Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1911-12-28
WOOL SCHEDULE.


Alter many months Of uncertainty as to the
findings Of the tariff board on its investigation of
The wool schedule the public mind has been set at
rest. The principal results of careful and com
plete analysis Of the cost Of material, yarn,
weaving and the manufacture Of clothing shows
that very moderate margin of profit is realized
by the grower Of wool i'll the United States; that
very small profit to the spinner and
weaver Of WOODEN cloths, and that the difference
between cost and sale price on clothing in the
wholesale division Of the trade is not out of pro
portion to that realized in the turnover of other
lines Of merchandise. Even the profit made by
the retail divisions Of the trade, it is shown on
estimates based on the conversion Of cloths, that
the American manufacturer has to pay higher
scale OF prices for everything entered into the
preparation of his business than is paid abroad
What is left uppermost in the minds of those
who analyze the president message and the tar
iii board 5 report is that no specific recommends
tions made or specific suggestions offered as
10 where how the schedules are to be revised.
The industry naturally divides itself into three
principal parts The first is the process of rails
ing sheep for wool the second is the manufacture
Of woods into yarns and cloths; and the third is
the cutting up OF the colths into garments and
their sales through retail channels.
Both Ohio and western woods are discussed
thoroughly III the report, but the example worked
OF clothes made of worsed is based on Ohio half
blood wool. 1t is shown by the report that the
average cost for producing this grade of wool is
at least sixteen cents pound, not including in
terest on the Investment, and that the average
selling price is twenty three cents pound show,
ing an apparent margin of profit to the sheep
raiser of seven cents pound But when the
true costs Of production, including the overhead
charges for rental value of land and so forth are
added, as they would be in getting at factory
costs, the average charge for production Of Ohio
fine wool is at least nineteen cents pound whirI
leaves profit OF only four cents pound to the
grower
This wool costs twenty-five cents pound in
the mill and the average cost of manufacturing
yarns is shown to be seventy-seven cents a pound
1t takes three thousand hundred and twenty
1--we pounds oil such wool to make one thousand
pounds of tops, from which the yarn is spun
TO reduce the duties on raw wool would per
nit the clothing manufacturers to get their mate
rial cheaper, and might lead to lower prices on
finished suits and overcoats 1t would of course
affect the sheeprasers industry in this country
and might lead to its serious impairment From
an economic point Of view, it is easier for the
brunt of the tariff revision to rest upon the sheep
grower-Who can quickly and automatically re
ducc the size Of his herd, either by sacrificing it
for food purposes selling it on the hoof This
would involve no immediate and lasting hardship
on large number of people, and experience has
shown that it would be possible for the wool
grower to continue in business unless a sweeping
downward revision were enforced
The netX step is to reduce the duties on man
ufacturers products of wool. This would affect
the textile industry in it's most vital and vul-
nerable point The owner of a large textile mill
says the New York Commercial or even smal
mil and dye plant and the percentage of business
concerns devoted exclusively to the manufacture
OF textile machinery cannot immediately dispose
OF their investments and get out Of the industry
Not only IS the capital invested in this industr
tied up but the livelihood of many hundred
thousands of operators is Immediately and esri-
ously Jeopardized. The reduction in the tariff.
II it affects the wooden and worsted cloth manu-
features and the garment trade is almost certai
to cause serious complications It is shown
now by the tariff board that the cloth manufac-
turers make less than thirty-two cents on the sale
OF the three yards of cloth that 90 into the or
binary suit of clothes for a man. This is far
from showing monopolistic and trust extortion.
The retail clOthier is the next to be considered
III the chain between the wool on the sheen s
back and the consumer wearing a garment Is
there any economic law legislative statute that
can fix the selling price of an article at retail
If SO, the printed and recognized works ON DO.
litlcal economy fail to specify them The reduc-
ton IN the duties on wooden fabrics might bring