Providence, R. I.; Penn-Allen Portland Cement Company, Allentown, Pa.; Plasterers' Association, Boston, Mass.; the Robert Gallagher Company and other representatives of contracting plasterers, Boston, Mass.; Chatfield & Chatfield, Waterbury, Conn.; Shaw & Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; National Paint Works, 100 William street, New York City; Orman B. Humphrey, Bangor, Me.; the National Building Supply Company, Baltimore, Md.; Knickerbocker Lime Company, Philadelphia, Pa.; the Frank E. Morse Company, 17 State street, New York City; Charles Coburn, Hartford, Conn.; Conkling-Armstrong Terra Cotta Company, Philadelphia, Pa.; Norristown Magnesia and Asbestos Company, Norristown, Pa.; the Smith-Green Company, Worcester, Mass.; Carroll, Hixon, Jones Company, Milford, Mass.; Gustave Rader Company, 1105 Metropolitan avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.; the Charles Emmel & Rose Company et al, Boston, Mass.; the Standard Crayon Manufacturing Company, Danvers, Mass.; Tuttle Brothers, Westfield, N. J.; Deming Hardware Company, Montpelier, Vt. MARBLE. C. D. JACKSON, OF NEW YORK CITY, SUBMITS BRIEF RELATIVE TO REDUCTION OF DUTY ON MARBLE. NEW YORK CITY, December 3, 1908. COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: You demanded at the last hearing on Monday, November 23, from Mr. Frank Partridge, vice-president of the Ver mont Marble Company, representing his company and other quarrying interests in this country, a detailed statement of the conditions existing in the marble trade, and comparative schedules of the cost of domestic and foreign products. Dry figures will not give you an exact idea of the existing conditions, therefore excuse a somewhat lengthy statement. Marble to-day is no longer a luxury. It is a commodity and a necessity. Its sanitary, economic, and decorative qualities are fully appreciated by all architects, building departments, and everyone connected with the building trade, and therefore the employment of marble in this country is a growing necessity. The largest marble producing country in Europe is Italy, particularly in the region of the Apennine Mountains, bordering Carrara and the neighboring cities of Massa and Serravezza, which form the center of the marble production. One thousand two hundred and fifty quarries are opened there, out of which 500 are in actual operation. Over 10,000 men are employed in the neighboring quarries of Carrara and as many more in the other districts above mentioned. It is an erroneous idea that on account of its cheap labor Carrara is able to export large quantities of its marble. Labor in Carrara is, in fact, proportionately higher than in the marble-quarrying districts in this country. Men employed there in the tedious work of quarrying receive from $1 to $1.60 per day of six hours' actual work, while two hours are paid for to ascend the quarries (which are located in the mountains at an altitude of 3,000 to 4,500 feet) and two hours for descending, and this constitutes a day's work of ten hours. Geographical and geological conditions permit only the employment of hand labor, although many American and foreign engineers have attempted to equip these quarries with modern machinery, which owners would have been only too willing to install there in order to economize in the production of the marble, but all had to give up the task, and have agreed that the only safe, practical method is hand labor. Geographical conditions also prevent modern means of transportation. The masses roughly prepared and purged of defects at the quarry are rolled down the precipices of the mountains to the landing stage of the quarry, called the" poggio" and are loaded on strong carts, drawn by oxen, which, according to the weight of the blocks, number as high as 40 head; or they are transported by rail on the mountain railroad, constructed about eighteen years ago, which ascends in a zigzag line to the landing place of the principal quarries, combining, through tunnels and viaducts, the chief quarries of Canal Grande, Canal Bianco and Ravaccione. Blocks are thus transported a distance of 5 to 10 miles to Carrara, and from there to the seashore, called "Avenza," a further distance of about 4 miles, and there the blocks receive their final preparation, by cutting and trimming them into merchantable sizes. There they are loaded on barges or railroad cars, and are forwarded to Leghorn, a distance of about 30 miles, or to Genca, about 100 miles, to be loaded onto steamer for export. The entire production in said regions amounts to about 280,000 to 300.000 tons of marble blocks per year, equal to about 3,300,000 to 3.800,000 cubic feet. About 1,000,000 cubic feet are sawed there into slabs, mostly used in Europe, and about 180,000 cubic feet find employment there for finished art and architectural work. According to statistics prepared by the Italian Government, the average amount exported from Italy per year is divided as follows: I shall try to prove to you that the average net cost price of Carrara marble to producers, on account of the hand labor and the difficulties in transportation, is far greater than that at which the marble is produced in this country. The present wholesale market prices for the average run of Carrara marble, in blocks put on steamer at Leghorn or Genoa, is about $1.40 per cubic foot. From this price you must deduct the following items of transportation: Transport and handling from quarry to landing place of quarry, all by hand labor (no other means possible). $0.23 Transport from quarry landing place to Carrara, by either railroad or oxen (no competitive rates exist). .10 Handling and unloading at Carrara .03 City taxes for use and maintenance of roads. .03 Rescabbling and preparing blocks at seashore for the foreign market_. .10 .09 .58 Total--- The above are only the actual transportation expenses, and leave to the quarry owner about $0.82 for quarrying; this includes all quarrying, expenses, royalty, profits, etc. The net profit can be conservatively calculated to be not over $0.10 per cubic foot. The average selling price of Carrara marble in New York is $2.70 per cubic foot. Against this the following items have to be taken into consideration: Cost of marble at Leghorn__. $1.40 Freight from Leghorn to New York__ Marine insurance, lighterage, handling, measuring, and yard expenses.. .36 .11 .65 Total (not counting loss and other incidentals). Net profit to agents and dealers here____. 