LETTER FROM THE DAILY MILL STOCK REPORTER. Hon. JOHN J. ESCH, NEW YORK, April 9, 1920. Chairman House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Washington, D. C. SIR: A review of the testimony offered to your committee by the protagonists of the various truth-in-fabric bills has brought out one or two points that, apart from the question of virgin wool and reworked wool, affect the general economics of the question of labeling. We have thought it consistent as a trade paper dealing with the several industries interested in virgin and waste materials to present to you views on the principles exposed by the proposed bills that may have escaped the attention of your committee. We are, sir, very truly, yours, DAILY MILL STOCK REPORTER, BRIEF SUBMITTED BY THE DAILY MILL STOCK REPORTER. The old maxim "waste not want not" does not appeal to the average American, perhaps so much as to the people of the old countries, because of the abundance of natural products here. It has been truly said that America 1emains a wealthy nation in spite of the wastefulness of the population, and also because of her natural resources. Shortage of the necessary labor to prepare the soil and to harvest crops, or to extract from the earth the mineral wealth is, however, having its effect on all natural or virgin materials. In normal prewar times this condition would have had important effects on cost and production; the enormous destruction of material during the last five years has very considerably intensified the general shortage of supplies. It is opportune to consider seriously this condition of supply and to meet the shortage by every means of conservation. During the last few days Secretary of Commerce Alexander urged American housewives, with the slogan "Don't waste waste,' to consider carefully the advantage and the necessity of this national conservation. Calling attention to the possibility of utilizing much of the refuse which will be disclosed by the spring house cleaning, Secretary Alexander said: "At least $450,000,000 worth of waste paper, rubber, metals, and other articles sent to the rubbish heap each year can be reclaimed. The lessons learned during the war should not be forgotten. It is very essential that every means of offsetting the high cost of living be found. Turn waste back into the channels of commerce by selling odds and ends to the junk dealer who will start them back into useful trade.” These remarks of Secretary Alexander are not novel, the excellent work of the Government Waste Reclamation Service is still in our memory, and Secretary W. C. Redfield's labors and testimony on its behalf will long remain to his credit. "Any movement which would tend to discourage the conservation and utilization of waste material or on any particular item of waste, would work a hardship upon the industries and the people of this country.' There is not a journal in the length and breadth of the United States that has not advocated in some manner or another the necessity of production and still more production, but "you can not make bricks without straw," and the recent hearings before the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce in Washington cause one to wonder if selfish interests displayed there are such as Secretary Redfield includes in "those who discourage the conservation and utilization of waste materials." We have emphasized the words "Start them back into useful trade." All the endeavors of Government, of journals, or of private individuals, in favor of conservation are as naught without the final endeavor to start them back into useful rade. The miser's hoarded gold is of no more value than would be the conservation of waste materials without an ultimate utilization. Yet during the last few weeks there has been a pitiful example of the waste of time and money at Washington. Leading manufacturers, who in posterity will be looked upon as patriots, have given their ener gies to combating an attempted restriction on the utilization of waste materials. Waste materials. Is there such a thing in existence? Nature does not permit it, and if man neglects the utilization to the fullest extent of nature's bounty, he will surely suffer. There is not an object in the animal, vegetable, or the mineral king dom that is not useable time and time again. "Necessity is the mother of invention," and never in this world's history existed greater necessity than at present for conservation, and, as a natural corollary, never has there been greater scope for inventive genius. While our minds have lately been centered on virgin and reworked wool, and the proven necessity of woolen rags, not as a substitute for, but as copartner with new wool, Secretary Alexander enlarges the field by including "waste paper, rubber, metals, and other articles." The utilization of waste paper and cotton rags in the paper-making trade and the dire necessity for the conservation of suitable materials to this end was forcibly and reasonably treated in the Daily Mill Stock Reporter issue of March 11, 1920. No branch of the utilization of waste material offers such a varied range of possibilities as that of india rubber. Its possibilities are as yet in their infancy, and although perhaps in this country its reuse