The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1888-08-30
FARMERS COLUMN.
FREE WOOL.
Nv James Fleming.

by James FleminE.
How can raising sheep for wool be asllcd
an infant industry? when our earliest his
tories tell us that the wool industry was in
4 iourishing condition before the food.
Abel was q keeper Of sheep, when he was
killed by his brother. The focks Of Jacob
and the other patriarchs are continually
mentioned in the Bible as sources of their
great wealth. Ancient mythology tells the
wonderful story Of Jason voyage in search
Of the golden fleece" At the dawning of
Christianity we read of 'sheherds watching
their locks by night" Certainly fhese are
few Industries which can boast q higher an
tiqnity than this. MIR. Cleveland is sus-
tanned by the messages and utterances of all
our presidents. His views regarding free
wool have been entertained by the most
prominent wing and republican, leaders.
Volumes could be filled with testimony in
proof of this. But / will only give o few
extracts that farmers may read, mark, aud
inwardly digest. In the wool manufactur-
ers reply TO Secretary Manning,t hey say
that 'sfree wool would enable our idle mills
to start up, and we could after o short time,
export some Of our goods, making a market
for our home grown woods. y " Free
wool would be Of more benefit to the wool
grower than to the manufacturer, as it
would start up and increase the machinery,
and make q demand for the WOOL That
distinguished republican, Thomas G. Shear
man, Of New York, in an address upon the
tariff, says: The manufacturer Of wooden
goods has always been previously injured
by a tax upon wool. Wooden goods are "pro-
tected' THAT is taxed) by a duty of SO to
100 per cent; but wool is also taxed about
the same rate. Now 1t is impossible to manu-
facture real wooden goods without mixing in
them more or less foreign wool. American
woods will answer for a limited class of pur-
poses, but for some other purposes they are
taken alone, no good at all. The one great
reason that has always been advanced for
protecting our wooden manufacturers is that
We ought to keep out Eng'and's shoddy
goods. The result of protection is that the
wooden manufacturers Of this country being
hindered from getting real wool, use more
shoddy and cotton in place of wool tnan
any other manufacturer in the world. Real
wooden goods arc almost unknown here.
First-class cloth is not made here at all. For
every pound Of wool in American WOODEN,
there is an average of three quarters of cot
tonsand shoddy. President Grant in his an
nual address to congress of Dec. Z, 1874,
says: "The Introduction free of duty of
such woods aswe do not produce would slim
ulate the manufacture of those we do pro-
duce, and therefore would be a benefit to
home production" That leading agricul-
tural paper, the Breeders Gazette, of Chi
cago, says Shoddy is used to the extent of
more than one third the wool clip of the
United States. There is not more than half
enough clothing wool raised in the United
for making the goods consumed. The
other half must be procured elsewhese OF
hall the present We. mus. be of old clothes
being manufactured. Under the
present tariff without the use of these sub
stitutes the clothing Of the poorer classes
and those Of moderate means would be fully
double present prices. The manufacturer
must use such material as he can get, he
would prefer to use all clean wool. 1t
would be much easier to make his goods
with this than any other material. n # In
other words there is a premium of 30 cents
per pound offered by the tariff for the use
of shoddy and other substitutes at or below
the prices they cost in foreign countries, and
there is a tax more or less heavy, according
to the quality, upon the pure wool that must
be imported if the goods are to be made in
this country, over and above the so-called
compromising duty on foreign goods. These
are plain facts that anyone can substantiate
by going to the proper sources for informa-
ton What do the farmers n working
men say to this: 'Shades of the fathers,
what a sight to behold! Our farmers of the
west, who are supplying these fellows over
the water with over $500, 600, 900 worth of
md provisions annually, standing
about in bran-new suits, manufactured out
of the cast off wooden clothing of the des-
pissed European pauper! To be sure this
miserable stuff is cheap; but if poor quality
and wear is considered, it Is dear at any
Is it not time for farmers to say that
will nave no more shoddy, and whisky
they may throw to the dogs.