The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-06-25
WooLGRoWERs WAKING UP.

| The woolgrOwers appear rather late
in working mp to the situation created
for them by the new tariff law, They
arc delivered over into the hands Of the
WOODEN manufacturers. but they did not
realize il for long time, even though
| The Tribune endeavorcd to point out
The true conditions to them long ago,
and continued to give them warning
| from time to time, We have shown re-
| peatcdly that the new tariff law deliv-
ers over co the wooden manufacturers
combine, absolutely, the wool market of
this country. We have shown, baSing
our propositions on the commercial re-
ports. that the wooen manufacturers
are fortifyinG themselves by unusually
heavy importations of wool from abroad,
and that rho most of this imported wool
is clothing wool. There could be but
one object in this surprising increase
in the imports of clothing wool. 1t is
plain that the wooden manufacturers
combine is making these imports for
the purpose Of fortifyipg itself against
the dema uds of the home wool growers
for higher prices for their heeces. These
facturers in prevailing upon Congress
10 retain the old wool schedules II
ought TO have been plain enough to
the wool growers even then that the
purpose Of the wooleu manufacturers
was to use them in the interests Of the
combine and then fleece them with their
own fleeces later on,
For several years past it had been
evident that The wool growers were
helpless so far as the home market was
concerned, They got some relief last
year and the year before BY storing
their wool. But now that the woolen
manufacturers arc put in complete and
prospective control of the markets, what
good is the storing of wool going to do
the wool producers? If the wooden man
ufacturers can beat down the prices at
this time of the year, they can beat
them down at any time of the year.
The new tariff law gives the woolen
manufacturers combine all that it
wants. Just as soon as the tariff bill
was passed. the wooden manufacturers
hastened to do exactly what the cotton
manufacturers did Just as the final
touches wero being put upon the cot.
ton schedules. Some seventy of the
chief cotton manufacturers combined
and put their whole activities in the
hands of trust, The result was the
increase in price of cotton
goods and a fall in the price Of cotton.
Just so the woolen manufacturers pro
ceeded 10 do. They got together, agreed
upon what they would produce, limited
the production so they would have an
excuse for increasing the price Of wool
en- manufactures, and, on the othor
hand, they raided the wool market, pull.
ing the prices down, because the home
price and the import duty arc so nicely
adjusted as TO give the manufacturers
their own way. As long as they can
import wool without material losses,
they will not buy the home product. And
their idea evidently is to deprcss the
price, and keep it depressed; that the
American wool grower will have to come
to iheir terms.
In a muchb bclated article. the Smoot
or"an in this city came out yesterday
morning in the same line that The Trib.
une has been arguing right along. It'll
admitted that the wool manufacturers
is in command of the situation
but mournfully concluded that cit is TO
be hoped that sufficient amount of
this years clip can be stored 10 bring
these people TO their senses,' meaning
by "these people, the wooden manu-.
facturers' combine. But why should
that combine relax its hold on the mar
ket and advance the price of wool later
on, when IL can keep its grasp and
squeeze the wool growers into compi-
ance with its terms7 The WOODEN man
ufacturers are neither philanthropists
nor imbeciles in their business. They
have good thing, they know what
they have got, they realize their advan.
tage to the full. What reason, there.
fore, is there to expect that they will
allow the price of wool to advance TO
the satisfaction Of the wool growers?
Not the least in the world.