Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1857-03-13

doning the business, and slaughtermg their
Aocks. Deserted by their Government why
should they struggle longer The manuiao-
turcrs would find themselves disappointed in
their sanguine expectations. Their domestic
sources for supplying the raw material would
be cut Off and they would speedily be at the
mercy of foreign legislation. Should woolen
fail under such circumstances as
these. it would be a hopeless task to attempt
their revival
EXAMPLE OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND coNsID-
Erred.
We are cited to France and England as ex-
amplos which we should follow and il is
said that wool has risen in price in those
countries in consequence Of the abolition Of
all duties thereon Now, it is notorious that
the consumption of wool over all Europe has
overtakon supplies. The production has not
kept pace with the demand The prices,
therefore, have risen, but not by any means
so much as represented, and perhaps not more
than other products of the world within the
same time The influx of gold. aiso. into
the commercial world. from Australia and
California, has raised the value of all kinds
of property, within the last six years. from
twenty-five to forty per cent. Tho price of
uerating price, because the farmer cannot bet
ter afford his wool now for fifty cents per
pound than he could six years ago for thirty
five cents per pound. But the fact is, as
understand IT, that wool is not admitted en-
tircly free into France but woolen goods arc
absolutely prohibited This gives the home
market to tho French manufacturer exclusive
ly For this she has fercely struggled for
ihnH urrf Of fofrfa To- ,rgttfI
be perhaps satisfactory to both the American
wool-grower and manufacturer, but it is not
proposed
Take the next case, that of England BY
a system of protection the most marked and
persistent ever yet witnessed commencing in
the reign Of Edward H., she has reached the
goal she aimed at-capability Of mdersollinr
in all markets-and can safely challenge the
world to meet her ON the footing of free trade
While She forbade the expectation Of wool,
either by penal enactmcnts or an export duty.
from the fourteenth century until recent
times, she also encouraged the growth of
wooden manufactures by multiplied statutes,
in almost every reign from Henry " TO
Cromwell, and from Cromwell to Victoria
All her people tjrig were clothed in wooden.
and dying could not be buried without a
wooleu winding-sheet. Pope alludos to this
fact in his day
"odious in wooden 'tvould a saint provoke.
Were the last word. that poor Narcssa spoke"
The manufacturers Of England have no
further step to take III the march Of protec-
ton Sir Robert Peel led them to the sum
NIT As omnipotent as Parliament may be,
it has no more power to exert in their behalf
The author Of Memoirs of Wool" pub
lshed in England in 1857, dscoursing upon
the legislation of 1850, says:
Thus we perceive contrary what shun find fro
English WOODEN manufacture. that Qs,n Edward Ill il
had been growing business, aud that the expectation Of
elabie."
This growing business has never been
checked and its magnitude now far eclipscs
what it was even ten years ago.
Such being the position OF England. now
in " the bone of manhood | submit that it
is preposterous TO force America but yet in
the griste,' to adopt the same legislation
which may be proper for Great Britain and all
her colonies. Nou might as well enter a grass
fed three year old colt on the race course
against thorough bred and well trained Eng
lish race horse Naked competition must end
in the extinguishment of special pursuits, or
the reduction of American labor to the Eng
lish level and am inAeMbly opposed to
either result Nobody who does not desire
TO see the labor Of this country degraded can
advocate such proposition
1t is frequently asserted that we do not and
cannot raise the finer class Of woods necessa-
ry for the manufacture and finish of the high
priced styles Of cloth. Any such assertions
| regard as rash and unsustained by facts
Our focks of sheep are composed generally
of mixed breeds and it is well known that
mixed or hybrid breeds of stock degenerate
sooner than pure bloods. But it requires no
more care to maintain purity of blood in A.
merioa than in any other country. There is
nothing in Spain or SaXony which our wide
domain of soil and climate cannot match
There is wool annually produced in Vermont
and Ohio, and presume in other States, in
no respect inferior to any that can be obtained
in Silesia or Segovia. The same wool might
doubtless be raised in Tennessee, Kentucky,
and Virginia with greater profit
1t is true that the warm sun of Spain rem
ders the fleece of the Merino breed harsher
than it is in the milder climate of Saxony
and when sheep are fed on chalky districts,
the wool is apt to get coarser while on a rich
loamy soil it becomes soft and silky. Such
facts, with our widely varied soil and climate,
present no hindrances 20 the successful pro-
duction of all the superior grade woods
England produces about lao, 600, 900 pounds
and imports 100, 100000 pounds of wool an
nually; yet Of this large amount, by the re-
ports of the past year, only 6.l2S, ,626 pounds
is German, and but $3.50 pounds Spanish
The woods from other countries, it will be
seen from the prices, are common and ordina-
ry. 1t would appear, then, if even wool