Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1886-02-25
er the present rates of duty. is not pes

der the present rates of duty, is not pss>
sible.
The wool manufacturing industry, in
the year 1880, yielded 4 pront OF zoos per
cent. on it's invested capital: the wool
growing industry only S:03 per cent.
This showing ought certainly to re-
move any doubts as TO the prosperity of
the wool manufacturing industry. 1t
has doubtless shared in the business de-
pressions of the past few years; but it
is apparent that the average profits in
this disastrous period have been all that
should have been expected, and are in
excess of other manufacturing indus
tries equally important. How does this
compare with the wool-growing indus.
try, which, as the foregoing statement
shows, yielded only an average profit of
'03 per cent. on its invested capital? l
feel warranted in saying do not exhib-
it the actual and absolute advantages
that the wool manufacturers possess
over the wool growers. / am unable to
see that those engaged in this industry,
which is so much more profitable, and so
far less in its magnitude and general im-
portance, than the kindred business of
wool growing, should be willing to ask
for the adoption of policy that must
result in the utter destruction of the
wool growing industry; and in face of
the fact that their products are protect
ed by duties averaging 81 per cent, they
contend for the admission of foreign
woods free of duty. Can they expect to
destroy, by the processes they are now
using. a business that, as already stated,
employs capital of S52S,00O,000, and
supports about two million persons,
without provoking feelings of discen>
tent at this injustice that will not re-
main quiet and inactive in the future ?s
The average rate of duty oa all wool
imported during the fiscal year 1885 was
equivalent to only 1874 per cent. ad valo-
rem, while the average on all manufac-
lures of wool in the same year was 67.l6
per cent, being more than double the
duty on wool. The rates of duty on cer>
tain lines of wooden goods, if not sbsc-
lutely prohibitory, are SO high as to ena-
BILE the manufacturers to supply almost
entirely the home market, and substan-
TALLY to shut out those of foreign make.
Those who believe that our wool grow
erS can compete with countries where
pssturage costs nothing, where there is
no winter. and where labor is cheap,have
not informed themselves fully on this
subject. or else they do not appreciate
the Importance of raising sheep and pro-
ducing wool in the United States. We
have country adapted by nature to sg
riculture; our soil and climate are
greatly diversified, and we can produce
nearly everything required by our ad.
vanced civilization. The extent of our
productive domain is enormous. 1t is
divided into small ownership, and
is not likely ever to be embarrassed by
the existence of an aristocracy in land or
even by overgrown proprietorship; and,
therefore, our country affords the best
opportunity for the realization of stabil
ity and freedom from the mutteriDgs of
an oppressed, and consequently, discon-
tented population that has ever been Of
fered to mankind. The wool to clothe
our people in peace or in war, can be and
ought to be produced here, and not in
South America or Australia. The mill
lions employed in its production will
thus be taken away from other agricul.
tural industries, and will not aid In
causing overproductiOn therein. But
the value of this industry in preserving
and repleniShing our lands by fertilizlng
them, and thereby causing them to re-
spond abundantly to the demands Of cul-
tivation, is an important consideration
not generally known. The value of
this factor however, in connection with
others referred tc in this discussion,
hAo Nho . lot q
wool growing be subjected for any
length Of time to its present economic
conditions, and especially if the demand
of the manufacturers, for free wool
be granted. our lands devoted to this
pursuit will diminish in value and in
productive capacity 80 seriously as to
cause both alarm and distress.
The wool growers Of the United States
can produce all that our manufacturers
require. In 1882 s. before the last tariff
on woods took effect, we produced nearly
as much wool as was required. The de-
6cit was less than eighty millisn lbs,
and but for the interruption occasioDed
by that unfortunate and disastrous legis-
lation, the wool growers would now be
producing 400,000,000 of pounds annual
ly, and we should not be paying to fer
eign peoples twenty or thirty million
dollars in cash every year for product
that ought to be produced on our own
lands and by our own people. The great
social and political freedom and stability
is afforded by our agrlculturists, who
own the soil they cultivate, whose self
interest demands order, and whose pos
litical, moral, and religious teachings
instruct them rightly in the duties of
citizenship, as well as in the duty of
government. to defend and protect its
citizens. 1t must also be borne in mind
that no nation in the worlds history ev-.
er prospered that neglected its sgrieul-,
tural interests. Land is the source of
all supplies required by man. From
land, by judicieus cultivation, come all
the elements required in our social and
political organizations, and without
these supplies We can have neither COM
merce, manufactures, mechanism, nor
the work of art or the results of science.
]. B. HoGE. .
St. Clairsville. o, Feb. %, SO.
OHIO LEGISLATURE.