36 DIAMOND CUTTING
"In
a general way, this wage question could heretofore be summed up as
follows, taking two hundred dollars as an average value per carat:
I Carat, $200.00 U. S. A.. . paid wages $20.00
I Carat, $192.00 Europe.. . paid wages $12.00
Difference $8.00
or four per cent in favor of Europe.
"Duty
ten per cent on $192 is $19.20, from which, deducting balance in favor
of Europe equaling $8, leaves $11.20, or 5.6 per cent in favor of the
United States.
"With
the going into effect of the new Underwood Tariff this percentage of
difference remains the same, owing to the fact that the ratio in
duties between cut and rough diamonds brought into the United States
also remains the same, that is, the duty on cut diamonds has been
increased to twenty per cent, whereas the duty on rough diamonds is now
ten per cent ad valorem."
Melees
and sizes smaller than one half carat can, however, be cut in Europe
and landed, with twenty per cent duty, cheaper than they can be cut in
America. The statements of Mr. Henry Kryn and other diamond cutters
regarding the cost of labor per carat in the United
