The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1914-02-12
ONE TARIFF FREAK
HOW NEW DUTY, ON RAW IVORY
NEARLY RUINED MAKER OF
{ COTTON CLOTH.
STORY OF A NEW ENGLANDER
Relation Between, Seemingly unrelat
cd Tbinss Shown by Effect of the
Kansas Corn Crop on tho
Whaling Industry.
BY GEORGE CLINTON.

/ Washington Democrats in
congress are saying that reports from
the country show that the setback
which business had a while ago has
been overcome and tina: now things
are progressing toward the goal of
increased prosperity.
! The Republicans and Progressives
say there is a revival of business be-
cause OF the tame measures which the
Democrats have introduced to regu-
late the trusts. Men of the two op-
position parties declare the proposed
legislation of the Democrats does not
fulfill the promises made in their plat
form, that the trusts should be over
come and competition restored.
| These are the viewpoints Of the
three parties and 1t will take time to
prove who is right and who is wrong
To a considerable extent the recent
tariff legislation has been lost to sight
by the arguers on both sides Of econo-
mic questions who hold seats In con-
gress. However. the tariff law is do.
| ing freak things and one of them per-
haps is not embarrassing as human
interest document.
| A man has just come to Washing
ton from New Bedford, Mass, where
he is largely interested in cotton
| goods manufacturing. He was asked
how business was. His answer was
this: Billiard balls came within one
OF putting us to the bad"
d., h. 80
have billiard balls to do with the max
ing of cotton CLOTH"
| Billiard Balls and Cotton Cloth.
Well, they came pretty near having
everything to do with It in our case"
and then this was the tale that he
| told:
We manufactured great quantities
of cotton cloth which We sold TO
factor in New York city who shipped
1t to East Africa where II was ex-
changed for tusk ivory. Cotton cloth
over in that country was recognized
as medium of exchange and in many
cases as more desirable than money.
The New York people who took
our stuff and sold it for ivory started
seven factories, hired hundreds Of
workmen, took the tusks which they
brought from Africa and turned them
into billiard balls and were doing a
business with fair amount of profit,
Now they have got to go out of
business, discharge their workmen,
stop buying our goods and all be-
cause the Democrats put tariff on
raw ivory. Now you can see what
billiard balls, in this case at any rate,
have to do with cotton cloth making.
You see, the Democrats wanted to
put duties on Injuries. There never
has been a duty on raw ivory. but be-
cause billiard balls and some other
things which people with little
money want to buy are made out OF
ivory, they tackled duty on the raw
material. The New York concern
which bought our stuff and sold it for
tusks could not pay the duty and
make billiard balls to compete In the
selling market with the balls import
ed from France, Germany and other
countries which have no duty on raw
curing another output for our goods,
we should have been harder hit than
We were. As it Is the New York con.
Germ makes no more billiard balls. has
closed down it's factories and dis
charged its men.
Corn Crops and Whales
You say you think this is a sort
of freak condition? Well, so 1t Is
perhaps, but there are many similar
cases of freakiness shown in the un.
expected relations which things seem
ingly unrelated bear to one another.
This next is not tariff story, but it
points up what | mean.
Down in New Bedford the other
day met an old whaling captain who
goes to the Arctic and the Antarctic
and everywhere else on three-year
voyages in search of whales. | asked
him in general way how he liked
his life as a whaler,. He said II would
be fine il it were not for the constant
uncertainty about the corn crops In
Kansas ..-
81 asked what in the name of seven.
year locusts the corn crop in Kansas
had TO do with the Whaling business,
and he replied. Everything
"He said that when the Kansas corn
crop was good and the crop in other
states was good, too. the farmers took
some of their corn. and fed It to their
hogs, fatteuing them and getting them
In condition to produce lot of lard.
Lots Of hogs were killed for home
consumption and home lard making
and il there were LOT of hogs and
a lot Of lard the excess OF lard was
used as lubricant which put whale
oil out OF business. Billiard balls
came pretty near killing big cotton
industry and bumper corn crops made
a sad sea dog of whaler sadder
still"