, 1866-01-18
THE FREE TRADE CoNTKq.
- - YERSY,,~
Letter from the President Of the
Free Trade League.
A CHAPTER ON WOOL.
f'Protection's" Reply to Or. Rays
Speech.
Another Chapter on Tariffs and Flnan.
cia1 HevnlAiont,
LETTER FROM DR. C. u. RAT, PRESIDENT
OF THE CHICAGO FREE ETRAuE1FAGUR
CmcAoo, Jnn. II, 1855,

E-
CucAoo, Jan- II, 1855
Edison Chicago Tribune:
In the editorial comments Of a morning
paper on the meeting Of the Free TRADE
Lcague, at Morris Exchange, on Tuesday
evening last. I find the following:
They tthc members of the League) have =
pretty large job In. hand. It is no Joke TO
convince the people Of the Northwest that all
duties on foreign goods should be abolished,
all our factories shut up, and tie enormous
taxation that is necessary In order to furnish
the revenue ioe the Government and pay tho
debt all levied on the land of the farmers.
with corn at ten cents busheL To do this
with any degree Of success, the Free Trade
League mnst brush up ita wits and mako
itself lirely.n
The man who wrote that paragraph know
fngly and willully made a misstatemcnt of
the objects that the Free Trade League of
Chicago seeks TO accomplish. Not member
Of that organisation is in favor of a-reductiou
Of the existing tariff to point below that
which will bring European manufactures
into healthfnl competition with the manufac.
tures OF the United States, to the sole end.
that, while corn Is ten cents bushcl, ~ the
mass Of the people, who are not Interested in
the enormous profits of manufacturing estab-
lishmeuts, may be relieved Of share Of the
great burdens that they now bear. That's all
they ask, 60 far as know their feelings.
As the farmers have been appealed to, To
maintain the existing order Of things, you
will perhaps permit me to point out for their
instruction a single fact In relation to the
tariff, that may cause them to believe that
that which is professcdly for their benefit,
may not be the best arrangement for
themselves after all,
The tariff On woolen manufactures, to w;t.
broadeloths, cassimeres, twceds &C., &C., Of
which ninc-tenths Of the clothes worn in the
West are made. is ~ cents pound and 40 Der
cent dd ta{oren-t On Scotch cassimeres Of
the ordinary qualities, this duty Is G4 to 100
cents yard, in the manufacture Of which
about pound Of low grade wool Is CONSUMED.
This Is certainly protection enough. Making
nil proper allowances for revenue taxes, 1t Is
more than 50 per cent So much for the man
ufacturer-noW for the far7ncr- What has the
tariff done for him, tho producer Of The coarse
wool Of which these cloths are mades Itu.u
TO the net Of June th, 1864, still In force, and
there find that the wools necessary for the Or
dinary fabrics Of every day wear in the West,
| arc admitted under a duty Of Mree to six eents
]
merits gets q to 100 per cent protection, the
grower Of wool is turned of with the mock.
cry Of protection that hare pointed out.
And this is the policy that the farmers Of the
! West arc expected to support.
To show that good stroke Of business has
been done N the fmportatfons Of wool, under
these protective" duties, / quote from the
Washington dispatches Of the TRIBUNE OF
| Monday:
While the uoolcn manufactures Of the country
has doubled elnee the commencement Of the VII,
ending June S sosh, ill., the a Wool. shoddy @ and
Moo|ena imported make IN aggregate Of $l1).006,
991 q which the un1nanutaetnfed wool amounts to
sS, ,001, 600 pounds, costing IL, COZ. .U00."
And this, farmers Of the West, j. the Pro-
tectfve Tariff that was to make this country
blossom like a rose! And lei US see what il
the price here Of this "protected" wool l
find in city paper OF today, among the
current quotations, the following:
For common to \ blood, "S. ..4s9se
e +: -, in siii. erdti::::ss:sss
Gnwashed & oa ffosn abors quotations.
-Forty-fyc to sixty ccnts per pound, In cur
rency at % cents discount, or 81 to 81 cents
in gold. turn to the Annual Rerieto Of the
Commerce Of Chicago. printed BY the TRt-
| pears, and t may say that thc quotations a5o
correct and the authority indisputable:
The following talc shows tho range Of the prices
cfWool paid in This sChicaSQ> market for ~ssf~. -
yearV:
! 1855. 1s57. 1873. 1s5o.. 1870.
gn5e, gn1s aS & ~ s 1s|9 1s1, s3 ~ s y y
| Augutt,....s0IS 81 51Gds s5@N 3o346 3cGl II
| In other words, the average pnce of wool
In this market for five rcaEs-1S5G, 81, '5s,
so and 'C0-nuder the comparatively low
thrift Of 1857, was fhi'ty:are cents pound In
arerd9e gold prize IF today! So much tor
tho nominal prices. Now y hat would thirty
tre cunts buy in 1859, and what will thirty.
one nnd a half cents buy now: That's the
modify. Now I have. .been at some pains to
ascertain The prices Of few leading articles
Of merchandise during tho year 1910, and 1
| tabu1atc them below, at the sarae time afford
ing the farmer = chance to compare them
withthe ruling prices Of to-day.
1 tn rr1 "a arv