St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-05-26

as by immigration, for a considerable
| time; but there need be little apprehen-
sion that the world will ever be too full
of people.
SENATORIAL WOOL WISDOM.
If Senator DAVIS has kept any run of
the wool market since the MCKINLEY
bill went into effect he must wish that
he had kept golden silence, instead of
giving unrestricted tree coinage of sill
yer speech OH the relations of the Nc
KINLEY bill to wool, while he made
that tour of the state last fall, educating
the farmers to rightly appreciate the
wise economy of that measure and the
profit that was to enure to them from its
beneficent working. There may have
been some immediate regrets in the
senator's mind when his figures as to
the cost of the wooden suit he wore vera
subjected to analysis, and when 1t was
made to appear from his statistics that
there was clipped from each sheep in
this country, in 1888, 1858 pounds of
wool; but these criticisms only reflected
on him as statiStician, and touched
only lightly his position as a professor
as prophet of economics. 1t has
been left for the memorable march
or time and the market quotations to
shatter this. In what may be aptly termed
the revised version of the senator's
speech, in which the unhappy compost
tor was made to bear the statistical er-
rors of the original speech, the senator
said: "Now, there has been a great
cutlery about the wool schedule. My
fellow citizens, the increase Of the duty
Oh wool was for the direct benefit of the
American farmer; it was for the bene-
fit of declining industry, made and
caused to decline by the uDwIse legis-
lation of 1888. Tell me any reason, if
you can, why wise political economy
will require the American manufacture
erS and the American farmers indi-
rectly TO look to the Argentine Republic,
5000 miles away, or to the AuStralaSian
Islands, 1900 miles away, for the fleece
of Sheep" The wool industry was
"declining' because the price OF wool
was falling, and wool growing was un-
profitable. The ''unwise legislation of
1888" was the removal of the II per cent
ad yalorem from the specific tax of 10
cents pound, to which it was addi-
tional. The wise legislation of 1890 was
to increase that tax to II cents q
pound, and double that if washed. If
the fleece had been sorted by the reiec-
ton of any part as it came from
the sheep, the duty was doubled.
The purpose was to diminish inn
portationS. and, by decreasing the sup
ply, to enhance the price of domestic
wool and thus revive, by sort of hy-
perdermic injection of MCKINLEY
lymph, "a declining industry" This
was the ''wiSe political economy" which
was not only to raise the price of home
wool, but was to relieve ''the American
manufacturer and the American farmer
indirectly" from blocking to the Argen-
tine Republic or the AustraliaSian ISL
ands for the fleece of sheep" We
have had eight months of experience
under this ''wise political economy" of
our senior senator; and even he, If not
too busy i'll looking after the succession
OF '93 to watch prices and imports, must
begin to be suspicious Of its wisdom.
There has been 10 increase in the price
of domestic woods; what change has
come is in the direction of decrease.
Nor has it operated to stop American
manufacturers from looking every
where besides home for their fleeces; in
fact, it seems TO have had the contrary
effect, so far as any law, short
of outright prohibition, can have
any effect Oh trade. The report
of the treasury departments bureau of
statistics shows that for the first quarter
of this year the imports of clothing
woods are 9,226.311 pounds in excess of
those of the same period last year; of
c0mbing woods the excess is 677, 300
pounds, and of carpet woods, against
which the schedule was exceptionally
vicious, the excess is IL, 226, 914 pounds;
or on all classes the increase of foreign
fieeces is over 100 per cent. "Now |
say, my fellow citizens, that if there is
any industry which ought to be pro-
tected, if there is any article which
America ought to produce itself. it is
its own WOOL" said the senator with an
outburst of patriotism. And the Am err
can farmer who agreed with him last
fall. as he watches the falling market for
his own fleece and sees the eagerness
with which the American manufactures
is not only looking to but going to the
Argentines and Australia for his wool,
may we'll wonder where his protection
comes in and doubt the senator's wise
political economy"