OCR Text |
Show The Tariff and the Hosiery Industry Secretary Redfleld, of tho Department Depart-ment of Commerce "who has been hanging on to tho Wilson administration administra-tion by an oyolnsh, has renewed his efforts to becloud and confuse tho conditions which havo resulted from tho existing Frco Trado Tariff law. A report of nn Investigation which Mr. Redfleld says ho made Into the hosiery business lately was transmitted transmit-ted to President Wilson ns tho boc-ond boc-ond of a series isucd wlthTefcrenco to tho manufacturing of clothing In tho United States. Granting thnt Mr. Redfleld's figures fig-ures aro correct, for tho sako of argument, ar-gument, his report shows that tho hosiery manufacturers ot tho United Stntos nro now making a profit of nbout 12 per cent. This margin, Mr. Redfleld says, should be incrensed through better methods In producing nnd selling. Highest profits, ho continues con-tinues nro mado on the class of goods mcctlntr foreltrn competition. Accord ing to his figures,- Imports havo dropped drop-ped from $6,400,000 to $3,000,000 In tho last six years. In 1909 Imports formed 12 per cent of tho value of hosiery sold In tho American market; but now Mr. Redfleld says, less than 6 por cent of tho goods, on tho American Am-erican market Is of foreign manufacture.. manufac-ture.. As an evldcnco of Mr. Redfleld's, cheap effort to confuso tho situation, his report makes no mention of tho fact that tho reason only 6 per cont of tho hosiery on tho American market mar-ket Is of foreign manufacture Is be cause there has been n comploto stop-pago stop-pago of tho great Imports of hoslory from Germany. Gcrmnny is tho chior competitor of tho United Stntes In tho manufacture of hosiery. Germany under the Underwood law boforo tho war began was flooding tho American market with hosiery. If tho wnr had not intervened, tho number of hosiery hos-iery mills which had been put out of business by tho Free Trndo Tariff would havo doubled. Soon It would havo been unprofitable to manufacture manufac-ture hosiery In tho United Stntes. Tho war alono kept Germany from destroying tho American hosiery Industry. In-dustry. Tho other Europeon competitors compet-itors of tho United Stntes llkowlso wero hindered somewhat from importing im-porting hosiery Into this country, although al-though they nro still sending in great quantities of textiles. Mr. Redfleld's roport Is designed to confuso tho public mind with rofor-enco rofor-enco to what has happened in tho ho siery Industry. Ho must havo realized, real-ized, howover that if would not confuso con-fuso hoslory manufacturers. Tho Underwood Un-derwood Tariff lnw has been In elTect slnco October, 1913 n llttlo over two years. Mr. Redfleld apparently mnkes his cstlmato along goncral lines, so that It may seem that Imports Im-ports have been decreasing steadily without reference to tho Tariff. If ho had wanted to bo fair, ho would havo said that tho decrcaso In imports im-ports had been continuous under tho Protective law, nnd would havo admitted ad-mitted that thoro had been n de-crcnBO de-crcnBO in tho Imports up until tho very tlmo tho Underwood law went Into effect nnd after tho low duties of that law went Into effect, thcro was n sharp and sudden lncreaso in Importations. Tho conditions of tho hosiery In dustry at tho present tlmo may bo summarized as follows; Tho fact that thcro has boon a decrenso In Importations in this particular par-ticular Industry Is duo to tho block-ado block-ado of German ports, which prevents npy oxports of hosiery from Germany. Whllo it may bo truo that tho importations impor-tations at tho present timo amountB only to 6 per cent In tho hlghor grades mentioned by Mr. Redfleld, tho fact remains that tho hoslory Interests In-terests havo been seriously injured by tho stoppago of dyestuff importations. importa-tions. Mr. Redfleld might havo ob- served that if tho UnltcdtTT"; H Protected Its own dyestuff indusD.a tho country would not now be den Hi dent upon Germany. Hosiery mZ' H facturers achieved thelr e "J" H prosperity under tho Protective Tar iff, and they lost out tho minute is Frco Trade law went into e(Io,, Whatovor ground they havo recover H od has been duo to tho 8topPilg0 ' B imports from Germany and tho im palrment of Imports from other &J B ropean flnllons. BBJ The Secretary of Commerce hov H over, could not havo picked n better InBtanco of an Industry that has prof H ited somowhat by tho halting of l H portatlons from abroad. There had 1 ,bcen a flood of Importations of ii0s. jH iery after tho enactment ot tho Un- BB dcrwood Tariff law. M Whllo tho flood wns halted by th9 H war, importations in other llnea have H increased. This is shown very def- H inltely by tho recent statement of the Department of Comraorco giving detailed values of the imports ami H oxports of tho United States for No- H vember, 1915. Tho statement show jH that Importations In all lines are H steadily increasing. In November, 1913, right after tho Underwood law went into effect, tho Importations jH jumped to $238,23G,536. In November H 1914, after tho European war was well under way, tho Importations IM dropped to $126,467,062. In N'ovem- H ber, 1915, however, tho importations H again got a good lovcrago vunder the H Underwood law, and, dcsplto tho con. tlnuanco of tho great war, amount- od to $164,319,169. H |