The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-10-04
THE MANUFAcTURE OF wool.

We see frequents articles IN the jour-
mails in regard to manufacturing indus
tries and their encouragement. partic-
ularly that of silk and cotton, while
wool and its manufacture seems, to a
great extent, ignored; and yet we, an
English-speaking people, should have
due regard and love for an industry
which has been more closely associated
with our civilization than any other.
Few know why an English Judge sits
upon a woolsack, that being an emblem
of England's wealth and greatness; for
the first article of considerable export
from English shores was wool, and all
through the many centuries of wars and
rumors of wars the export of English
wool went on to greater or less ex-
tent up to the time of the Revocation of
the Edict of Nantes, when the great
number of Huguenots made permanent
the industry of cloth-making in England.
And all the way down; from the ear
lest times to the present, we find
England paying particular attention to
sheep and WOOL And, to-day, what is
the resultp The United Kingdom pro-
duces about one hundred and fifty mill
ions of pounds of washed combing wool,
while the colonies of England produce
about three hundred and fifty to four
hundred millions of pounds of the most
desirable merino and cross-bred wool in
the world. Here we have atotal of five
hundred to five hundred and fifty mill
ions of pounds of choice wool of the
most valuable descriptions. Truly, En-
gland recognizes its worth, and well
may they seat their Judges on the wool
sack. They cannot too much honor
that humble means to her overwhelm-
ing wealth and power. In this country
we are an English-speaking race, with
all the institutions Of law, civil and re-
Egious liberty, perpetuated here as
there, even more than there. Yet in
the particular regard shown by English
colonists everywhere else for sheep hus-
bandry, here we find quite the contrary,
and we find that the infant colonies at
first paid small attention to sheep or
wool, and, as time rolled on, that in
terest did not expand and grow as 9TH
ers did. Later, when John Randolph
was power in the Senate of the United
States, he, in a speech made remarka-
BILE by the utterance, said, 'the would
go mile to kick sheep" and this
shows IN a degree the feeling of the
time toward wool-growing. In fact,
the South and all its power and in
fiuence were opposed to it. and favored
tobacco-growing, at first, and later
cotton, to the exclusion of other valua-
BILE industries. When the war of the
rebellion broke out, we grew but sixty
millions of pounds in the whole country.
The greater part of our woolen goods
were imported from England or Ger
many and the Low Countries; but the
| impetus given by the extraordinary de-
mand for woolens during the war and
| the arrangement of exchange made
sheep and wool more important and a
very important increase in growth took
| place. In 1864 it had grown to a clip
of one hundred millions; 1866, one hun
dred and thirty-seven millions; 1867,
one hundred and sixty millions; 1868,
one hundred and seventy-seven millions;
1869, one hundred and sixty-two mill
ions; 1870, one hundred and sixty-three
millions; 1871, one hundred and forty
six millions; and from that year on q
gradual increase each year, until now
we estimate that the clip of 1882 will
considerably exceed three hundred
millions of pounds. as against clip in
1860 of sixty millions of pounds; but the
increase In pounds is hardly a fair state
ment, as the growth of trashy, earthly
wool has been greater in its increase
than that of choice descriptions. So we
should estimate the actual increase in
secured pounds at more than fourfold,
while the gross pounds would indicate
an increase of fivefold in the grease or
unsecured. This result has heen large
ly under the protective tariff; but
| whether that system has been the
means of the increase or not we can
hardly say. Be that as it NAV, the in
crease has taken place, an increased in
terest is now taking place in sheep hus-
bandry, and we hope soon to see the
time when we shall grow enough wool
in this country to supply our wants.
So far in the history of the country that
result has never taken place, as we have
always imported more or less of wool
each year, a fact which shows badly for
US as Nation, one which, with our or
| dinary energy, it is hard to account for.
Save that wool and woolens have been
made to suffer ignominy and lack of ap-
probation, from some unknown, hidden
cause Gt may have been slavery, and
the fact that negroes knew nothing oi
sheep and more of agriculture, and all
interest was in what the slaves knew
most of; at any rate, even to the pres
ent day, but very limited quantity ol
wool is grown south of Mason and
Dixon line, the only State that produces
largely being Texas, and that being the
result of immigration since the end Of
the war).
Our importations of foreign wool were
in 1861, twenty-seven millions; 1862
eighty-eight millions; 1868, one hun.
dred and seven millions; 1864, one hun.
dred and thirteen millions; 1865, forty
six millions; 1866, fifty-seven millions
1867, thirty-one millions; 1868, twenty.
three millions; 1869. forty-three mill.
ions; 1870, twenty-nine millions; 1871,
seventy-eight millions; 1872, ninety,
eight millions; 1873, forty-seven mill
ions; and at about that rate it continued
up to 1880, when it rose to one hundred
and eight millions of pounds; in 1881 i
was about fifty-one millions. This yea
it will be less; but it is certainly s
strange thing to see a country, with tht
extent of pasture-land we have east O
the Mississippi River and the practically
unbounded range west of that river, inn
porting each year such quantities of WOO
as we have shown here to be the case
Yet such are the facts of the matter and
they are worthy of study. 1t is fac
that for carpet purposes we are forcet
to import certain qualities of long, coars,
wool, grown in Russia or Asia; but 9th
erwise we could grow every pound need
ed for use here and we should do so.
There is no industry in the countr,
which Is more likely to pay q hand
some return for the outlay than wool
growing. In Texas, California and Col