The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-08-05
WOOL AND THE TARIFF.

ISSHulHS luem 10 Boston. Il ne clTcuIdI
commences as follows;
Wool may soon be free"
In that event the demand for both do
lmestic and foreign wool will be excel
llent Stocks in consumers hands are
now smaller than they ever have been.
| Business will improve and wooden
manufacturers must have wool to run
! their mills. New York is the largest
and best wool market in the United
Estates, Consign your wool to New
York
New York is the largest wool market
/ in the United States. We can make
quick sales of your wool at outside
prices"
We omit the name Of the firm because
we are not interested in advertising any
particular house, and only refer to this
to draw attention to the effect which is
expected to come from free wool. That
will be the very opposite Of what GER
tain Republican sheets have endeavored
to impress upon the wool growers of the
United States.
1t makes no difference to US whether
western dealers and producers send
their wool to New York or to Boston.
| They will no doubt find out which has
advance for the reasons stated above is
reasonable to believe. This has been
explained many times in The Herald.
We copy what the New York firm says
on The subject by way of confederation.
The truth is the United States do not
produce either the qualities or the guam
titles needed for American wooden man
Iufactures We must import wool, or
use large quantities of shoddy, or close
the factories. Unless foreign woods are
brought in, many fabrics needed in the
market cannot be made in this coun-
try. By importing the classes of wool
needed for them, domestic woods used
with them are brought into demand.
That, Of course, on natural principles
tends to raise or maintain the price of
the domestic article.
A high tariff either shuts out or very
greatly decreases the importation of the
woods which are an absolute necessity
in the manufacture of fine fabrics, and
thus there is less demand for the home
woods to mix with the foreign. That
naturally decreases the price. So Am
erican woods go down in the market
under a high tariff The fact that they
do is beyond truthful dispute; the rea-
son for it is simple and easy for think
ing people to understand.
In England the finest woollen goods
in the world are manufactured. All the
woods of the world find a market there,
and England, after using such portions
of it's own domestic woods as are needed
ships the rest abroad. If we do not
take a similar course we will have still
to depend upon England for many of
the best fabrics, which are bought here
in spite of the high price caused by the
heavy duty upon them, because the
same qualities are not made in this
country.
Let in the woods of the world without
duty, and by using the domestic pro-
duct in connection with them we can
lcofhpete in manufactures, after some
experience, with the older manufacture
ing countries. That will provide labor
as well as make a demand for all our
domestic woods. The result will be ben
eficial all round. The manufacturers
will produce better goods Labor will
be in greater request. Domestic wool
being in demand will maintain a higher
nrice.
On the question of the effect of the
tariff on home wool prices. we quote
the following from a letter written by
Mark w Sheafe, noted rancher and
wool grower of South Dakota, which
was read in Congress during the tariff
debate:
Zone has but to examine the statistics
for the past SeVenty-fiVe years as re-
CARDS the prices of wool to discover the
fact that whenever wool has been upon
the free list ii has commanded a higher
price than when a duty has been i'm
posed thereon; and again when the duty
was light, prices have been higher than
when the duties have been eXOrbitantly
high as under the Mckinley bill. This
is fact, and it is stated that lone fact
is worth thousand theories
We find by reference thereto that
while wool under the so-called free
trade laws of 1916 to 1861 averaged
nearly 60 cents per pound in New York,
that on the other hand, from 1861 to the
lpreSent time wool has steadily declined
under protective tariff
Now, sir, there is reason in all this,
and the result of such researches as
have made, together with the opinions
facturers of the East, cause me to
think that owing to the fact that i'm
ported woods are absolutely necessary
lin the manufacture of nearly all grades
of wooden goods, that it matters not
how high the duty on imported wool is
placed, these imported woods must be
had by the wooden manufacturer for
mixing purposes, and this extra price
placed upon imported woods by the tar
iff is made up by reduction in the
prices paid for American woods when
aVera ging up the cost of raw material.
1t was my good fortune two years
since to meet one of the largest wooden
manufacturers in New England, and in
speaking on this question, 1 asked him
why the manufacturer should not use
American wool and pay the prices
which would be expected to be paid for
the same by reason of the tariff upon
foreign wool. He informed me that i'm
ported wool was an absolute necessity
with him in the manufacture of wooden
goods, that wool varied in quality in
different ATTITUDES, and in fact in differ
ent attitudes, and that difference of
200 miles in latitude and difference in
the character Of the soil made distin-
gushing difference in the grade of wool
produced, even in the same breed of
sheep.
He informed me that he imported
wool from every country where sheep
were raised, and that he should con-
tinue to do so from necessity, whether
the tariff were l cent or 81 per pound,
las it was absolutely necessary to have
imported wool for mixing with Ameri-
can woods He further stated, in reply
to a question as to whether or not a
protective tariff did not aid in the price
|of American woods, that in his opinion
it did not enhance the value thereof /
4
ference whatever.
Now it can be readily seen that in