The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1893-09-14
WHY WOOL !, " CHEAP.
The Fear of Tariff II .i>ion nt the Bottom
of It-A Wool by r., Opin :.


county, recently wro e to several of the
most prominent wool merchants ami
in the east asking short
answers to the question whether or not
the Sherman silver law is responsible
for the decline in wool and the shutting
down of all wooden mills The first re-
ply was from Justice, Bateman Sc Com
pany of Philadelphia, and was as fol
lows:
"Cleveland's message at first wf., ~.
received, but everything he hns sal,
fiuled out of the memory of wooden IN ,n..-
facturers except that clause which insis'
on triif revision. Factories that were
running, that had decided to continue IL
the Presidents message offered anyt ding
reassuring, have now decided to close.
Fifty per cent of the woolen mills todat
are idle, and it is estimated by the LIST o
September IS per cent of them will be ille.
The trouble is factories, in the most pros
porous times, III Ike only or cents yard
on cloth. If wool is pnt on the free list. 10
carries with it Il reduc iIn of half dollar
q yard upon cloth, and the loss upon that
mach cloth is too serious to risk;
hence the closing of our mills. The
merchants who buy cloth are equally un-
willing to lay in a supply on which they
may lose half II dollar II yard; hence the
lack of orders tor cloth. This you car
readily understand and of course, tlis
makes the market for wool dull. In an
swer to two o. your questions, we do not
think the sherman silver bill has anything
to do with tho decline In wool. Manufac
tnrers beg5an to get ready for free wool i'm
mediately after the election, an | for q
Iny IA al
fell The Boston fire in the coi,l winter
made a demand for goods and for wool,
about the middle of January, SO the ira !"
was good from then ultil the Presidaut
was inaugurated. The latter was hardly
warm in his chair wien 1t was proposed I,
him that tariff revision be abandoned, aad
he said, Why, what are we here
fors This WAS published throu Sh-
out the United States, and the sales o.
wool fell off at once. Secretary Carlisle. i
few weeks later, when asked by repr
sentative of the Associated Press, stats.
that wool would be on the free list within
six months from the time the extra session
of Congress assembled, aud the price ct
wool began to fall at once because every
body knew that merino wool was selling
~ cents and upwards, secured In Americ-
and was selling at only about 30 cents
secured in London. As consequence the
value of secured wool has droppei
from 90 cents to 40 cents sncs
the 1st of June. Now, we do not
think the Sherman law had anything
more to do with the drop in WOO.
than it had in sending gold out of the
country or in bringing gold back into the
country. Gold is coming back AS fast as it
went out. If tine Sherman law sent it out.
= y,x.y IX.D hnnl NJ
think neither of these causes had anything
to do with it. The reason gold went on
was because foreigners were afraid of tariff
revision-Homestead riots, as CO 49,
quence of idle mills-and they besal to
send back American securities and gold
went abroad to pay for them. When the
panic began and wheat and other things.
| including securities, fell in price foreigners
began to buy our wheat and our securities
! and gold came this way.
/ In answer to your second question as to
what could the present Administration dc
/ to restore confidence, we say that few
! well timed words In the Presidents mes
] sage would have restored conf Ience
| Manufacturers were waiting for it. They
! expected him to say that tariff revisio.
was not good policy on top of the pres.n
great business disturbances, but they di,
! not know Grover Cleveland, and his stat.
| ment that tlrif revision was important
! and must be taken up after the silver bill
was shock to manufacturers VIII,
/ were looking for some words of confidence
! If the President had stated that he woui,
use the veto power to prevent any interfer
ence with the tariff the mills that are no F..
! idle would have been in operation by th
| lst of September Manufacturers beliey.
I in tba;, hut r ha L.
I had nothing to do with causing tie panic
| They, however, tank that nine men out o
! 10 outside of manufacturing circles thin.
differently, and they think that if tn,
| Sherman law had or had not any
I thing to do with this panic, ant
4 if the cause is really only fright
and the repeal of the Sherman law viii
remove that fright, then repeal the Sher
| man law without delay. If the Sherman
law put down the price of wool the repea
of the law ought to advance the price o
wool, but you will iind after the Sherman
law is repealed, the lear OF tariff revision
as the cause of the fall in the wool price,
will then be proved and wool prices vii
continue to drop until we reach the fire
wool level, unless Cley Gland will announce
as stated above, his determination to vet
any free wool legislation. You can judg
for yourself, after reading his message
whether lie will eat his own words.
Wilcox & Cardingly, prominent wol
manufacturers of Boston, say the tart
is of far more Importance than silver, aa
is the cause of the stopping of mills
They say that they think ''if The Admin,
traton would only define themselves in It
gard to the tariff and say they would
nothing at present, 50 that we would hay
something to work on, it would help to rt
store confidence 1t is the uncertaint
that kills, and keeps all in suspense
The Democracy promised the worl
ingmen cheaper goods, constant EN-
ployment, higher wages, shorter hour
of labor and general prosperity, if til
Democrats could get control of the Gov
ernment. Well, they got it. They hav
been in full possession and power fo
more than five months. And what
the consequence? All their rose -colore