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In addition to the imports of oil as shown above, we find the following imports of oil seeds during the same quarter, viz:

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During the three months in question we find that there was produced in the United States from imported crude copra 68,701,7.73 pounds of coconut oil.

The absence of an adequate tariff on these commodities from the Philippine Islands is used as a pretext for applying low duties on oils from other sections of the globe to such an extent that this country is now being made the dumping ground for the oils and oil-bearing seeds of the balance of the world, so that, notwithstanding our top-heavy cotton crop in the year 1931, with its consequent liberal yield of cottonseed, we find that even our Gulf ports are being deluged with coconut oil and copra from the Orient, and sunflower oil from Russia.

Within the very recent past, there were seven boatloads of coconut oil received by one firm at New Orleans, and quite recently a shipment of 25,000 barrels of sunflower oil was received at the same port.

During the last quarter of 1931, the price of domestic cottonseed oil ranged from 3% to 34 cents per pound, against an average price of about 6% cents per pound, for a similar period one year ago.

You understand that these oils are largely interchangeable, and that, through deodorization and other processes, they can be substituted one for another; so that we have a condition where free copra, free sesame, and free palm and palm kernel oils invalidate the whole vegetable oil schedule, as a protective measure, and, reduced to their oil content, including copra and cocoanut oil from the Philippines, we import about 3,000,000 barrles annually, against an average of about 3,500,000 barrels of cottonseed oil produced annually in the United States.

Every reduction of 1 cent per pound in the price of crude cottonseed oil reduces the price of cottonseed to the farmer by $3 per ton, so that the influx of these foreign oils, as a direct result of our attitude regarding a tariff on imports from the Philippine Islands, has deprived our southern farmers this season of millions of dollars (we crush an average of 4,606,650 tons of cotton seed per annum), which they might have received had it not been for the maudlin sentiment which exists in regard to imports from the Philippine Islands.

For all of the above reasons, and particularly because the retention of said islands is an especially heavy tax and burden upon the cotton farmers of the South, and the cottonseed oil mills which manufacture their raw products, we urge that the Philippines should be given their entire freedom at the earliest possible date.

Very respectfully,

OKLAHOMA COTTONSEED CRUSHERS' ASSOCIATION,
By J. H. JOHNSTON, Secretary-Treasurer.

TEXAS COTTON SEED CRUSHERS' ASSOCIATION,
By ED WOODALL, Chairman Tariff Committee.

The committee will now adjourn until to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock.

(Thereupon, at 12 o'clock noon, the committee adjourned until to-morrow, Saturday, January 30, 1932, at 10 o'clock a. m.)

INDEPENDENCE FOR THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 1932

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON INSULAR AFFAIRS,

Washington, D.C.

The committee met at 10.10 o'clock a. m., Hon. Butler B. Hare (chairman) presiding.

The CHAIRMAN. We have before us to-day Mr. Holman of the National Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation, and we shall be glad to hear from him at this time.

STATEMENT OF CHARLES W. HOLMAN, WASHINGTON, D. C., SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL COOPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS' FEDERATION

Mr. HOLMAN. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, my name is Charles W. Holman, 1731 I Street, Washington, D. C. I am secretary of the National Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation. The committee may be interested in seeing a map showing where the farmers who belong to this federation live, as to counties. There are 360,000 shippers in our membership, who sell all of our dairy products through the 57 member associations. Under the present depressed prices of farm products about $25,000,000,000 worth are marketed annually.

Mr. Chairman, in cooperation with my colleagues here in the city who represent other agricultural groups, in order to economize the time of the committee, as Mr. Gray informed you, we divided the representation by subjects; and before taking the general economic aspects, permit me, on behalf of our organization, to express agreement with the position taken yesterday by Mr. Gray, of the Farm Bureau, with reference to the indorsement of the general principles of the Hare bill, with the exception that we desire Congress, if in its judgment it seems wise, to provide in the bill a definite date for the independence of these islands, to be established after the ratification of the constitution that is to be set up and its approval by Congress, for reasons which were elaborated upon by Mr. Gray.

We also oppose the principle of the limitation of the quantity of imports from the Philippine Islands, favoring in lieu thereof the gradual increase of the tariff duties, both on products coming from. the Philippines and on products from the United States to the Philippines, and we indorse the position expressed by Mr. Brenckman of the National Grange with reference to the whole question of human liberties, and as to the present individual capacity of the

citizens of the Philippine Islands to govern themselves. Proceeding now to the economic situation, and responding to the informal request made by one of the members of the committee yesterday, we will show where our class interest lies in this proposition. I am going to present to the committee some calculations based upon official figures, showing, first, that we believe that the Philippines are now economically ready for independence. The last report of the budget of the Philippines which has come to my attention is the budget of 1929.

The CHAIRMAN. That has been reiterated here over and over again. I think it would be best for the witness to confine his remarks to his particular industry.

Mr. HOLMAN. This will be in about two sentences.

They have balanced their budget. The per capita cost of governmental expenses at the present time is only $2.92, as compared with our own per capita cost of $42.

Also, I wish to file this document which shows the Philippine trade, the commodity trade balance with all countries, showing that in the past 10 years they have gotten on a favorable trade balance. The CHAIRMAN. That will be filed.

Mr. UNDERHILL. That has all been in the record on at least two occasions. I do not believe we need to burden the record.

