New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-03-15
THE WOOL TARIFF.

THE WEST IN FAVOR OF THE TARIFF As III ~
,urI' RFFUTED-MARvELOU PROGRESS IN
WOOL MANUFACTURES-CHEAP AND GOOD
FABRICS SECURED BY PROTECTION.
70 the EdifOr Of The Tribune.
SIR: One of the best refutations of John Stuart
Mills recent letter is supplied by the memorial of
a few rich New-England manufacturers for the re-
auction of the tariff on wool. He broadly asserts
that il is the aim of Protection ito tax the many
with the intention of promoting the pecunary gains
Of few" Is that true OF the tariff on woolt II was
framed by the representatives of tens of thousands OF
wool growers who sti support IT, for 1t has saved ther
Ocks from extinction, and enhanced the price OF wool 10
the farmer especially in the West At the annual meet
ing of the Farmers Club, at Ripon, Wis, MI A. NJ.
Skecls stated that he bought 100000 pounds OF wool in
1861 at an average of 20 cents per pound, and that the
same quality sold readily 1870 for 40 cents and I'm
ISL would command sti Prices fuctuated before
the war more than now, and there little encourage
ment 10 our farmers TO raise good wool.
The memorial OF Edward Harris and his associates Of
one year ago. had but subscribers who claimed to rep
resent Sl5OOOO0 Of capital How many signed the last
memorial do not know but the article copied in your
Of the 2st states that they represent capital of
S50O0OO. So far the issue between the wOogrowers
and manufacturers is concerned it not Mr. Mill
represents few who benefited by Protection nut
it is tens Of thousands of farmers in moderate circum-
stances whose property forms essential part OF the
national welfare.
Allow me then to proceed to demonstrate that In the
case OF American wooden manufacturers 1t Is not
the few and rich who solely reap the benefit OF Froec
ton, but mainly the many Of small capital
The growth of wooden factories In the NOrth"eSt III
the mast 10 wears has been unprecedented Wisconsin
had in 1890 and about 70 1870 while In this group OF
Western states there no less than GOO IheSe l"c
ries are owned largely by men OF limited means WHO
have worked their way up from the position OF eOunoh
laborers In their annual exhibitions and business meet
ins for the past three years they have emphatca III
dorsed the present tariff on WOOL well as wooens
have correspondcd extensively with Them and visited
many of their mills and do not believe that one IN nun
bred wants the tariff changed. Their interests are deh
teal with the wOOl-grOwer, and free wool would even
tualIy iniure them than free woolens
one of the best informed Of Wisconsin manufac-
tuners wrote me recently:
1--WE will he far more encouraged to pursue our enter
rriss than we were ever before there change IN
he fqrif on roO that would reduce the price low
that farmers would not grow IT, western mahuIlGtu-
c if they had TO foreign WOOL would not be able 10
compete with Eastern manufacturers because the cost OF
freight the West would be four times much on the
raw material as it would be on the goods
Our manufacturers buy their wool and sell
their cloth near home. In some cases, they
exchange much 10000 pounds of wool in year
directly with the farmers for cloth So anxious are they
10 encourage sheepgrowing that have known them to
pay farmer cents pound more for wool than
they could have bought the for in Chicago; and
when they exchange they make it rule TO give the
farmer highest price his WOOL and let him have
the cloth wholesale rates IS per cent cheaper ON the
than he can buy III AT eVOIts linus -h
is found advocating the claims OF the rich fory-hye
against the six or seven hundred Woodworking manu-
facturcrs Of moderate means in the West and South
But saws the Free-Trader, the great multitude who
consume wooden goods is far greater than the wool
growers and manufacturers combined and seek TO free
them from the alton imposed by this tariff
some of the leading manufacturers Of NewEngland have
informed that WOODEN goods average less in gold than
before the war while many are less even in currency;
la from El.fgr
prove this Thus, by calling at the agency oi slater
sons IN Phlladc pEd Ho5aneu sac ~ az S5 5o i'm
1870 But IL is OF the West wish 10 speak Wner most
of people either live, or propose 10 live IN the
Mr. Edward Harris appeals to the prendlces OF
Tue poor ana SOrklhs ~ o ron * ner
cent while the fine cloths of the rich but so OF 60
per cent defy him to prove that such goods as Western
FARMERS and wOrngncn buy per cent dearer be-
cause of this tariff on the contrary, money, ana WOOL
under Free Trade. Many of our factories sell ahnels
better IN QUALITY Western rFFf n t r goa Deloao
articles yielding fully 80 per cent MORE comfort and wear
For example, Mr. Paris Gibson of the North Star
Wooden Mil. Minneapolis Mimi. informs me that 100 ID
of Atwood Holland blankets; in 1870 the same
of equal weight and excellence, showing gain 70 the
farmer Of % per cent. McssTs Dickernan Co OF
Springfield H. paid from Is 10 IS cents = ID for tub
Se o 70 A. cints Their hest Maid dan1es retaied
the price, co cents, in 1870, before the war,
though better IN every respect In ls5S, 100 10 Wool
Of 20 per cent. 10 the Illinois farmer.
Thus Is Mr. Mill found advocating TIE selfish interests
Oi a handful rich manufacturers against the millions
consumers who now under Protection, paying less
durable awOo fabrics than they gave for shoddy
goods before the And this suggests the most dan
gerOus feature Of this reform" NOV mcnt. Not con
tent with lowering the tariff on wool 70 cents per D. us
promoters would reduce the present duty shOddY OF
u cents per d. which imposed in compl-
anCe with wishes of Western farmers, and with the
very object of prohibiting the importation Of this traudu
lent trash OF all the demands OF these "rcformers,
made dangerous and damaging than
this Even cheap and inferior foreign wool h. TOO good
forsOOth for Western farmers In 1894 We Imported more
than SO01O0O Of shOddy mise less than 1900 ID How
The FreTTaders love Western farmers Ihey would bring
in shoddy enough take the place OF 2OO0U sheep ana
COChc farmers with hair, shOddy mungO, ana All the
improvements genuine wool which the In
giisl have developed during the past few years do
not know of a single mill in the Northwest tat uses
shOddy. They have not the requisite mac Inery. Few
use fock-. 1t hard 10 find cloth i'm the West
free from shoddy before the war; il equally hard
to find western cloth that contains it. As the change
has been Of the most benecont wrought the
return 10 its free importation would he a national
calamity With free wool and shoddy, iward Harris
alone would bc than match for al the 20 factories
Of Wisconsin, but On the present basis they have the
advantage OF him, much TO the satisfaction OF many
thousands OF who interested in this question
merely consumers, and lovers Of tn welfare OF the
whole country. T. b. MOTION.
Oshkosh, HfS.. Feb. %, 1871.