CEMENT.

TUESDAY July 17, 1888.

STATEMENT OF ERNEST ACKERMAN,

General sales agent of the Lawrence Cement Company, New York.

Mr. ACKERMAN. First, I wish to call attention to page 9 of the pamphlet I herewith submit, and specially to the table appearing on that page showing the importations of foreign cement.

Senator ALDRICH. How many pounds of cement in a barrel?

can.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Four hundred of foreign cement, and 320 of AmeriThe difference in cost to equalize the manufacture between here and Germany would be 13 cents per 100 pounds. Germany is our principal competitor, and we pay seven times the amount of wages that they do in Germany.

Prof. Henry Reid, in his work entitled "Natural and Artificial Concrete," on page 305, says that the Star Portland Cement factory at Stettin, in Pomerania, is a model one. In 1878 their annual product was 240,000 casks, equivalent in quantity to 300,000 barrels of American Rosendale cement.

If you turn to volume 1 of the Consular Reports entitled "Labor in Europe," on page 512 we will find that the average wages paid in a Portland cement manufactory in Stettin, and it is presumably this one, was $3.57 per week of sixty hours, equal to 594 cents per day of ten hours. Senator ALDRICH. The duty collected at the present time is 20.6 cents per barrel.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes.

Senator ALDRICH. We propose to give you 24, and you say that is not enough.

Mr. ACKERMAN. No, sir; that will not equalize the difference in cost of manufacture between here and abroad.

Senator ALDRICH. How much do you ask?

Mr. ACKERMAN.. We ask 13 cents a hundred-weight.

Senator ALDRICH. That is utterly impossible. We can not give it. Mr. ACKERMAN. That would merely equalize the difference.

Senator ALDRICH. That makes 60 per cent. That trebles the duty on cement. We can not do that.

Mr. ACKERMAN. The importations have increased 64 per cent., and we have every facility in this country for making cement. They are increasing importations at such a rate that they are driving us out of the business.

Senator ALDRICH. What is the consumption of cement?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Five million barrels, and we have a sufficient mill capacity to supply the whole of it, for many of our mills are now idle. Senator ALDRICH. There has not been very much change in the importation. What is the price of cement?

Mr. ACKERMAN. American cement?

Senator HISCOCK. No; foreign cement.

Mr. ACKERMAN. The invoiced value is $1.03 a barrel on the other side.

Senator ALDRICH. How much for American cement?

Mr. ACKERMAN. One dollar and eighty-five cents on some cement of this country.

Senator HISCOCK. You give the invoice price on the other side. What can they lay it down for in New York?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Those are barrels of 400 pounds. Those can be put in New York at $2 a barrel, and freight and duties are 60 cents a barrel at the present time.

Senator HISCOCK. Do you say foreign cement can be put down in New York at $4 a barrel?

Mr. ACKERMAN. No, sir; $2 to $2.25.

Senator HISCOCK. That includes the freight?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes.

Senator HISCOCK. That makes 55 cents a hundred-weight at $2.25 a barrel?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes, 55 cents a hundred-weight.

Senator HISCOCK. Twenty per cent. of that would be in specific rates about how much?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Twenty per cent. on 55 cents?

Senator HISCOCK. Yes.

Mr. ACKERMAN. It would be 11 cents per 100 pounds.

Mr. DURFEE. Forty-four cents a barrel on the basis of $2.20 for 400 pounds.

Senator ALDRICH. Would you rather have the present law than 6 cents a hundred pounds?

Mr. ACKERMAN. No, sir; 6 cents a hundred pounds would be better than the present law, because the duty is not computed upon the barrel, which it was up to 1885. If the duty was collected upon the barrel aj present, the duty would be 30 cents a barrel, because the value abroad is $1.50 a barrel, and they invoice the barrel high and compute the duty upon the bulk value of the cement at the place of manufacture, and thus it makes it only 20.6 cents a barrel.

Senator ALDRICH. We propose to restore the duty on the barrels. Let us take it on lime.

Mr. ACKERMAN. I do not know much about lime. We only have one lime-works in Ulster County, N. Y., and that makes ground lime, different from the lime that comes from Rockland, Me. But the St. John's lime from New Brunswick has caused us to shut up our works in Ulster County. This is a very important industry in New York. There are 3,500 men employed in Ulster County alone, and the condition of the country there is such that it is depending very largely upon this cement business. In the Rosendale region, that depends almost entirely upon the cement business for its livelihood.

