Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-09-06

To The Editor of he Pres: For cool,
deliberate lying, think the enclosed clip
ping from that eminent apostle of Free
Trade, the Weird Of August Both, will
take the cake" There are no less than
five distinct lies in twenty-five lines Give
them a shos if you have the time and space.
Verify, great 10 reform. F. E. CoxASr.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, Aug. %.
As highly decor ted specimen of false
hood the following clipping which Mr..
Conant sends takes precedent Of anything
we have seen lately. We have numbered
the statements and paragraphed them so thai
they NAV be more easily answered.
THE Wool QUESTION liz a NUTSHELL.
To The Editor of The World: Will you
kindly decide the following A bets that
only one-lhird Of the wool used in this
country is grown here, and B bets that two
thirds of it is grown here? Yours, respect
fully, ROBERT ID. FoRAS.
407 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn.
/. All the wool psed in this country is
grown here.
2. The quantity imported is Insignificant
AMI growing smaller yearly.
wool We can use and only about one-third
the amount required by $3.50 wooden mills
employing $1,000 hands
L. The result is that we have to import
foreign manufactured wooden goods in
which there is more foreign raw wool than
we now make.
5. Ii we could get the raw wool. whether
American or foreign, we could manufacture
the wooden goods and double or treble the
amount of work for our wool-wOrkers, keep
all our wooden mills running on full time,
and woman every loom.
6. But we cannot. The American farmer
cannot and will not raise enough.
7. Our manufacturers cannot afford to
pay the tax on foreign wool of forty TO six
~ cents a pound.
8. The Republican party says we shall
employ foreigners to make for US in foreign
countries, from foreign wool, the WOODEN
cloth we must have and cannot make here
for lack of wool.
The Democratic party says that the cloth
shall be made here on our own looms, by
our own workmen. and instead of importing
the foreign cloth we shall merely import
enough foreign wool to keep our looms busy
Ed. WORLD.
Horid, August 20.
l. Except little overll4, 0OO, O00 pounds of
imported wool.
2. The quantity imported is one-third OF
the amount consumed and has increased
since the reduction of duty in 1883 from 67,-
SOL IA in 1882 to ia ,404, l73 in 1887.
8. As we raise 800, 900 900 pounds annu.
ally. if this statement is true we can consume
900 ,0OO, 900 pounds of wool, a preposterous
assumption. Instead of employing $4,000
our wooden mills in 1880. according to the Of
ficlal returns of the census, employed l6l,-
700, and probably to-day employ 100000
persons.
4. This is absolutely false, for the total
amount of wool contained in the foreign
WOODEN and worsted goods imported in 1887
was 81 ,500,0 pounds.
5. But we can and do get the raw wool, and
to say that country can double or treble the
number employed increase the number to
400, 900 or 600,0 0o) in this industry if wool il
made free is the utterance of an insane man
Even the markets of the world could not con.
sumo the product, even if we included in the
possible markets for our goods those of Euro
pean and WOODEN producing countries.
6. The American farmer can. and with
proper protection, will raise enough wool te
make all the goods we consume. The i'm
portations now are chiefly carpet woods.
7. If they cannot, how is it that during the
period of this tariff our wooden industry ha,
increased hundred fold and that of England
has actually decreased?
8. A deliberate lie. One reason for the ex.
cessive importation of wooden goods is the
steady refusal of Democratic Congress to
classify worsted goods with woolens. AL.
| though Democratic Secretary of the Treas
ury has admitted in his annual report that in
consequence of this wrong classification the
worsted industry has almost been wiped out,
Congress refuses to act.--N T. Press.