Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-03-03
TARIFF ON WOOL.
The Ways and Means Committee Sec
Nc Use of 1t.
Although the Duties Have Been In
creased the Production of Wool
Has Steadily Declined-Thc
Older the Industry the
Greater Projection
ID IN n N Il G Il.

Greater Protection
De m n n led.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2S.-The reports
of the majority and minority of the
House committee on ways and means
to accompany the Springer wool bill
has been presented and will be present.
ed to the House tomorrow. The ma
jority report was prepared by Mr.
Springer, and the minority report by
Mr.. Burrows, Of Michigan.
The majority report says the McKin-
ley bill was passed with enormous rates
OF duties, many OF them prohibitory,
and all of them unreasonably high.
"There can be no good reason" says
the report, ''for maintaining such high
taxes upon articles which are so necess-
airy to the health and comfort of the
people. A peculiar feature of those
high rates is that owing to the high
rates per pound and per square yard
added to the ad valorem rate, the duty
was higher upon the cheaper grades of
goods worn by the masses of the people
and lower upon the high priced goods
worn by those in better circumstances.
''Twenty-fve per cent" comments the
report, ''was all the protection that the
wool manufacturers in 1867 asked in
order to enable them to compete sue
cessfully with their foreign rivals; but
it seems in the case of woolen goods, as
in all others, the amount of protection
required increases from year to year.
AS the industries get older and better
established more protection is wanted.
The rates proposed in the bill sub
mitted, says the report, are fixed with
due regard to the labor, cost of produc
tion, and to the necessities Of the peo
pie. The lowest rates are placed upon
the goods upon which the least labor
has been bestowed and which are con-
sumed by the largest number Of people.
Statistics are printed in support of this
statement. In considering the effect
of the act Of 1867 upon sheep husband
ry the report says: "In 1867 there were
6,73O,OOO sheep in Ohio; in 1870 there
were only 3,943, 900 reported, while in
1891 the number was given at 4 ,O61 GOO.
Similar results took place in all of the
states east of the Missouri and Mississ-
ippi rivers. The increase in the num-
Der of sheep in the United States has
been in states west of those rivers. or
in localities where there was free range
upon the public domain.
1.-THE wool growers Of 1867 believed
that the imposition of high tariffs on
wool would secure them the control of
the home market. The result proves
how greatly they were mistaken, and
how Intellectual the law has been to
produce the condition which they de-
sired. AS to its effect on prices, wool
has steadily declined since 1867, when
it was worth 62 cent: pound in cur
rency to the present time. The. Nc
KinleY act increased the duty on wool
an average of cent pound.
The result has been fall in price OF
to cents a pound instead of rise in
; prices. After Is years experiment the
result has been a reduction of one-half
in the number Of sheep in states east
of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers
and a reduction of one-half in the price
of wool.
!. In conclusion the committee com.
ments on the effect of the free admis.
mission of wool will have upon the rev.
enues as follows: The effect upon the
revenues of the government of placing
wool on free list and reducing the du.
ties on woolen goods cannot be stated
with accuracy. The act of October l.
1890, instead of checking the importa
tion of wool, has permitted an increase
in importations for the first six months
: Of the present fiscal year of over 13,
0o0, 600 pounds as compared with the
!, corresponding months of tho year 1889
! As no revenues will be derived from
raw wool in case the bill as reported BY
your committee is passed, it is safe tc
Il a .