The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-03
E. J. HILL WITH
 STAND-PATTERS
 ON WOOL FIGHT
Connecticut Congressman Walls Because Democrats Have Agreed to Lower
 the Duty Usual High Tariff Argu- ments In Support of Posi- tion Which NOrwalk Statesman Is Compelled to Take.
Special from United Press.s

Especial from United Press.S
 Washington, June 3-Denouncing the wool bill introduced by the Demo- crats as measure to reduce wool instead of the tariff on wool" and de- claring it to be a political proposition not intended to be enacted into law, Representative E. J. Hill, of Connec- ticut, one of the leading Republican tariff experts, today, made public a statement in part as follows.
 Taking it as whole, I think the practically unanimous opinion of both the wool grower and the woolen man. ufacturer was that it was not possible to still carry on the business of either growing or manufacturing wool in this country at the rates prescribed by the Wilson bill. Undoub tedly the improve ment in manufacturing facilities and the reduction in interest rates in the last 16 years would be somewhat help- full in the prosecuting of either branch of the business, at the same rates now, but I think it is fair assumption that when those rates have been nam ed or their equivalent, it is the last word possible with reference to the woolen inquiry and that any reduc- tion below those rates means the car rying on of the business in the future In a poor ana uylnS CoHult1oi. N1l1l d reasonable certainty of it's speedy eli imitation from among the great indus tries of this country.
 "The pending measure is undoubt- edly political proposition not intend ed to be put in operation as it is, but presented in the expectation that the duties on fabrics will be increased in the Senate and that the duties on wool will remain as the bill prescribes, thus throwing the burden of prescribing such rates as will maintain the indus try in this country upon the Republt- can party.
 "As the bill is drawn. with the fa- brio rates below the difference in the cost of production, it's effect upon the wool, for, of course, no man will either buy domestic wool or import wool in the grease as material for manufaR- turing if he knows in advance that he must sell the finished product at less than cost. AS result, whatever importations there are will be of fa- brics and the market for the domes- tic wool growers product will, there fore be taken away from him, except at the London price, less the cost Of transportation both ways. With free wool and the difference of the cost of production of the fabric provided for by an equivalent rate of duty, the market preserved with the added advantage of transportation on foreign wool to the United States in favor of the American producer.
 "In making their estimates, the Democratic committee has assumed that. for the next year. there will be an increase in the value of impor- tween 19 and 20 millions of dollars and an increase in fabrics of. between 40 and 41 million dollars in value. That value of wool in the grease represents 96 1-2 million pounds and the wool in the increased fabric importations rep- resents 85 1-2 million pounds. This means that if we are to come within a million and half of dollars of get ting the same revenue under this bill that we received in 1910 we must nec- essarily import in the grease and in the fabric 182,000,000 pounds more of wool than we did last year and there can be but one conclusion and that is that this must supplant and disp1ace 1892 COG, 900 pounds of wool grown in the United States.
 ''As this is about two-thirds of the entire product of the United States it is only confirmatory of the first pro- position which I made, that the bill a absolutely destroys the market for the domestic grower of wool and puts him Tn a worse pOSiIIon than II we ndu free wool with fabric duties sufficient to preserve the industry of manufac- turing the raw material in this coun- try.
 (Which horn of the dilemma the members of the committee will take I do not know but one thing is certain. that if this wool comes to the United States it will destroy the American market. If it does not come thev do not get their revenue.
 By way of suggestion, let me add that in this forty-one million dollars of increased fabric importations, there is lost to the United States about twelve million dollars worth of human labor in the manufacturing processes alone which means the throwing out of employment of about 23,000 per-