Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1897-04-09
FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL ., 1897.
THE WOOL

Some Of the objections to the wool
tariff schedule In the Dlngley bill, be-
ing urged by the National Wool Grow
ers' association, of which organization
Hon. William Lawrence, Of Bellefon-
tame, Ohio, is president, are as follows:
1st. 1t properly gives the promise Of
"most ample protection" to wool manu-
facturers. But no such protection to wool,
at most only low revenue duties, by no
means protective.
2nd. 1t properly gives the beneficial spe-
cifc duties to manufacturers, but to most of
the woods that will DO imported the fraudu-
lent ad valorem duties, 80 per cent. on
third class valued thirteen cents or less,
and 80 per cent. IL of greater value. Justice,
Bateman s. Co. truly say in a Chicago pa
per March 18th:
whenever there arc two duties, ex-
perience has shown that somehow or other
they manage to get in at the lower duty"
(See tariff hearings 1,412.)
This wool is generally Of such light
shrinkage in securing that one pound will
yield as much clean wool as two pounds
average American merino, the use OF
which 1t largely supplants. Hence so far
as protection to such wool Is concerned,
80 per cent. is reduced to IS. which on
wool value 10 cents is only 2.S cents, no
better than free wool. Third-c class woods
were imported in 1896: Ia, 4SS, $50 pounds,
equal in clean wool to 2ss. 97o. $50 pounds
average American merino, while all other
imports were only 1S1, 2S7, 612 pounds.
Such low tariff will bring ruin to our in
dustry. It reduces and fixes a low price
on our merino and long woods.
8rd. The new bill offers a nominal duty Of
eleven cents per pound on unwasbed meri
no. double on washed, treble on secured;
but it retains the unjust 'loophole" skirt
ing clause" permitting skirted, practically
Escorted" wool imports without additional
duty.
~. This transfers to foreign labor to be
paid In gold, the wages for skirting, prac-
tically sorting, and deprives more than
10000 American sorters OF employment
and wages, more than 5 $1,000, 900 annually.
t2). The .'skirting' allows the import
Of the lightest, most valuable part of the
fleece and SO reduces the protective benefit
OF a tariff.
An editorial In the New York Weekly
Tribune of February 18th, properly says:
s'The skirting clause (of the Mckinley
act of lS90) was made the means of defeat
ing the pain object of the law to a large
extent"
Governor Rich, of Michigan, In a speech
at the Chicago worlds fair, said that the
effect Of the "skirting clause' was 'to let
In wool worth quite as much as Ohio
washed faece at a duty Of only eleven
cents per pound, when, II it came In whole
feeces washed, it would pay twenty two
cents per pound. So that on fine wool there
10 little if any more than one-half the
protection intended by the law
1t has been proved by Mauger & Avery,
wool dealers in New York, that by reason
Of the 'skirting clause" and the light
~shrinkage of Australian merino in scour-
log, the duty of eleven cents per pound in
the act of 1890 on ~unwashed merino only
to American wool growers a protect
i've benefit of six cents per pound on wash
cd merino, as prices stood in July, 1858, in
competition with the unwashed light
shrinking skirted Australian merino, only
about four cents on unwashed.
The new bill, in view Of this and pros
pectiye lower worlds prices and imports
OF third class woods, will not in practice
give to average unwashed American
merino q protective benefit Of four cents per
pound, and on such woods west Of the Mis-
river less thar three cents. (See
tariff hearings in congress, 1875, 1888, 1884.
(3). Justice, Bateman & Co., in the
Chicago paper say: 1.-THE committee has
made the tariff bill to suit the west, not the
The answer is, it would benefit the
to the ruin Of the west.
a.. II passed it will drive the free-silver
protectionists who saved the election OF
Mckinley to consider whether the so per
cent. gold premium protection which Theo-
dore Justice says, free silver would give to
wool. growers, without reference to the in
creased price OF the wool. is not preferable
TO 16 or 80 per cent. ad valorem.-Tarif
hearings, 1859.
4. The new bill transfers six varieties of
third class wool to arst-class, a concession
wool-growers we're injured by these
woods imported at ad valorem
But it leaves twelve varieties of
about equal value not transferred OF nearly
equal value with unskirted averageaSouth
and CAps merino.-Tarif hear-