The Coconino sun., 1921-02-25
SHODDY WOOL KILLS
 THE SHEEP INDUSTRY

, ShlCAGO. - The French Cappei
 Truth in Fabric Bill, pending in both
 houses of congress since January
 l9zO, Is likely to reach the floor of
 the house before the end of the pres.
 ent session. In letter to Howard E.
 Greene, secretary of the National
 Sheep and Wool Bureau of America
 Congressman Burton L. French said:
 You will be glad to know of the
 acton taken today by the sub-commit-
 tee of the committee on interstate and
 foreign commerce, house of repre-
 SentativeS.
 The subcommittee has recon
 mended number of amendments sug-
 gested by the hearings and, with
 these amendments, the bill has been
 reported with favorable endorsement
 to the full committee.
 We are working very hard to urge
 upon congress the need for prompt
 enactment of this legislation"
 The measure, prepared by experts
 of the National Sheep and Wool Bu-
 reau of America, provides that do-
 meStic and foreign textile manufac- turers shall stamp their cloth entering our interstate commerce with it's con-
 tent of virgin (new) wool and of shod- dy-old rags, re-worked in some cases as often as eight times. At the time Of the introduction of the measure, according to Mr. Greene, American textile manufacturers were using re- worked rags for two-thirds of the cloth they placed on the market as "all wool" Truth in Fabric bills .have been introduced into the legislatures of Montana and Utah. It is expected that similar measures will be intro duced into the legislatures of other states, including that of Wyoming, which has already endorsed the French-Capper bill.
 American textile manufacturers have been so persistent in the use of re-worked rags in "all wool" cloth that they have caused a reduction of 5 3,SOO,OOO in our sheep population in the last two years and of S,566, 900 in decade. If way is not soon found to get the public demand for virgin wool cloth back into touch with the wool growers, the continued reduction in the flocks will eventually produce a situation worse than any ex- perienced as result of the world war.
 Dr. F.. w. France, director of the textile school, is quoted as saying that. if textile manufac- .urers were compelled to use only pure virgin wool in clothing, the scarcity of | the raw material would cause suits | now costing $S0 and $l00 to jump to | S2OO; that some fabrics produced from | 'e-worked stocks are as good as, or better than, some virgin wool fabrics md that labelling would increase pro- luction costs and keep retailers busy explaining technical terms.
 The French-Capper bill does not provide that textile manufacturers hall use only virgin wool in clothing. t simply requires that they shall tamp their cloth with its content of 'irgin wool and of shoddy, cotton or ilk. Of course the labelling will tend O increase the demand for pure virgin voof cloth and increase the price ofi wool to a sum allowing shepherds a wing profit; but no more than that, specially with nearly billion pounds f virgin wool available for manufac- ure in American storehouses.
 Dr. France, in calculating the vir- in wool price increase, assumed that he world production would continue O be only third of the amount need d to supply all demands for genuine ew wool. The shepherds need only air inducement to increase their wool reduction. Today, when cloth made f virgin wool and cloth made of re- 'orked rags both sell as "all wool" to
 public which supposes that "all 'ool" means. virgin wool, the shepherd 1ust expect every pound of wool he ion of it's secondhand product per aps eight times. He knows that here are four billion pounds of un- virgin wool in the 'orld's storehouses and that, with the oming spring clip, there will be near 7 billion pounds-two years sup ly at the recent rate of consumption in America. He knows that 90 per ent of the 1920 clip is unsold and . hat the prospects of selling the 1921 lip within year are extremely slim.
 cuIn NOI'iitiOHS are tO ue- ! troy any industry. With the vision f wool market fading and the cost f feed and labor high, it is not sur rising that our sheep population di- { finished 1,752,00 in 1919 and 2,041,- % in 1920. Only those blinded by ' elf-interest can shut their eyes to the Ignificance of the reduction of more ; nan 16 per cent in our sheep poula- on in shoddy's most fourishing dec l de. This decrease is bound to go on ( s long as the lack of labelling law , ermits unidentified shoddy to mas ' lerade as virgin wool and, through ' le artificial diversion of the demand { IF virgin wool from the wool grow ( : to the rag-picker, constantly abro- c ates the economic law of supply and V ,mand. At the peak of war prices, t ,e wool grower received only $4.50 s IT enough choice virgin wool to c ake good weight suit. At present a , gets $1.50 for enough good virgin a ool to make a medium weight suit. A g w years more of Encouragement c Id sheep husbandry will be so badly = that the scarcity of vir- n wool will be reflected in the cloth- g market. Shoddy will go up, also,