The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-01-28

W. Va, JANUARY as, 1855.
Wool aud The TarIT,

Wherever wooI,growers meet there Is
compliant OF unfair and injurious treat
ment in the revised tariff act, Unless the
million llockmastera Of this country are a
million bearers Of false witness, they have
been placed at great disadvantage, The
rushing sheep to the shamb!es at various
ly low prices, tells its own story. The
country needs this industry aud cannot
Afford to refuse it fair play, Unless We
are content to rely upon foreign flock
masters for our indispensable supply Of
wool, in peace and in war, iarmers must
be encouraged to go more largely into
wool.growing, not driven out ci it ly
hostile legislation
The act OF 1883 passed Us it is, becauEe
many protectonistO in Congress were
made to believe that hecountry demand
ed some measure Of "Tevenue reform /"
and further because they hoped bYthisact
10 ouist the free traders Tor u tune. The
threat was openly made that II that meas
urs did not pass tho agitaIiOn would be
kept up and lnallya measure still more
obnoxious to proleGLlOnisis put through.
pfotectlonis's did not desire to be placed
in the attitude Of provoking further agita-
OF tho talill qusplion, agitation being great
ly feared by the business interests. The
protcctionls's erred wien they allowed
any or all these considerations to induce
them u abet wrong. They did indeed
resist the reduction ii the wool tariff, as
Of many other items in the bill, but being
oveiborne they allowed the bill IS a
who'd to go through.
The revised wool tariff 10 hur ful to
fockmaatGrs not only because of that re-
duCtion which ia apparent, but "a well by
season of that which does not appear.
While the rate perpound remains thesGme
Us before, except on the lowest grade, or
tWelye.Cent wools, the nd valorem rates Of
l0perCent and L percent arc removed.
Where there wQs compound duty Of 10
cents pound and II percent Of the vaIue,
the duty on the valuation Being taken oil,
the American wool grower l0st three cents
pound, or a fourth Of the measure OF his
protection. When the wool-buyor camo
around the grower was forced to sell down
10 meet foreign competition, and the buyer
worked the tariff reduction for all there
WIS in II. There was another agent at
work In his comfortable office on the eea-
board. This was the slrewd and not a.
ways scrupulous importer, who thought it
no robbery 10 bring in undcrvalned wool,
and no perjury 10 swear to false invoices.
By differentiation and Oversweating
the Government has been robbed Of large
sums and American wool.growers cheated
out Of large part Of tho protection accor-
ded to them by an uniriendly Congress.
1t is true that under a system Of com.
pound duties differentiation frauds were
not impossible, hut tho advalorem rate on
top of the specific duty gave the home
grover more to start with and made the
frauds lesu easy,
wool.growers are entirely right when
they declare, as those Of our own county
have just done, that they will vote for no
man for Congress, or for either house Of
the State Legislature, who will not frat
pledge himsef to do all in his power to
remedy the wrongs Inflicted upon them.
They will do well to 20 further, and sup.
port no man who is not known to be a.
thorough.going protection:st, for election
promises are as easily made rs broken,
and wool cannot stand alone.