Senator ALDRICH. If the duty was computed on the barrel 20 per cent. would be better for you.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes, it would be, because then it would give us 30 cents a barrel as against 24 cents a barrel.

Senator ALDRICH. I guess 6 cents a hundred pounds is not enough. Mr. TINGLE. That was based on the foreign value at the time that was made up, a few years ago.

Senator ALDRICH. That was $1.10 a barrel.

Mr. ACKERMAN. I want to state that the Secretary of the Treasury decided on a case from Portland, Oregon, that the barrel did not con

stitute any part of the cement, and so they computed the duty merely upon the bulk value of the cement.

I also want to tell the committee how we have been driven out of many markets. We have sent as many as 60,000 to 75,000 barrels a year to San Francisco: To-day we are not sending a barrel. The freights are less to San Francisco from England than we can afford to ship for from New York. We are being driven out of Galveston and New Orleans also, and our lines are being drawn tighter and tighter every day. We were commencing to start a large mill at Seigfreid's Bridge for the manufacture of Portland cement. We think we can there make better Portland cement to-day, decidedly, than can be made abroad, but there is no inducement to go ahead if there is only 6 cents a pound to be placed upon the articles.

Senator ALDRICH. Suppose we should give you 8 cents a hundredweight; how would that answer?

Mr. ÁCKERMAN. Thirteen cents a hundred-weight merely equalizes the difference in cost of production.

Senator HISCOCK. Do you know what the relation is between lime and cement?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Cement is used where lime can not be used, and cement is used for under-water work.

Senator HISCOCK. I mean the price of one affecting the price of the other.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Cement and lime are about the same; that is, Rosendale cement and Rockland lime.

Senator HISCOCK. I mean the uses to which they can be put, so that the value of one would affect the value of the other.

Mr. ACKERMAN. I do not think that would be the case.

Senator HISCOCK. There is nothing of that kind?

Mr. ACKERMAN. No, sir. Cement is being used now where lime was used formerly, on account of making a better building, doing better work.

The CHAIRMAN. I see in your pamplet you speak of the Silesian cement. What are their methods of transportation from Silesia? Mr. ACKERMAN. By sail vessels to America.

The CHAIRMAN. Do they have no land transportation?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Vessels come direct from Stettin. Stettin is on the Oder, and is in Pomerania. Silesia, where they pay 24 cents, is somewhat inland.

The CHAIRMAN. Where was this place you intended to establish a new factory?

Mr. ACKERMAN. At Seigfried's Bridge, near Allentown, about 200 miles from Washington.

The CHAIRMAN. It would require rail transportation from there? Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes. It was reported in the Herald of June 17 that a vessel sailed from the other side containing 5,500 barrels of Portland cement, to go directly through the lakes to Chicago. They can put cement in Chicago directly from Germany at less than we can send it there from Cumberland, Md.

The CHAIRMAN. Is your cement equal to the Portland cement?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes. It will do the same kind of work exactly. We are making Portland cement and propose to do it at Seigfried's Bridge. Over 100,000 barrels of our cement has been used in Washington alone on all the principal buildings, and 20,000 barrels of our brand has been used in the Capitol here.

The CHAIRMAN. Where do you get the cement from?

Mr. ACKERMAN. At Cumberland, Md., at Rondout, N. Y., in Ulster County, about 90 miles from New York City, and at Seigfried's Bridge we are making a small quantity at present.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the ad valorem of 6 cents a hundred-weight? Mr. ACKERMAN. The ad valorem of 8 cents a hundred-weight would be 15 per cent., the way the duty is computed at present. It would be 15 cents on $1.50. It would be 24 per cent.

The CHAIRMAN. What does Portland cement cost at the place of exportation?

Mr. ACKERMAN. It costs, as near as I can get at it, about $1.03 a barrel. That is the invoice value at the present time. We have every facility in the United States for making Portland cement, and I have computed the amount that has been lost to the labor of the United States through the importation of foreign Portland cement, which should have been all retained in this country.

