Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-04-08

| ued at more than forty cents per
| pound were brought into the United
/ States. On the other hand, OF course
| the domestic manufacturers were able
| 10 control the market without foreign
! competition.
Likewise blankets more than three
yards in length, valued at not more
than forty cents a pound, were com
PEELED to bear an ad valorem tax
amounting to 165.42 per cent. Car
pets ranged from 30 per cent. to more
than so per cent ad valorem and
cloths, woollen or worsted, averaged
more than 100 per cent.
On Clothing.
Within the last few years the
United States has become the greatest
market in the world for ready-made
clothing. On such clothing a duty is
paid or protection afforded on prac-
tically everything in it, including
thread, buttons, and Innings. On the
clothing itself the Dingley law and
ON clothing, ready-made and arti-
cIes of wearing apparel of every de-
scripuOn wool hats, shawls whether
knitted or woven, and knitted articles
OF every description made up or
manufactured wholly or in part Of
wool, the duty per pound shall be four
times the duty imposed by this sec
ton on one pound of unwashed wool
Of the first class, and, in addition
thereto 50 per centum ad vaIOrem."
AS pointed out in the blanket SEIZED
uIe, the duty on one pound of I'M
washed wool Of the first class is |
eleven cents. The duty, therefore, on
one pound Of ready made clothing, ex-
c.usiVe Of the ad yaIOrem rate, as de-
scribed in this paragraph, would bel
fOrty-four cents. The average weight
Of suit of clothes can be arbitrarily
reckOned al six pounds, making theI
specific duty on one suit Of clothes six
times fOrtyfOur cents, or two dollars
would seem to be a pretty stiff rate of
taxation for one suit Of WOODEN clothes |
However, as indicated in the blanket
schedule, the ad valOrem rate is mott
imposed on the value of the wool in |
the clothes, but on the value Of the
WOOIlen Goth as made up intOI
the suit. Say the value Of such
a suit is twenty-five dollars. TheI
ad valOrem on it at the rate
of 90 per cent is, therefore, |
fifteen dollars, and the total duty on
the suit as bought by the ultimate
consumer is seventeen dollars and
siXty-four c"nts. If it is not actual
duty, it rep esents the protection at
fOrded to the domestic Woollen industry
and is distributed between the sheep u
grower and the man who sold the suit. |
Somewhere along the line, there would |
seem to be an immense margin to
cover the cost of production at home, |
as against that abroad for, of course, |
that margin is intended to be covered |
by the protective rate for the benefit !
OF the American producer.
The Clothes Consumer.
As sample of what the ultimate
consumer Of clothes is 'up against
by reason Of the enormous protection
demanded by the wool industry of the
United States. the following quota
tons for clothes, which are being cir
culated in Washington by London
tailor, are interesting. The prices
quoted are for goods delivered, all
charges paid, on train in New York:
Dress suit CsiIk linedD ........ 500 COL
Frock suit CsilN lined) ........ &c sol
Winter OVerCOats .............. 81 so
Sack suit cashmere or angola 26 sol
Flannel cashmere or angola .21 sol
In running over the wOOllen SEIZED
uIes and the justification therefor, one
cannot help being struck with the tes-
timony before the ways and means
committee of the Wyoming sheep
raiser who said he had begun in the
sheep industry a decade ago with a
capital Of a few hundred dollars, and
now rated himself worth more than
100000. He wanted the wool sched-
uIes increased, or. at worst. retained
as they are