The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1916-09-14
WAR, WOOL, WILSON,
mi WYOMING

liberation, let's talk the matter oveI
Prior to the outbreak of the Euro
pean war we were not exporters o
wool wearing apparel to any appre
ciable extent. Our mills had all the.
could do to supply u " needs
We sold in foreign markets not more
than $4,000. 900 worth a year. From
the outbreak of the war, August LIST
1914, to June 80, 1916, we exported
wool wearing apparel to the value
of $270,000, 000-a pretty good indica.
ton, is it not, that wool is a prime
requisite in war time? There is a Ger.
tain kind of cold feet" that makes q
man too proud TO fight but the
physically cold feet render even a
brave man incapable of efficient
lighting. Wool socks warm the lat
ter; hellfre itself cannot thaw the
former. Wool blankets warm the sol
der; hot air warns the politician.
Nor were we exporters of much
wool. Our producers sold their clip
in this country; it was made in
American mills, employing American
labor. In 1914 we sent away $4,000
pounds. In 1915 we exported S,15S. 900
pounds. In 1916, a little over half as
much. but the price doubled. The
tariff board estimated that in 1910
our wool manufacturers used $780,
100000 pounds of raw wool of all
kinds annually. The production of
the United States at that time was in
the n~eighborhood of 325, 900, 900
pounds, coming under the head of
classes 1 and 2. In that year Wyo-
ming topped the list of she~ep-raising
states and was second in the produc-
ton Of wool, with $4,000, 900 pounds
Of washed and unwashed wool, equal
to 1850. 900 pounds of the secured.
Montana had the edge on Wyoming
in wool production, by very little.
Tie stock argument of the Demo
Gratis was that free wool meant
cheaper clothing, because it meant
cheaper wool with which to make it.
When the Wilson-Underwood free
wool cas- passed the House in
May, 1913, the certainty of free wool
caused the price to drop. When there
is a threat of free wool, buyers de-
cline t. buy except for immediate
needs, unless they can buy at a price
which will not involve a loss. They
depend on their surplus stocks u
carry them through until free wool
is a certainty. They buy on \ free
trade basis or not at all. The manu-
facturers had made up their samples
for the fall and winter of 1913 and
the spring and summer of 1914 very
largely of American wool. The cloths
could not be made up of substituted
foreign woods, SO, having cut down
their purchase of American woods
when free trade was threatened,
when the 1914 clip came in they
found themselves buying in competi-
ton with each other, and strange as
it might otherwise seem, the price OF
American wool went up. The war
came on and for some time an en-
barge was laid on Australian wool,
and the price continued up. The
Democratic party, having declared
that free wool meant cheaper wool,
then turned around and Dragged that
their tariff law had raised the price
of wool. What inconsistency!
During the fiscal year 1913, under
Republican law, We imported $4,000
600 pounds of wool, classes l and 2,
which paid us nearly $40, 000, 900 Of
revenue. We imported LAG, 600, 900
pounds in 1914, under Democratic
law, seven months of free wool; 242,-
900, 900 pounds in 1915, and IN ,000,-
600 pounds in 1916. An insignificant
duty was realized from this wool, be-
cause angora goat hair was retained
on the dutiable list, thanks to Con-
gresham Garner of Texas, an angora
wool producing state, who was a
Trainer of the bill. Altogether we
have lost considerably over 500, 000,-
900 in revenue from wool alone, anc
the consumer got no benefit, but he
paid more internal taxes.
Wyoming is going Republican be
cause it wants a return to the pro
tective policy. Wyoming knows tina
competition from Australia will b'
strong after the war and she know:
wool prices have been high because
of the war. Wyoming believes it is {
wiser measure of military prepared
ness to encourage the production o
wool in America than II is 10 run ;
government-owned nitrate plant.
Wyoming ~"watchfully waits" for
wallop at Woodrow. Let all WOO