I desire in this connection to read an editorial that appeared in The Union and Advertiser of Rochester, N. Y., of Tuesday, February 8, 1910, which is as follows: THE FRUIT-PACKING QUESTION. The question of the proper packing of fruit is once more brought forcibly to the growers of western New York as a result of recent developments in Germany. Recent official figures show that there has been a decided falling off in the importation of American apples because the people of that country can not trust the American apples to run uniformly. Consul-General Skinner, of Hamburg, states that the Americans could regain their lost ground if they would form fruit associations and combine on the effort to secure proper packing of fruit and accompany the fruit to the foreign markets with certificates vouching for the contents of packages. Germany imports $22,000,000 worth of fruit annually. The Americans are losing the business. They may have it again just as soon as the German people discover that the packers are honest and deliver the goods as recommended. The farmers of this section are waking up to the situation, and the action of the recent fruit conventions in this city in recommending proper legislation shows a determination to fulfill requirements. That shows the fault of the present system of packing apples. It shows how they are losing ground in foreign countries, and it points out a way to overcome that. The bill which I have introduced seems to cover that ground. There is another phase of the matter that has come to my attention within the last day or two, which seems to be highly important, and that is with regard to making loans upon packages of apples, and in this connection I want to read you two letters from bankers. The first is from the president of the Central National Bank of Buffalo, N. Y. It reads as follows: C. P. HUGO SCHOELLKOPF, Esq., Care Schoellkopf, Hartford & Hanna Co., THE CENTRAL NATIONAL BANK, Buffalo, N. Y. MY DEAR MR. SCHOELLKOPF: Acknowledging the receipt of yours of the 1st instant, I beg to state that I have read the H. R. 16919 very carefully, and believe its passage would be welcomed by all parties interested. I can not see where it would meet with any objection whatever. It is manifestly better for all concerned to have a uniform size of barrel and basket, and a uniform method of properly marking same as to the quality of its contents. I trust the bill may speedily pass and become a law by its terms on and after July 1 next. I thank you for calling the matter to my attention. Very truly, yours, Believe me, GEO. F. RAND, President. Then, I have another letter from the president of the Marine National Bank of Buffalo, N. Y., which reads as follows: C. P. HUGO SCHOELLKOPF, Esq., THE MARINE NATIONAL BANK, Care of Schoellkopf, Hartford & Hanna Company, Buffalo, N. Y. MY DEAR SIR: I have your letter of the 18th instant, inclosing copy of House of Representatives bill No. 16919, relative to establishing standard packages and grades for apples, and for other purposes. The bill appears to me to cover a distinct need that is felt by bankers generally whenever an application for loan is made on this kind of collateral, and I trust that you may be successful in your endeavor to see this bill enacted into law. Yours, very sincerely, S. M. CLEMENT. These letters show that the bankers, in loaning money upon a commodity like this, realize the importance of having some standard which would give them additional security for the money that they may loan. Those are two points which it seems to me are strong points in favor of having some national bill providing for the standardization of the package and the barrel. There are quite a number of gentlemen here who want to be heard on the various phases of the bill, and I have instructed them to be to the point as much as possible, but not to be so short as not to convey to you the real import of the bill. I feel that this is a bill of national importance, and that it should be given full consideration. I will ask Mr. William L. Wagner, of Chicago, Ill., who represents the International Apple Shippers' Association, to talk to you next. Mr. RUCKER. Before Mr. Lafean takes his seat I would like to ask him a question or two, with his permission. Mr. LAFEAN. Certainly. Mr. RUCKER. I did not arrive until a moment ago. I would like to ask you if you have had any information from the producers and growers of apples with reference to this bill? Mr. LAFEAN. Yes, sir. Mr. RUCKER. What is their sentiment? Mr. LAFEAN. They are all in favor of it. Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to take serious exception to that statement. Mr. LAFEAN. Generally so, I will say. Mr. POINDEXTER. Will you allow me to interrupt you just one moment? In the great northwestern part of the country, which has grown to be one of the most important apple-growing and appleshipping sections in the United States, the growers are practically unanimously opposed to this measure, and very strongly opposed to it. Mr. RUCKER. That is the reason I asked the question, because you said some of the growers were not favorable to it. Mr. LAFEAN. Oh, yes; it would hardly be fair to suppose that a man could draw a bill that would be satisfactory to everybody. Mr. RUCKER. That suggestion was emphasized in the suggestion just made. Mr. LAFEAN. But I think the greater portion of the people of the country are in favor of it. Mr. RUCKER. The