Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 April 1891 — THE TAX ON WOOL. [ARTICLE]

THE TAX ON WOOL.

WHY WOOL SHOULD BE FREE. Ex-Consul Sd>oenhof on the Wool Duties —An Expert Opinion of McKinleylsm— Sow Wools Difier What Free Wool Would Do. When President Harrison came into office, our Consul at Tunstall. England, was Mr. Jacob Schoenhof, of New York. This gentleman was formerly a manufacturer, and he had devoted much time and study to ascertaining the labor cost of producing goods in this country and in Europe. Having special knowledge on this subject he was appointed by Mr. Cleveland to the consulship at Tunstall, and was specially charged by Secretary Bayard to make an extensive investigation of the labor cost of production of manufactured articles in England and on the continent. Before Mr. Cleveland’s term expired several reports of great value by Mr. Schoenhof had been published by the State Department. His work, however,' was not yet complete when President Harrison removed him from office. He has recently begun to publish a series of letters which will serve as a sort of continuation of his reports to the Government. He will go into the cost of production of all the leading lines of goods in this country and Europe, and this series of letters is sure to prove an important contribution to the tariff question. In one of these letters Mr. Schoenhof gives considerable attention to the wool tariff. Of all the manufacturers, he says, the woolen manufacturers would have benefited by the Mills bill. It freed raw wool and gave a protection of 40 per cent. Now, it is well known that the entire labor cost in a pound of manufactured woolens, such as are made in this country, does in very few instances reach as high as 40 per cent, on the cost of a foreign-made article, with which it has to compete. The foreign article not i alone < overs the cost of the wool, of labor, and of the incidental expenses of manufacture, but also the interest of capital and the profits of the manufacturers and dealers handling the goods. The duty of 40 per cent., therefore, covers not alone the cost of capital and management, but of the freed wool itself consumed in the manufacturing process. Vree wool would have vitalized the range of wool manufacture, now in a state of permanent infancy, in constant need of syrups and props. The only ones benefited by the wool and war tariff, the shoddy manufacturers, quite naturally have been standing in the breach in defense of the palladium of protection against the enemies of the holy faith. It is not to be wohdered at that they put their hands deep into their pockets for the creation of a fund which was to buy an election and a tariff to their liking. But, strange to say, many of those were contributors who could only be benefited by tariff reform, as taken up by the Democratic party, downwardly, and injured only by reforming upwardly, as represented by the Republican party. The present tariff, •the McKinley act, is the outcome of their well-considered, deliberate demands. They insisted on obtaining, and they have obtained, a measure which proceeds in a diametrically opposite direction from what their interests actually command. They certainly ought to have known that the industries of this country are based on an entirely different foundation from that of any other country. If so, the certainly ought to have asked for something quite different than that which they claimed with so much insistence. But if they lost sight of this in the scramble for higher tariff rates it need not be surprising that the legislators who are responsible for the measure did not care to examine deeply into the rates demanded or inquire into the relative industrial positions of the United States and the countries of Europe, against which the late tariff act is chiefly intended to operate, the only customers of our farmers worth speaking of. The legislators responsible for the act -did what they were expected to do. 'They simply delivered the goods for value received in 1888, with a tentative hint to future campaign contributions. Our own wools show conclusively that almost every State in the Union produces a different grade of wool. For instance: The wools raised in the far West in the new Territories and States are considered very inferior to the wools raised in the States east of the Mississippi. The pasturage consists of wild grasses, which during the dry season become parched, leaving the dry, sandy soil underneath as a fine dust or sand, which permeates the fleece,adding much to its shrinkage, and changing not only its appearance but the strength of staple, more especially where the soil is alkaline. Such wools lack in lustre and spring, and goods made from them show a dead, cottony appearance. They could not possibly be used as an offset in the manufacture of fabrics, which we import, amounting in 1890 to $50,000,000, and adding duties, $35,000,000, represents $85,000,000 American value laid down at the ports, exclusive of freight and other charges. For the replacing of this vast amount •our own wool supply would be entirely Insufficient. We raise the corresponding wools in very limited quantities (and, what is more to the point, in receding quantities) in the older States only. Texas and California wools have good felting properties. For combing purposes they are unserviceable. Of combing wools only a limited amount is raised in the States lying east of the Mississippi. But most of the goods used for outer wear are now made of combed and not of carded wool. The same differences we find in Englisn wools. The Southdown wool is different from the north country wool; the Scotch wool different from the English wools; the Welsh wool different from the English and Scotch. Even in Scotland certain wools are grown in certain parts, so that tweeds can only be made from certain Scotch wools. Irish wool is different again. Welsh, Irish; and Scotch wools shrink but very little when manufactured into flannels, knit goods, etc., in the washing, German and American wools very much more so. Australian, Cape, and Plate wools differ again. But these differences can be made very valuable by adapting the varying qualities to the .respective fabrics to which they give their special ■character.