Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1867-10-15
ESTABLISHED IN ls43.
Wool Prospects.

| III upon 1t has not had time to take
effect, and thinks its influence will
soon be brought TO bear, and then
wool will come mp.
We doubt this very seriously
The fact is that wool, like wheat,
does not admit Of the advantages Of
monopoly like woollen goods tor the
reason that the United States is an
agricultural country, aud in large
portions OF it wool can be produced
a. chra9ly, or nearly 80, as in any
/ part Of the world and besides this.
there - scarcely any product which
admits OF 81 ch vast and sudden com
/ petition. Most other products are
hmted To a very narrow range OF
latitude, while sheep may be raised
to more or less advantage on almost
any farm in our vast domain from
Cult to Cult and from Ocean to Gee
an, and on them all, sheep may be
multiplied, not quite so fast as pigs,
but with such rapidity that, before
any one Is aware Of the danger, The
! business is over done. and the mo-
nopoly that men have dreamed OF,
has swallowed itself and ruined its
devotees
Several times within The last fifty
| years has sheep husbaudry run this
round. Some accident or trick Of
Legislation has caused Il temporary
rise IN wool a sheep mania has fol
lowed and in few years down have
tumblcd sheep, wool, owners and all.
Farmers found their sheep were cat
ing them up and their only remedy
was to turn round and eat up their
sheep, and by the time they got
through, both sheep and owners
would be pretty ctfectualIy swallows
ed. We think it is inside Of twenty
years since one Of these sheep ma,
MAS eliminated in very conspicuous
manner. Sheep had multiplied in
the land and wool had gone down to
zero. Famers were obliged to get
rid OF their sheep as best they might,
aud they were slaughtered by thous
ands, saving little else than the hams,
which could be sailed and smoked
and by that means kept on the mar
l1ct for some time, and for "a year or
two dried. mutton was dog cheap.
This is contessedly the tendency of
artificial means for raising price, in
all departments OF production--to de
styoy the exhaustion Of supply and de
mand and produce final rcvulsion.
but these evolutions in some depart
mcnts of production are much more
rapid than in Others, according to
the facilities for immediate cOmpeti>
| ton III the particular branch OF in
dustry, while in one, the revulsion
is neN er reached, becauseeno monop.
oily, however complete, induces ruff
cient competition to bring it about
| instance the latter-n0 amount Of
tariff on oranges brought into Wis
c0usin, would ever cause the business
OF raising oranges to be over done in
the Badger State. This exemption
from revulsion by over competition
attaches, in considerable rec, to
most kinds OF manufactures and wool
len manufactures among the rest
There are many localities, The conh-
tons Of which are scarcely more ia !,
vorahlc for manufacturing than Wiz
consin for raising oranges. Album,
dant water power or cheap fuel
abundance of capital and :. crowded
population, the majority Of whom are
obliged to work twelve hours Il day
for living, are indispensable condi-
tons Of manufacturing district
while few sheep may be raised u,>
on every ten acres Of land in the
/ United States, almost without capit>
al and with but little labor.
While, therefore, manufacturers OF
wool may evail themselves Of a mo-
nopoiy OF the market for long peri
cd, TO say the least. the producers Of
wool can derive no countervailing al
vantage from an attempted monopO-
| ", however high the tariff upon wool
may be. As an agricultural journal
list, we wish TO magnity'our office, or
at least to deal fairly and faithfully
with those whose interests we seek
to promote, and especially to warn
them against that specious, plausible
blarnv by which sharpers would gain
advantages over them and with this
desire we feel constrained to warn
them that in this game Of monopoly
they are playing with the manutact,
urcrs, they are destined to be woetul.
Is beaten. From the very nature OF
the two interests, and the circum
stances of the country, the former
plays the game against fearful odds.
The manufacturer takes dollar out
OF the farmers pocket and pulls the
c0ci oy or his eyes by putting dime
into it, and he soon loses the dime ~
the competition it instantly sets IN
operation.
We would not excite unnecessary
alarm nor IN the least discourage re-
sonable attention to sheep hushandry
and the Improvement OF breeds But
at the same time, We world, as q
faithful sentinel, warn farmers OF the
delusiveness OF hopes of high prices
for wool based upon any existing
tariff or any that they could name
The tariff will keep up the price q
cloth for long time To come, but il
can no more keep up The price Of Woo
than tariff on prairie Maud could On,
hance the price OF prairie farms Man
utacturers know this, if they know
any thing about it, and must laugh
in their sleeves at the glorious pros.
pect they have secured to themselve.
of cheap wool and dear CLOTH Wis-
c0nSm Farmer
GRAssHoPPERs-The grasshoppel
invasion upon the western portion
promises to be visited upon, the ceu-
tarl counties OF the state. On FRI