The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-07-27
UTAH AND WOOL AGAIN.


For nuggets of political wisdom, get
q rocker and wade through the siush that
the chairman OF the Republican party of
Utah occasionally poursforth. In long
harangue the only apparent purpose of
which is to give the woolmen of Utah the
perpetual blues, and prejudice people
against the Democratic party, he endea-
vors to show the impossibility of sheep
men in this territory conducting their
business at profit. His excuse for it is
that many persons have asked him about
the wool prospects for the future.
He has no comfort to give them. Every
thing here. according to his lugubrious
tale, is against them. They cannot COM
pete with foreign producers-whichi is as
good as to say they cannot compete with
Ohio and some other wool-growing Sec
tons that can compete with them-and
declares
1--WE cannot freight our wool from the
shearing pen to the railroad jhowever
close the pen to the track as cheap as
wool is carried from London to Boston. -
Well, whose fault is that? Why not
ask for a law to compel the railroads to
carry Utah wool free to Boston, or pay
the freight out of the national treasury?
That would be about as reasonable as the
protective notion which demands a tariff
on wool, in order to enable a handful of
wool-growers TO engage in alleged impos-
sible competition with the great wool
producing districts OF the world. He adds:
Thus, it is at once seen and understood
that the climate is against US, wages for
employees is against US, freights per
wagon. ship and railroad are against US,
and as 10 the qualities Of wool we are not
in it.
The woods OF Australia rarely shrink
60 per cent. often less than 80 per cent.
sre clean, light, soft and beautiful,
while as all wooi-growers know, Utah
woods shrink from So per cent. to rs per
cent.
/ have seen in the lofts in Boston
Australian wool which cost in London
only 6 pence 8 fartbings, and freight
added only IA cents duty off, and, and
have seen hundreds of thousands of
pounds of Utah woods IN the same lofts
begging sale at 10 to 20 cents.
Is that the fault of a Democratic ad-
ministration? Ali the woes that have
come upon the wool men he attributes to
the Democratic party and what was done
last November, and says ''the cloud of
stagnation and adversely that now hangs
over US Will continue during the life of
this administration. - The dry climate,
the high wages, the heavy freights, the
poor comparative qualities of our wool,
its shrinksge aud its small value in the
eastern markets by the side of other
woods, all this is to be charged, accord
ing to the sheep gospel OF CRANE, to the
present administration. Why not make
il responsible for the poor season for
sheep, the long winter, the present
drouth and the worms and short crop in
fruit?
What kind of political economy is it
that would force up the price of pro-
duct solely for the benefit of very few
people engaged in hopeless endeavor to
compete with others who have every nat
ural advantage? Yet this is the policy
that the class of 'protectionists' TO
which he belongs, desires to fasten on the
country.
Ii it is true, which 1Ue do not admit but
which he asserts, that if foreign wool is
admitted TO this country free, Utah would
have TO compete with the wooI-growers OF
Australia, and it is impossible for her to
do so successfully, even then the millions
of consumers in the United States ought
not to be taxed in order to keep alive an
industry which is totally unadapted to
the climate and conditions, as he pictures
them.
But Utah would not have to compete
with Australia in woolraising, for the
reason that each produces a kind and
quality different from the other and both
are needed by the manufacturer. He
gives this fact away himself. The Aus
tralian wool is ''clean, light, soft and
beautiful" he says, while the Utah
product is the opposite. And the differ
ence in the price of the two kinds in the
Boston market, remember, has been I'M
der the protective tariff which ne is s.
much in love with.
Ii Utah has to compete with Australia
which we deny. then it has to compete
with Ohio where also fine, clean, light
and beautiful wool is produced. But the
very best authorities on the question main
tain that If the varied qualities of foreign
wool are admitted free of duty the de-
mand for native woods will be stimulated
because they are OF a different texture
and needed for mixture in manufactures
and thus viii help the home wool
growers while the consumers will gair
the general benefit accruing.
The wool industry in Utah is suffering
But it is under a protective tariff Tha
cannot be denied. However, under any
or no tariff it is an utterly selfish, mar
row and unpatriotic principle which
would Cypress the whole people of tht
country that very few individuals com
paratively might gain profits in bust
ness in which they cannot fairly compel,
with others. We do not admit his state
ments, but even if they were true W,
utterly repudiate the polit ical polio.
which he endeavors to draw the people o
Utah into accepting by appeals to tn
most sordid feelings of humanity.
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THE CUNNING OF THE GoLDlTEs.