The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-08-13
From the st. Adams lyt) Republican
THE DONKEY OF WHIGERY.

The wings are etcrnally astride Of some hobby
or another, and they never leave it until they have
fairly ridden it down. They astride the
tariff, whipping, kicking, and squirting, and fighting
wndmills and their own shadows, in the true Quix-
otto style. "The tariff IS in danger" bawls out
some bell-wether of the party; and Immediately the
cry is caught up and echoed from one corner of the
land to the other. "Stick to the tariff says one;
ait IS your charter,n says another; "Pok IS against
it," bawls another: and in this way they are en-
deavoring to create panic and conceal the real
points at issue
Confusion Of thought, we are told, is one of the
truest indications of terror. And the panic of these
tariff alarmists is very great, they cannot see
how foolishy they cutting their own throats; for
it appears, on summing up these dangers. that we
are in the utmost peril Of being destroyed by the
very measure they are uphodng--a measure that
is driving the farmer to sacrifice his property to pay
his taxes and supply his family with the necessa-
ries of life.
This hue-and-cry about the reduction Of the tar
i'll is raised by the manufacturing lords. Their in
terest is too well provided for by the present law
to wish it touched. The control ii gives them over
the producers and the markets of the country, is
power not 10 be lightly surrendered. As long as
they can buy their wool for almost song, and di-
vide their present enormous profits, they will use
every exertion to continue the unequal provisions
of the present tariff.
IL is this very tariff that makes wool so low and
dull in market. 1t is this very tariff that is destroy
ing the farmer. 1t does not protect him against for
eign competition The manufacturers managed this
matter by the introduction of "coarse-woo clause"
which is flooding the country with foreign wool,
and driving our own wool-growers from the market
There is no danger to the tarifl-no danger to pro-
lection but there is danger to these rich manufac-
turers There is danger that the enormous profits
they are making will be shifted to the pockets Of the
real producers Of the wealth of the country. The
following statistics are taken from the Woodstock
Age. We ask every farmer IN the country to read
them. They will easily discover the reason why
he is growing poor, and why the manufacturer I'M
der his very nose is growing rich
ain lS40, about IS, 900 900 pounds of wool were
raised in the United States. BY reference to reports
Of the treasurer, it will be seen that AN average OF
about 400 900 pounds is all the fine wool, or Euro
pean wool, that has been imported annually for the
last ten years. In I84l, good wool sold in this
country for As cents per pound The duty then on
fine wool was but IS per cent The tariff Of lS42
increased the duties on fine or European wool (of
which none Of consequence was imported) to 40 per
cent, equal to IL cents per pound Let It be remem-
bered the democrats urged higher duty on South
American or coarse wool The wings opposed and
defeated the proposition Of Mr.. Wright to increase
the duty from per cent to 20 per cent. There
were imported of this wool last year, 13,000,
900 pounds--about one-thlrd as much as was
raised in all the States in 1910. Yet Mr. Clay and
the wing presses say, there must be no modification
of the tariff of lS42 No wonder that the manufac-
turers can pay the few hands they employ one dol
lar per day, while coarse cloths are protected by
duty of 40 per cent, and pay but per cent duty
wool.
ain ls36-40 importations of South American
wool were not large; in lS4l wool sold high. In
1e42 the importation was nearly l5,000000 in that
year wool sold at from 90 80 cents per pound. In
1643, but about 100000 was imported; the next
year (1s44) wool brought from 80 to so cents. In
1914, nearly 900 was imported, and this year
wool is low. Do not these facts show that this wool
does not come in competition with our wool"