The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-10-05
WHY WOOLIS CHEAP.
The Fear of a Disturbance of the
Tariff the Cause.

Tariff the Cause.
The following open letter from
Theodore Justice, of the wool COM
mission firm of Justice, Bateman &
Co.. of Philadelphia, is published
in the Cleveland Leader. 1t will
repay careful and thoughtful read
ing:
Mr. F. Machaman, Waynesburg, Stark
county. q.
DEAR SIR:-We have yours with
out date, in which you state that
high protection, put on wool in
1867, when Ohio had seven millions
of sheep, and when wool was worth
so cents, had reduced the number
of sheep in 1883 to only three and
a half millions, and had reduced
the price to rs cents. You are
wrong as to the causes which re-
duced the sheep in Ohio, and re-
duced the price elsewhere as well as
in Ohio. Under the tariff. law of
1867 the number of sheep in the
United States increased from about
forty millions in 1867 to over fifty
millions IN 1885, when President
Cleyeland's administration first APP
preached the subject of free wool.
This was during period covered
by the tariff law of 1867. Cleve-
land is free wool ideas caused the
whole number of sheepin the United
States to decline from over fifty
millions in 1885 to fortv-two mil
lions in 1889. The tariff law of
1867 was repealed in 1888, but its
effect was not felt until President
Cleveland's administration began
to agitate the subject of free wool.
The duties upon wool in 1867 to the
time of Cleveand's election were
nearly Is cents per pound, but when
the tariff law of 1888 was repealed,
and the duty was reduced to 10
cents per pound, the number of
sheep IN the United States de.
creased, and the cause of that de-
crease was inadequate protection.
The increase from forty millions
in 1867 to fifty millions in 1884,
when the duties were Is cents per
pound, shows that adequate protec-
ton increased the wool clip, and
the decrease IN the number of sheep
in the United States in 1884, when
there were over fifty millions, down
to forty-two millions in 1889, when
the duty was only 10 cents per
pound. shows that while with ade-
quate protection our focks in
creased, with inadequate protection
they decreased, and this was the
time when the sheep OF Ohio dis
appeared from Ohio, they were not
destroyed; for If you will recollect
that about the time of President
Harrison's election, with the PROM
Use of increased protection, there
was demand for sheep for ship
ment to the territories.
UNDER PROTECTION.
Your Ohio farmer found better
market for the sheep with the grow
ers, who wanted them for the Rocky
Mountlon regions, than with the
butchers, who wanted them for
slaughter, and you will find that
the tariff law of 1S9O-called the
Mckinley law-checked at once the
decrease in the number of sheep,
and although the increase in duties
by the Mckinley law was only one
cent per pound, the fact that the
American wool growing industry
was no longer menanced by free
wool, stopped the decreasing ten
dency that was so CONSPICUOUS pre-
vious to that, and up to the time of
President Clevelapd's reelection
IN 1892 the whole number of sheep
in the United States had increased
to As, 100000.
Now, what was the condition of
affairs in SIX months after Presi-
dent Cleveland had been inaugu-
rated? You find the price of wool
lower than it has ever been in the
memory of this generation, and for
the first time IN history, Amer can
wool is no longer double the value
of woods of the same kind in Lon
don. as it has been ever since we
had protective tariff. On the day
that President Cleveland was in
augurated Ohio wool was worth, in
the secured condition, to the Amer
lean manufacturer. considerably
over sixty cents per pound, to-day
It's value to him in the same condi-
ton is below fifty fifty cents per
pound. and much of it is worth not
more than forty cents per pound,
and this fall from sixty cents on
the 4th of March to nearly forty
cents on the 4th of September is
because it is feared that the coming
session of Congress will put wool on
the free list. and when that is done.
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