The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1913-08-23
fAvORS
WOOL DESTRUCTION

Nci "VoH tatih bpi, tocndtoI hey fltt-
man, in carefully prepared speech,
upheld the administration measure.
Senator Pittman in opening his ad
dress said the principle contentious of
those who oppose free wool are:
First-Tbat it will destroy the in
dustry.
Second-That it is discrimination
against the producer
Third-That it will iniure the wool
growing states.
In answer to the first argument,
the senator cited table prepared by
the tariff board and showing, bv
states, total receipts and expenditures,
capital per head, selling price per
pound and net charge against wool per
pound Quoting the figures from this
table, the senator said: "This tabu-
lation shows that the net charge
against wool in foreign country be-
ing 5 cents pound, the wool in the
state of Nevada and the state of
Washington requires no duty, because
the net charge against the wool in
those states is placed at less thau s
cents pound by the tariff board''
Again citing from the tariff board 's
report it is stated the "report ad-
mits that the cost of producing wool
in Washington is only one-half of one
cent per pound, while the same report
shows that the cost of producing wool
in South Africa is from to s cents
per pound, and little less in Austria
liza than in South America. -
The tariff boards report, said the
senator, credits the Nevada sheep in
dustry with earning 11.3 per cent on
the investment The receipts from
each sheep raised in Nevada are given
as "a cents for wool and $197 for NUT
ton. The growth of the growing of
sheep for mutton was emphasized as a
means for increasing revenue. In this
connection, Senator Pittman said:
More Mutton Recommended.
Let the sheep raisers of Montana.
Wyoming and the other western states
who are crying for a protective tariff
on wool, paw more attention to the
raising of sheep for mutton and they
will have no more need for such tar
iff than the states of Nevada and
Washington
Taking up the subject, "Is it dis
elimination against the produeer7'
the senator said:
"The only possible excuse for the
retention of any duty upon the impor-
tation of an article. other than that
of raising revenue, is to prevent its
destruction by means of foreign com
petition. If the producers of raw wool
do not believe that the manufacturers
of articles containing wool require the
protection of duty to prevent their
destruction, let them bring the evi-
dence of such fact before this Demo
cratic administration, and a way will
be found, I confidently believe, to
raise the necessary revenue from some
other source and to place such manu-
factured articles also on the free list.
have not made any careful study of
the tariff as affecting manufactured
articles, but I do know that the sheep
raising industry does not require the
aid of any tariff duty to enable it to
compete in the markets of the world.
But whenever | have the information
that convinces me that the tariff can
be entirely taken off of manufactured
articles that are necessary to the COM
fort of the masses of the people, / in
tend to use my utmost endeavors to
have such articles placed on the free
list
On the subject, "Will it injure the
wool growing states ~ the senator
first considered the advantages. then
the disadvantages. As to the advan-
tages, he said:
Tells of Advantages.
'There were, according to the cen
sus of 1910, l,154,795 sheep in the
state of Nevada, valued at $5,101 1928,
of which 329.92O were lambs, leaving
s24,s75 sheep, exclusive of lambs
These sheep are owned, according to
the report of the Nevada tax commits
sion, by 314 individuals and corpora
tions. The number of employees in
the industry is not given in the cen
sus report nor in any other report on
the industries of the state, and conse
quently must be estimated. The tariff
board on page 59S says:
'On one of the largest sheep
ranches in Idaho, on the other hand,
two men-one herder and one camp
tender-are employed per each 5000
head of ewes and l,500 ewes with their
IL
800 head, and during lambing three
men are employed to 1000 ewes
"Taking a laborer to every 1,500
ewes with their lambs, we find that by
dividing s24,s75 sheep, being all of
the sheep exclusive of the lambs, by
800 we get result of $40 laborers
necessary to the industry. During the
lambing season and the shearing sea
son extra labor must be employed.
This is estimated to mean about $50
extra men for one month during the
lambing season or 20 extra men for -
months. About 200 extra men are re-
quired for six weeks during the
shearing season, which would be an
average of 22 extra men during the
whole year for the purpose of shear
ing Now. if we allow a foreman for
each sheep owner in the state, there
would be 3l4 foremen. This gives the
total labor employed by the sheep in