Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-10-09
A HOME MARKET FAILURE.

High Duties ON Wool Have Failed to En-
courage Wool Growing and Wool Manu-
featuring ut the Same Tfme-The inserests
of the Grower and the Manufacturer IRE
eoncilAble-Let the People Have Their
Inning.
The protectionists fancy that they
can make a kind Of protection on wool
and on wooden goods which will recon
cile the conflicting interests OF the
wool grower and the manufacturer. In
order to do this they put high duties on
wool to stimulate its protection; and
when they come to protect the wooden
manufacturer they not only impose .
high ad valorem duty on WOODEN goods.
but they give him also so-called com
pensatory duty" of SO much per pound
or per yard on the competing foreign
products in order to compensate him for
the high duties he paid on his foreign
wool, or for the tariff-increased price he
paid for his homegrown wool
In this way, by piling up tariffs, the
protectionists vainly hope to make both
the grower of wool and the manufact-
urer of cloth prosperous. and to hear
them both calling down blessings upon
our benefcent system Of protection
The protectionists make for themselves
very pretty pictures of the excellent
workings of their system They take
especial delight in showing how it
brings the wooden mills near to the
wool growers And then just see what
an enormous saving of FIRE ght both
ways factory Just at hand with
many operatives to be fed with garden
truck! Truly protection is good thing
1T blesses him that gives and him
that takesr'
A beautiful dream! Let us see how it
is fulfilled Ohio is the State which.
| more than all others has moved heaven
| and earth to get high duties on wool 1t
is there that the so-called political
shepherds" live and have their being
| viz, Delano Harpater and Lawrence.
In State like this the protectionist
dream ought to be realized Any wooden
| mill there ought to have a smooth road
to prosperity.
What are the facts? The Dry Goods
Economist prints the following piece of
| news: THE wooden mill at Findlay,
| O., has ceased to do business, and the
building is now used as glass factory"
The mill at Findlay was. doubtless
among that large number Games Do
Ian, the great protectionist wool manu-
facturer. of Philadelphia. said in his
letter to Senator Quay one-half of all
the mills in the country which were
shut down during the summer.
| But why did this mill select the glass
| industry? The reason is plain Foreign
window glass last year paid an average
duty of los per cent, and Mckinley has
been trying to make the duties still
higher. Does not this confirm the
statement quoted approvingly by Sena-
tor Plumb from a friend Of his
does not manufacture any thing
and great profit on. and that he stands
out of the way of the foreign manufact-
urer as to other articles on which he
can not make satisfactory profts?" Did
the enormous protection on window
glass tempt the Findlay wooden mill to
change itself into glass factory? And
on the soil of Ohio. too. where it could
buy its wool right at its doors and prove
the truth of the sshome market" theory
But the home market theory has
worked no better for the Ohio wool
grower than it has for the manufacturer
Pennsylvania affords a still more
striking illustration of the workings Of
the home market theory when applied
to wool Philadelphia is the greatest
manufacturing center in America in the
consumption of wool Surely Pennsyl
vania ought to be the State above al
others where wool growing should
thrive; for there the mills are brought
in large numbers very close to the
growers of wool-a very paradise in
which to gather the fruits of protection
and show how wise, and beautiful. and
good the home market idea is But how
does the matter stand in Pennsylvania?
In 1868 the State had g. 1872 900 sheep; in
1855 it had lost 20 in every 100 and had
only eS4. 600 left That's a pretty
| howdy-dor' The result of all this high
protection on wool is that sheer
raising has increased only in
the remote West and Northwest where
vast tracts Of uncultivated land can
still be rented or bought at very low
| rates A further fact: Notwithstand-
ing the high duties on wool in prospec,
when the National Wool Growers Asso-
citation met in Galveston, Tex, several
months ago. that body found it neces.
sary to pass resolution condemninG
the sheep-raisers for killing their ewes
for mutton instead Of keeping them fol
more production
The high wool tariff, then. has not
satisfied the grower-has it worked any
| O6GG6E Will Tue LDClOEc
the Senate took up the Tariff bill q
Philadelphia letter to the Dry Goods
Economist made this statement as &c
the feeling prevailing among WOODEN
manufacturers in that city: manu-.
facturers are as much displeased with
the Mckinley bill as are importers. and
their hope for relief Is that the Senate
amendments will insist upon free wool
| or much reduced duties"
This same paper, which is the leading
authority in the dry goods trade in this
country, said in a leading editorial
about the middle of August: The
wool manufacturing interest in this
country is in a very unsatisfactory con
| dition. At no time since June
has the demand displayed any activity
For low grades of woolens made chiefly
from wooden substitutes the demand
has been fairly satisfactory
There has been larger request for low
grades of goods than in some years
In other words. under our high WOO
tariff we are getting down to a shodd,
basis Hence the shoddy men backeS
ND the Mckinley bill strongly Th'
editorial goes on: '.Mr. Dolan's FREE