The Middlebury people's press. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1841-1843, 1842-09-27

use of our Army and Navy in the year IS IS,
at the then current high prices. They were
For the use of the army S47ISI5
For the use of the navy l2I ,26I
S59S, O76
Nearly six hundred thousand dollars ex
pended in one year by the government in
the purchase, for the use of our army and
navy, OF the products of the workshops,
mostly of our enemyl
1t was thus that conviction Of the in.
dlsPensable necessity of fostering our man
utactures, and especially the manufacture
OF woollens, as essential to our real inde
Pendence, was forced upon Congress and
the country. The experience of the war
Ind the foundation for the protecting legis.
lation which followed, and which gave us
the tariff of 1916.
Previous to that time the duty on wool.
lens had been FIVE per centum ad valorem.
To this had been added,by an act of NJ arch
&c, 1903, two and a half peri cent, on ac-
count Of the Mediterranean fund. which
was continued by successive acts TO the Sd
of March 1915. From per cent, as the
duty stood on the 9th of April 1916, the
tariff act of that date raised woOllens to 25
per cent; while wool, which, up to that time
had been free, was subjected to a duty of
10 per cent. By that act the duty on WOOL
lens was to be reduced TO 20 per cent, on
the first of July 1919, while the duty oil
wool was to remain al Is per cent.
The policy of encouraging the produc.
ton Of wool as raw material was clearly
indicated in this act. To give the needed
impulse to the manufacture of woolens,
the importation of wool, for three years,
was permitted upon duty of ten per cent
less than the duty on woolIens; after which
the difference was 10 be but FIVE per cent
Congress evidently anticipated that, within
three years, the pacity of the country to
supply the wool needed for its consump-
ton would be so increased as to justify a
difference of only per cent between the
manufacture and the raw material.
The policy of encouraging the protec-
ton of wool was still more clearly indica-
ted in the tariff law of 1924. By that law
the duty on woollens was raised to 80 per
cent, until the 30th of June 1925, and
thereafter, to 33i per cent. At the same
time the duty on wool was raised to 20 per
cent until the first of June 1885 per
cent until the first of June 1896, and 80
per cent thereafter-with the exception OF
wool costing 10 cents and under, which was
admitted on duty Of Is per cen.
Wool-excepting coarse wool-was thus
gradually raised from 30 per cent in 1924
to 80 per cent in lS26-a point within 81
per cent of the duty on woollens in that
year. Nobody can mistake the policy OF
this gradual approximation of the duty on
the raw material TO the duty on the manu-.
featured article-a policy founded on a
just and enlightened view of the great ma.
tional importance of encouraging the wool
husbandry of the United States.
This policy was continued in the tariff oil
1928. BY that act woolens were put at a
duty Of 40 per cent, until the 30th of June,
1929, and 45 per cent thereafter-with
graduated minimums of so cents, Sl,00,
$3.50, and $500; that is to say-cloths
costing under so cents were to be deemed
and taken to have cost so cents-cloths
costing over so cents and under 3 1 90 were
TO be taken to have cost 81 ,O0-cloths cos
ing over Sl,00 and under $3.50 we're to
be taken to have cost $3.50, and cloths
costing over $3.50 and under $500 were
to be taken to have cost $500; and the du-
ty of 45 per cent was to be assessed upon
these artificial rafues. By the same act,
wool was subjected to duty of 40 per cent
ad valorem, and cents per pound the ad
valorem 10 be increased per cent annual
ly until it should amount to so per cent.
The specific duty of A cents would be E.
quivalent, on wool costing say 40 cents, to
10 per cent; making the duty so per cent.
This would appear to be higher than the
duty on wooIlens. which rose under that
act to As per cent. The effect of the
graduated mnimums, however, was TO raise
the duty on woollens considerably higher,
on on average, than the maximum duty on
wool.
The tariff of .s32 reduced the duty on
both wool and woollens, but in no wise in
Dictated an abandonment of the policy of
protecting wool by a duty equal to that on
woollens. BY that act the artificial valu-
atoms of woollens were abolished, and the
duty was fixed at so per cent on the real
value--excepting on 'plains, kerseys or
kendall cottons" costing less than 80 cents
a square yard, on which, for the benefit of
the slave owners-Ihe principal purchasers
of these coarse goods for the use of slaves
the duty was reduced to 5 percent, but
was subsequently raised to so per cent by
the compromise act of 1888.
On wool excepting WOO costing cents
and under, which was made free) the duty
was fixed by the act of 1882 at 40 per cent
advalorem and cents per pound. The 4
cents specific was equivalent, on wool cost
ing 40 cents (Which was probably about
the average value Of the importations at
that period) to 10 per cent of that value;
so that, on wool costing 40 cents, the whole
duty amounted to so per cent-the same
as on woolens.
1t thus appears that it has been long the
settled policy of the government to encour-
age the production of wool, and to protect
it, after it has been produced, from rulnous
foreign competition; and that the duty on