in motor tires looms largely in the public mind, this is a comparatively minor use to which its utilization can be put. Pure cautchouc is rarely if ever used in manufacturing processes, and the vulcanizing processes add to it substances that can be serviceably reclaimed. Oils, varnishes, and resins may be mentioned as by-products from old as well as crude rubber. Its advantageous use was well brought out at the hearings on the truth-in-fabrics bills by Dr. S. W. Stratton, Director of the Bureau of Standard, who said "it (the labeling) might mislead the public into the belief that an article made of pure wool or pure rubber is better than an article made of reclaimed wool or rubber, when such is distinctly not the case." The importance of scrap iron in the steel industries is exemplified by the use of enormous quantities of this material by the Carnegie Steel Co. and the Bethlehem Steel Co. Both these firms are producing the finest of finished materials from an admixture of old iron and metallic ore. Our armor-plated battleships could not have been built without the aid of this and similar scrap material. The valves and fittings of American engines, land or marine, depend in their manufacture on the utilization of scrap brass. The Crane Co. of Chicago, and the American Brass Co., of Waterbury, Conn., both large producers of metal articles necessarily constructed of brass and copper are large purchasers of scrap brass. In the industries noted, as also in every important manufacture in this country, preused materials form an integral part of the product. The iron founder, the producer of articles of brass, the rubber worker, the manufacturer of clothing in cotton and wool, the papermaker-each would find an insuperable difficulty in supplying the Nation's requirements without the use of the previously rejected materials. Manufacturers have continued for many years the utilization of scrap materials and the user of the finished product has never questioned the mixture of virgin and used components. Whether the articles have contained scrap material, or what is the percentage of them if so used, has made no difference to the ultimate consumer. The principle involved in the Capper-French-Rainey truth-in-fabric bills, is, however, equally applicable to any scrap material as to reworked wool. Alexander Walker, in his brief before the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, states: "Most genuine articles have a substitute and that part of industry which has to do with substitutes is also perfectly legitimate so long as the substitutes are sold as such and not as the genuine article.' Whatever reasons could be adduced by the sheep and wool interests may quite as logically be adopted by the iron producer against scrap iron, the copper miner against scrap copper and brass, and the manufacturer of paper pulp against old rags, old papers, and other materials. During the last two weeks there have been presented to the public by the members of the United States Government two entirely opposite attitudes, namely, the statement of Secretary Alexander, quoted above, and supported by every Government agency during the war, advocating the saving of every scrap of material, irrespective of the grade or description, and on the other hand congressional committees in session hold hearings of testimony that have, and can have, no other purpose than that of legislating to such an end that these materials shall be branded and held up to the American public as objectionable and undesirable. We believe, however, that the mass of evidence favorable to the unrestricted use of reworked wool placed before the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce will have finally convinced Congress of the shallow pretext under which the several bills have been brought before them. A Government which has repeatedly and strongly advocated the conservation of waste materials will see to it that the reuse of any scrap material shall not be restricted. "The hearings at Washington, however," says W. Loewenthal, textile editor of the New York Times, "have had one good effect. They have shown how flimsy is the pretext for the enactment of the truth-in-fabric bill." LETTERS FROM ALFRED A. WHITMAN. NEW YORK CITY, April 9, 1920. Mr. Escн, Chairman Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, My Dear Mr. ESCH: I have just received the attached letter from Maurice Goldstein, secretary of the Wool Stock Graders Association, inclosing a letter from Secretary William C. Redfield, which seems to me of sufficient importance to warrant my sending it to you. I wish to take this opportunity to thank you in the name of the American Association of Woolen and Worsted Manufacturers for the courtesy which was accorded our committee during the recent hearings on the fabric-labeling legislation, and beg to remain, Very truly, yours, ALFRED A. WHITMAN. WOOL STOCK GRADERS ASSOCIATION, Mr. ALFRED WHITMAN, American Association of Woolen and Worsted Manufacturers, DEAR SIR: I beg to direct your attention to a report of a statement alleged to have been made before the Committee of Interstate and Foreign Commerce during a hearing on truth-about-fabrics bills. George D. Briggs, advertising manager of Strong-Hewatt & Co., is reported