The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-01-01
WILSON AND WOOL.
Hon. Calvin Cowgirl Points Out Mis-
statements of the West Virginia Man.

To the Editor OF the Indianapolis Journal:
The report of Dir. Wilson. chairman OF
the committee on ways and means. accom-
| panying the bin recently introduced in the
House OF Representatives proposing such
sweeping changes in the present tarIff, is
so remarkable and so utterly void OF the
truth as to inspire the belief that the most
wiliful misrepresentation was intended for
the purpose OF deceiving that portion OF
the American people who have little oppor-
tufiity TO investigate and draw conclusions
from their own researches. or betrays such
dense Ignorance of the subjects discussed
and their effects upon the country as 10
make every welLinformed man bow his
head in shame to know that we have such
men in Congress. AS an example of the
audacity of many of the statement in the
report is the following:
1T is enough TO say that the tariff upon
WOOL. while bringing no real benefit 20 the
wool grower, least Of all 10 the American
farmer, who in any balancing OF accounts
must see that he yearly pays out a good
dollar for every doubtful dime he may re-
ceive under its operations, has disastrously
hampered our manufacturing Industry and
made cruel and relentless war upon the
health, the comfort and the productive
energy OF the American people"
So reckless a statement. and at such
wide variance from the facts in the case. ]
| nave rarely seen IN prlnl. Let US examine
the evidence bearing upon the question. On
one side we have Mr.. Wilson's statement
standing in all its glaring falsity without
a scintilla of evidence TO support IL. On
the other such an array of statistical facts
| controvertiug his statements as TO over
whelmingly establish the very reverse.
Nor is that all. It is within the knowl-
edge of every intelligent farmer engaged
In wool growing that With proper protec-
ton there is no dollar invested that pays
SO We'll, with proper management, as In
sheep h~usbandry. Does Mr.. Wilson believe
that the more than one million farmers and
nock owners in the United States are not
as capable OF judging, when balancing up
their yearly accounts. whether they have
been paying ".good dollars for doubtful
There is no better standard by which to
judge whether n business pays those en-
| Saged III II than that it is rapidly increaS-
ing, both in the numbers engaged in Ii and
in the magnitude OF the business they
transact. 1t is a stupid man. indeed, who.
after years of trial and experience in a
given pursuit, is unable to tell whether he
IS. losing or gaining. thereby. Tested by
this rule, how does the matter stand? I'm
der continued protecticn-the most adequate
the American wool grower ever had-his
hooks increased, from 1875 TO 1885,. 16, SIS. 02e
chief of the Bureau of Statistics of the
Treasury Department during C~leveland's
| With such attention had the farmers hocks
been cared for that the increase in the
yield OF !, wool during those nine years was
page 6l.) Shall it be inferred from the mag
nitude of these increases OF sheep and wool
that those stupid farmers thus engaged
were paying out good dollars for doubtful
dimes? Test this question by another per-
iod in our country's h~lstory-from 1870 TO
1S60-twenty years of little and. much OF
that time, no practical protection for wool.
What was the increase in the farmers
focks? In 1910 the whole number OF sheep
i'm the United States was 1881 600; In 1850.
including the period of 1861, that Chairman
Wilson says gave a "steadier and better
market for the American wool grower"
the number was only 22.471, 275-an increase
in twenty years of low tariff duty and free
trade of only 1902 Z (See .North's Wool
uncertain was the market, as well as I'M
profitable, that the farmers bestowed SO
to 1850, embracing that period of "steadier
and better markets" named by Mr.. Wilson,
there We're only It three Teecs OUNCES %S;ie gain ande IN n the
lection, from 1860 to 1880, the gain was
from "a to oil. See North's Wool Book.
page To- And the average weight to-day Is
scarcely less than six pounds. while on good
sheep it is eight pounds 10 the fleece.
The tariff on wool has "disastIously ham,
pered our manufacturing industry and
made cruel and relentless war upon the
health, the comfort and productive energy
OF the American people," says Mr.. wilson
What effrontery. II is only equaled by the
inconsistent and illogical statement of the
free-trader that a tariff is a tax and that
the consumer pays it, and in the next
breath tells you that the farmer will get
more for his wool without protection than
with it.
Take a brief survey Of our manufacturing
industries in wool. 9at Mr.. Wilson COM
plains have been hampered by protection.
Referring to tables found on pages 4l to
464, inclusive, of the annual report OF the
Secretary Of Agriculture for 1892, the Sec
rotary says: This showing for the wool
industry Of the country cannot be equaled
in the history of wool and woolens in the
world, in the growth Of manufacture n
the proportion of domestic wool manu-
featured" Do the statistical facts referred
to by the Secretary, that 20 well-informed
person will attempt to controvert, look as
II though scrllQl and relentless war UPON
the health, the comfort and productive
energy of the American people had been
waged? Again, Mr.. Wilson says the long
exclusion of our wooden manufacturer from
two-thirds OF the wool of the world has pre-
that vigorous life and independence it
might otherwise have reached" Not only
is this statement of Chairman Wilson with
am unwilling TO allow so astonishing AID
unfounded a report, coming from such a
source 70 go wt,n 1 Pres ng na@s n 81 ~
the special report of the chief of the Du-
r.sau of Statistics, made to the Hon c 5.
Fairchild, then Secretary of the Treasury
OF the United States, under date of Sept
6, 1857, which undoubtedly had President
Cleveland's sanction and approval. the fol-
lowing statistical facts appear: In 1901 me
entire capital invested in the manufacturing
of wool was $S0,922.654 consuming S3.6Os, 4es
pounds of wool, paying so. 9SS wages 10
ares employees; in 1870 the amount Of capi-
tai invested was Sos. $40. 2s9, the number of
pounds Of wool consumed was 172.0lS,sl9,
IHe DuIlDtT VI dilu CIutfiOyNA c-sStc TIC
amount OF wages paid them was 81. 2i6. 4S2
and the value OF the manufactured product
was $177, 495, CSC. The number of hands EN-
ployed in 1880 was 161 .557, the amount OF
caDital invested was S159,0 500. the amount
OF wages paid was s47. 3S9,OS7 and the value
OF the annual product was 500, 252,9 l3. Says
the same statistician, on the same page or
his report: I'm 1870 the following were the
seven leading industries yielding annual
products of value in the order named. %
flour and grist mills, () Slaughter and meat
packing, 81 iron and steel manufacture, I'D
sawmills, () fcundries and machine shops.
60 cotton goods manufactures, % wooden
manufactures" In 1880 WOODEN manufact-
ures had outstrjpped numbers I, 5 and s
above named. and stood fourth or the seven
named Industries. On the same page the
chief of the bureau quotes approvingly from
7 r. Dodge, one OF the most reliable
statisticians the country ever produced, as
follows: The annual requirement OF wool
for manufacture in 1870 was "a pounds per
capita for our population, and the annual
requirement for 1860 was still only "a per
CAPITA. showing no increase of manufacture
per capita for twenty years, while from
1850 to 1880 the annual requirement has in
creased to 6 pounds per capita"
From 1880 TO 1890 the amount OF capital IN
vested in WOODEN manufactures increased
from $3.50, col SEQ to 1920, 443. S0A; the number OF
hands employed increased 26d per cent,
and the annual wages paid them increased
nearly 65 per cent. (See North's Wool took
for 1892, page 40 Yet In the face CT tne
foregoing facts, accessible to all. Mr.. Will
son shamelessly asserts that the long ex-
clusion Of our wooden manufacturers from
r ~ 1919 -