US Presidency
1911

To make the preceding paragraph a little plainer, take the instance of a hundred pounds of first class wool imported under the present duty, which is 11 11 cents a pound. That would make the duty on the hundred pounds $ 11. The merchantable part of the wool thus imported is the weight of the wool of this hundred pounds after scouring. If the wool shrinks 80 per cent, as some wools do, then the duty in such a case would amount to $ 11 $ 11 on 20 pounds of scoured wool. This, of course, would be prohibitory. If the wool shrinks only 50 per cent, it would be $ 11 on 50 pounds of wool, and this is near to the average of the great bulk of wools that are imported from Australia, which is the principal source of our imported wool.