The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-01-05
WOOL TARIFF AND CLOTH COST

\ good deal Of Inaccurate presen
tation Is finding It's way into the news.
papers these days IN regard 10 the tar
iff on wool, and the cost Of The WOO
that goes into the making of a suit
OF clothes. Ono of the characteristic
disJointod presentations is as follows
The TARIFF Board says that i'm the case
81 suit OF clothes retailing at s2S, tho
farmer receives for the wool goa and
his profit Is 6S cents: the manufacturers
OF clojh receives for his product 81. as
and his profit is IS cents: the wholesale
clothing dealer receives for his product
Sl6.I0, and his profit ls Sis; the retail
clothing dealer receives ss3 and his
profit IL $3.50
In the first place. it is not easy
TO find suit Of all-wool clothing re.
failing AT S2$ that any one would
care to wear. Such suits are usually
tlimsy, lacking substance and quality.
But. take the presentation as made
and the wool that goes into the suit
at S2,23. as stated. The farmer gets
his little profit the manufacturer gets
only about one.third of the farmer 5
profit; but the wholesale clothing
dealer gets the biz profit Of all, al.
though his profit is only stated at 81. Is.
II the manufacturer receives only StIS
Tor has product that goes into that suit
OF clothes. and the wholesaler receives
$3.50. his profit as Il matter Of fact,
Is Sll. ~ in place of S2lS And that
seems TO he about tho fact The whole.
saler is the man who receives tho biz
profit. and tho retail dealer also sub
stantiallv rewards himself. There
should be. it would appear. a closer
connection between the manufacturer
and the retail dealer: and the whole
saIcr. with his Sll.12 profit on thc
clothes, should be practically elm
mated. In that case. the suit that
costs $1,000 would cost bnt SIl.2S.
Here would appear to bc the point
where the friction arises, and whore
the remedy should be applied. Al.
ways provided, that the figures as given
arc correctly stated
WITH respect TO the general promo
sltiou of revising the wool tariff and
alioNln" that revision TO he in the
hands Of Apostle Smoot, the Pmladcl,
phla Record has this criticism Of
Smoot S idea:
Senator Smooi. OF the Slate of Nor
'nonlSm aid sheep. would accept a duty
VI ~ cents per pound on secured wool.
which" he SAYS is n reduction from "a
cents. Tut the Tariff Bonrd has cx
posed the fact that the duty OF II cents
- pound on grease wool. 10 he treblcd
70 ~ cents generally. for it is prohih-
llory on "ools of heavy shrinkagc The
"ools that get in are those on which
,hc nutN per pound Of secured wool is
= sood deal less, Mr.. Smoots rcduc-
ZION, therefore. is not So large as he
wishes the country to suppose il to
bc. )"
Nh1ch would appear 10 be a rather
forcibIe and large puncturc in the Smoot
scheme
+ 1t Is surprising. by the way, 10 find
what a radical change has como over
the ideas oil Apostle Smoot IN less
than year on this question. On Tues.
day. January 81, 1911. Smoot made n
set speech in the Senate. in which he
expoundcd to his own satisfaction, but
very little, 1T appears, TO the satisfac
tlon of anybody else. "the impracti
'abliity of schedule -by.schedulc tariff
revision, He took up the different
schedules in order, showing in his own
feeble way' the mutual iutcr-rclation
Of every schedule with every other
As to Schedule *, he said:
Wool is not the only material used i,,
ne manulaclurc oi woocn goods. SOAPS
ms, dycstuifs, aud chemicals in Schcd-
ne ~ machinery, iron, and steel i'm
{; coal leather. and leather
,c'iine In Schedule y. are all used i'm
he fabrication Of wooden goods and on
rr nateridliy into the cost OF their pro-
Ills argument was. that schedule. by
revision WIS not ouly mprac.
lcaofe and out of the question. but
nat TO undertake it would assail onr
consistent policies and be the death |
If protection. His peroration on this
question reads as follows:
Tho policy Of schedule-by schedule ro |
lsion OF the tariff, i'm my Judgment |
Iould mark the beginning OF the end
the protective system, The New Eng
'nd protectionist Will never have FREQ /
sW material. as produced i'm tho West,
nd protected manufactured articles
'aue from similar material. The pro-
,ctionlsts of the West believe IN pro