Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1896-07-25
D.1, cure Liver Ills; easy to
Hoods Pills take, easy to operate. 25c.
THE PRICE OF WOOL.

VI
time, to take up different subjects 10
order to show that protection and bi.
netallism must 60 hand in hand.
They are twin republican principles,
and a year from now every republican
will be ashamed Of himself il be does
not recognize and act on 1t now.
To day, we take up the wool ques.
ton. We do not propose to trouble
the readers with the statistics which
appeared in our report of the wool
convention, for every n knows that
a few years ago wool was high and
now it is low. This is a great detri-
ment to the Territory and an injustice
to u people. The wool money does
more good than any other that comes
into New Mexico, for it stays here and
goes among the people, it being used
to pay wages and debts and to make
purchases from our merchants. In this
respect. it differs greatly from money
received by cattle companies or mining
corporations. Everything, therefore,
that can be done by law to bring the
price of wool to a proper standard is Of
great advantage 10 New Mexico and its
people. To bring the price up and
keep it there, we need protection
against cheap, foreign wool. Olher.
wise, when there is large demand, it is
thrown on u shores at a low figure
and either forces our wool out OF the
market or depresses its price to its
own starvation figure. That protec.
ton comes by way of a tariff.
But a tariff will not raise the price,
if there is no demand or legitimate use
for our wool. That is the situation at
present. Wool is very cheap, yet the
factories cannou afford to weave it,
even at these low prices. Out of
seventy five wooden factories near
Providence, fifty-four are idle and the
rest are running on an average of only
four days in the week. Within a week,
the great establishment of Dobson
brothers, in Philadelphia, has had to
shut down. The store houses of the
factories and wool dealers are fall of
wool and wooden goods which cannot
be sold. 1t is obvious that no tariff
can help this state Of things. This is a
trouble caused entirely by the demon
citation of silver, and which is only to
be rernedled by the restoration Of BIZ
Mr.. Dobson, who is the best author.
ity on this subject in the world, and who
has for almost a generation been one
of the great republican leaders in Penn
sylvania, says that there are two causes
the depression: 1. The poverty of
the people which makes 1t impossible
for them to buy goods as in better
2. The competition of Japa-
nese goods, which Is absolutely ruinous
to our manufacturing until silver is re-
monetized.
The peoples poverty comes from
the wicked attempt 10 fasten on us q
constantly advancing single gold
standard of money. The Japanese
competition arises from the debasing
of silver SO that a yen, which IS the
basis of all values in Japan and prop
erly worth 100 cents. can now be
bought for fifty-four cents OF our
money. The yen will buy as much in
Japan as it ever would, but it can be
bought in San Francisco for q little
more than half of one Of our dollars. So
the Japanese goods are thrown on our
shores at about half what they can be
produced for here, even ii wages were
equal. This is the advantage which
all the silver countries have over the
gold ones, until bi-metallism is re-
stored. The moment congress re-mon-
etizs IS silver. the yen will be worth 100
cents instead of ffty.four, and the
Japanese goods will cost about double
what they do now, and so cannot take
the market away from our fabrics.
When that happy day comes, all our
mills will instantly resume
work, the price of wool will increase
with the demand, and every sheep man
will get a good return for his labor.
when the high prices invite for
importations, let us have a tariff
% protect.
But the first thing is to raise the
price by re-monetizing silver; or
the two great republican prin-
ciples of protection and BIZ metallism go
hand in hand to bring prosperity to