So-called "day shells" composed in chief value of handmade tissue paper were held to be dutiable as manufactures of paper not specially provided for under paragraph 332 of the act of 1913 rather than under paragraph 323 as articles of tissue paper, the Board of General Appraisers holding the fact that the tissue paper, the most valuable component in the articles, was handmade excluded it from paragraph 323. (G. A. 8492, T. D. 38952, of 1921; followed in Abstract 44924, of 1922.)

PARCHMENT AND VELLUM.

ACT OF OCTOBER 3, 1913.

PAR. 568. Parchment and vellum [Free].

GENERAL INFORMATION.

DESCRIPTION AND DOMESTIC PRODUCTION.

Parchment is the skin of sheep, goats, lambs, young calves, and other animals, prepared and polished with pumice stone for writing, painting, engraving, drawing, expensive binding, etc. In the United States it is used to a considerable extent for diplomas. A cheap grade is also used for making drumheads. Vellum was originally made of calfskin only. Now the term is used for fine parchment made from skins of calves, kids, and dead-born lambs. Parchment and vellum were among the earliest writing materials.

The domestic production of parchment and vellum in the United States is very small, being confined apparently to the cheaper grades used for drumheads and for bookbinding. All the finer grades are imported.

IMPORTS.

As shown in an appended table, page 21, imports of parchment and vellum were fairly constant in value at a range of $50,000 to $75,000 per year during the fiscal years 1907 to 1917. In the calendar year 1918 they dropped to $17,425. In the calendar years 1920 and 1921 they amounted to $144,113 and $67,937, respectively.

Before the war England was the source of practically all of the imported parchment and vellum. Germany, France, and Russia in Europe were the only other countries that sent appreciable quantities to the United States. Figures for imports by countries since 1914 are not available. Practically all imports into this country come from England and France.

TARIFF HISTORY.

By the act of 1883 and by every act since that time both parchment and vellum have appeared on the free list.

20

Fiscal year:

1907.

1908.

1909.

1910..

1911..

1912.

1913.

1914..

1915..

France.

STATISTICAL TABLES.

Imports for consumption-Parchment and vellum, 1907–1921.

1910

1911

1912

1913

1914

Act of Par.

1883... 755

Parchment.

813

Vellum ............

Rate of duty.

Free.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

COURT AND TREASURY DECISIONS.

The provisions for "parchment and vellum" have been held not limited to such as are used for manuscripts and similar purposes, but to include qualities used for various other purposes such as for binding books, covering bottle stoppers, and for drumheads and lamp shades. (G. A. 8562, T. D. 39231, of 1922, following G. A. 5303, T. Ď. 24303, of 1903.) The board distinguished United States v. Lyon (4 Ct. Cust. Appls., 84, of 1913), in which it was held that drumheads were dutiable as parts of musical instruments under paragraph 467 of the act of 1909 rather than as dressed skins under paragraph 451 of that act. No claim was made in the Lyon case that the merchandise should have been classified as parchment.

Vegetable parchment was held to be synonymous with parchment paper and dutiable accordingly under paragraph 324 of the act of 1913 rather than exempt from duty under paragraph 568 as "parchment and vellum." (G. A. 7736, T. D. 35526; Abstract 38609, of

PARCHMENT PAPER AND IMITATION PARCHMENT PAPER.

*

PAR. 324. *

* *

*

ACT OF OCTOBER 3, 1913.

* parchment paper,

* *

*

25 per centum ad valorem; grease-proof and imitation parchment papers which have been supercalendered and rendered transparent or partially so, by whatever name known, all other grease-proof and imitation parchment papers, not specially provided for in this section, by whatever name known, 35 per centum ad valorem;

* * *

SUMMARY.

* * *

These varieties of paper are specialties, and are produced in very small quantities compared with such grades as newsprint, wrapping, and writing paper. The annual production of parchment paper (vegetable parchment) in the United States amounts to about 12,000 tons; that of imitation parchment paper is not known. The industry is located almost exclusively in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, and a few neighboring States. There are six parchment-paper mills. In the calendar year 1920 imports amounted to four-fifths of 1 per cent of the domestic production of parchment paper. On the other hand, between 1917 and 1920 four of the six parchment-paper mills exported from 11 to 17 per cent of total domestic production. The United States imports a negligible amount of imitation parchment paper (66 tons in 1920) compared with domestic production. Europe is the main source.

There is no tariff problem at present in these grades of paper. Imports are so small that they are no menace to the domestic industry. The problem of what foreign competition the future will bring forth is inextricably bound up with the present chaotic conditions of production, finance, and exchange in Europe.

Parchment paper.-Parchment paper is an unsized or waterleaf paper, made preferably of cotton rags, vegetable fiber, or sulphite wood pulp which has been treated with dilute sulphuric acid. It derives its name from the fact that in many ways its qualities are similar to those of parchment, which is the prepared and polished skin of sheep or goats. It is dull in finish, dense, hard, and hornlike; it is grease proof, waterproof, translucent, and to a limited extent transparent. Its chief uses are for drawing, bookbinding, as covers for corks in medicine bottles, for filtering in sugar manufacture, and in refining gutta-percha, as a wrapping paper for greasy substances and for various food products, and as a casing for sausages.

Vulcanized paper, another type of parchment paper, is produced in a manner similar to the method of producing parchment paper proper, but is treated with zinc chloride instead of with sulphuric acid. This paper is much used, a number of sheets being pressed together in the manufacture of trunks, tubs, wastebaskets, trucks, etc. Willesden paper is a variety of parchment paper made by passing paper through an ammoniacal solution of copper oxide.

Vegetable parchment is synonymous with parchment paper.

The term "parchment paper" is applied also to a high-class all-rag writing paper, much like a bond paper. Such paper, however, is not imported as parchment paper and is not considered in this survey. (See Court and Treasury decisions, page 34.)

Imitation parchment paper.-Grease-proof or imitation parchment is made of sulphite wood pulp, preferably that produced by the Mitscherlich or slow-cook process. In the course of manufacture the stock is subjected to an unusually extended process of beating, which reduces it to a gelatinous condition. The first finished product of this process is a paper with a dull finish, dense and hard, resembling parchment paper in various ways, especially in the characteristic hornlike appearance above noted. The paper is not waterproof and is but partially grease proof-that is, it is not entirely impervious to grease, but nevertheless it has the quality of resisting grease to a limited extent. The paper is more tenacious than sulphite paper