can be used. Within the United States we have approximately 50,000,000 sheep, and the annual output of clean wool is approximately 300,000,000 pounds. We bring into the United States from foreign countries to use within the United States approximately 250,000,000 pounds. In other words, annually we have something like between 550,000,000 and 600,000,000 pounds of clean wool for the use of upwards of 100,000,000 people, and when you stop to think of the number of pounds of wool necessary to make a suit of clothes, necessary to make an overcoat or a blanket, it must appear at once that our people and the people living in the temperate and frigid zones generally must exercise the greatest degree of prudence and husbandry in order to maintain a sufficient amount of the fiber known as wool, in order to meet their wants from day to day.

This bill does not seek to modify in any way the manufacture of woolen fabrics. It does not seek to disturb the use of fibers over and over again, but it does seek to indicate to the populations who use woolen or partly woolen fabrics, what the contents of the fabrics may be.

Probably a word with regard to the reuse of wool and of cotton would be of interest. Until a little over 100 years ago there was no practical way, after wool or cotton fibers had been woven into cloth, of abstracting it from its use and placing it in a shape by which it could be used again. The nearest approach to it was the cutting up of the fabric and making it into rugs by means of weaving the strips of cloth into the rugs with which you are familiar. But about 100 years ago, and for about 50 years, through experimentation ways were developed by which the ingredients of a piece of cloth could be separated so as to leave the ingredients that were desired. For example, take a piece of cloth which was part cotton and part wool; chemicals were worked out that would rot or carbonize the cotton, or any other vegetable fibers, leaving the wool intact. Or, on the other hand, different chemicals would carbonize the wool and animal fibers, hair, etc., and leave the cotton or the vegetable fibers intact. In other words, if cotton were high and wool were cheap, you could rot out the wool; if wool had the premium, you could rot out the vegetable fibers and save the wool. That is done to-day in large degree. Millions of pounds of clothing, of mattresses, of blankets, are salvaged all over the United States, are brought to establishments where the process of reclamation is carried out. For the most part we are salvaging for the wool content. Hastily describing the process the fabrics are separated. Lightcolored fabrics, for instance, are put into one place, blankets, underwear, materials which have not been colored. The colored fabrics are grouped in other piles. Buttons and trimmings are cut off. In fact to the extent reasonably practicable the contents of the rubbish pile are separated as to quality. color, and mixture of ingredients.

Then, after that is done, the different woolen garments or fabrics are put into vats containing liquids that will carbonize the vegetable fibers, and in due course the fabric which contains the wool but which is filled with the rot of the vegetable fiber will be taken out, dried by a mechanical process, and the dust or the carbonized vegetable content will be eliminated. The fabric then will be shredded by machinery and the fibers made available for reuse.

Naturally, in going through this process of heat and contact with chemicals oil has been abstracted and certain oils must be put into. the wool-fiber product.

As I have said, the light materials have been separated from the dark. The light fiber is more valuable because it will admit of any kind of dyes. It can be used in many places where the dark can not be used. The dark can only be used in the manufacture of dark material; the light can be used in the manufacture of any kind of materials where this type of reclaimed materials can be used.

Now, what is the result of reclaiming the fiber in this way? It depreciates the value of the fiber. It rubs, for instance, from the wool that scale that you are familiar with, that you recognize, for instance, on a hair, or would readily recognize under a microscope. Elimination of this scale tends to prevent the fiber from holding in the yarn; therefore it becomes the weaker, the fiber itself is worn smooth through wear, and through this repeated process, the heating, the handling, until it is a thinner fiber than it was when new. In other words, the reclaimed fiber is not as valuable as it was, any more than a piece of machinery is of the same value after it has been used for years. There is a wear, and that is precisely what occurs in clothing. It occurs with the individual fiber. Even so it is reclaimed, and properly reclaimed and is used for the manufacture of clothing over and over again.

