The Saint Paul globe., 1897-01-07
WOOL SCHEDULE
Taken Up by the House Ways and
Means Committee.

Taken Up by the House Ways and
Means Committee.
WASHINGTON, Jan. e.-The wool
schedule furnished the text for the
speakers before the ways and means
committee today. Judge William Law
renee, of Ohio, the president of the Ma
tional Wool Growers association, and
Theodore Justice, Philadelphia wool
dealer, consumed most of the time.
The recommendations of the growers
were for rate of II cents on unwash-
ed woods, "a cents on washed and SO
cents on secured; the Australian un-
washed to be classed as washed, and
all rates to be advanced one-half cent
a year for six years.
Mr.. Justice presented a great array
of statistics to show the ruin of the
wool business by the Wilson law. He
combatted the rates demanded by the
growers as too high, and stated that
the decrease in the prices Of goods to
consumers under the Wilson law was
equivalent to the reduction in the tar
iff. The manufacturers of woolens will
have their inning tomorrow.
In the course of his statement Mr..
Justice said that Mr.. Mckinley had told
that if they would agree unanimously
upon a schedule he would accept it,
Accordingly the schedule had been
framed by convention of representa-
tive manufacturers and growers and
both had prospered under 1t.
1T would be strange if they did not
prosper when they made their own
schedule" Mr.. McMillin commented,
and he asked: WAS it not a fact that
the manufacturers got the benefit of
a part of the specific rate imposed for
the benefit of farmers?"
Mr.. Justice assented, and continuing
said that the farmers had disposed OF
all their clip under the Mckinley law to
the American manufacturers who in
turn had increased their exports. Re-
ferring to shoddy he said that while
the annual importations of it under the
Mckinley law had been 250,0OO pounds,
between August and December of the
year the Wilson law was enacted there
had been 100000 pounds imported,
and in the first full calendar year under
that law 20, 108 900 pounds. The theory
of the farmers of the Wilson law had
been that free wool would stop i'm
portations of shoddy. No nation had
ever used as little shoddy as the United
States under the Mckinley law The
shoddy was that the increased importa.
tions of cheap clothes under the Wilson
law compelled the American manufact-
urer to make such cheap clothes to
compete that he was obliged to use
shoddy.
Delegate Catron, of New Mexico,
stated that the value of the wool pro-
duced by the three million sheep In
that territory had decreased on an
average Of II cents a pound since the
enactment of the Wilson law. He sug.
gested specific duties on third-clasS
woods. Senator Carter and w G. Con-
rad, of Montana, appeared in behalf of
the wool growers of their state and
filed statements with the committee.
Jesse F. Smith, Of Utah, president Of
asserted that sheep raising east of the
Mississippi river was greater than
west, the Western men would be salts
fed with any tariff which the East
erners would accept The greatest nee
eSSity was a stable tariff, which would
remove uncertainties.
Wilson H. Brown, of Philadelphia,
protested against discriminat ting
against the manufacturer by any
scheme involving duties on oils and
waste. John Ridgeway, of Philadel-
phia, spoke for protection to the work
ingmen by a schedule which would ex-
clude skirted woods from Australia and
give employment to the wool sorters
who were now walking the streets.
During thirty-one years experience as
a wool sorter in the United States he
had never seen as much suffering and
loss of time among the craft as in the
past three years. The committee then
adjourned