Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-02-18
About Free Wool.

lit -HSftst5tfttt3CS u ID tAS cAIL@Se Va S&AA
the journals in the city in its advocacy
of the Mckinley tariff law, and when
it shirks plain facts in controversy, it
may be accepted that it is because the
necessity to do so is absolute.
We copy in another column of to-
days paper an article from the Mama,
facturer critising this journal for de-
manding free wool for our woolen
industries and for saying that IF this
Congress could give the people free
wool alone, it would speedily undermine
the whole foundation of the arbitrary
and oppressive Mckinley tariff. !" 1t
declares that this statement is the
truth and wildly assumes that the over
throw of the Mckinley fariff means
the overthrow of the policy of protect
ing America labor.
We have demanded free wool for our
wooden industries solely because it
would give the very best possible pro-
lection to our woolen manufacturers;
would largely multiply the employment
OF labor in that important industry and
certainly aid in obtaining just stand
ard of wages for our workingmen. 1t
is demonstrated that tariff taxes on
wool do not protect American wool
growers, for the reason that foreign
wool is indispensable for some of our
important woolen products and indis-
pensable in nearly all cases for mixing
with our domestic wool.
Since taxing the raw material of our
WOODEN manufacturers furnishes no pro-
lection to wool producers, what possi-
BILE excuse can there be for adding
needless cost to the clothing of our
people by a needless tax on the mater
ials of which the clothing is made?
Of all the many acts of madness con-
ceived in the name of protection, the
the tariff tax upon wool is the maddest,
and there is not single fact Or figure
that can be presented to justify or even
excuse it.
If our people were given free wool it
would so speedily demonstrate the
wisdom of free raw materials for our
woolen manufacturers that it would
undermine and destroy the whole sys-
TON, <f -, VII -, a ar; 1c n 9 proyidaa
by the Mckinley tariff. We made
hides free some years ago, notwlth-
standing it affected every farmer who
slaughtered his own beef, but it was
done for the protection of the great
giving our leather manufacturers free
hides we soon became masters of the
American market. furnishing our own
leather. manufacturing our own shoes,
and the whole people are now supplied
with American shoes that are the best
and cheapest ever offered On the
market
4 like experiment in free wool would
speedily give American manufacturers
the absolute control of the American
market, and American woolens would
soon entirely exclude European wool
ems from our land. To-day every
well-dressed American, as rule, wears
foreign woolens, and he does so simply
for the reason that our high taxes on
the fine woods makes it impossible for
American industry to furnish the best
quality Of woolen goods. We have the
capital, the energy, the skill, the ma
chinery; in short we have everything
necessary to produce the finest woolens,
but the Mckinley tariff protects Eng
lish labor, and gives them the best
part of our American market by taxing
the raw materials of our manufacturers.
If it be true, as the Manufacturer
says, that the price of clothing has not
been increased by the Mckinley tariff,
it is simply because our manufacturers
are suffering just to the extent 10 Wnlcn
increased taxes have been put on the
raw material. 1t certainly costs more
to manufacture woolen cloth with high |
taxes on wool than it does with cheap |
taxes on wool, and somebody must be |
paying that tax. If the consumer is
not paying it, the manufacturer is pay
ing it, and that the manufacturer is pay
ing it is evident in the repeated reduc-
tions in the wages of labor. In point |
of fact, the tax is largely paid by our
whose wages are reduced |
because of the taxes upon the necessi- |
ties of their industry. Give us free |
wool and practical common sense in |
the protection of our industries
Times.