information we received from the growers that they were not in favor of it was somewhat emphasized by the statement I understood a gentleman to make a moment ago, that the bankers were asking for this bill in order to have better security for loans of money that they might make to you. Mr. LAFEAN. It only shows how they look upon a measure of that kind. They look upon it as being a benefit. Mr. RUCKER. The sentiment can not be said to be unanimously in favor of the bill, then? Mr. LAFEAN. No, sir; not unanimous, but the greater proportion of the people are in favor of it. Mr. HAWLEY. Following the usual custom of the committee, Mr. Chairman, I ask that the witnesses be sworn. TESTIMONY OF MR. WILLIAM L. WAGNER, OF CHICAGO, ILL. (The witness was sworn by the chairman.) Mr. WAGNER. In addressing you, I do so primarily on behalf of the International Apple Shippers' Association. This association is an organization which comprises within its membership some 400 operators and dealers in apples within the United States. They, in their associations, handle probably not less than 75 per cent of the commercial apple crop of the United States. This organization was started because of the lax and irregular methods in the handling of this fruit, and the necessity for having some concerted action toward the regulation of standards, standard packages, and so forth. It was organized some fifteen years ago. It was thought that through their associations and through their efforts the various state horticultural associations, pomological associations, and so forth, might be brought closer together, to the end that we might standardize the method of handling this fruit. That such standardization is necessary is indicated by the magnitude of the industry itself. To those who are not engaged in the industry and are not familiar with it the figures will probably seem larger than might be anticipated. As a matter of fact, the crop of apples grown in the United States from year to year, according to such statistics as have been gathered, has varied from some 26,000,000 barrels to 68,000,000 barrels, making from 150,000 to 450,000 carloads of this fruit, producing in revenue to the railroads more than almost any of our other products. We found, though, that as time went on our efforts were futile, and that to bring things to the point where our own markets might be conserved and broadened and extended as they should be, national legislation would be required. The necessity for this became more apparent because of the tremendous impetus given to orcharding in this country. As indicated by the best figures obtainable, there were in this country in 1908 something in excess of 201,000,000 apple trees of bearing age. The possibilities in the way of a crop under such figures as these are simply stupendous, and unless Providence should intervene the figures that have been named for the production of this country will very likely in the near future seem small. Realizing at last that our efforts were futile, the International Apple Shippers' Association took up the question of federal legislation, and the Lafean bill as presented to you is the final outcome of that. The work in this direction was first taken up in the fall of 1907, some two years and a half ago, when a tentative bill was drafted and submitted to the orchardists, the horticultural associations, the dealers, and all similar organizations, through the press and through the mail, and their cooperation and assistance was asked. The first assistance we received was from the New York Fruit Growers' Association, and the Western New York Horticultural Association. In conjunction with them we went over the bill and amended it and changed it. We then again submitted it to the people of the country, calling for a conference in the city of Washington in January of last year. This conference was attended by all who desired to attend, and the representation was very general, representatives coming from the great States of the Northwest and from all of the large producing States, and those organizations which might be interested in the central west and in the east. The outgrowth of that conference, after we had figured out every possible position and conclusion, and had met every objection and had compromised here and there, was this bill. This bill presents to you two salient features. First, it provides for a standard grading of apples. Up to this time we have had nothing in the way of a grade that meant anything. While the International Apple Shippers' Association has for itself designated what shall constitute what we have termed a No. 1 apple, that has no binding effect on anyone, and means nothing anywhere in this country except among the members of that organization, and can not be made binding upon anyone. Every section of the country has its own conception of a grade, the result being that we have nothing definite in the way of a standard. We have nothing upon which we can base contracts, or upon which we can in reality enforce contracts. That which is the custom in one section is not the custom in another section. The other feature of the bill is the provision as to the package itself. A standard package is provided; so that he who operates in this fruit may know, when he enters into a contract, or when he makes a purchase of any character, what the capacity of the container of the fruit is, and how much fruit he is to obtain. In