Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-04-05

Z tuCut tudL your committee rec QGSteQ the
; bureau Of statistics TO furnish il with a
/ statement showing the prices ofwool of the
/ same quality in the United States and Eu-
| rope from ls66 10 this time.
I IhlS request was transmitted TO Mr.. :.
I ID. y. North, who is not only the special
\ agent OF the office in charge of statistics
I Of wool manufacturers, but also the Secre-
\ tary OF the National Association Of Wool
I Manufacturers, whose principal Office is AT
/ Boston, in the State OF Massachusetts.
\ MIR North, on FebruaryS 5, 1892, addressed
/ a letter 10 the Chairman of the Committee
\ on Ways and Means, printed in pages 80
/ and 10 OF said report, in which he states as
| follows:
''I may add that the grade Of Australian
\ wool which most nearly corresponds to the
/ Ohio washed fleece wool is the port Phillip
/ fleece, aud this IS the line of quotations
which should be studied 10 ascertain the
/ relative London and Boston prices Of wool
at any given time
THERE WAS TRANSMITTED
with this letter a diagram published by
/ SAID association which showed these prices
\ By marks. This was not deemed satisfac-
\ tory and on the 18th OF February, 1892, the
I Chairman Of the Committee of Ways and
\ Means wrote Mr.. North requesting him
+ to furnish q table complied from
! tue uldEIdul duu previously 4uE'
/ warded showing in pararell
medium washed heeces and the average
\ London prices, for corresponding date of
! Port Philip fleece from 1856 10 1921. To
\ this letter Mr.. North replied, under date of
I February - last. in which a table Of
/ Messrs. Maugher < Avery. of Boston, was
I furnished with the statement that:
/ The Port Philip fleece IS a washed wool,
/ as is also the Ohio fleece" This table is
I headed Average price in Boston Of medi-
/ um wool and average in London OF Port
/ Philip fleece in American currency, 1866 TO
\ 1890. both washed woOls."
I The Ohio woolis given in currency prices
down 70 lS1S, when specie payments were
/ resumed. The American currency prices
/ were reduced 10 gold basis by an expert
! in the Treasury Department, and are given
| in the table printed IN page a. Of the COM
mittee's report
/ The chairman OF the committee request
! ed an expert Of the Bureau Of Statistics OF
I the Treasury Department TO cOmDure the
annual average price Of said woods for the
+ q years cOyerediby the table, and also the
average price for % years, emitting the
/ years 1S7l and 1872,
WITH THE FOLLOWING RESULT:
/ Average annual price Of wool for the p
years: Ohio Al .4S cents, Port Phillip Al O4
/ cents. D.ffeaence in favor of American
wool a cent
Average annual price Of wool for %
I years, emitting lS1l-lS72: Ohio 1925 cents,
/ Port Phillip 40-52 cents. Difference in
/ favor Of foreign wool 26 cent.
The reason for making a computation,
I leaving out the years 1871 and 1872, is as
follows:
I Tn the bulletin of the National Associa-
/ tion Of Wool Manufacturers OF December,
/ 1891, appears an article by Mr.. Chas. ).
/ Avery, of the firm Of Maugher x Avery,
entitled "Twentv-five years of the world s
/ wool markets, ," which cOncisely recItes FOR
I each year OF the past twenty-five years the
I causes of the fluctuations as observed in
I contempOraneOus wool circles and the rec
Ords OF that frm. Under the head Of ISL,
Mr.. AVERY SAYS;
"July-Grest falling of in clip of the
"October-Speculation in woods and
wOoleDs."
"December-Fabulous profits realized
I BY spectators"
/ Under the head Of 1872: "January-Wild
| speculation IN woods Of all kinds
"FebruGrv-PriceS ADVANCING
.March-WOol contracted for on sleeps
I back in Ohio and Michigan at 30 to 20 cents
/ per pound
These quotations from Mr.. Avery's ar
| ticle explain the unsettled and speculative
I character Of the wool market for the years
I 1871 and 1872, and render them unht for
COMPARISON as a normal condition Of the
market Hence the average price Of wool
for twentv-three years was computed
omitting the Years lS1l and 1872, with the
result above stated, namely, Ohio in Boston
4O.26. Port Philip IN London 4U.52 showing
a difference in favor Of the foreign wool Of
| .26 or a little over one quarter Of a cent per
pound.
This ANNUAL AVERAGE
for % aud - wears had doubtless never
been made before nor since. When MIR.
North furnished this table 70 the Commit
tee of WAYS and Means be was UndOubted-
IL uniformed and in the dark as % wnat'a
general average would be. When this
publication was made the Boston journal
of Commerce stated, in commenting upon
th.s fact that the table " Furnished oy MIR
Springer Of the Ways and Means Com
u'ittee was unfortunate and was inadver-
tsut and a purely clerical error
ThereupOn Mr.. North addressed com
municatiOn 20 the editor Of the Journal IN
which be states: The clerical error was
made by Mr.. springer in utilizing the hS-
ures furui she'd him, foe purpose foreign
I'm which they were compiled He further
stated: The table was not intended 10
show relative cost but simply relative Hue
tustions in price, which is very different
thing
Mr. North having Inadvertently 'let the
,af out of the bag. as it were, by furnish
inc the Committee of Ways and Means
with the tables true in every detail, out the
meaning OF which he did not then compre-
heud. now endeavors TO retract or explain
away the true meaning OF the taoie' In th'S
he has utterly failed.
ICALL TIRE ATTENTION
of this House and of the country TO the ar
ticle published in the December number OF
tbe Bllletin. a periodical published quar-
,srl,, Inv tbe National Association of Wool
Manufacturers, Of which Mr.. North Is him
seIf rhe editor. and therefore the author OF
the article from which | am able 10 quote
ON paye 3S2. Of that number, ne proceeds
- o,.Diain the diagram. a copy OF which he
first sent 10 the committee, as follows
oTbe purpose of this diagram IS % dem
onstrate the truth Of the proposition eiaoo-
rated In the last number OF tue bntctbt
that the price Of wool IN the United states
varies in sympathy VITA price o. WOOi IN
the markets OF the wo-lds that us value
here is determined. primarily, oy It's value
in those markets: and thai in orderto cor
re,,tIv Interpret its rise ana fall, we must
be in possession Of all the facts regarding
The general business conditions IN TINS ana
ofber countries, and particularly TO condi-
lions surrounding the wool manufacture.
From this extract it viii appear that the
rr;cs of wool in the United States varies
not in accordance with
Tue TARIFF on WOOL,
but "in sympathy with the price OF wool IN
- The oargets Of the world; that its value
here is determined primarily by its value
:, tbose markets: and that in order 70 cor
rectlv interpret its rise and fall we must
-, - ,,ossessiou OF all the facts regarding