Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-04-26

wool, and wool suited for worsted with
no more than one pound of grease and
dirt to every four pounds of wool
Hardly two lots of wool can be found
| that shrink the same by securing, but
| the bulk of the shorter woods suited
for carded wooden goods is heavy
shrinking, while the bulk of the
worsted goods is light shrinking.
| The Dingley duty on grease woods OF
classes l and 2, which is the same in
the Payne, bill. is specific, II and Il
cents pound, respectively. 1t is plain
that this specific duty on grease woods
is, in fact, much higher on the secured
weight of heavy-shrinking wool than on
| the secured weight of light-shrinking
wool. Applying the 11-cent duty to the
| two cases just cited, this duty would
be equal to IS cents a secured pound
for the heavy shrinking wool and only
1917 cents secured pound for the light
| shrinking WOOL The price of heavy
shrinking wool per secured pound for
| cardcd wooden goods is usually less
| than that of worsted goods. These two
| factors in the problem, the greater
quantity of grease and dirt on which
| the specific duty must be paid, and the
lower price of wool for carded wooden
goods result In extremely wide vari-
atoms in the ad valorem equivalents
of the Diugley wool duties. An appli-
cation of the Dingley duty to 60,00O,-
900 pounds Of wool sold at London two
months ago showed that the ad valo-
| rem equivalent Of that duty was as low
as % per cent. on light-shrinking and
high priced lots of unwashed wool, and
as high as $50 per cent. on heavy
shrinking and low-priced lots. The re-
suit is that the importations of wool
into the United States are confined to
the light shrinking higher priced grades
suited for worsted, while the heavy
shrinking and lower priced woods suit
ed for carded wooden goods are exclud-
ed from the United States as cffectu-
ally as if the law made it a capital
crime to import them.
This condition is we'll illustrated by
the fact that the average ad valorem
equivalent of the Lingley duty on So,
100000 pounds of wool recently offered
for sale in the leading foreign mar
kets was "a per cent, while the ad va
loren equivalent of the Dingley duty
on the wool actually imported into the
United States last year u9OS) was only
a. per cent, because of it's light shrink
age.
ADVANTAGES UNDER CLASS 2.
A great many of the woods imported
for worsted uses are dutiable under
class , and aside from the advantage
the wOrsted manufacturer has under
general application of a specific duty
he has under this class a further con-
cealed advantage. The terms of this
class are: "Unwashed and washed. II
cents per pound duty: secured, three
times the duty of unwashed."
Note that woods washed under this
class can be imported at the same rate
as unwashed; or, in other words, the
users of these woods can import them
in partly clean condition. with the
bulk of the dirt and grass removed, at
the same rate as if they were in their
natural condition. 1t is understood
that washed means woods washed on
the sleeps back. This gives the
worstcd manufacturers a decided ad-
vantage, as they are heavy users of
this wool, while carded manufacturers,
who use mainly woods in class /, are
obliged to pay a duty on washed woods
equal to twice the duty on unwashed
In one case the washed woods are i'm
ported at Il cents per pound. while in
the other at % cents per pound very
decided advantage.
1t is these conditions from which the
carded wooden manufacturers are re-
lief. We care not what form that re-
lief takes so long as it is effective. but
relief must be given by the government
if the carded wooden industry, whose
function it is to provide warm and
durable clothing for the people at a
moderate price, is not to be starved to
death
We ask for no reduction in the duty
on wool. We ask that as long as wool
Is imported into this country, the tariff
be framed so that it will bear equally
on the carded wooden industry and on
the worsted industry, so that it will
permit the importation of wool suited
for warm, durable. and low-price cloth
ing for the masses with no greater pro-
portlonate tax than what may be i'm
posed on wool suited for the high
priced clothing. We ask for relief and
leave the form of that relief to the law
makers. We suggest to you, however
that the value of grease wool is based
on the value of secured wool obtained
from it. and that in view of the wide
fluctuations in the shrinkage in the
weight of wool by securing, there is no
escape from the conclusion that the
fairest method of levying a duty on
wool is in the form of a percentage of
its value-that is, by an ad valorem
tariff, made effective by a stringent
customs administrative law.
Now, we want you to understand
clearly the facts. The present 11-cent
duty on grease woods admits into this
country the ght-shrinking long
stapled worsted woods at a low rate
per secured pound that is not more
than one-half of that tariff tax con-
templated by the trainers of the law as
protection to the domestic WOOL
growers. On the other hand, the IL
cent duty on heavy-shrinking woods
results in tariff many times that con-
templated as protection for the WOOL
growers. The effect of the equaliza.
ton Of wool duties which we ask for