Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 March 1892 — Page 1 Advertisements Column 3 [ADVERTISEMENT]

Itch on human and horses nnd all anim»ls oured iu :i(l minutes by Woolford s Sanitary Lotion. This never fails. Sold by Long & Eger, Druggists. Rensselaer, Ind. THE SHCX l -CLAI > PCX>II. ; What Sort of Clothn'' Our High Tariff Givon , > t,; • ’workinfi j

Mr. Hexter Nr tit. sovrelary of the Association of Wool Manufacturers, in an article in the I3ul'eX in of the association, endeavors to refute the evidence heretofore presented by Mr. David A. Wells in the columns of the Wcrld, to the effect that our all but prohibitory duties on the importation of wool greatly encourage the use of shoddy, cotton and other inferior subs stitutes for wool in the manufacture of uhat purports to be woolen clothing, by asserting—- “ That, gauged by the standard of relative wages, the American r> ople are the most cheaply cloth>dof any peopled’ And iu support of these assertions he says: “The poor man car buy in any one of the reputable clothing houses of Boston a complet suit of all- wool clothing for $lO, and further, that Mr. Wells can buy u suit of clothing for $7, guaranteed to be nothing but sound wool, or be can buy a uit of clothes for $5.50 with a guarantee that there is not a particle of cotton ir the fabric, and that more than 70 per centum of its constituents is sound I vool just from tho back of tlie sheep.”

The attention of the Dry -Goods Economist, of New York, one of the best authorities on the subject of textile fabrics in this cduntJy, having been called to these assertions of Mr. North, the conductors of llmt paper mstituted u special inquiry, and as a result, they have, in a recent issue, sat down on Mi. North in the following conclusive i.ul emphatic manner: “U«.on the subject of clothes few greater romances are told than upon the question of cost, so that one hears of a suit of clotheajor mqn being offered for $7.50 e..tire y of wool from the sirtsfefhe back, and anither at $5 that contains a major percentage of pure vool and does not contain a parti, de of cotton. These statements eai on their face their own absurdity, for nffeuch prices it is all hut impossible to purchase, in the ■>rdinarv channels of business, a 'nan’s suit of heavy weight dotbifig that is made out of any substance, let alone such sn expensive article as pure wool. “Apart from the cost of the

'oods th* price of a suit of c'othes is composed of the cost of making .ud the cost of distribution. A very low estimate for mnking and trimming with the cheapest linings and o 1 her findings would be $2.50, and rs nothing less th n 33 per cent would pay a rataiW for handdug a $5 suit, this would mean another cost of $1.66, or a total of $4-15. leaving 85 cents to pay for the material of a $5, or $3.35 of a $7.50 suit. The cost of making is for the cheapest possible kind of a suit, and the balances of 85 cents and £3.35 for material are certniny not enough to pay for either a cloth made out of i ure wool or « ol in any condition of relative j pureness. “As tottoe existence of suits for men in heavy w ights in any kind >f material there is a grave question of doubt, for inquiries at some of the retail stores elicited the information that they carried nothing in value less than £lO. What is a £lO suit for men oomposed of? An examination of its texture, } make-up and trimmings suggests 1 thqt ifjthis ig the beat that 810 wi T i dc, wh tt will be the thing a£s bil will buy? Such a suit would be worthy of exhi ition at the World’s Fair, ar-d would be welcome treasure to f ture historians toprove wha< the people inhabiting these lands during the nineteenth ce#tury were compelled to wear because wool was taxed.

“In judging the relative cost of material it mast be borne in mind hat wool is an expe^ ; vp axticle and that a yard of twenty-.ounce goods will lequire at least twentyfour ounces of scoured wool to make the cloth. Wbat such wool would cost would depend upon its relative qual : t.’ and length, bu off v a very unsatisfactory woo yarn can be b urht for 50 cents per pound. What, then, can be bought in clotWng for anyth ng less than $10? And in all wool but very little can be bought in heavy weight goo is for less than $12.” During the political campaign of 1838 M Harrison, said, “this demand for cheaper coats seems to involve a cheaper m«n and woman under the coat.” And later Mr. McKinley said, “cheap and nasty go together.* At the time of these utteranoes Messrs Harrison and McEpnley had nrobably not seen any of Mr. North’s $5.60 and 87 suits of woolen clothing, but if they had they could not have characterized them mere correctly.