This bill provides that as to all woven fabrics and as to yarns entering interstate and foreign commerce, the manufacturer shall indicate in a general way the wool content and the content of cotton or silk or shoddy. The reclaimed materials to which I have referred are called "shoddy." "Shoddy" is defined in the bill. It is fiber material used after it has been used before. It does not necessarily need to be wool; it may be cotton, it may be hemp, it may be feathers, so far as that is concerned.

This bill then provides that as to woolen goods or yarns entering into interstate commerce they shall be branded or marked in a general way, in terms such as: "Not more than" a certain amount, or "not less than" a certain amount. In other words, the public is given to understand whether the fiber that is within the fabric that is being bought is new wool or cotton or silk, whether it is reclaimed fiber, and in a general way the proportion of each.

The reason why it is necessary that legislation of this kind should be enacted is that when the fiber that has been reclaimed is put into the cloth it is in such shape that the ordinary purchaser can not know whether or not it is new fiber or whether it is old, and in fact not know accurately as to other content. In other words, it is a very difficult proposition for anyone excepting the person who manufactures the fabric to know what the content is, the test to the purchaser being in the ultimate wear of the article itself, and when it is too late to correct a mistake.

At this point let me say that the proponents of this bill do not claim that all virgin wool is better than all shoddy or all reworked material. We recognize that the better fiber of, say, a blanket, might be better than the poorest quality of raw or new wool. But no reworked wool is as good as the new wool from which it was first spun. This bill will permit the use of shoddy or reclaimed material, and the public in buying would have the opportunity of knowing whether or not a

price that is being asked is a virgin-wool price or is a price that properly should go with reworked materials.

The public, as I say, is not generally informed as to whether or not. a fabric contains virgin wool or reworked wool or shoddy. You look through your papers that carry the advertisements of woolen goods to-day; do you find anything that helps you to know? Here is a fabric that is advertised as all wool-warranted all wool." That advertisement may tell the truth absolutely, but it does not tell all the truth. Where it fails of telling the truth is in this: It does not say that that fabric may be made of material that has been worn over and over again, that may have been used in blankets or mattresses time and time again. In other words, the public in purchasing fabrics that are guaranteed as all wool, observation leads me to say, generally accepts the statement that an all-wool fabric is a fabric that is made of wool fresh from the sheep's back.

I have conducted something of an experiment along that line by asking man after man, woman after woman, the question whether or not the person I was talking to would feel that he was being imposed upon when he had been asked to purchase all wool garments, and should find out later that the garment was made of material that had been used over and over again. The only person that I found, as I recall, after a number had been canvassed, who, upon the basis of the guarantee of an article being all wool, would not feel that he had been imposed upon in purchasing it, was some one who is connected with the Military or Naval Establishment of our country, or a member of the family of such a person, where through experience he had learned to ask another question, not, "Is it all wool," but the question, “Is it virgin wool?" "Is it new wool or is it shoddy? Is it reworked material?"

The measure would require the branding or marking by the manufacturer, or if imported, it would impose on the importer the necessity of seeing to it that the goods imported were branded by the foreign producer. The positive information would thus be carried to the focal dealer. The responsibility of the latter person, the retail dealer, is limited to the guarantee that he can produce from the wholesaler or the manufacturer from whom he has purchased. That, of course, is proper, because he can not himself know the contents of the materials.

Here I would like to sum up the provisions of the bill paragraph by paragraph.

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 examinations 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 definies 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. 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, 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.

I.

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 farther 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 advertising-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 disposed 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 registration and representation of new goods that may be offered to the people.

There are two or three other points that probably you would like to have me call your attention to in connection with this bill. One question is this: "How do you propose to administer the enforcement of the law?" We provide that every manufacturer or importer shall have a license number. This license number shall be issued by the Secretary of Commerce. We provide that it may be withdrawn when the possessor of the license number abuses his rights or privileges under it. We provide for a system of inspection of the establishments of the manufacturers or producers. That does not mean that an inspector will be placed in every institution in the country, as today you find them in the picking plants of the country; it simply means that when the proper authorities have their attention directed to an institution that seems to be violating the law, an inspector will drop in, just as an inspector drops into a post office now and then to