The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1882-01-12

ilnt IN That little paragraph RON we ih'ef'
Doean Il Tie lost u q loiig SERMON IN this
article W. only desire 70 slance NJ Tie Dan
gufons impression sought 70 be made TIE
lhtorOcean would have Us Deiieve that tic
country aud particularly Texas, has becn
greatly benefited by tbo protection Afforded
to wool, and that the increase In the pro
duct was directly due 10 The tariff There
are many men who will believe this ana
applaud the effort TO retain the tariiI, While
II 10 all the time demonstrated that what
has been "fun for the boys has been death
TO the frogs" The duty on wooden manu-
featured goods has been about 6O per
cent and on raw wool about 80 per cent.
making tariff Which is two-thlrds prohibi-
tory aud onc-thrd restrictive. Now, not
withstandlng this enormous tarih,
by the showing Of the Inter-Ocean's own
figures, the product of the country has only
increased about 40 per cent in whole de-
cade, while the actual figures show that
fewer wooden goods were manufactured III
the last four years than in 1870. why
| is this? Is it possible that tariil
two-thirds prohibitory and one-thi'd
restrictive can not do more for the
country than this? But so it seems
Notwithstanding the protective care, the
interest really langnishes, considering the
facts, instead of growing so enormously, as
the Inter-Ocean would have us believe.
Now add to this failure of the tariff to build
up with that rapidity which the high duty
and prosperity of the country and Its adj
mirable adaptability to the production Of
wool, would lead us to expect. the tremen-
dous profits the masses have been thereby
made to pay for their clothing and blankets
and the most necessary Of LIES articles
reaching, as we have seen, at least within
10 per cent. of the tariff or in round num-
bers 80 per cent, and the Tree
trade farmer can crack the nut with o
great deal of ease it seems to us. There are
comparatively few wool-growers in Texas
after all and if it take sixty per cent. IN the
way of tariff to keep the Englishman out
of our market with his blankets and cloth
ing, how comparatively few would be the
citizens of Texas who would suffer by
taking the tariff off, On the other hand, II
the farmer could purchase for $50 what now
costs him 500, and which he is
Obliged to have too, how many thou
sands would be benefited indeed
thereby No wonder Texas is "iree-trade
| State" as the Inter-Ocean says There are
fortunately, enough citizens here OF the
purchasing class who see that when the
wool-growcr is protected the man who
must depend upon other pursuits Tor his
actual clothing pays the premium upon
another's labor But in the second place
the tariff has actually put a blight upon the
product. We cannot manufacture WOODEN
goods as cheap as Europe, and therefore
with or without tariff we are compelled to
coniine ourselves to the home market
When this enormous tariff is lm-
posed and the opportunity is afforded
for making immense profits, capital rushes
| into the enterprise until the market is glut-
ted The warehouses are filed with UNI
disposed-o goods and the demand for the
raw material decreases. As result prices
of the article tumble, and the wool-grower
himself, feels the blight ola high tariff A
small reduction occurs through competi
ton in the manufactured article, but the
reat bulk ofthem is held, as the compa'
MES have generally capital suiii
cient to protect capital, until
the demand rises again aifel
the exhaustion of thosc already sold. In
short, all classes suffer, but the few mer
who manufacture the raw material ano
take advantage of the co per cent. tariff
MANY of them, even, go down under tho
competition made doubly strong by th'
possibility of cxorbitant profits and then
goods, wares and merchandise are imredi
ately bought up by successful rivals to pre-
vent a fall in the market, Indeed, thu
Inter-Ocean could not have chosei
a more unfortunate example OF tn
"beauties" of protection than this same
wooden product and the questions
growing ont of it. We see that with Ions
decades nursing it has only increased
about 40 per cent in the production ofraN
material while the manufactures have de
creased, and during all this time we hav'
been as the mass of citizens paying $50 To-
n suit of clothes that should have cost u
not more than Sl2 When the cracked nu
discloses such facts, 1t is not singular that
the overwhelming majority of the citizen
of Texas, though wool-growing State, arr
still freeiraders.