Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-10-21
THE WOOL INDUSTRY. y


The annual estimate OF the wool clip
Of the United States, jus. issued by the
National Association of Wool Manufac-
turers, is of special interest because CT
the admissions frankly made Of the con-
ditions of the wool market. The manu-
facturers stand alone in being obliged
to take seriously Judge Lawrence and
his Wool-Growers' Association. Any
outside party is able to discount the
doleful complaints of that venerable
shepherd, but for political reasons the
manufacturers feel that they have been
put upon the defensive. Since entering
into an agreement with the wool-grow
erS in $780, for mutual protection, the
rift has been widening, until the short
experience Of free WOOL gave the manu-
featuring interests taste of what free
raw material implied, and made them
averse to returning to the duties so
high as to be prohlbitive on the lower
grades Of wool. So the wool-growerS
were panied by the 'lukewarm support
given to their eXtravagant demands by
the manufacturers, and charges OF bad
faith and threats Of revenge were freely
exchanged
That the price of domestic woods has
not met the expectations of the Ohio
growers goes without saying. They
will not be satised until the price has
reached the quotations Of 1889, before
the immense extension of wool-raising
in Australia had revolutionized the
markets of the world. They would
wipe out all the resultant cheapening
of a high class Of woods, and revert to
a time when the development of wool
consumption was hindered by want
Of sufficiently expanding source OF
supply. Unless some remarkable plague
should kill off a good part of the sheep
focks of Australia and Argentina it is
not likely that Lawrence will be salts
fed; only in a monopoly market could
his desired conditions be obtained and
the manufacturers may be trusted to see
that he does not secure that. So he
charges them with forming a combina-
| tiOn to procure domestic woods at less
than a fair price" and the manufac-
turers, through their spokesman, MIR.
North, retort. ct is evident that the
| price of domestic wool is now bein 6
| made, not by the tariff, but by the de-
mand. or lack of demand, for the raw
material" Disclaiming the possibility
| of any combination such as Judge Law
renee pictures, Mr.. Forth shows that
the present domestic market is a re-
| Election, not Of conditions at home, but
Of conditions abroad This is proved
by the recent purchase, in the Boston
market, of 1890 bales of Australian
wool for export The foreign markets
continue to reflect rising values, due to
| the continued shrinkage in the supplies
| from Australia, accompanied by an in
| creased activity on the part Of Euro
pean machinery"
| The full force of such an admission
can be gained only by rejecting that
| it emanates from an association that
| has always favored high and at times
| extreme protection to its interests, even
| going so far as to assert that a tariff
, law granting very high rates was a
treaty" between the government and
| the association, and could not be alter
| ed without the consent of the associa-
| ton. Now it admits that the tariff has
not made prices at home, that foreign
| conditions affect and even determine
these prices, and that foreign manufac-
| turers, who, be it remembered, enjoy
| free wool are increasingly active, while
| IL is notorious our own manufacturers
| are complaining of stagnant markets,
| and are only too glad to sell to the
| foreigner the raw wool forced into this
| country by Dingley and Lawrence. 1t
| is a very neat free-trade essay that Mr..
| North has written, showing that he had
his eyes opened while assisting the
| Senate to overhaul the crudities of
| Dingley's bill.
| Another point made by Mr.. North
| tells strongly against even the duties
| that were given to the w0ol-growers as
| compromise. The supply of fine
woods in the United States has steadily
| gone down for some years. due largely
| to the change in breed from the Merino
! to medium or crOss-bred woods Not
more than one-fifth of the clip of the
| current year is, in his opinion, really
| to be c]assed as fine or medium fine
wool The raising Of sheep for mutton
| has accentuated this decline, and the
| manufacturer has been obliged to de-
pend more largely upon the foreign sup
| plies Of fine woods. But even thew are
| decreasing. The Argentina sheep fl0cks
| have been changed so materially from
| Merino to cross-bred that in place Of
| 90 per cent of the clip being Merina. as
| III 1851. Only ~ DEF cent. WAS OF IHaC
| description in 1928 In Australia where
the wool industry has been injured
| through many causes, the product of
1893 was some $4,000 bales below the
| product of 1894 and three-fourths of this
loss was of high grades. Thus prices Of
| fine woods, largely Of foreign origin,
will continue to rise, while woods of
the second qualities will remain sta
tionary in spite of tariffs and wool
growers associations.
With lower prices for their product
the sheep farmers have a decreased
number Of sheep. On April 1. 1895,
the number of sheep in the United
States was estimated to be 39.949,3S8.
At the same period in 1897 the num-
Der had fallen to 34784, 287-not be-
cause of any tariff changes-and in
1898 showed a slight recovery, reaching
81 671.914. The difference in the focks
of 1895 and 1898 in the largest sheep
raising states are worth noting:
Texas .......... s.ss5 sss s5ess
Ohio ................... $3.50 go 2.207e10