The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1892-03-10
What Free Wool Means.

AHc springer Tree wool bill was yes
terday reported to the House of Repre-
sentatiyes. few days ago Mr.. Springer
the foremost champion of the bill and
the Democratic leader of the House, was
asked the following question: eff the
Dill is enacted do you expect very
large increase in the importations of
foreign woolens?'' He replied: " Yes,
there aodl1 undoubtedly be a heaUy in
crease IN amportdtionsn
This confession exposes in a single
sentence the motive and aim of free
trade. Americans everywhere will do
well to mark its significance. 1t is a
notice served on every American farmer
that raises sheep, every American man
ufacturer that makes woolens, and every
operative in American wooden factories,
that it is the deliberate purpose of the
Democratic party to cripple and destroy
the wool growing and wooden industry
OF the United States. 1t is clear, def
mite statement that if the Democracy
has its way the importation of foreign
woolens into this country is to be heavi>
lY increased in volume There should
wool means. 1t means that every adj
ditional pound of low priced foreign
wool that comes into the United States
will displace a pound of wool grown on
the backs of American sheep. 1t means
that every additional yard of foreign
woolens imported will displace yard of
wooden made by American labor 1t
means that the farmers of the United
States are to be placed in direct compe-
tition with the sheep ranchers of Aus
traia and the coolie labor of Asia; that
the well-paid American woolen-w worker
is to be put on the same level with the
foreign pauper labor that lives from
hand to mouth ON starvation wages and
dies in the wofkhouse in short it means
that the vast wool industry of the United
States is to be sacrificed to crafty the
free trade fanatic of the Democratic
party.
The provisions of the Springer meas
ure are worthy of its object. The entire
specific duty on woolens is repealed.
Only an ad valorem duty is retained,
and this is placed on an average at
much lower figure than the 40 per cent.
ad valorem of the Mills BILL 1t is noto-
rious that the ad valorem duty is, of all
tariff methods, the most ineffective and
the most conducive to corruption. The
opportunity for differentiation is con-
stantly being taken of it. 1t is probable
that in collecting an ad vaIorem duty at
through fraudulent and systematic un>
dervaluing of goods.
This is something which Mr.. Springer
and his colleagues know as well as any
body; but to men whose ultimate OBJ
ject is to destroy every atom of protec-
ton to American industry the fact only
serves as a recommendation Of the ad
valorem method.
The purpose of the Democrats to make
foreign wool free, ON the ground that it |
is raw MATERIAL" is sauarely opposed |
to the interest of the agriculturist To
carry it out would be to reduce the in
come of every farmer whose sheep con-
tributed to last years American wool
product of 350,000,000 pounds. So far as
the farmer is concerned, the wool he
sends to market is not raw material. 1t
is a finished product which represents
his own labor, the cost of his farm, the |
interest ON that cost and all the expenses
OF running his farm and making it pay
a profit. The farmer is entitled to full |
protection as much as the wage worker
who manufactures woolens. The De-
mocracy would protect neither. The
Republican party would protect both.
No possible justification exists for the
Springer measure 1t aims to undo all
that the Mckinley law has already ac-
complished for the wooden industry. In |
1890 the American people paid foreigners
$53, S99, 9l4 for wooden fabrics. In 1891 !
they paid only $34,0l0,5t3. This repre>
SCENTS an immense gain to American in |
dustry, which the free trader would
wipe out at single stroke. American
wooden goods not only command bet
ter home market than they did a year
and half ago, but they are cheaper to-
day than when the Mckinley bill was
passed. The Democratic free wool bill |
is in the interest of foreigners and
against the interest of Americans. 1t
should not become a law, and it will not
while Republican Senate is in the Cap
itol and Republican President in the
White House.
Good Work of the Post-Office De-
partment
The figures given in Postmaster-G Gen
eral Wanamaker's report for this year
show that the postal deficit has been cut
in two, and that, if the present admins
tration OF the Postof1ice Department is
not interfered with, the deficit will, in
all probability, entirely disappear by the
end of the next fiscal year. Mr.. Wanna
maker took up the work of a year two
thirds gone, with the rate Of expenditure
for the year established; and when his
first year closed, the actual cash def
cheney of the postal service proved to be,
bv the final exhibits. $6.227 ,919.43. But
the controlling idea all the while has
been to push the service into the new
States and along the hitherto poorly
served Pacific Slope, not neglecting the
older regions of the country, and with
II aI,,rf