Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1893-10-19

The placing of wool on the free list
makes it impossible for the American
wool grower to compete on even terms
in his own markets with the wool grower
of Australia and the Argentine Republic,
for the reason that the freight on wool
from the sections of the United States,
where the bulk of wool is grown is from
four to six times as great as the freight
on wool half way round the world from
Australia to our own markets. The
freight on wool from Australia by sailing
vessel is only one-half cant per pound;
the freight on wool from any of your
Ohio farms to our Eastern market is
greater than this, but the competition
from London is even greater. The wool
grower from Ohio can not ship his wool
by rail to Boston, New York, or Phila-
delphia as cheaply as wool can be
brought by sea from London. The
freight on wool from London to New
Y York is only / cent per pound, which is
about half of what it costs the Ohio
farmer to freight his wool to Eastern
cities. In many sections of the Rocky
Mountain regions the freight is 3 cents
per pound on wool to the seaboard.
This is twelve times as much or 1900
per cent. greater than the freight on the
same kind of wool from London to our
own market; six times as much or 600
per cent greater than the freight on
wool from Melbourne, Australia, to our
own market How, then, can the Amer
lean wool growers exist if there is no
longer any protection in the way of
tariff duties? Many Democrats believe
that the wool growing industry on the
open range of our Territories where
sheep are herded all the year round
would not be destroyed in the event of
free wool, but the value of wool to day
on the free trade or London basis for
Rocky Mountain wool ranges from one
to four cents only on the ranch; that is
to say, the London value, which with
free wool would be value here, is only
cents on Colorado Merino feeces, the
cost of shipping to market is 5 cents, so
that it nets the Colorado wool grower
only l cent. which is less than the cost
of shearing. The London or free wool
value of Montana wool is 9 cents in the
market, or 4 cents on the ranch, the cost
of shipping it to market being cents.
We are just now quite familiar with the
London values because we have re-
Gently been sending American woods
there for the purpose of ascertaining
their value in the outside markets of the
world, of which London is the main
market, and unless the growers of the
Rocky Mountain regions can raise wool
to net from one cent to four cents per
pound on the ranch that industry will be
destroyed with free trade, and more than
half the sheep in the United States are
on the western half of our continent.
Even in Australia, which is greatly
favored by climate for wool growing
purposes, under free trade finds the wool
business so Improbable that during the
past year over four million of sheep in
the country were boiled down for tallow
because they had no value for any other
purpose. Some Of these sheep, within
one hundred and fifty miles of the great
city of Melbourne, were sold for the
pitiful price of pence or IA cents per
head. If Australia, with the advant-
ages which it possesses, and which are
unequaled by any conditions here. finds
wool Improbable under free trade, the
United States most certainly could not
raj wool under the same conditions,
for here through the winter months we
feed our sheep the crops which are all
labor. 1t costs nothing to grow the hay
and grain which we feed here to the
in min far hn Of iola
being mainly the labor of planting, the