Copper that once enjoyed protection for 44 years, within the period 1846 to 1894, is again in need of protection.

Very little information has been published relating to domestic copper tariff details; therefore it is deemed advisable to submit herein varying data pertaining thereto, compiled from our past economic history.

It is believed that careful and detailed scrutiny of all the factors submitted will denote the glaring economic injustice of continually forcing the domestic copper miner's product to accept the world's free trade price within our highly protected domestic market.

In order to initially understand somewhat the relationship of the various subdivisions of domestic copper production and manufacture in connection with this tariff discussion, the following generalized tables are submitted:

TABLE 1.-Domestic copper production and value, 1845-1930

The writer wishes to mention that all data pertaining to copper statistics herein submitted, unless otherwise stated, has been obtained from publications issued by the United States Geological Survey, Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, Treasury Department, or Department of Commerce.

TABLE 1-A.-List of 217 domestic copper producing districts within 19 States

Table 1 was secured from Bureau of Mines reports and shows that the first record made of copper produced within the United States began with the year 1845.

Table 1-A was secured from United States Geological Survey report "Copper in 1915," and shows the 217 domestic copper producing districts within 19 States that contributed the copper production set out in Table 1.

Table 2 was prepared from data secured through governmental publications and shows that the first copper tariff laid as against the foreign copper ingot began with the year 1846.

For ease of understanding, the presentation of data in connection with this copper tariff discussion will be submitted in sequence tariff periods beginning with 1846 and ending with the tariff act of 1930.

CHAPTER 1

1846 to 1857

It is a rather striking coincidence that the year when a duty was first laid against foreign copper imported in pigs, bars, plates, or ingots, was likewise nearly coincident with the recorded beginning of our domestic copper mining industry.

The beginning of recorded copper production within the United States dates from 1845. Copper produced during 1845 amounted to only 224,000 pounds, having a value of $45,000, as shown in Table 1.

The first tariff to lay a duty against the foreign ingot was passed July 30, 1846. This act provided for a 5 per cent ad valorem duty as against the foreign copper ingot, and 30 per cent against the manufactured article. No duty was laid against copper in ores, regulus, black, coarse, or old copper.

The first tariff laid to protect the domestic manufactured copper article was passed August 10, 1790. The initial rate was 7.5 per cent ad valorem, and varied from this low to 35 per cent in 1816, 25 per cent in 1819 to 1832, 30 per cent from 1842 to 1846.

These early duties appear low, yet they were deemed during their control period sufficient from a revenue and in most instances amply protective as well.

During the tariff debates of 1842 we note that the New England shipbuilding interests and their congressional representatives as well, were insistent on having copper sheathing for their wooden vessels placed on the free list, yet clamored lustily for adequate protection on the articles they were interested in.

We also note in tariff proceedings and documents 1839-1857, page 2160, that as of July 16, 1846, that Joseph W. Revere and 36 other copper manufacturers and dealers presented a memorial to Congress asking that raw copper remain on the free list or that sheathing copper may be subject to a duty of 10 per cent.

Congress refused to heed the petition of the copper manufacturers. Congress placed copper sheathing, a manufactured copper article, on the free list in the act of 1846, yet placed a duty on the manufacturers' raw material, namely, the copper ingot.

This unusual reversal of congressional protective procedure was the initial step in laying a chain of protective copper duties during the next 48 years, said duties having the effect of protecting the domestic. copper-mining industry during its early and formative period until the time it could successfully meet foreign copper competition.