The daily sentinel., 1913-08-13
Answers Letter Demanding Rea-
son for Low Price Of This
Years Clip
BY Edward Keating.

Congressman at Large From Colo
radO.
Washington, Aug. 81 am in re-
ceipt of the following letter from n
well known sheep man of Colorado:
Sorrento, Colo, July is. 1913.
Dear Sir: | have been reading
you Washington letters in several of
the eastern Colorado newspapers, and
brought 5ik cents; Salmon Bros.
see that you are long on explaining
things, SO wish in your next letter you
would explain why wool is four to
six cents per pound cheaper than last
year. am sure there is a lot OF us
here that would like to know. 1t
surely can't be the tariff, for we have
been assured by professors and lee
turers that this bill would greatly re-
duce the prices TO the consumer, but
would not cut the price paid the pro-
ducer. So IL you can explain how this
can be done. | am sure we would all
appreciate IT. and look for II in your
next letter.
Yours truly,
CHARLES Z. COLLINS"
The sarcasm OF my correspondent
Is not lost on me, but l win not re-
tort in kind. This tariff question is
OF too much importance to all the
people to be flippantly disposed Of
The democratic party is seeking to
place raw wool on the free list, and
Il IL also attempting TO make cut OF
&C por cent In the duty on the pro-
ducts Of the wooden mills. We are
doing this because we do not believe
Il is Just to Increase the price OF the
clothing OF all the people in order
that very small percentage of our
population may be more prosperous
Still Under Protective Tariff.
We contend, however, that the re-
moval OF the tariff on raw wool will
not materially affect the price the
sheep man will receive for his wool.
II is probably true. AS Mr.. Collins
says, that the price bid by wool buy
ers in his section of Colorado is low
er than II was last year. But Mr..
Collins should remember that the
country is still operating under the
Payne-Aldrich tariff bill, and that
you cannot import n pound of raw
wool without paying the exorbitant
tariff provided by that measure.
II protective tariff always oper-
ates to increase the price paid the
sheep man for his wool, why doesn't
II protect him now2 or course our
standpat friends will tell you that the
price OF WOOL mas lulibh b'NhhS' VI
the threat" of free wool, but the
weight of evidence is against them.
The truth Is that the woolen trust
"a combination of the owners of the
big wooden mills-controls the wool
BUYERS of the country. These agents
OF the trust, assisted by the calamity
howling standpat senator's and news
papers, have SCARED the wool grow
ers of Colorado and other states into
selling their clips at less than the
worlds prices.
Some Republican Testimony.
Let me submit a little testimony on
that point Hon. William Lindsay Is
one of the leading wool growers OF
Montana. He is a prominent repub-
lican, being United States Marshal
for the District of Montana, appoint
ed by President Taft In an inter-
view recently printed in all the Mon
tana papers, Mr.. Lindsay said;
wool prices have been on free
wool basis for the last three years
EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE HAD A
TARIFF, and for this reason | do
not believe that prices are going to
drop when the tariff is removed.
''The condition of the trade. the
condition of the wool clip, and the
decreased number of sheep in the
country all make me believe we will
not have any cheaper wool than we
have had for three years past. The
wool lofts in the east are empty, the
mills are pretty well employed, and
there is absolutely no reason why
prices should drop EVEN WITH
FREE WOOL.
"The average price of wool in
Montana this year was from 16 to 7
cents, about four cents less than the
average for last year. The buyers
were enabled to hammer the price
that much by eXaggerating the ef-
fects of free wool, but those prices