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Show Mr. P.;unlii'r.:er. if he ran arr:ini:e his al'fuirs. will return to Nov York within the next few weeks for the purpose pur-pose of sliding in some special work in behalf of the Republican national committee. com-mittee. Chairman Will I-I. Hays bavin:; asked him to assist at committee headquarters head-quarters just prior to the meeting of the committee at VTashinirtor., scheduled sched-uled for March 3, 19l'l. The Republican Republi-can national committee is anxious to wipe its slate clean of debt before this March meeting and an effort is now being made to cover this indebtedness by subscriptions. Each state has been apportioned an amount of the deficit, based on the vote for Mr. Harding. ! far between. These mines are worked to consideral)le depths, larzely through shafts with correspondingly high costs and often with heavy pumping charges. Mining dividends and profits are a misnomer. In addition to mure than average returns which should be ex- j pected from an extra hazardous business, busi-ness, the return on the capital invested and Interest on that capital during tic period of developing a property to paying basis must not be disrega rt'ed. A choice must be made between encouraging en-couraging importations on the one hand and on the other placing a duty which will preserve this industry. The first . means the shutting down of the lead mines of the west, taking away all incentive to develop the mineral resources re-sources of the country, the paying out to foreign countries large amounts of money. The latter means giving to American labor opportunity to maintain main-tain its . standard of living and to American capital encouragement to take the risk necessary to develop one of the natural resources. A factory may be closed for a period per-iod and the owner still has a factory which he may again operate. A farm may be left idle and the farm remain, and at most the loss itself is felt only over the period of depression. Mines must be maintained. When closed down the cost of reopening is prohibitive, prohibi-tive, workings have caved and have become be-come flooded. II OPERATORS PRESENT NEEDS OF METALjNDUSTRY Ernest Bamberger of Utah and J.J. Day of Idaho Plead for Specific Duty on Lead s Before House Committee AVashington, Jan. 29. The necessity neces-sity for a duty of 2 cents a pound on lead was explained to the house com- mittee on ways and means by Jerome J. Day of Wallace, representing the lead producers of the Coeur d'Alene mining district of Idaho, and by Ernest Bamberger, representing the Utah mine operators. Their presentation was made with a view to having their statements considered when the ways and means committee next session starts in to formulate the new tariff bill which is to supersede the Underwood Under-wood law. Mr. Day made a general statement on behalf of the industry, and was followed fol-lowed by Mr. Bamberger, who went somewhat more into detail and spoke more particularly of the Utah situation. Important Data Given. After crediting precious metal values and giving no consideration to depletion, deple-tion, Utah's cost per pound of lead today to-day is over 6 cents. Lead is selling at 4 cents. Lead bonanzas have been worked out and it is safe to predict an increasing cost, or at least no material decrease in cost can be expected. AVe view this question not from th( point of this period of restricted demand, de-mand, but in relation to ordinary conditions. con-ditions. We are not looking forward to and do not ask for an artificially high price. AVe do ask for a duty which will maintain American standards stand-ards and provide .for the difference between be-tween Mexican and American labor costs. Mr. Frear What is the cost of production pro-duction abroad? Mr. Bamberger It is almost impossible impos-sible to determine the difference in the costs, but as a practical example, we know that even when lead reaches 4 cents we have had a very serious importation. im-portation. Mr. Frear The last speaker just before be-fore you argued that the item of freight rates was very important because be-cause of the distance from the mines in the west to New York. Mr. Bamberger I have referred to that. Mr. Frear What are the freight rates from Mexico to New York? Mr. Bamberger Mexico to New York? I do not know, but I am satisfied satis-fied there would be a difference. We are asking for this specific duty of 2 cents a pound ' on account of our greater cost of production. Mr. Frear I imagined that the freight rates from Mexico to New York are as much as they are from Utah, unless they are taken by vessel. Protection Asked For. Mr. Bamberger We feel, of course, in connection with that, even here in our home market, if that were our only market, we should be protected to that extent. We feel that we should have that protection in order to enable us to meet the lower cost in Mexico, and to keep them from dumping their product in this country. Mr. Frear Have they been brought in in the past? Mr. Bamberger They have been ; yes, sir. Mr. Frear That is what I wanted to know. Mr. Bamberger The importations have been very henvy in the past, and will be in the future. Mr. Bamberger, who is the Republican Republi-can National Committeeman of Utah, returned to Stilt' Lake recently and stated that there is a feeling of optimism optim-ism in the east which is much more noticeable than it was two months ago. "While no great demand has yet shown itself." he said, "bankers and business men alike are much more optimistic op-timistic and are looking forward to a speedy renewal in trade. While all lines may not have been completely liquidated, it is the consensus of opinion opin-ion that the cleaning-out process has been pretty well accomplished." The V.f'JO national campaign cost the Republican party about ?.'?.400.(i(in. Mr. Bamberger said, and in order to take care of these expenditures the national committee has negotiated for a loan 1 of close to SI. 100 onii, the approximate amount of the deficit. Bamberger Takes Stand. Mr. Bamberger took the stand and testified as follows: ".Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, the lead-ore producers of Utah come before you, not asking a tariff which is prohibitive or one which will tend to produce extreme profits. "We present to you the bald, plain . tatement that without protection the lead industry of Utah,' as well as all other western states, cannot survive. The largest lead producer has closed down, throwing 200 or more men out of employment. Several other producers have reduced the extent of their operations. oper-ations. Many of us would cease producing pro-ducing if it were practicable. As it is, we are mining and shipping our products, pro-ducts, wasting our ore bodies, our assets, as-sets, Willi no profit. "In connection with Schedule C, paragraphs par-agraphs 152 and 153, we favor a specific speci-fic duty on lead in ores at the rate of 2 cents per pound." Mr. Young How does that compare with the duty in the Payne law? Mr. Bamberger That is half a cent higher. Mr. Young A half a cent a pound? Mr. Bamberger We make no recommendation recom-mendation at tiiis time regarding the duty on lead bullion. That does not affect the producer who is not smelting his own ore, but we have no objection to a higher rate on lead bullion, etc., giving a differential over lead in ore sufficient to cover the increase cost of smelling, etc., In the United States. Ad Valorem Duty Opposed. ' We oppose an ad valorem duty because be-cause we believe that such form of duly would cause endless disputes and controversies and would be unsatisfactory unsatisfac-tory both to the government and to the producer. Under an ad valorem duty a considerable amount of lead might be brought. Into this country free of duty in ores containing insufficient lead to pay smelting charges, but high enough In other metals to warrant production. Lead is the determining factor in most of the metal mines in Utah. This stale during the period of 1013 to 1920 has produced about one-sixth of the production of the United States and one-twelfth of the world's production. Over 30 per cent of all of t lie wage earners of the state covered by the working-men's compensation acTare engaged en-gaged in mining, milling and smelting Mine products supply 85 per cent of the railroad tonnage of the state. Mining Min-ing and allied industries furnish the great market for the state's agricultural agricultu-ral products. We are contending with high labor and supply costs, constantly increasing increas-ing freight ami smelting charges. As production decreases smelting charges rise rapidly. We anticipate in the near future increased world proiluction-The proiluction-The Broken Hills strike has been settled. set-tled. Mexico, with the opening of its vast resources, will bring into the markets mar-kets large quantities of cheaply produced pro-duced lead. Rich deposits, at comparatively compar-atively shallow depths, efficient and cheap laholr give to Mexico an advantage advant-age we cannot overcome. The initio of Utah are expensive to explore, to develop, and to operate. The ore bodies, as a rule are irregular, many of then: small and often few and |