to have testified on March 31 that former Secretary of Commerce William C. Redfield has stated that the sheep industry has been deterred by the masquerading of shoddy as all wool. I inclose in duplicate copy of a letter from Hon. William C. Redfield, dated May 12, 1919, which in my opinion entirely refutes the statement of Mr. Briggs, and sets forth very clearly in complete detail the view of Secretary Redfield on this subject. Yours, very truly, MAURICE GOLDSTEIN, Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, DEAR SIR: I was greatly interested in your recent communication in which you advised that a campaign in opposition to the use of reworked wool in the manufacture of woolen cloth is about to be inaugurated. You will readily understand my interest in this matter, as I have recently organized a bureau, known as the Waste Reclamation Service, to serve the industries and communities of this country in a manner similar to the service now being performed for the people of Great Britain by the national salvage council of that country. Any movement which would tend to discourage the conservation and utilization of waste material, or any particular item of waste, would not only hamper the Waste Reclamation Service in developing the program for a national system of conservation of waste, but would also work a hardship upon the industries and people of this country. I have been keenly interested in the development of the reworked woolen industry of this country even prior to the organization of the Waste Reclamation Service, and this department has made several investigations covering this industry and its value to the people of this country as a means of checking advancing costs of the principal items of clothing. The Bureau of Standards of this department has conducted searching investigations in this field, which have revealed the worth of reworked wool as a means of meeting the increasing shortage in the country's supply of virgin wool. The official conducting the tests of reworked wool reports that "Reworked wool can be made up into cloth that is all it should be at the relative price. Our experiments have proved this. For example, take three classes of woolXX, half blood and quarter blood. Cloth reworked from the first class, while it will not be as good as cloth made from the original XX wool, will be better than the cloth made from the second class, and by far better than cloth made from the third. Cloth again worked up from this shoddy will equal that made from the second class, that is, the half-blood wool, and be better than cloth made from the third class. Much depends upon the care with which the reworked wool is handled and made into cloth. But reworked wool from the first class can be reworked four or probably five times before it will get down to cloth made from the third class." We recently conducted a series of tests at the request of the Quartermaster General of the United States Army, covering overcoats and blankets made from reworked wool made up of the new clips turned in by the Government contract shops. The report of this test will doubtless be of interest to you, and I forward herewith a copy of that report for your information. The reworking of wool cloth is imperative. The world's annual clip is sufficient to supply but approximately one-third of the annual production of cloth; the deficiency must be supplied by having recourse to new woolen clips and worn cloth. This situation has resulted in the development of an industry both in this country and in Great Britain which, in capital invested, workers employed, and value produced, rivals many industries which stand unchallenged as a vital necessity. The necessity for the utilization of reworked wool is recognized by all. A conference was held with officials of the Department of Agriculture and we were advised that, although the Department of Agriculture has been conducting a campaign to stimulate the sheep industry of this country in order to increase not only the supply of virgin wool, but also the meat supply of this country, it is the opinion of that Department that it is doubtful if the industry can be developed to such a degree that a sufficient supply of virgin wool can be secured to meet the domestic demand, and that the industries for the reworking of woolen cloth must be fostered and developed in order to meet the situation and to assist in maintaining at a low level the price of a necessity of life. It is the opinion of the officials of the Department of Agriculture that there is a necessity for the standardization of fabrics made from wools. "hat such standardization should be based on the tensile strength of the material. It is believed that such a standardization is equally imperative for reworked wool fabrics. If this were made, it would eliminate the points of friction now existing between fabrics made from virgin wool and reworked wool. It would further assist in educating the producing and consuming public to the relative values existing in the fabrics made from virgin wools and fabrics made from reworked wools. However, it must be borne in mind that tests for tensile strength, although of value for comparative purposes, are not the sole tests in determining the basis for gradings of