U.S. 60th long., 2d/dess, 1908-1909. Hous BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS SIXTIETH CONGRESS. FIRST PRINT, No. 1. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1908. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. Pat/ TARIFF HEARINGS. TUESDAY, November 10, 1908. The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, the hearings will commence at half past 9 in the morning and continue until 1 o'clock, when a recess will be taken until 2 o'clock. The hearings will then be resumed in the afternoon at 2 o'clock, and if it becomes necessary to take a recess at 6 o'clock, the committee can do so and continue the hearings at 8 o'clock, The opening hearing this morning, as you are aware, is upon the Chemical Schedule of the tariff, and it is the desire of the committee to hear the parties interested and others who may desire to speak on the subject embraced in the schedule, and also concerning the chemicals on the free list, and so with each paragraph of the bill as we proceed, so that the discussion may continue intelligently, involving every item connected with the subject. The committee has no apologies to make for the bad acoustics of the hall, as we have nothing to do with that feature. We hope the people in attendance will be able to hear, and I would caution those in attendance that they speak in a sufficiently loud tone of voice that the committee can hear. STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN F. QUEENY, REPRESENTING THE MONSANTO CHEMICAL WORKS, ST. LOUIS, MO. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Queeny, of St. Louis, desires to be heard. Mr. QUEENY. I am hardly prepared to say what I want to say, but the first thing I want to call your attention to is acid-chloro sulphonic. Chloro-sulphonic acid at the present time is not on the schedule at all. It is not manufactured in this country, nor is it likely to be, for the reason that it is used very largely in Germany in the manufacture of patented dyes-sulphur dyes that are patented. We wish to import the article for the manufacture of saccharine. We tried it for two years, paying the duty that the appraisers assessed it at (25 per cent), which included not only the duty on the acid but also on the drum. We were compelled to shut down six months ago because we could not stand the competition with Germany. It is not used for anything else in this country except that purpose. Our consumption amounts to about 250 tons a year. Chloro-sulphonic acid, as the name indicates, is a mixture or compound of sulphuric and muriatic acid. Sulphuric acid is assessed at one-fourth a cent a pound. Muriatic acid is free. When we tried to import the chloro-sulphonic acid on the basis of muriatic acid, the appraisers shut it out and appraised it at 25 per cent, not only on the acid, but on the drum. We can not import it on that basis. 1 |