certain of our States short barrels, as they are termed, have been in use for many years, and it is a common matter for a man engaged in the business as I am, in making a purchase of apples from certain individuals in certain sections, after making such stipulations as he can, that the man from whom he purchases shall deliver so many barrels of such a quality of fruit, to find when that man has made delivery that he has given him a barrel that contains about ten pecks instead of twelve pecks, which is what we consider a barrel. The New York State barrel is the recognized basis for all transactions in apples, it being held to be the standard, the only thing that has come down to us from our forefathers. Mr. DUMAS. Have we a standard barrel in Illinois, a barrel established by act of legislature? Mr. WAGNER. Some effort has been made toward that end, but as yet, I believe, nothing has been accomplished. To get in the line of standardization, every one of our municipalities has been making more and more rigid laws in regard to the sale of all these commodities. The city sealer is a busy man in practically all of the large municipalities. To enable us to broaden our scope and place into consumption a larger volume of this fruit, it is absolutely essential to us that we shall have packages that may be sold in their entirety, so that what will class as a bushel may measure out 4 pecks, or a barrel, 12 pecks, or that it may be broken into parts and so sold. In the city of Chicago, where I reside, were we to attempt, or were our retail merchants to attempt, to sell by struck measure any of these commodities, it would mean the police court, and that very soon. The result of that is that in those packages which are not standard, as we term them, and as we desire them, the trade is restricted, values are not obtained, and dealings in them are not only uncertain but dangerous. After we had progressed to the extent of having this hearing called, the attention of other organizations was brought to this matter. Representatives of some of these organizations will address you in line with what Mr. Lafean has said relative to banks. We who operate in this fruit are of necessity borrowers at our banks to carry on our transactions, because of the magnitude to which they attain. We have not been able to give to our banks that assurance that was necessary, that we were offering an adequate security for such moneys as they might advance to us. Realizing that fact, I myself have made inquiry of numerous banks, and I would like to present, for such consideration as you may give to them, letters from large banks, such as the First National Bank of Chicago, the Corn Exchange National Bank of Chicago, the Continental National Bank of Chicago, and other banks of that character, as well as banks like the Citizens National Bank of Albany, N. Y., and the People's Bank of Buffalo, and others. Wherever banking authorities have been approached on this subject they have agreed absolutely and universally in regard to the necessity of such legislation, in order that we might carry on the business to a greater extent and with greater security to all. I have taken up the matter with the jobbing trade of the country generally, and I would like to submit for your consideration petitions to your committee representing some fifty cities, jobbing cities, in thirty-two of the States of the United States, this including the District of Columbia; and in connection with that I would say that wherever a dealer in this fruit has been approached, without exception so far as I know, he has approved, and approved heartily. We have taken up these matters with the various horticultural associations of the country, taking in all of the large producing cities. So far as we have approached them we have found unanimous consent and agreement with us in all of the States, with the exception of some four of the northwestern producing States, where during the past year some 500,000 or 550,000 barrels-reducing from boxes to barrels were produced, out of the total of 26,000,000 barrels produced in the United States. In that section they have agreed with us absolutely in all features of the bill with the exception of that as to the size of the box. Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to take exception to that statement. Mr. POINDEXTER. I was just about to say the same thing. Mr. HAWLEY. And there will be other objections brought out to other parts of the bill when the merits of the bill are discussed on this side. Mr. WAGNER. If I may be permitted, I would like to quote from a letter which I hold in my hand from E. H. Shepard, of Hood River, Oreg., dated February 23, 1910. Mr. Shepard is recognized as probably the highest authority in the northwestern States. He says: Everybody seems to be satisfied with the Lafean bill in the Northwest except the one clause about the size of the box. In addition to that we have the indorsements of many horticultural associations, which I will submit as they have come into my hands. Many communications from these associations have also reached the hands of this committee, I believe; I have no knowledge how many. In addition to these, and as indicating the feeling of the retailer, I will submit to you some resolutions adopted by the Retail Merchants' Association of Illinois at a convention held in the city of Cairo within the last few weeks. This association is made up of 160 |