The CHAIRMAN. What does it cost you per hundred-weight to make it here?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Labor costs 87 per cent. of the value of a barrel, and it amounts to about 65 to 80 cents a barrel of 300 pounds. The barrels on the other side are about 400 pounds.

Senator ALDRICH. You say that it requires 13 cents to equalize cost of production?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes.

Senator ALDRICH. What do you base that upon One dollar and three cents as the foreign cost?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. What does an average barrel of Portland cement of 400 pounds cost you to make here?

Mr. ACKERMAN. We have not started in the business to make them, so that we can not give you any figures.

Senator ALDRICH. What do you base the 13 cents upon ?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Rosendale American cement against foreigu Portland cement.

The CHAIRMAN. What does a barrel of Rosendale cement cost here to make?

Mr. ACKERMAN. About 65 to 68 cents a barrel, labor alone.

The CHAIRMAN. That is a barrel of 400 pounds?

Mr. ACKERMAN. No, sir; 320 pounds. We do not make any 400-pound barrels.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, Portland cement is contained in barrels of 400 pounds?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes.

Senator ALDRICH. What is this $1.03 ?

Mr. ACKERMAN. That represents the invoice value of 400 pounds of Portland cement on the other side.

Senator ALDRICH. Have you any idea that that represents the value of the cement with the barrel added?

Mr. ACKERMAN. I am unable to state whether it does or not.

Senator ALDRICH. You ought to be able to judge by the price they sell for.

Mr. ACKERMAN. They invoice the barrel very high, and place the bulk value very low.

Senator ALDRICH. What do they sell it for?

Mr. ACKERMAN. About $2 to $2.25 per barrel.

Senator ALDRICH. That shows that you do not have to compete with the $1.03 anywhere.

Mr. ACKERMAN. I beg your pardon; at present the rate is about 60 cents a barrel. Cement sometimes comes as ballast, and has frequently been brought from London at 5 cents a barrel.

Senator ALDRICH. But $1.03 on the other side and 5 cents is $1.08. Now, you say it sells for $2. The duty is not at 23 cents.

Mr. ACKERMAN. And they add the barrels. There is no duty on them.

Senator ALDRICH. But you are making a comparison for the purpose of getting the duty fixed on this cement without any barrels?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes.

Senator ALDRICH. Which, of course, is not a fair comparison. I suppose you see that, do you not?

Mr. ACKERMAN. A barrel of Portland cement should have one-fifth added in order to make it the same.

Senator ALDRICH. I understand that you are making a comparison, upon the basis of this duty, between the import price of cement without any barrel, and which is undervalued, and the price which they put upon it. That is not a fair comparison. Do you not see that? There is no competition with you at $1.03 a barrel.

Mr. ACKERMAN. That is the selling price.

Sedator ALDRICH. That is not the selling price anywhere.

Mr. ACKERMAN. It is the selling price on the other side.

Senator ALDRICH. It is not the selling price on the other side, begging your pardon.

Mr. ACKERMAN. The price of the barrel is 68. and 6d. in London, and that leaves an enormous profit. We could make a barrel of cement at the same price at those rates of wages, provided the men are the same there as here, for about 43 cents a barrel.

The CHAIRMAN. Do they make the same kind of cement that you make?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes; Portland cement.

Senator ALDRICH. It is brought here, you say, and sold for $2.25 per barrel?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes.

Senator ALDRICH. That pays a duty of 21 cents a barrel. That leaves an average cost, that you have to compete with, of $2 a barrel. MR. ACKERMAN. I beg your pardon; it is the foreign selling price, is it not?

Senator ALDRICH. The foreign selling price that you have to compete with. How much does it cost you to make a barrel of that kind here?

Mr. ACKERMAN. About $1.35; that is what others have estimated. Senator ALDRICH. I do not see butwhat you can compete well enough with them.

Mr. ACKERMAN. But they can make a large profit on the other side, and were making it, and so they can come down in the prices so that we can not continue in the business at all.

The CHAIRMAN. You make Rosendale cement?

Mr. ACKERMAN. Yes, sir; and are making a million barrels a year in Ulster County now.

The CHAIRMAN. Are you making money?

Mr. ACKERMAN. We are not making a reasonable profit. Since the year 1883 the cement industry has not been able to make 4 per cent. upon the money invested in it in Ulster County, and yet we can make a cement that is fully equal to the foreign article.