The Monticellonian., 1895-04-19
THE WOOL QUESTION.
An Address to the wooI-Growers of Nils souri by the President of the Missour wool-Growerk' Association.


 wOol-Growers' Association.
 The following address has been is- sued by the president of the Missouri Wool Growers association to the wool growers of this state:
 FAYETTE, Mo-, April 8, ise5.-To the expert who compares the sheep of the United States to-day with the description of those imported ninety years ago, they seem almost creation. The high position was attained only as the re- suit of patient, preserving, persistent toll, un- erTing judgment and unlimited expense. After years Of effort their numbers by an estimate in 1899, had been increased to 46 100000 The destruction of these hocks would for these req sons be a disaster, and when remember that the best statesmen of both political par ties have declared "a domestic supply of wool is essential to national independence and de- fense," we may add their annihlation would be national calamity.
 Of the sheep-breeding states of tho Union, Missouri has been in the front rank; heP breeders have been ambitious to excel, and have spared no expenditure of money, labor or skill to command success. At the Worlds Columbian exposition, at Chicago, they se- cured very large number of the first and best prizes awarded, and in some breeds Missouri sheepwere adjudged superior to those from any other state.
 The season of 1899 was a successful one with every indication for prosperity in the future but what are the conditions confronting us to- day2
 The statistics published by the state, the na- uOnal department of agriculture and the re- ports of the stock yards of the several railroad centers of the west, show widespread disbe- lief in either the present future possibilities of sheep raising; and sheep, good, bad and in- different in condition have been put upon the market to it's utter demoralization Many of the most noted breeders of our state dscour- fFaf htF tha low fariPa for md tlp 1tai lack Of demand for breeding sheep, have saeri- feed their flocks ana turned their skill, capital and energies to other lines of effort.
 The quotations for Missouri wool in the east- ern markets, March 1, 1895, were as follows: Fine X and xx), He to l24c; medium (tnree- cighths or one-half bood), He to Ice: quarter blood, 169ac Gess 33c per pound for net cash value in MiSSour9. These prices are from 70 per cent to 60 per cent. below those under pro- lection That wool growing has become tho unprottable of occupations no one can deny; and with the exception of limited demand for mutton, sheep raising for market Is equally unremuneratiye.
 The causes of these conditions are easily ex- pressed.
 The increase in the number of sheep in the southern hemisphere-fn Australasia, Africa and South Amerea-haS been wonderful: and the Improvement in the character of the wool of those sections, largely through the inporta-
 
 most astonishing. The average weight of the fleece in Australasia has been increased by this means to pounds; the former low grade of Argentine wool has been raised to equal that of New South Wales and Queensland while African-Cape wooI-ranllS now with the best. This increase in the supply of good wool brought about decline in value in London of 20 per cent. and the placing of wool upon the free list by the Fifty-third congress Is reSpon- sible for the balance of the decline in our mar ketS.
 In the so-cal1ed tariff reform" our indus try was singled out for attack. We were not combined in q trust" while producers, opera tivcs and manufacturers in other industries were protected, in measure, at least, from the competition Of the outside world. For the first time in more than three-quartcrs of a century, American wool is now in competition with foreign wool on free trade basis. The "doetrinaires" ]" who knew more about our business than we did promised us "a better demand for our wool and higher prices for it. because 1t will be needed to mix with foreign wool" We know they were wrong as to prices and the following comparison Of imports will show how the balance of the promise has been fulfilled:
 Imports of class and class wools during the months of September, October, November, December and January:
 1s92-93 1s94-q5 Class 1, pounds. :. z. .236, ,sie % 46 206 Glass 7, pounds. 3,3l7 ,s66 4962 100
 Totals. als..................l2,55 ,554 .67S 2s ,f5s Bod or oils, shoddy, etc. lbs 137 ,235 5,257 .68l More than twice as much of classes and 2 (which diSplace our wooD, and more than thirty-eight times as much shoddy. etc. were imported under the so-called Wilson tarif as under the mueh-maligned Mckinley bill. Shoddy is evidently the foreign product which needs our wool to mix with it," Our industry has been destroyed, while consumers have not been benefited as promised; woolens have not decreased in cost to the extent even of tho general decline ill the value of wool.
 But the F'ifty-third congress is dead The voters of the United States at the last election rebuked the party in power for it's unequal un- just and un-American tarin law. Those favor ing protection have united in demanding tho correction of the injustice, and an oyerwhelm- ing majority has been elected to the house of the Ftfty-fourth congress pledged to ''proteo- tion for all American producers"
 To sell our sheep and enter into competition with our neighbors in the production of wheat and beef and pork offers but little prospect of relief; of these there is already surplus: be- sides, there is the incalculabte loss of years of breeding. Our present condition is indeed diseoaraging-bu in view Of all of the above facts, would urgently advise the sheep breed- of our state to preserve the purity of the breeding and the integrity Of their fiocks.
 It is true, the national executive, who owes his defeat in 1885 to the wool growers. will pre- vent any restoration of the tariff on wool dur ing his term of office. but after 1896 we may confidently expect the placing of duty on for eign wool which will restore us to an equality with other American labor, and enable us to compete with the foreign producer, no matter how favorable may be his conditions climatic, social or political. GEORGE II. WALLACE, President Missouri Wool-Growers' Association.