fabrics maae from virgin or reworked wool. Notations and experiments on the percentage strength and resilience of the fabric should be determined, and investigations covering abrasion and wearing tests, together with incipient failure, both of which are closely related and present in all wearing apparels, should be made. These tests should be made in addition to the test for tensile strength. In one of the newspaper clippings forwarded by you there was advanced the idea of a pure goods law. It was evidently the attitude of the writer of the article that goods could be as easily standardized and marked as oleomargarine. Such is not the condition, because in addition to the problem of standardization of goods on the basis of component raw material which enters into its manufacture, there is the further problem of the manufacturing process, itself. The manufacture of woolen fabric is of greater importance than the material of which it is composed. A clever manufacturer can make a fabric of wool, cotton, shoddy, and other foreign materials and add lint, flocks, and dust in the finishing processes, thereby increasing the weight of the fabric and giving it a softer feel. Material so manufactured may have superior wearing qualities and more value than a fabric with the same construction made of virgin wool of the same grade. The finish of a fabric determines to an appreciable extent its wearing qualities. Much value can be put on a fabric which has a nicely finished face and which has been given a number of definite manufacturing processes in reaching this end. The value of this, which can not be expressed in the fabric itself, except in its feel and appearance, should be carefully noted. This will indicate the vagueness of valuation of material on the basis of shoddy. The element of manufacture must always be considered. These facts, together with other factors, as the addition of cotton, should be given consideration. The question of this, and other foreign materials, not considering reworked wool as a foreign material, is also pertinent, and no legislation should be sought which does not include these factors. You will see from the above the difficulties which face us in endeavoring to secure a pure goods law, at least so far as woolen fabrics are concerned. However, to reach a basic of understanding, I would suggest that your association confer with the National Sheep and Wool Bureau, with the idea of working out a basis of cooperation; and I would recommend that a joint committee of the two organizations be appointed to develop this subject. This committee might request joint action on the part of the Department of Agriculture and this department in inaugurating tests for the determining of methods of standardization of fabrics manufactured from virgin and reworked wool, and a conference might he held between this office, the office of the Secretary of Agriculture, and the joint committee, to work out the details of the tests which might be conducted by the Bureau of Standards, and a joint report issued by this office and the Department of Agriculture on this subject. Such action would be of benefit to the manufacturer and the consumer and would be the first step in the development of a scientific system of evaluation of this material and I further believe that this action would assist in gaining recognition of the contribution which the reworked wool industry makes to the economic life of our people as could be affected by no other means of education. I should be pleased to assist in such a movement, and the facilities of this department are at your disposal in furthering such a program. Yours, very truly, Mr. MAURICE GOLDSTEIN, WILLIAM C. REDFIELD, Secretary. New York City. Secretary Wool Stock Graders' Association, Report of tests on blankets and overcoating by Bureau of Standards. Heat transmission is the number of calories per square centimeter, per hour, per degree Centigrade, passing through the fabric. Heat transmission takes into account the thickness. Permeability is the tangent of the curve obtained by plotting the velocity of the air passing through a fabric against the resulting drop in pressure across the fabric. and may be taken as an index as to the ease with which wind will pass through the material. The lower the value of permeability and heat transmission the better are the heat retaining properties of the material. WASHINGTON, D. C., June 28, 1918. BUREAU OF STANDARDS. Mr. Escн, WILLIAM WHITMAN CO. (INC.), Chairman Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, DEAR MR. ESCH: It appears from the papers that Mr. French has offered some suggestions for amendments to his bill and also that you have appointed a special subcommittee to consider the bill chiefly, as indicated by the papers, with regard to whether the provision for branding fabrics would give information of value to the public. In this connection I beg leave to inclose a copy of the Daily Mill Stock Reporter of April 14, containing some observation of mine based on Mr. French's remarks on this point. If any opportunity will be offered by the subcommittee to present further evidence I presume my association will receive due notice. With kind regards, believe me, Very truly, yours, ALFRED A. WHITMAN. |