Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-05-25
WCOLEN MANUFACTURERS
 URGE MODERATION.
Admit That High Duties and Consequent High Prices Will Restrict the Use of WooIens

l
 Admit That High Duties and Consequent
 High Prices Will Restrict the Use of 1 Woolens.
 Some of tho severcst criticisms not only of special duties and clauses, but cf the whole accursed protective sys- tenn, come from the protected manufac- turers themselves in their struggle with opposing interests. Mr $. \. D. North, secretary of tEe Ncolen Manufacturers, assoe1atlon.- Is now and always has been a stanch protecicEist. As auch he be- lieyes that the 70, GOO, GOO consumers of this country are legitimate subjects for l plunder and that the manufacturers are the pTopeE persons to enjoy the pro lection plunder.
 The free wool experiment which we have been trying for three years, besides bei'.g an object lesson i'll the way of l eboap woolens, Las taught the woolen manufacturers that they can make as much or more profit with free wool and moderate proteetion, which permits peo- l Dle ef moderate means to wear real wooden goods, than with high duties on b>th wool and woolens, which restricts 5he use of woolens to people in good cir cEmstances. The manufacturers there fore display more than their usual mod esty an'l patriotism ill the advice which they q 0 giving to congress. MT. North is i'll Washington to voice the manufac- turers' patriotism Here is part of his advice as taken from tho Washington correspondence of TEc Dry Goods Econ omist:
 I am free to Say the bill is far from satisfac- fory to tie wooden manufacturers. The chief fault is to be found with the raw wool duties, which are so high that our manufacturers will find themselves sorely embarrassed. It is true the committee has provided compensatory duties which are probably sufficient te offset the duties on raw wool but the difficulty will be, in my opinion, that the very considerable increase i'll price which must be made to cover the additional cost of material will have the effect of cutting down consumption to an extert that will be disastrous te he manufae- turers. i do not contend that the rates oii woolc1 manufactures in the bill arc not suffi- cient to protect against too severe foreign competition, but the limit of the consumers purchasing power must control him in buying woolen manufactures, and fear the rates of the new bill will very materially restrict con. sumption
 This is practically saying to Dingley, Aldrich and the other servants of the protected manufacturers at Washington:
 Go slow with your high duties and don't try to protect too many. If you let everybody into the protection ring, there will be nobody outside to prey upon and we will have to prey upon each other. Don't make the mistake of taxing raw materials too high. Nc wouldn't t mind 1t if NC could sell our goods and charge the tax over to the consumer. But when the tax is so high that we have to make cur prices almost cut of sight we have found that we can- not sell so many goods, because the peo- pie can't afford to wear clothes-that is, woolen clothes, which arc the only ones worth considering because they are the only ones which we manufacture. Our solicitude for the dear American consumer is such that we do net wish to compel him to clothe himself ill the