The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-15
GRIEF FOR THE SHEPHERDS.

After waiting months for the recon-
Citation of the irreconcilable differ
ences of the men who raise sheep for
to make clOths-remaining the while
blissfully Indifferent to the interests of
that somewhat larger and more I'M
portant class who use the cloths-the
Dingley committee has given up in
despair and adopted the wool schedules
of the Mckinley act. This taxes cloth
ing wool, now on the free list, II cents
pound if lin the grease with double
that rate if washed and treble it if
secured. AS the manufacturer scours
the wool before weaving, the tax is
virtually one Of II cents a pound on
the wool and % cents pound on the
grease. Then, as the manufacturer is
made to pay this increased cost for his
raw material, he would be at that mucn
of a disadvantage with his foreign
competitor, who has free wool. unless
he received what is called a compen-
satory specific and ad valorem tax on
the wool in imported cloths 1t Will
surprise those who have been led to
believe that ad valOrem rates are only
shrewd devices of the Democrats and
his Satanic majesty to defraud the rev.
enue, to be told that Mr.. Dingley has
adopted ad valorem duties in almost
every schedule.
But most readers and all wool grow
ers will remember how bitterly the
shepherds denounced the Mckinley act.
and how what Eastern protectionists,
more interested in mills than flocks,
have termed the ram raisers" in
sisted that it gave wool insufficient pro-
lection. They have threatened dire
punishment to the other protectees if,
in the new BILL they have NOT a
more generous slice of the ham, If
it is conceded that tariffs are designed
to increase prices, then there is a basis
for the contention of the ram raisers
and slight hopes that the restoration
of the Mckinley rates will operate now
otherwise than they did after 1890 That
act went into effect Oct. 6, 1890, at
which time Ohio Xxx wool was worth
1924 cents in the Philadelphia mar
kets, having declined from 1926, the
prices in January preceding year
later the price was 1892. By October.
1892, il had fallen to $3.50, and by 1898
to 22-25 In the same month of 1894
the price had dropped to 1920, and by
1895 tc 1920. In January, 1895, when
the reductiOn M, y7-Oola,,c ,,,oda b,- tho
German act took effect, the price of
Ohio Xxx was 1919 cents a pound. In
July, 1894 the month before wool went
onto the free list, the price was 20-21;
in September, 1894, after the tax Of II
cents a pound was removed. the price
was 20-22. Present quotations are 1920
In this statement of prices under pro-
lection and free trade we have some
obdurate facts that should be instruc-
tive. We have the Mckinley act in
creasing the rates on imports of wool
followed by a decline, continuing dur
ing its entire term, of from 10 to Is cents
a pound. We have this protection en-
. tirely removed in August, 1894, and the
price remaining substantially as it was
before the tax was removed. Going
back to 1867, when the ram raisers"
first imagined that a tax on wool i'm
ports would give them higher prices, we
find the same independence of tariffs
shown by wool prices all along down
the years to the present. Logically, ac-
cording to the protectionist school, wool
should have advanced sharply after the
Mckinley act, and, on the contrary, it
fell; according to the same logic there
should have been a crash after it was
put on the free list but the decline
was less and prices have remained
steadier than ever On the other hand
we have equally instructive facts. The
German act reduced the protection on
woolens all the way from Is to 20 per
cent, and there has followed a reduc-
ton in the prices of all wooden fabrics
nearly proportional to the reduction in
rates. The people were never SO cheap
ly clothed as now The conclusions are
Irresistible, that there are economic
conditions existing at home and abroad
that prevent the farmer from obtain
ing any advantage in any rate of tax
alton that may be laid upon imports