The CHAIRMAN. We would regret to duplicate information. If this has already been filed, it should be eliminated.

Mr. UNDERHILL. It has already been filed.

Mr. HOLMAN. If the Congressman is sure that those figures have been filed

Mr. UNDERHILL. Mr. Roxas presented them in full. If there are any figures left, I think he must have missed them somewhere. Mr. HOLMAN. All right, sir.

I would also like permission to file the Philippine trade balance with the United States.

Mr. UNDERHILL. That also has been filed.

Mr. HOLMAN. It shows the favorable trade balance.

However, I think it is pertinent to this case that we discuss the burden which the farmers of the United States bear in supporting the Philippines.

I have here a table which shows the value of the imports from the Philippine Islands, by commodity groups. That table shows that of all the imports coming to the United States from the Philippine Islands, the total of competitive agricultural commodities ranges from 71 per cent to 81.4 per cent; and the items listed as competitors are coconut oil, copra, cane sugar, copra cake, tobacco, tobacco leaf.

An analysis in the next table shows the value of exports to the Philippine Islands. It shows that the percentage of agricultural products exported to the Philippines ranges from 26.1 per cent in 1927 to 28.2 per cent in 1930. And a further comment is that the value of the products exported is considerably under the value of the products imported.

I would also like to file with the committee a table showing the estimate of schedule duties nominally waived by the respective countries, which shows that in the period from 1910 to 1929 we

waived the equivalent of $512,157,000 worth of duties, and the Philippines waived $240,616,000.

Now, gentlemen, bringing this matter down more definitely to a question of competition, the two chief items of competition in agricultural products are sugar, coconut oil, and copra. We maintain that the volume of sugar coming in from the Philippines is sufficient to partially nullify the price effectiveness on sugar of the domestic production.

We maintain further-and this is more important, in our judgment that the present free-trade relationship on copra and coconut oil is so important to the producers in this country that the gap in the tariff duties reflected in a price loss on all oils and fats amounts to over $100,000,000 annually. That is because of the partial interchangeability of coconut oil with many of these other basic oils, and because of a tremendous effect upon prices that these industrial oils have, one upon the other.

Mr. UNDERHILL. Can you tell us just exactly what oils or fats come in direct competition with coconut oils?

Mr. HOLMAN. I can tell you some of them. Coconut oil comes into competition with cottonseed oil, primarily.

Mr. UNDERHILL. In what particular way?

Mr. HOLMAN. It comes in, both in the soap kettle and the oleomargarine industry.

Mr. CHAIRMAN. To what extent?

Mr. HOLMAN. To this extent

Mr. UNDERHILL. You fellows have been fighting over oleomargarine.

Mr. HOLMAN. We are not through, sir.

Mr. UNDERHILL. Are you protecting your interests, or are you interested in their protection?

Mr. HOLMAN. I have a table showing the trend of percentage to the whole of various ingredients used in oleomargarine production. This shows, for example, that between the years 1917 and 1931 the use of coconut oil increased from 17.30 per cent of the whole to 46.57 per cent.

Mr. UNDERHILL. That is in the manufacture of oleomargarine? Mr. HOLMAN. Yes, as an ingredient; the use of cottonseed oil declined from 10.21 per cent to 6.58 per cent. In fact, this table shows that practically all of the domestic fats, which are oleo oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, oleo stearine, neutral lard, oleo stock, butter, corn oil, and edible tallow, declined in their utilization, while the use of all or practically all of the foreign imported oils increased. Mr. UNDERHILL. Now, let us confine ourselves to copra, and not all of the imported oils. We know that olive oil and other vegetable oils do go into the manufacture, but, according to the testimony received here some little time ago on this same subject, I think it was shown that coconut oil did not come in competition in the manufacture of butter or butter substitutes, or practically anything, excepting the oils that go to the manufacture of laundry soaps.

Mr. HOLMAN. The gentlemen who testified as they did on that matter were entirely erroneously informed. These are the facts taken from the annual report of the Commissioner of Internal Reve

nue.

Mr. UNDERHILL. Well, I do not see that you have given us any facts with reference to the specific amount of coconut oil that is used. Mr. HOLMAN. I am giving you the percentage. I will be glad to give you the quantities.

Forty-six per cent of the total production of oleomargarine would be, in the normal years, anywhere from 150,000,000 to 180,000,000 pounds of coconut oil used in oleomargarine.

Mr. UNDERHILL. And yet all of your organizations, since I have been on the committee, have annually come in here with bills to restrict and restrain the manufacture of oleomargarine and place a prohibitive tax upon it, and to remove it entirely from competition with butter.

Mr. HOLMAN. Exactly, and I am coming to that. The figures I am giving you-in this instance, I am speaking now for other organizations besides the Milk Federation.

Mr. UNDERHILL. What other organizations do you represent?

Mr. HOLMAN. We are jointly present. For instance, when Mr. Gray preceded us, he spoke for the Milk Federation on the bill. Mr. Brenckman spoke for the Milk Federation on the human liberties question. I am speaking for all these producers on oils and fats. The CHAIRMAN. If there is no objection, we would like to have this table in the record.

Mr. UNDERHILL. That table may be of some value.

Mr. HOLMAN. I would like to file a table showing the total oil and fat situation in the United States, which shows that our total consumption of oils and fats is approximately 7,927,000,000 pounds.

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