The Portland daily press., 1867-03-07
The Compromise ON Wool and WoOIIens.

.
The only measure affecting the tariff which
the Thirty ninth Congress was able to agree
upon, was Mr.. Binghams tariff on wool and
woollens, passed by the House on the 9th of
July last. The bill is simply extracted from
the general tariff bill passed by the House on
the 18th of July, and would have been super
fuous had that measure prevailed The tariff
upon clothing woods valued abroad at II cents
or less was cents per pound; valued at 13 to
"a cents, 9 cents per pound. The new tariff
raises these rates to 10 cents per pound and
lO per cent. ad valorem. On combing woods
the tariff was IL cents per pound and 10 per
cent; and is reduced to 10 cents per pound
and 10 per cent. for woods valued at 80 cents
or less. On carpet woods, the tariff ranged
from to cents per pound, and is raised uni
formly to cents. On sheepskins the duty is
raised from 20 to 30 per cent. ad valorem, and
on woollen rags from to IL cents per pound.
On woollen cloths the tariff is changed from "a
cents per pound and 40 per cent. ad valorem
to so cents per pound and 35 per cent Blank
cts, yarns, &C., on which the duties were "a
cents per pound and from 25 to 30 per cent
ad valorem, are classified according to their
cost abroad, the dividing points being 40, 60,
and 80 cents, and charged with 20, 80, 40 and
and 50cents per pound and 35 per cent. ad valo-
rem. Bunting instead of so per cent. is charg-
ed 20 cents per square yard and 35 per cent
On dress goods the duties are increased 2
cents yard and 10 per cent. ad valorem. On
ready made clolhing the tariff is advanced
from "a cents per pound and 40 per cent. ad
valOrem to 80 cents per pound and 40 per
cent. On weddings, bindings, and trimmings
generally, an additional duty of so certs per
pound is imposed. On carpetings the tariff
per yard is considerably reduced and a uni
form duty of 80 per cent. ad valorem IS impos-
ed. The duty on oilcl0ths is increased per
cent. and on oiled silks 10 per cent. ad valo-
rem. .
This general advance of the tariff on wool
and woollens is substantially what was agreed
upon at the convention of wool growers and
woollen manufacturers held at Syracuse on
the 18th December, 1865. The manufactur-
ers, it is known, hoped at that meeting to OBJ
tain concession upon those woods which are
not grown to any extent in this country-such
as the combing woods, chiefly produced in Can
ada and England, and the carpet woods,
chiefly imported from Turkey, Syria and
Egypt They were met however by a demand
for an advance on all unwashed woods, except
carpet woods, from 6 to 20 cents per pound
with an additional duty of 20 per cent. ad
valorem. The result of the convention was
an agreement to an advance to 10 cents per
pound and 10 per cent. ad valorem, coupled
with corresponding advance upon woollen
goods. The intent Of this agreement is of
course to enhance the price of domestic woods
and at the same time to save our manufactures
by enhancing the price Of woollen goods. If
this result is realized, the consumers of WOOL
len goods in this country, including the farm
ers, will have to pay according to the estimate
of Commissioner Wells, Il millions of dollars
more per annum for their goods. The Com
missioner of Agriculture in his Monthly Re-
port for January, reviews Mr.. Wells's estimates
and sets down the cost OF the increased du-
ties at "a millions. Even "a millions is not
objection to the new duties is, that besides in
creasing the cost of every mans clothing, they
will seriously impair the immediate gold rev.
enue OF the government, and thus delay the
abatement OF removal of the various internal
and duplicated taxes on domestic industry
which are the real sources of the troubles un-
der which the woolgrower, as well as every
other American producer, now labors.v
1t is said that Secretary McCulloch advised
the President to sign the bill, "because it
would do something to break down the move
ment for high protection" We hope it will
have that effect. This is no time for expert
ments, either in the direction of free trade or
protection. Our tariff must match onr taxes.
The laws ought 20 be carefully drawn up by
commission and then amended only on
grounds of the most evident necessity.