The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-08-28

to its Characteristic methods-methods
which has made the Republican a syn
onym of untrustworthines in political
discussion. 1t now seeks to divert at
tus of sheep husbandry in England
under free trade. 1t should first learn
the real facts about the industry in the
United States and be able to state them
accurately before it tackles matters be-
yond the sea. Let it first try to under
stand the whyness of the increase in
the number of sheep from SAT- ,951 in
1870, just after the adoption of an
adequately protective tariff, to $685.
626 in 1884. Let it next try to dis
cover the wherefore of the steady de-
crease from the last-named number
and date, after free trade had scored
partial triumph, to 40 900, 900 at the be-
ginning of 1889. After these primer"
facts have been mastered and the CO.
relation of cause and effect established,
a matter of incidental interest will be
the fact that during the first-named
period the capital invested in the manu-
facture of wooden goods increased more
than fifty per cent, the number of
hands employed seventy-live per cent,
and the wages paid fifty per cent; that
during the second period began the
enormous importation of manufactures
of wool, which in some large part is re-
spOnsible for the failures which are
attributed to the tariff. When these
fundamental facts are well worked into
the grain, as a matter of curiosity
Great Britain's policy in respect of the
sheep and wool industry may be in
vestigated, though it can have nothing
of Importance to do with American
policy, for America is in the habit of
deciding for herself, on conditions eX-
listing here, what course she will pur-
sue. The facts, however, will show
that up to a comparatively recent date
Great Britain, in respect of her sheep
and wool interests, practiced the pro-
tective principle with rigor compared
with which the American tariff of 1867
is free trade itself. When she felt
strong enough to defy the world she
made wool free. In this connection it
is worth noting that England had about
half million fewer sheep in 1888 than
in 1887.
With characteristic disingenuousness,
the Republican magnifies the failures in
the wooden business and ascribes them
solely to the tariff under the new adj
ministration. AS no legislation has
been had to carry into effect the eco
nomic principles that triumphed in the
last campaign, it is not quite clear how
the republicans can be held responsible
for the failures in question. Neither is
the connection between the failures
and the tariff clear. If the Republican
had found one of the causes of the
failures of the mills in the heavy i'm
portation of wooden goods, it would
probably have found one of the facts in
the matter and a reasonable cause for
the embarrassment of certain mill
owners. If it had sought in a wet
summer following warm winter an
explanation of market badly icon.
gested y in certain lines of wooden
goods, it might have struck another
assignable cause for some of the few
failures. If it had looked into the
financial condition of the firms that
have failed, it might have found that
some were doing large business on al
insufficient capital and were driven tc
the wall by the inevitable fluctuations
of trade. These mills have, however
passed Immediately into other hands
and for the most part have been rur
without material interruption. AS the
Commercial Bulletin, free-wool paper
says: "The failures are the result O.
previous rather than of existing condi
tons, and interested parties have eXag
gerated both the causes and the prob
able results. AS is always the cast
when there is sharp reduction of cred
its, mills that are not in sound fnan
cial position are forced to the wall |
is by no means certain that all sucl
mills have yet been made to stand ant