The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-02-23
u H0 GETS OUR G0LD2
Much of 1t Goes 10 Europe TO
Pay for Imports.
EFFECT OF THE TARIFF LAW.
Foreign Manufacturers Busy Making
Goods for the United states-An
Alarming Condition.
New YORK Commercial Advertiser


Washington City. Feb. 1.-The bureau
OF statistics Is progressing with IS month
y summary % cur December trade. and *
is expected 10 be ready for distribution
during this week. Much more Interest
than usual attaches 10 this report because
Il contains a review Of ali our foreign
commerce for the whole ~ last year. thus
showing exactly what trauspirsd during a
fun calendar year under the Wilson hin.
Particularly instructive are the facts re-
lating 20 wool and wooien goods. because.
as VIII ~ remembered. this schedule Of
the bin did not 20 into effect Till January
/. 1s95. hence we now have the first conf
plete years details OF the effect Of "a policy
Of free trade In q raw NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
can he produced in this country, and which
was adequately supplied 10 our maBufae-
turors untier the Mckinley protective tar
III bare ABSTRACT OF the results has al
ready been given IN the Commercial Adver-
tiser, but the details are even more inter
esting. In advance Of the official circula-
ton Of the annual returns. IL IS now pos
sible 10 show what countries supplied as
with wool and with WOODEN goods. and the
amount Of money that we had % pay to
each country for experimenting with free
trade. The first table shows where the
wool came from.
Almost one-half of our entire imports Of
foreign wool last year came from the
United Kingdom. This Is by no means all
English grown wool. most Of Il being clip
ped from the backs or Australian sheep.
and sent via London. There are two prin-
cipal reasons fer this. One Is the lack Of
direct steamship communication between
the Atlantic seaports Of the United States
and Australia. The other. and he more
important, is because the Australian sheep
farms are practically owned hy capital
lists or corporations in England hence the
Australian clip is consigned 10 them for
Ia ~ f4a = A. e4sf
sold there to American buyers or shipped
here on consignment Second IN orier Of
Importance as a wool supplier for the
American market was South America. the
shipments thence being more than doubled
within year. as they We're also from
France and British North America. Every
country sold iis much mere wool last year
than in 1891. the total increase being 49,,
0s90g0 pounds, Of which II 0s9.e9A pounds
IS credited to the United Kingdom. Next
for examination is submitted our imports
of wooden goods. ana the countries they
come from, IN the table headed, wv here
We Got Shoddy Goods.
As i'm wool so I'm WOODEN goods The
United Kingdom controlled most Of our
trade. The Britishers sold as FIVE times as
much carpets last year as in 1894, nearly
six times as much WOODEN cloth and more
than four times the quantity OF dress
goods. Belgium trebled the supply Of her
tf0th NfHpbfEI 10 TINS country. france
sent US more than FIVE times the ISqi guam
tity OF cloth. and Increased her sales of
dress goods almost fOurtold. Germany
.renies her sales Of dress goods and seut
us five times the quantity of cloth. Re
Numbering that very many of our own
wooden mills were shut down last year.
that many others Were running only on
part time and that some OF those which
did run were doing 50 only m anticipation
of selling their goods. meanwhile storing
them in their warehouses, IL IS very evi-
dent that free trade in raw material has
not been as resultant Of good times 20 our
nome industries as the Democrats prom
ised. As for foreign countries. with their
three. four and nVefoid larger sales. il
may truly be said that they have done fair
" well If anybody has derived benefit
from the Democratic free trade fad. it is
certainly not AT home. but abroad, that we
must look for the increase of affluence.
This is clearly shown by the next sum
mary under the head OF who Got Our
Gold%"
without taking into account our pur-
chases of wooden and worsted yarns,
shoddy. shawis rags or knit goods all for
eign countries secured from IFS almost s55.-
O81.1l0 more gold last year than in ise4 out
of this SIS. 000, go il is hardly necessary TO
state that England got her share So Co.,
Ot0. France took an extra 100000 from
us Germany took nearly 100000 more.
South America entirely for WOOD took an
additional s. 3ae. 600 and Canada came in
for $4,000 more of our golden eagles. The
smaller fry did their little best To secure
the good American dollars that the Demo-
cratic party decided TO distribute in for
eign countries. and they will. undoubtedly.
try TO do better this year If the United
States senators from the silver states de-
eide 20 ignore the destitute condition Of
the Western sheep farmers by killing the
revenue bin now before congress, and
which they have loaded down with ridic-
ulous amendment that they are perfectly
well aware can never become law. They
are simply playing into the hands OF the
Democratic parts and practically indors-
ing the policy Of free trade. while posing.
and having been elected, as friends OF pro-
lection.