Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1883-09-06
= The Wool Tariff.

Democrats, in discussing the wool tar
iff, are very careful not 90 into the sub
ject thoroughly, lest their real position in
regard to it shall be brought to light
And even their references to the actor
of Congress at its last session are fraughi
with.falsehood aud Misrepresentation
Some of these false statements We have
from time to time referred to and expos
ed, and shall repeat the operation until
the election.
In a recent circular issued by the Dem
ocratic State committee it is assumed
first, that the Republicans are alone re-
spOnsible for the change in the tariff
second, that the present price of wool i:
due alone to the change in the tariff and
third, that the Democratic party, having
always been 10 favor of high tariff
will restore the former rates as soon as
Congress convsnes. Let us examine
their positions in the light Of the facts
The only recorded vote on the ques'
tion of a change in the wool duty
was taken i'll the Senate, Oh which occa
sion every Democratic Senator but three
voted in favor Of the reduction. That
is 10 say, 26 Democratic Senators out of
20 voting, voted In favor Of the reduc-
tiOn of the duty. This, as We have said,
was the only vote taken On the separate
qsestion of the wool tariff. In the
House, under the rules, no separate vote
on the question was taken, and none
was possible, so that any statement of a
vote by party lines in the House is in
correct and only intended to deceive. A
vote, however. was taken in the COM
mlttee of ways and means, which was
significant of the position of the two
parts in the House. That vote was TO
authorize ihe offering of an amendment
retaining the existing tariff on wool, and
but one Democrat on the committee vo-
ted in favor of it, while every Republi-
can member of the committee favor
ed it.
Second, in stating that the present
in the tariff rates, while at the same
time charging that the manufacturers
of wooden goods were favored by in
creased duties to the great advantage of
their trade,ths Democrats fall into their
own trap. All the wosl dealeas uuits
in sayidg that the reduced price of wool
is largely dae to the stoppags of the
mills all over the country, ewing to over
production ana q glutted market of
wooden goods. Our readers will have
observed such stoppagss in different
parts Of Ohio, as at Delaware, for in
stance, while the same condition of
things exists elsewhere to a greater or
less degree. With the wooden mapufac-
turers thus paralyzed prices must have
suffered whether the tariff had been
tampered with or not.
Third, as to the claim that the Demo-
cratic party will restore the wool tariff,
that party must be judged by what it
has done in the past. Aside from the
above record, which ought to be conclu
SiVe, Senator Bayard, just before the
above vote WAS taken, moved to reduce
the duty on wool to 20 per cent, or one
half of what it now is, and this motion
atOr but thrse, and was defeated by the
solid Republican vote. Again, in Aug.
1882, Senator Bsyard offered a resolu-
tion to tx the duty on wool at 25 per
cent, and in his remarks on the resoiu-
tion he expressed the hope that wool
would ultimately be placed on the
free list. Several Democratic Senators
spoke in favor of 1t, and that one was
not Mr.Psndleton, and every Republican
voted against it.
Furthermore, in the House in May,
1880, the committee of ways and means,
then Democratic. reported a bill fixing
the duty on first and second class wools
at 95 per cent, or per cent. less than
at present; on third class woods at 20
per cent, and woolen rags, shoddy. min
go, waste and focks, were pat on the
free list.
Going still further back the record is
always against the Democracy. For ex-
ample, the Morrison bill in the 45th Con-
gress did away with all classifcatious
and fixed the duty at 35 per cent.
while the act Of 1857 put all wool valu-
ed at 20 cents OF less per pound en- the
free list, and the tariff ON all other
wool WIS fixed at "a per cent
These facts will suffice for the present
time to show the utter duplicity Of the
claims set up by the party Of free trade
that they are or ever have been the
friends of the wool grower. OF course
when votes are to be made they ars loud
and profuse in their premises, but when
brought face to face with the facts of
their history, their hypocrisy is fully re
vealed.-O. S. Journal.