The Portland daily press., 1884-04-15
The Rlundsr ON Wool.

The proceedings of the Democratic House
the other day on the wool question, when
examined, give the country fair idea Of
Democratic methods Of dealing with public
business. Last year, when demand was
made by the people that there should be re-
vision of the tariff, the manufacturers Of
woolens and The growers of wool determined
to meet what seemed the popular wish by
agreeing to as great reduction as would
let their.buslness live, The schedule thus
agreed upon was adopted by the Ways and
Means Committee and by the Senate. Just
before the tariff bill passed the Ohio WOOL
growers discovered, or thought they dscov-
cred, that wool was put too low. 1t was
however too late too make any change.
The Ohio men were much dissatisfied and
in the last Ohio campaign the Democrats
made great handle of this, promising on
every stump that wool should have higher
duty put on it. ''The next Congress is
Democratic" they said, ''and not a day shall
be lost in Fighting this wrong" In fulfill
ment of this pledge Mr.. Converse of Ohio
moved the other day to raise the wool duty.
This of itself was all right enough; but he
proposed to raise the wool duty without
raising that on woolens also. Had he sue
ceeded he would have ruined all the wooden
manufacturers, and finally the wool men
themselves because without purchases made
by the wooden manufacturers, the wool of
the United States could not find a profitable
market.
Let us explain how this is. Wool is the
matetial used by wooden manufacturers. If
they can buy at - cents, for instance, without
duty, all the tariff they need to protect them
from foreign manufacturers is the differ
ence between the price of labor here and in
Europe. But If You put, say, 3 cents duty on
wool you must add the equivalent of cents
compensatory duty TO wooden manufactures.
If you decrease from 8 cents to 4Ion wool,you
must make an equivalent increase on wool
ems. Otherwise you will incIease the cost
of material to the manufacturer here while
it remains the same abroad. All this Is
well understood by those who have studied
the matter. And yet Mr.. Converse proposed
to raise the duty on wool and not on 1ool-
ems In other words, he proposed to make
wooden manufacture impossible, thereby,
while pretending to benefit t by tseing a%ay
their market.
Very few people underderstand the inter-
dependence of wool growing and wool man
ufactures, and the absolute need which each
has of the other, and hence do not see the
bad faith and unwise sta tesmanship of such
action. Meanwhile the Ohio wool growers
who put their faith in Democratic House
and in the promises of Democratic stnmD-
speakers are where people who do that al
ways find themselves-out in the cold. If the
nation will learn by experience 1t is in fair
way to find out by repeated disappointments
that the Democratic party, even when it has
the disposition to do a right thing, (which is
seldom enough) is so incorrigible blunder-
er that no dependence can be placed on it.
The statesmen who mean well, but don't
know how, are often quite as unsatisfactory
and mischieveus as those who have wrong
purpose. Sensible men will not trust the
Democratic party even when it promises re-
form for its Incompetence is notorious,