The Washington times., 1914-06-06
THE WOOL INDUSTRY.

To think of a convention of WOO
growers, merchants, spinners, and
weavers, getting together to con-
slider their business in all the as.
poets from the lambs arrival in
this vale of tears to the cutting OF
the cloth for milady's frock, and
getting through three days of the
consideration without anybody peep
ing about tariff-well, it is quite
beyond belief.
Yet there is high authority for
the assurance that exactly that thing
happened in this town this week. The
Department of Agriculture got up a
national conference on the wool bust
ness. to bring out views from all in
terests as to what the Government
might be able to do to help ill the
vacuum In the worlds wool supply.
For the world faces a condition, as
to wool, that is serious and getting
well-nigh calamitous.
To this conference came about a
hundred men, representing all
phases of the wool business. They
didn't quarrel about tariff, and didn't
talk about it at all. They didn't
need to. The reason was that in
stead of being ruined by the new
and much reduced tariff rates, the
wool business has been humping
right along at the head of the agri-
cultural procession.
People who expected that the price
of wool would drop precipitately as
soon as the Underwood rates took eff
feet have been proved utterly mis-
taken. Instead of that drop, there
has been rather a steady advance.
averaged according to the authori-
ties who came to the conference, at
about 10 per cent. Considering that
most of the products of agriculture
have in that time lost in price, this
is the more striking.
Wool and mutton have both gone
up. Wool, because the world is in a
state bordering on panic, about the
sources whence it will get its wool
in the future. People must have
clothes; even the ladies insist on a
few; the men demand far more than
would be sanitary, comfortable, or
economical. People get more numer-
Gus all the time and sheep less NIL
merous. Desperate efforts to en-
courage sheep raising in all parts of
the world are producing Indifferent
results or none at all. Yet there is
no doubt that the tendency is going
to be toward better prices for both
wool and mutton. Likewise there
is no doubt that splendid profits can
he made from shecp-raising as
side-line of almost every farm in
the country.
The trouble about sheep is the dog
question. The dog is the natural and
inveterate enemy of sheep. Before
the recent conference, the agricul-
tural authorities sent out ques-
tionnaire to over 1000 counties, in
thirty-six States, asking, first, "Row
much could the number of sheep on
the farms in your county be in
creased without displacing any Of
the live stock now raised?" The
average of over 1000 answers was
that the number of sheep could
be increased $50 per cent, and net
necessitate any reduction in num-
Der of other kinds of stock.
Then the QUESTIONABLE demanded
to know, "What is the reason these
16O per cent more sheep are not
raised?" and the answer came from
more than two-thirds of the coun-
ties: ''Dogs." Just dogs; that's all.
The world Hill have TO find a sub
stitute for woolen clothes, OF else it
will have to curb its affection for
the dog. II would seem easy enough
20 pass laws suppressing dogs; but
it is nothing of the sort. There are
far more dog-owncrs than sheep
owners, and every man THINKS his
own dog is q superior beast. The ele-
ment of sentiment comes in. Actual
experience has made clear that to