The Republican journal., 1892-04-14
The Debate on Free Wool.

Congressman Milliken took an active
wool bill in the House. We quote from
the Congressional Record of April 5th. In
reply to remarks of Mr. O'Neil of Missouri
Mr. Milliken said:
There are to-day more than million of
men engaged, either wholly OF in part, in
raising sheep and producing WOOL If the
duty on wool is a robbery it must certain
ly be because it raises the price of wool
and therefore raises the price of CLOTH
If you repeal this duty and the sheep
raising industry of this country is destroy
ed, then the million of men who are to-
day engaged, in part OF in whole, in that
industry will be driven out of employ
ment and where are they to go? Are they
going into idleness? Are they not rather
going to enter other occupations, and may
they not invade the occupations of the
constituents of my friend from Missouri,
occupations which to-day are more than
full? Why, sir, the constituents of the gen
tleman from Missouri, and other men of
the same class elsewhere have had their
representatives in every Congress, in
which | have been a member, complain
ING of the want of labor and of opportu-
mites to earn living: and yet my friend
from Missouri stands up here and serious
ly inveighs against the duty on wool which
protects the wool-grower of this country,
and seriously proposes to turn out the
million OF men engaged i'll wool-growing
to invade the occupations of his own con-
stituents and others elsewhere.
Mr. Bland. Will the gentleman permit
question?
Mr. Milliken. | always yield with pleas
ure to the gentleman from Missouri, be-
cause we always receive instruction from
him.
Mr.. Bland. understand that there are
only about 40, 600 600 sheep in this coun-
try.
Mr. Milliken. About As, OOO 600.
MI Bland And we have about o.
OCO, 600 of people. That gives us little
mo re than two thirds of sheep apiece.
Now l would like to know whether the
gentleman from Maine expects to be ade-
quately clothed these cold winters with
only two thirds of sleeps skin on his
back. Laughter.
from Missouri if he does not think that
hen even the A., 900. 600 of sheep that
we now have shall have gone to the slaugh-
ter pen, and the 300. 600 600 pounds of
wool which we produce annually shall
cease to be produced in this country-let
me ask him if he does not think that when
that is taken out of the world it will raise
the demand for wool and the price of woolo
And | ask the gentleman to remember
further, that when you have destroyed the
American wool raising industry you will
have given to the foreign wool producer
an absolute monopoly of our market. He
Will have control of your market then, and
do you believe that he W i'll not make you
pay for his wool whatever price he de-
sires for wool? Why, you can not men
ton an instance where we have been en-
tirely dependent upon any foreign country
for a product Of general use in this cOun-
try where We have placed a tariff upon that
product and thus started the industry at
home, that, within two OF three years, we
have not been able to get that product
from our own people. manufactured by
our own WOrkmen. out of our own raw ma
terial, for less money and of better quality
than we previously brought it from abroad.
A recent case is that of what are called
''black goods in the trade Before the
traitf of 1883 we paid Europe % cents a
yard for black goods. In 1888 we placed a
duty upon those goods, the mills of Mas
went to producing Them and what was
the result? In less than two years from
the time that duty was laid we were get
ting black goods for IA cents yard and
we are getting them 50 to-day