2.53 .17 If all the transportation expenses are considered and the cost of marble at the quarry landing stage of 82 cents is considered as the actual value of comparison, raw material in blocks pays a specific duty of 65 cents, which equals about 80 per cent. Please compare the cost of production and selling price of the different products of the American quarries: Tennessee quarries at Knoxville and neighboring regions have, as an average selling price f. o. b. cars Knoxville, from $1 to $1.28 per cubic foot. Cost of quarrying and general superintendence, etc., material, repairing, machinery, loading on cars, most conservative estimate, from 60 to 70 cents. Profit, from 40 to 58 cents. Vermont grades, which may be compared with Carrara products, sell from $1.90 to $3.40 per cubic foot, for blocks not sawn, on cars quarry Vermont. On such the cost of production is about 65 cents. per cubic foot. The quarries produce about 40 per cent of these grades, besides producing lower grades, which are sold for 95 cents to $1.50. The cost of production is the same as before, i. e., about 65 cents. Alabama quarries sell their products from $2 to $4.50 per cubic foot, free on cars quarry, while the cost of producing material in rough blocks does not exceed $1 to $1.50. This price includes the sawing and preparing of blocks into fixed sizes. Manchester, Danby, South Dover, and other quarries producing a coarse-grained marble, well adapted for exterior use, sell their products from 90 cents to $1.75 per cubic foot f. o. b. cars quarry station, while the cost of production does not exceed 50 cents per cubic foot. Georgia quarries sell an average run of material at 75 cents to $1.25 per cubic foot f. o. b. cars quarry station, while the cost of producing, loading, and other incidentals does not exceed 40 cents per cubic foot. All other quarries in this country are on about the same footing. All American quarries are equipped with modern machinery, which minimizes the cost of production; in fact, it eliminates all uncertainty and miscalculations in quarrying and reduces the employment of hand labor. The labor employed in quarrying districts averages $1.50 to $2 per day of ten hours. Nearly all the prominent quarries have marble-finishing plants. They are in position to take the largest contracts at much lower prices than any marble manufacturer depending upon their supply of rough blocks. They are able to minimize the cost of raw material to themselves until their finishing plant is filled to its utmost capacity. These conditions are facts, and the consequence is that the importation of foreign marble to this country, on account of a practically prohibitive import duty, does not keep pace with the demand for marble in this country. A conservative estimate of all the marble work executed in this country gives the result that 90 per cent is provided by American quarries and only 10 per cent of raw material, used for marble work executed here, is imported material, and this small percentage will continue to diminish so long as a prohibitive tariff exists. Only the superiority of quality of imported marble enables it to maintain its position, and it is only upheld by architects who, under these adverse circumstances, are trying to develop decorative art in this country. American labor does not benefit by this high protective tariff on raw marble. Marble manufacturers, of which there are several hundred scattered all over this country, derive no protection from it. Only 10 per cent of this entire industry conduct a fairly remunerative business; the balance lives from hand to mouth or fails. One-half of the skilled labor scattered over this country is idle for the greater part of the year, and only the quarrying districts which have marblefinishing plants are busy throughout the entire year, so that the employment of American labor is confined to certain territories. If your committee would consider that by proposing a tariff on marble in rough blocks, say, of 35 cents per cubic foot instead of 65 cents per cubic foot, the importation of marble to this country would be at least six times as large. The Government would thus increase its revenues and would consequently receive three times as much revenues as it is receiving now, and would give at the same time ample protection to domestic quarry owners and steady employment to all men in this country. To prove to you that freight questions, on which American quarries lay so much stress, is not a hindrance to the development of their industry, the following schedule may serve as a guide (the freight rates are given approximately per cubic foot): The same proportions prevail in all other quarries, while the freights from Vermont to the interior of the country are the same as the freight from New York, which is the main port of entry of marbles to the United States. Sawn slabs.-The Dingley tariff of 1897 provides on all marble slabs "sawn or dressed, containing not less than 4 superficial inches, if not more than 1 inch in thickness, 12 cents per superficial foot. If more than 1 inch and not more than 1 inches in thickness, 15 cents per superficial foot." The prices for sawn marble in Carrara, delivered on board steamer Leghorn, are, per square foot, as follows: The Government received a paltry revenue for the year ending June 30, 1907, of $46,214.08. If the duty were reduced by 50 per cent to a level of a just tariff, it would give ample protection to marble |