the production, in order that we may have meat from these sheepwhich, by the way, is probably the most wholesome meat that there is-and in order that we may also have virgin wool to meet the demand for it all over the country. Mr. PARKER. Before you leave that subject, Mr. French, what are the figures from New York State? Mr. FRENCH. In 1917 New York had 840,000 head of sheep; in 1910 it had 930,000, or 90,000 more than it had 3 years ago. Mr. COOPER. What are the figures as to Ohio? Mr. FRENCH. I am sorry to say that your State has a very bad record. You had 2,944,000 sheep in 1917; you had 856,000 more seven years before that; in other words, you had in 1910 approximately 3,800,000 sheep, as against 2,900,000 in 1917. It is a remarkable showing all together; most of the States show a decrease; only a few States, probably about 10 or 12, show an increase. Mr. COOPER. To what do you attribute that decrease? Mr. FRENCH. The economic conditions, I would say, control that question. The figures I have given run up to 1917, which was the year in which we entered the war; and if you care to go back and check up the earlier figures, from 1903 to 1910, you have a period when the war was not on, and when there was a decrease even worse than the figures I have shown, or a decrease of about 10,000,000. Mr. COOPER. Do you think the tariff had anything to do with that? Mr. FRENCH. I think that, in spite of the tariff, and in spite of the efforts of the Agricultural Department, and in spite of everything that we have been able to do to encourage sheep husbandry in this country, there has been a diminution in the number of sheep that we have raised. Mr. PARKER. I wish to say that in New York State there was a great effort made during the years you mention to stimulate the production of sheep. Mr. FRENCH. Yes. Mr. PARKER. The State took a great interest in the matter. And the reason that in New York State they have not a larger number of sheep to-day is that they can not pass in New York a law regulating dogs. That is the real condition in New York State; they can not pass and they can not enforce a law in New York that will stop a lot of dogs from getting into a flock of sheep. That is the reason the sheep are not increasing in New York. Mr. FRENCH. Well, that is very interesting to know and it must be met by State law. Mr. PARKER. Well, that is the question in New York. Sheep in the United States, showing how the sheep industry increased or decreased in the United States between 1910 and 1917. Sheep in the United States, showing how the sheep industry increased or decreased in the United States between 1910 and 1917-Continued. Total, 48,483,000 in 1917, 52,444,000 in 1910; decrease, 3,961,000. The 1917 figures are from United States Agriculture Department quoted by volume by Hale Publishing Co. Mr. FRENCH. Now, let me give briefly an outline of the truth in fabric bill. But before doing that let me call your attention to page 2 of the bill, where the words "State or" should be stricken out; they were inadvertently included in the bill. The CHAIRMAN. Where is that? Mr. FRENCH. Page 2, line 1; the words "State or" should be stricken out. Congress, of course, would not, and it could not constitutionally, control the business of manufacturing and sales within a State; we can control it in the Territories and in the District of Columbia. We can also control the business in interstate and foreign commerce, but not when it is wholly within a State. But through inadvertence the words "State or" were included in the bill, when they should not have been included. The same words "State or" should be stricken from the title. Having made these corrections, I will say there will probably be some minor corrections that will be noticed later on; but I wanted to make these now, because it is essential. Section 1 of the bill defines the measure as "The truth in fabric law." Section 2 provides that every manufacturer of woven fabrics purporting to contain wool, or of garments or articles of apparel made therefrom, within any Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia, who engages in business in such Territory or the District of Columbia, or who manufactures woven fabrics purporting to contain wool, etc., and who engages in interstate or foreign commerce, shall cause said fabrics to be stamped. A penalty is provided. Section 3 of the bill provides that the introduction into interstate or foreign commerce of any woven fabric, or any article made therefrom, which is not stamped as required, is prohibited. A penalty is provided. Section 4 authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Commerce to make rules for carrying into effect the provisions of the law, including the examination of specimens of woven fabrics, and also the manufacturing establishment, raw materials, and methods; and the manufacturer's books, and the requiring of reports from manufacturers. Section 5 provides for the examination of specimens of fabrics, under direction of the Bureau of Chemistry or the Bureau of Standards, which examination is provided for under section 4; it also provides for giving notice to violators of the law, and for the right of appeal to the courts. Section 6 defines the duty of the United States district attorneys to prosecute for violations of the law. Section 7 provides that every manufacturer engaged in business to which the act pertains shall have a registration number, obtained from the Department of Commerce. Section 8 provides that persons not having such registration numbers may not engage in business. There is a penalty provided. Section 9 recites the information to be stamped on the fabrics. Section 10 provides for marking of garments manufactured from fabrics containing wool. Section 11 provides that manufacturers of yarn purporting to contain wool shall have a registration number. Section 12 provides that manufacturers of yarn shall furnish purchasers a statement and guaranty in writing setting forth the contents of the yarn. There is a penalty provided. Section 13 provides that yarn purporting to contain wool, woven fabrics, purporting to contain wool, and garments or articles of apparel made therefrom, which are being imported into the United States, or offered for import, shall, in addition to the other requirements of the act, be accompanied by a written statement or guaranty as to the contents of such yarn, woven fabrics, garments, and articles of apparel. Upon the failure to furnish such written statement or guaranty, the goods may be refused admission to the United States; and if the goods are