Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1892-04-07
FREE WOOL AND THE LAeoReR.

What MIR. sprlnger's Bill would Mean to
American " orkmsn-it Would Close Up
Hundreds of Factories Now Employed
In Making WOODEN Goods, and Thus
Throw Many Thousands out Of work
II does not require much thought to
see the ruinous effect which the enact
ment Of Mr.. Springer's bill, abolishing
the duty on wool and greatly reducing
the duties on its manufactures, must
have ON American wool growing The
importation OF s72, 900. 900 in wool man
ufactures in addition TO the $4,000 900
last year sent 10 this country flor Mr..
Springer says that the decrease In rev.
enuc will have 10 be made up by in
creased importations, and on the basis
of last years imports, this increase will
be at least S72, 900, OOOj, sil5, 200, 900 in
all, would simply be the importation Of
3ij, 900, 900 pounds of wool, though in
manufactured form, 10 take the place
of so much American wool in our mar
kcts. This quantity increased by even
the amount of raw wool now annually
imported 10000, 900 pounds-it would
doubtless be more under Mr.. Springer's
free wool measure would give total
OF iGi, 900, 900 pounds o. wool that would
come in. Dcducting this quantity from
our total consumption Of wool, 600, OOO,-
900 pounds, we find that there would
remain market for only 1886, 900, 900
pounds Of the 100000, 900 pounds an.
nually produced In this country These
are the results which Mr. Springer him
self admits will follow from his wool
aud woolcns bill
But the farmer will not be tho only
one Injured The additional s72, OOO,O
in manufactured wool which Mr.
Springer says would bo imported under
the lower duties which he proposes
would, Of course, su1plant an cquiva-
lent quantity Of American goods, and
compel American wool manufacturing
establishments to reduce their output
by that amount Now, So, 900, 900 worth
OF foreign goods at tho undcrvalued
prices nt which they are imported would
he equivalent to at least 500, 900, 900
worth Of domestic goods at American
wholesale prices.
American wooden and worsted mills
must, therefore, mako 500, 900, 900 less
In goods than they make now That
means that CO. 900 mill hands which II
takes to make SlOJ O01. 200 in finished
products must lose their places and sl6,
900, 900 In wages. Foreigners would do
the work and receive the pay.
But $40, OOj, 900 Is only an insignificant
item in the great total loss which labor
would suffer from Mr.. Springer's ST.
900, 900 addition TO our present imports
of wool manufactures II takes account
only Of the wages paid for direct labor
in manufacturing, about one-fifth of
the whole amount OF labor involved.
Take piece OF wooden cloth, trace II
back to It's original elements before
they were touched by the hand of man,
commencing with the labor Of shipping
handling aud placing on the shelf of the
jobbing house the finished piece of
cloth, following II through all the pro-
cesses In the factory, not forgetting the
labor OF the engineers, firemen, watch
men, clerks, overscers employed about
the establishment, nor the labor in.
volved In producing the coal, wood, oil.
belts, and the score or more of other
classes of miscellaneous supplies con-
sumed in the factory; then following
the raw wool as ii Is handled and trans
ported from farm to factory, including
the farmers labor OF tending and shear
ing the floclSs, raising hay and grain
crops to feed them, not emitting even
the salt they eat and the labor OF pro
ducing tiff all of these and all other
elements Of labor are counted, fully so
per cent OF the Wholesale selling price
Of tho goods, which we have placed ut
500, 900, 900, represents labor cost OF
production. In other words, Mr..
Springer would take $50, O0O 900 from
American labor In order that the
worsted and wooden mills and working
people OF Bradford and Huddersheld
and English and Australian wool grow
ers might prosper.
To realize what this means to Ameri.
can industry generally, one has only to
imagine what the conditions would be
In any factory town IL all the factories
should shut down. Every tradesman,
professional man, clerk, car driver, bar
Der, cook and chambermaid in the place
would suffer. The town lives on the
wages received by the working people
which arc spent for household neces'
saries and general supplies, and are
passed from hand to hand, imparting
life aud nourishment to all branches OF
industry, The withdrawal of an an.
nual disbursement OF $50, 600 900 from
the channels of trade would be like
drawing corresponding proportion OF
life blood from a healthy body. The
results in both cases would be similar.
Activity would give place TO inaction,
strength to weakness, health to Ian.
gushing sickness That is what Mr.,
Springers measure means TO labor and
its dependent interests.