Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-01-05
ONE rEAn OF THE IScREAsED WOOL
TARIFF.

IL oAOQlQ Uc uuuCIcbOC4 W NN6'N
that there is nothing political in this
review. 1t Is purely business between
the Reporter and its subscribers In the
wool trade and deals simply with the
market reports-oold facts and figures
In summarizing these the Reporter COM
ments: 1.-THE course OF the wool mar
ket during the past year has been
great disappointment to the trade as
we'll as the wool growers" and says:
The trend Of values has been almost
steadily toward lower figures, where there
has been any movement The year mas
been characterized by long periods OF de-
pression. and after each period OF weak
ness there has not been one really calcutta
ted 70 place values upon higher plane. In
spite Of the increased duties upon foreign
wool, importations Of the latter show de-
cided increase, as those who have been at
all familiar with our market reports very
well know. The strengthening influence,
therefore, that was to come from anlcl-
pated reduced importations, has been CHAR
acterized by its absence. The result is
that the markets at the seaboard and the
interior close the year at practically the
lowest point OF the year. and, on an aver
age, with wool about two cents per pounu
lower. Ohio and Pennsylvania heeces nave
shown the most marked depression, wnicn
is significant certainly, in view OF the fact
that the growers of those woods were the
most ciamorous for the increased duties
and that il was their interests more partlc-
ularlv than others that the tarin was de-
signed TO protect. The woods that have
held their own the best, everything eonsid-
cred, have been territory woods OF light
shrinkage. They have been in unprece-
dente6ly large demand for use in conJunc-
ton with Australian, the union OF the two
kinds producing results very satisfactory
TO manufacturers. We noted the probable
ity in our review Of last year, OF increased
impOrtations of foreign wool, and the out
come Of events has justified our predictions,
and to-day indications point to a still
further use Of Australian and other foreign
woods than we have seen during 1871.
MANY houses which never handled Austria
Ian wool before have done so during the
past few months and others are preparing
70 do so.
In ''Ohio and Pa. XIX and above" the
Reporters figures show clean drop
for the year of four cents, or ~ per
cent, on the selling price December 81,
1890; for "Ohio X and above" drop of
three cents; for "0hio No. 1" and "0hio
Delaine," drop of two cents each.
These figures, it will be observed, show
a decrease in pro portion according to
the value and fineness ofthe wool raised
In this section. The coarse territory
woods, at the same time, show an al
most corresponding increase. And in
the meantime the total receipts at the
Boston market Of foreign wool has been
157, los bales foreign during 1891,
against 113, sos in 1880. In other words
twelve months months Of the increased
tariff tax on imported wool has increds-
ed, at this port, alone, tnlportattO'Is Of
foreign lUooI to the enormous extent Of
43, 5O7 bales, and caused drop Of ~
per cent. in fine Ohio and Pennsylvania
woods.
These figures tell their own story.
II carries a moral which the wool grow
ers Of this section ought to heed. The
REGISTER has time and again quoted
statistics of prices of wool under the
different tariffs and invariably the price
has gone down when the tariff has
been put up; impOrtations have in
creased and the number Of domestic
,k,o, has dfpnipfshed
But in spite of these most convincing
and conclusive figures the advocates Of
the wool tariff answer that prices would
have gone lower and matters been
worse had it not been tor the Mckinley
tariff. Putting aside the enormous drop
in prices during the past year Of Nc
Kinleyism, we will ask these gentlemen
to explain the still more remarkable in
crease OF importatlons during the year
1891. The increased tariff was designed
to raise the price Of domestic wool by
keeping out foreign wool, but the result
has been not only TO decrease the price
of domestic wool, bnt to increase impor-
tations. Even. though, for the sake Of
argument, we grant that the decrease
in price was due to conditions outside
the tariff, this will not explain the in
crease of importations. Rather, this
very decrease in the price of our own
wool renders the increase of foreign i'm
portations, from the high tariff point Of
view, more inexplica6le and suggestive
than ever.
The solution of the problem seems to
be plain to everybody but the Ohio
Wool Growers Association, which suf-
fers most from its own blindness. II
forgets that American wooden manu-
facturers must have fine foreign wool
at any price aud that the higher the
price is raised by the tasff the less Of
the fine and the more Of the coarse
American Heeces they will use. Our
territory woods are cheap and while
under low tariff, or no tariff at all,
manufacturers would use fine Ameri-
can wool to mix with fine foreign wool,
under high tariff they cannot afford
to do this, and, consequently, for fine
domestic wool they substitute the
coarse domestic territory wool, which
costs about half as much, for mixing
purposes, and at the same time buy
more hue foreign wool. This Is bad
not only for the growers OF fine domes-
tic feeees but for the American con-
sumer of wooden cloth, who must pay
more and get an inferior article.