not withdrawn from the United States within three months after such refusal, they may be destroyed. Section 14 defines the terms "virgin wool," "shoddy," "cotton," "silk," and other words and phrases used in the bill. Section 15 provides for the exemption from prosecution of retail dealers who may show a guaranty from the manufacturer, jobber, 177735-20- 4 or other person from whom the purchases were made; the penalties revert back to the original person making the guaranty. Section 16 provides that articles not stamped shall be libeled, and defines the process. Section 17 contains certain administrative provisions for the enforcement of the law. Section 18 provides for the cancellation of registration numbers for failure to comply with the law. Section 19 prescribes when the act shall go into effect. I have already indicated, in outline, what we propose to do. I will now merely touch upon the matter of enforcement. In the first place, we must recognize that most of our people are not Bolsheviks; most of our people are law-abiding people; they are willing to abide by the law; and the very fact that there is a law prescribed for everybody to follow will enable the administration of that law to command the general respect of the people of our country. Secondly, we have provided a registration system, by which all people engaged in the business under the law shall have a serial number under one of the departments. We have provided that the specimens of fabrics, and so on, shall be submitted for examination. We have gone further than that, and have provided that the different manufacturing plants, their books, and all that has to do with the manufacturing of woolen, or part woolen goods, shall be open to inspection at all times, upon the part of the representative of the Government in enforcing the law. You can go beyond that: The jealousies, the rivalries of the manufacturers themselves; the different organizations looking to truth in fabrics and truth in business, truth in adverstising—all of those factors will enter in and aid in the enforcement of the law. The last section of the bill, section 19, provides when the law shall take effect. I want you to notice especially the provisions as to that, because they are important. The law does not assume to limit at all the disposition of any fabrics or materials or goods that are now in existence, or that will be in existence at the time that it is prescribed that the law shall go into effect; but those may be worked off by the individual retailers or wholesalers, so far as that is concerned as they may be able to dispose of them. You go to a big city and the retail concern there desires to turn over its goods, perhaps every six months or every year; it has special sales and all that sort of thing. You go to the smaller towns throughout the country and a large amount of these goods are in the stores of the merchants and tailors in those towns; and there you will find business men oftentimes who do not see it to their interest to turn their goods over every six months, or every year, but they will hold their goods, perhaps, until the next season and dispose of them then. This bill will permit them to do that. All that will be necessary will be to show that any goods of that kind were on hand prior to the date specified in the act. In other words, the class of goods of that character is, you might say, wedge-shaped; it will pinch out, and without attempting to do any harm, or doing any harm, to the group of people owning the goods now in existence, the goods will gradually be disposed of, and the law will automatically take care of the regis tration and representation of new goods that may be offered to the people. When I was a boy on the farm, sometimes in trying to persuade our hens to lay their eggs where we could find them, we used to build nests close in and put door knobs into the nests as a further inducement to our poultry to take possession. Then sometimes in late summer or fall when we did not want a new brood of little chicks brought into the world and we had a hen that was bent on setting, we would provide her a nest with china eggs and let her go to work. She would get discouraged in three or four weeks and that would end the matter. No harm done. In spite of this, I have always been somewhat embarrassed since those days when looking a hen in the face. Even so, I never approved putting green goggles on our horses so that they would think they were eating grass when they were fed shavings, and I do not believe we should sell the people shoddy when they think they are buying virgin wool? Mr. Chairman, in presenting this measure the proponents expect to show: First. That an immense amount of shoddy in fabric is now being sold the people as all wool Second. That the quantity of shoddy has increased enormously during the last 50 years by means of scientifically devised processes. Third. That virgin wool prices are charged the consumer. Fourth. That the purchaser and the merchant can not tell what is virgin wool or shoddy, except the crudest kinds, by ordinarily available means. Fifth. That the condition aids the shoddy manufacturer to profiteer at the expense of the public. Sixth. That it aids unscrupulous manufacturers and merchants. Seventh. That shoddy has an economic, reasonable, and desirable use. Eighth. That shoddy should be sold under its own name and for what it is worth and not as virgin wool under the name of "all wool." Ninth. That the people who constitute the consumers are entitled to know what they buy; that is, the truth. Tenth. That the truth-in-fabric measure will afford this relief. Eleventh. That the measure is practicable and can be enforced readily. In conclusion, then, honest manufacturers of woolen fabrics. should welcome the measure, because it will place all manufacturers upon equal footing so far as raw material may be concerned-competition would be on merit and not by fraud on part of unscrupulous manufacturers. Honest merchants should welcome the measure for it will enable them to buy intelligently and to speak with confidence, frankness, and sincerity to their customers. Growers of wool should welcome the measure, for it will mean an honest price for wool. The public should welcome the measure for it will enable them to buy virgin wool or shoddy as they please. It will remove the green goggles that unscrupulous manufacturers ask the people to wear when they feed (sell) them shavings (shoddy) for grass (virgin wool). Unless there are some questions that the committee desires to ask, Mr. Chairman, I have finished. |