Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-07-15
THE DUTY ON WOOL.

port advocating the passage Of the free
wool bill: The consumers are COM
PEELED To pay whatever taxes are i'm
posed upon WOODEN goods when import
ed. as well as whatever increased cost
may be added TO domestic goods by rea-
son OF the tariff. As all persons are
compelled 20 use wooden goods, all are
compelled to pay the increased cost by
reason of the tariff. whatever II may be.
This exaction Is taken from the many
for the benefit Of the few" In other
words. it is Mr. Springer's opinion. de-
hberately expressed in a COMMITTEES re-
port, that the effect Of the tariff has
been 10 substantially increase the price
Of wooden goods s0.62 per cent. the
average al valorem duty; that the men,
women and children Of the United States
have paid s0.62 per cent. more for their
clothing and other articles made of wool
than they would have paid had those az
tic]es been admitted free Of duty. Since
this bill is still pending in the senate,
where, although there is every chance
Of its being pigeonholed by the finance
committee, it may yet be discussed, it
may be of interest to throw on these con-
illusions drawn by Mr.. Springer some
light furnished by figures given In re-
cent census bulletin on the wool indus
try. As shown by this bulletin, which
was prepared by a recognized authority,
Mr.. s. n. d. North, secretary of the
National Association Of Wool Manufac-
turers, the wages paid, cost Of materials
used and value Of goods manufactured
in all branches Of the wooden industry
in 1890 were as follows:
Wages paid ...-...................... 36I@,s'1
Cost OF materials used aBOeo.6l3
Value at factory Of goods manufac-
tured- -.............-..........-. SsHol.iS
II the tariff was tax, then 1t Is evil
dent that the third item-the value at
the factory Of goods manufactured, or,
in other words, the manufacturers sell
ing price-was 5000 per cent. too great.
Instead of being 1856. 23l, 100. it would,
minus this duty. only have amounted to
els7 .261, 16l. Estimating that the duty
on the materials used in the industry
according to the statistician Of the treas
ury department, 80 per cent? was added
ON to the price Of these materials, their
cost, on account Of the duty, was also
80 per cent. too great. Then, wages re-
manning the same, the result under the
Springer free wool regime would have
been something like this:
Wages paid. .................... S7e,7es 81
Cost OF materials, minus 50 per cent
.-.--..--...-....-..-....- lH,Isu.1oo
mn "a
Selling price. less tariff .......... 1G, 81 ,l6l
Loss -.-......---...-........-. SD.osc4oo
Mr.. Springer, therefore, claims that
but for the Mckinley tariff wooden man
ufacturers would have sold their goods
for go, SIS, 46J less than labor and ma
terials cost them, or ut loss Of almost
&37. 000, 600. When we see that this Is
the logical conclusion to be drawn from
the free trade assumption that the tariff
Is tax, the absurdity Of that contention
becomes evident. The fact still remains
that the price Of wooden goods was not
raised by the Mckinley law, and that
the American people can buy their cloth
ing as cheaply as at any period in our
history. There is. however. another as
pect TO this question. Let us suppose
that manufacturers would have been
forced to sell their goods for 81, SIS, 4e5
less had the duty been abolished, Is Mr..
Springer claims. How would they have
done it? Their materials would not have
cost them less, for we have already al
lowed for the repeal Of the duties. In
what other way, then, Only by reducing
wages by the amount Of ga, 67s. 485.
Now, in 1890 there were employed in all
branches of the wooden industry 221 ,0s7
hands; total wages paid were go. 7es .s71.
30 that the average yearly wages paid Ia
each hand were about e347. II wages
were reduced by the amount mentioned,
there would Be only 20. 0so 400 10 divide
among these 22f .0e7 hands. and average
yearly wages would then amount 10 t1s1.
Under his free trade system Mr.. Sprin-
ger would Con the average) reduce the
wages Of every man. woman and child
in the wooden industry tiss . year.
Whenever the position Of these 80 called
tariff ''reformers' is analysed to the
last stage the same result always ap-
pesrs-free trade means lower wages.
The Fierce Tortoise shell.
Sometimes the flesh Of the tortoise
shell turtle is eaten. but il Ia not good
for mech There are two species-the
tortoise she'll" and the sshawksbill--
with not much difference between them.
Although their dhet Is . vegetable one.
they are much more fierce than the car
nivorous loggerhesd- They bite very
severely, and those who catch them
Sometimes receive very painful wounds.
--Intervsew ia Wash,nrfcp Star