The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1897-05-15
,1.fODI EN- MANUFACTURERS
URGE. MODERATION.

Admit That High Duties and Consequent
Hsghs Prices Will Restrict the Use OF
s*:Woolens. 8. ss,s@& s& s%s 81 s$s*s
Some of the severest criticisms not
only Of. special duties and clauses, bat
Of the whole accursed protective sys-
TEN, come from the protected manufac-
turers themselves in their struggle with
opposing interests. Mr.. S. N. D. North,
secretary Of the Wooden Manufacturers
ASSOCIATE III, is now and always has been
stanch protectionist. As such he be-
lieves that the 70, goo, 900 consumers Of
this country are legitimate subjects for
plumber and that the manufacturers
are the proper persons to enjoy the pro-
lection plumber.
The free wool experiment. which we
have been trying for three years, besides
being an object lesson in the way of
cheap woolens, has taught the wooden
manufacturers that they can make as
much or more profit with free wool and
moderate protection, which permits peo-
pie Of moderate n'Mss to wear real
wooden goods, than with high duties on
the use Of woolens to people in good cir
cumstances. The manufacturers there
fore display more than their usual mod
esty and patriotism in the advice which
they are giving to congress- Mr.. North
is IN Washington to voice the manufac-
turers' patriotism. Here is part Of his
advice as taken from the Washington
correspondence Of The Dry Goods Econ
o1nist:
l am free to say the bill is far from satisfac-
tory to the wooden manufacturers The chief
fault is to he found with the raw wool duties,
" tich are SO high that our manufacturers will
find themselves sorely embarrassed. 1t is true
the committee has provided compensatory
duties which, are probably sufficient to offset
!Ae duties OIL raw wool, but the difficulty will
be, in ny opinion, that the very considerable
Increase i'll price which must be made to cover
the additional cost CT raw Material will have
the eject CT cut ting down consumption to an
extent that viii be disastrous 10 the nlanufac.
t:'yers. | do not contend that the rates on
.cpAitn manufactures in the bill are not suffi
Clcnt 70 protect us against too severe foreign
:o.:iT>c:itior but the limit of the consumers
| purchasing power must control him in buying
| Uoci:n manufactures, and fear the rates OF
| TIE new lii will very materially restrict con
| sumption.
This is practically saying to Dingley,
| Alarich 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 every body into the protection ring,
there will be nobody outside to prey
uron and we will have to prey upon
each other. Don t make the mistake OF
taxing raw materials too high. We
wouldn't mind it if we could sell ou1
goods ard 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 PEG.
pie can't afford to wear clothes-that
is, wcolen clothes, which are the only
cnes worth considering because they are
the only ones which we manufacture
Cur solicitude for the dear American
ccnsumsr is such that we Go not wish
| to COMPEL him to clothe himself in the