The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-01-22

|
1854 ....... SIC 1886 ............ 32c
1855. .........5 SIC 1887. sec
Examining the liable. we observe that
| there has been no definite connection
between the price of wool and the tariff.
Prices have been low when the duty
was high and vice gersG. The best
average prices of the whole period were
obtained just previous to the tariff OF
FlS67, the highest OF all being those OF
the almost free trade period from 1856
to 1867. Scarcity produced the high
4 prices of 1S7t-2; in 1873 there was q
heavy5tail, and the course has been
/ downward with few exceptions, ever
since.
The explanation of this curious fact
| that the price of W, oil has been least
during the time that the protection has
| been greatest. is so VII stated by Mr..
| Hazard, manufacturer who has given
| the subject much ettention, that l can
DOT toroear quoting his luminous lam
| guage:
III is perfectly clear that wool grow
/ ers are dependent on wool manufactur-
i cannot be sold nj profit, wool must
decline in pric~ until they can be.
! The absence t prosperity among man
/ ufacturers ls sure indication of a
/ cad market for wool. The fact of this
/ dependence cannot be too strongly in
| sisted On. II was through the manu-
factu rers that the tariff Of 1867 injured
the wool growers The country did
not produce enougi wool for its wants. :
/ Ii did not produce the kinds of wool
required for certain fabrics and sud-
denly the cost to the manufacturer of
all imported WOODS was largely ad-
yanced. The mills could not be run
| without those important woods. Those
mills which chad US. d an admiSkure OF
ourstic and foreign wools were forced
either to buy their wool for less, or adj
Vance she cost of their fabrics. A
struggle was thus begun by manufac-
turers to put down the price OF wool
and put up the price of goods. The
W ol growers necessarily had bad
market. 5A ~ ~ Fs-.2 al
"a grave error was also committed
by the trainers of the tariff of 1861
when they assumed that the price Of
goods would be advanced by the
makers of them to any desirable point.
Wool was to be advanced and goods
were to be put at corresponding price
not be fixed ARBITRARILY The ability Of
the consumer to buy is the tinargovern
ing fact. No legislation can affect this
an ii the price is fixed above this abil-
ity, no sales can be made six
Further, at certain price a certain
quantity of an article can be sold. AT
lower price, it comes within the ability
of a new set OF customers and more can
DE sold. Ii the price is raised the con-
umption- is at once diminished. No
jugglii G with the tariff can evade this
principle. Embarrassing the cost of the
imported raw material. the tariff could
and did increase the cost of goods, but
| it could not make consumers buy them
Manufacturers had to work under the
most uufavorable circumstances, and
the wool market was necessarily de
pressed" tS4s
The ida that American growers
would suffer greatly by removal of the
presen; tariff is further shown to be in
correct by the following considerations:
The Australian woods best suited for
the United States markets are, as a rule,
soft-handling, fne-haired and silky
These properties are mainly due to eli
matte differences, pasturage etc. These
differences the tariff cannot alter. The
alkaline soils OF our western Territories
will not, on an average. give such
| nOOlSI ohA IAC duC WNOlS WILL pG
imported. even though the tariff makes
them expensive. There is no question
about tn ability of Americans to pro-
duoe fine cloths and dress goods, pro-
vided they could get their fine wool at
the same price that foreigners get it.
"Remove the tariff" the American
manufa' turers say, ''and we shall soon
undersell ali foreign-made woollen fab
RIGS, besides competing with other coun-
tries IN the various markets of the
world" At the same time, the Ameri-
can hock-master would sustain little, if
any loss, because the woods imported
would be mostly of a different quality
from those which he is able to produce.
Now, while the wool-growers have
not been specially benefited by the tariff,
wool manufactures bave been in de-
Ginning condition for many years, while
the importations of woollens of foreign
manufactures have been constantly on
the increase The census returns of1870
and 1880 respectively, show the follow
ing results in regard to our woollen
manufactures:
| 1870 ~ 1887
No of establishments. 1891 1890
| sets of cards ~ S,366 1891
Lbs of domestic wool M ".
used. ......... $4,000 600 177.OOO,OC
/ Lbs. of foreign wool
used ....:......... 17,S11,Oo0 2o,4sO,0OO
Lbs. of woollen and
wrosted yarn ... 2,57S,OO0 5000, 900
The decrease in the number of estab-
lishments and cards in the ten years is
nearly one-third. The number of
hands employed in 1880 was 5000, ~
per cent. more than the number en-
ployed in 1870, though the population of
the country had meanwhile increased 30
per cent.
How completely the so-caCed
iprotection . has - failed p { to , ode
crease the importation of foreign
wool, may be seen from the TO-
lowing table, giving the total value OF
the raw. wool woollen waste, and IN
4 finished woollen articles imported dur
ing twenty years. The remarkable
fluctuations imply unstable and there
fore dangerous financial conditions:s
Year. Amt oEwool. Year AM Of wool
1S65. -. ). .$27pO0.000 1875. :. ! j .$55 600 900
f1S66. 3 i. 81 BOO, 900 1876. J. q ,0D, 60]
Il 1867 y LOO OOOi 1877 \. y !. ~ 500 600