Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1897-09-02
Wilson Law Examined.

Special Washington correspondence
It is now practicable to examine the
claim made by the advocates OF low
tariff that the Wilson tariff law 1haue
an increased market abroad Tor Amer
can manufactures and thus was al
vantageous to them.
The opportunity which is ofereo 10
examine this question comes by way OF
the publication by the Treasury De-
partment Of it's monthly summary Tor
June, which covers the fiscal year end
ing June 80, 1896, and thus practically
completes the record of the Wilson law.
That the expectation Of manufac-
tured articles did increase under the
Wilson law is undoubtedly true. But
that the importation Of manufactured
articles increased very much more than
the expectation is equally true. the
expectation of manufactured goods IN
the fiscal year 1897 was in round num-
bers $93,OOO,0OO greater than in the last
year under the Mckinley law, 1894, the
figures for these two years being re-
spectively: 1894, 1888, 723,SOS, and in
1897, $276,357, 1861. The importation OF
manufactured goods during the same
period increased STAG, 100000, or nearly
double the increase Of the expectation
of manufactured goods, the total I'M
ports of manufactured goods in 1894,
the last year Of the Mckinley law, be-
ing $15S, 1923, 1876, and in 1897, the last
year Of the Wilson law, $3O4, G47, 1O4.
It is thus apparent that the importa-
ton Of manufactured goods practically
doubled under the Wilson law since
1894, the last year Of the Mckinley
law, and it is not surprising that the
bringing in of over $500, 100000 worth
of manufactured goods per annum
drove the manufacturers of the United
States to seek market abroad at
whatever price they could get, as the
only means of escaping the necessity of
closing their factories.
Another interesting point to be deter
mined in regard to this question Of eX-
portation of manufactured articles I'M
der the Wilson law is whether the pro-
portiOnate increase was more markedly
rapid under the Wilson law than it had
been under the Mckinley law. The fol-
lowing table gives the expectations in
the fiscal years 1891, 1894 and 1897 Of
manufactures Of the United States;
1894, it will be remembered, was the
last year under the Mckinley law, and
by comparing the growth from 1894 to
1897, under the Wilson law, three years
with the growth from 1891 to 1894, I'M
der the Mckinley law, also three years,
it is easy to determine whether the pro-
portionate growth in export of manu-
features was any greater under the
Wilson law than under the Mckinley
law.
The expectation Of manufactured
goods during the fiscal years in ques-
ton are given below. The list includes
the important groups, or classes Of ar
ticles exported where the amount in
the end reaches as much as $1,OOO,OOO.
It will be seen that in many cases the
percentage Of gain in expectation was
much greater during the three years of
the operations of the Mckinley law
than in the three years of the Wilson
law.
Exports of articles manufactured in
the United States in the fiscal years
1891, 1894 and 1897, the period be-
tween 1891 and 1894 being under the
operations Of the Mckinley law; that
from 1894 to 1897 under the operations
of the Wilson law: