chiefly on three types, split sennits of 13/15 millimeter braid, improved sennits of 16/18 millimeter braid, and flatfoot sennits of 16/18 millimeter braid. The commission's cost comparisons were therefore confined to hats of these specifications.

INFORMATION OBTAINED IN THE INVESTIGATION

From the commission's investigation of men's sewed straw hats, conducted as indicated above, the following information has been obtained:

Domestic Production

The manufacture of men's straw hats has been conducted on a commercial scale in the United States for upward of 50 years. The industry is centered in and around New York City, in a number of cities in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and in Baltimore, Md. Statistics of production of men's sewed straw hats are not available, since the census of manufactures does not distinguish between men's and women's hats nor between sewed hats and woven hats. Domestic manufacturers estimate that the value of the men's straw hats produced in 1914 was $12,000,000, or about 45 per cent of the total production of all straw hats. In 1920 the value of the total production of men's straw hats was estimated at $20,000,000, of which about $12,000,000 was men's sewed hats. At the preliminary hearing it was estimated that the average annual production of men's sewed straw hats in recent years amounted to 800,000 dozen. There are about 40 manufacturers of men's sewed straw hats in the United States. The majority are well established firms.

The production of men's sewed straw hats for the season 1923-24 of 19 factories for which costs were obtained was 553,253 dozen. The factories may be classified as follows:

Kinds of hats produced.—There are two general types of men's straw hats produced by the domestic manufacturers:

(1) Woven hats, such as panamas, etc. The bodies of these hats are imported in the rough and are shaped, finished, and trimmed in this country.

(2) Sewed hats. All of the operations necessary in the manufacture of a sewed straw hat, with the exception of plaiting the braids, are performed in the United States. This investigation relates to sewed hats only.

Organization of production.—The manufacture of straw hats is essentially a factory business and with few exceptions each concern carries on all of the major operations connected with the production of hats in a single establishment. Plaiting of straw braid is a separate industry, the domestic hat manufacturers being dependent upon foreign sources for their supply of braids. The bleaching of straw braids is performed by some of the hat manufacturers in their own establishments; others have the bleaching done by outside concerns which specialize in this class of work. Some firms make the tips (the inside linings of the hats) in their own establishments; others buy the complete tip, or have certain operations, such as printing or stamping, performed by outside shops.

Labor conditions.—The hours of labor of employees in domestic straw hat factories in 1923-24 varied from 42 to 54 weekly. Wages are based both on piece and time work. Time wages ranged from $15 to $40 per week, according to the character of the work performed.

The production of straw hats is to some extent seasonal. Orders are received in the late summer for delivery in the following spring. Production on these orders begins in September and the factories are usually busiest in the early months of the year. The summer is a slack season and factories operate with reduced labor force or close altogether for several weeks. The following table shows the monthly variations in the total number of employees of 18 domestic factories in the season 1923-24:

Table 2.—Employees in 18 domestic straw-hat factories, season of 1923-24

Imports

The quantities and values of sewed straw hats imported into the United States were not separately shown in official statistics prior to the tariff act of 1922, in which sewed straw hats were given a separate classification.

Table 3 shows the imports for consumption of sewed straw hats from the principal countries of origin, by months, for the calendar years 1923 and 1924. Total imports increased from 93,309 dozen in 1923, valued at $779,989, to 164,041 dozen in 1924, valued at $1,179,929, a gain of approximately 75 per cent in quantity and 50 per cent in value.