Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-04-25
WOOL TOPS.

A Washington special to the Cincfn-
natl Commercial Gazette of the 18th, has
the following concerning the active eff
forts of Congressman Taylor of this
District to protect wool growers from
the frauds practiced by importers in Sc
curing foreign woods at low rate of duty:
Mr.. Taylor is very much elated over a
decision just rendered by Secretary Win
dom regarding the duty on ''woOl tops
The Secretary has decided that importa
tions of broken wool tops are dutlable
at sixty cents per pound as tops and
not at ten cents per pound as waste
this is very important to wool growers,
and will save the revenue from S3,OOO,-
coo to $4,000,000. This intentional mis-
construction of the law by the Demo
cratic Administration was exposed by
Hon. J. d. Taylor in his speech in the
House of Representatives, July II,
when the Mills bill was under discuss
ion, and when ne had quite an exciting
cDlloquy on the subject with Mr.. Breck-
inridge, of Kentucky. The Democrats
ridiculed the position Col. Taylor took,
and said that the Secretary of the Treas
ury was following out the decisions OF
the U. S. Court, but the recent decision
of Secretary Window fully vindicates
Col. Taylor's position. Mr.. Taylor,
when making his speech, exhibited sam
pies of the different kinds of wool known
as "tops,' "waste," "ring waste" &c.,
and created considerable interest in the
unjust ruling of the Democratic Sec
retary of the Treasury. One part OF Mr.
Taylor's speech was as follows:
Nr. Chairman: hold in my hand a
sample of wool of which there has been
imported into this country during the last
year as much as all the wool crop OF
PENNSYLVANIA. 1t is called clap waste
and vet it is the finest wool that can be
grown anywhere in the world. 1t is the
choice of the fleece, the very best por-
tions of it, with all the rough, coarse
wool thrown out; besides, it is partly
manufactured, and it comes in as waste
at ten cents a pound and takes the place
of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan
wool, and these other woods of the coun-
trv, which if secured as this is, would
have to pay duty of thirty cents per
pound. l also have here what is called
0tops," the very finest wool that can be
grown, and it is also partly manufac-
tured. 1t is equal to the best wool
that can be grown in any country. And
the present Secretary of the Treasury
rules that this wool can come in as
waste at ten cents a pound, while 1t
takes three and half pounds of the
best Ohio wool to make one pound Of
these tops, which they call waste. What
is the effect of these rulings? 1t large
| ly diminishes the protection that the
wool grower has heretofore had; it re-
duces his protection from ten cents,
that which he is supposed to have un-
der the law of 1888, to two and a half or
three cents a pound. That is one of
the methods in which the destruction OF
our protective system is being accom-
l0lished. have here a half dozen 9th
| er kinds of wool, known as garnetted,
waste, ring waste, &c, which are made
in London and in various other places
in Europe expressly for import. This
wool is partly manufactured also, and
under the present law some of 1t ought
to pay a duty of sixty cents per pound
The law provides that wool imported
in any other than the ordinary condition
shall pay twice the price of secured
wool, which should be sixty cents per
pound, as secured wool pays thirty cents
per pound. If we had an honest ad-
ministration of the present law this
waste and these tops could be charged
Sky cents pound instead OF ten cents
| a mound,