The Washington herald., 1921-06-03
ASSERTS MAJORITY
OF WOOLEN CLOTHS
ARE NOW SHODDY
Gray Silver Claims One
Third Virgin Wool Is
Mixed with Cast-off.
SOLD AS GALL WOOL"
Makes Revelation in Support
ing Testimony on French
Fabric Bill.
SOLD AS GALL WOOL"

-Two-thirds Of the woolen clothes
manufactured are shoddy," declared
Gray silver, Washington representa-
tiy, of the American Farm Bureau
federation. yesterday in a. hearing
on the French truth-in-fabric bill
b.fore the house interstate and for
ei9n commerce committee. This Is
true" explained Mr.. Silver, De
cause only one-third new or virgin
wool is used annually to mix Win
the two-thirds shoddy which Is com
posed of old rags. cast-on worn
clothing, waste. and clippings. Yet
the wooden garments usually are
sold TO the public as all WOOL
which term is taken to mean new
or virgin wool. 1t Is this all WOOL
alias or substitute for virgin wool
which the French bill seeks to ex-
pose by requiring that fabrics pur-
porting to contain wool shall be la
beled to show the amount or per
centagei of virgin wool, shoddy, cot
ton or silk.
The seller of a suit of clothes
made OF short-1bered, reworked. old
woo1 shoddy. but calling II an all
-woof suit, thus making the Gus
toner believe he is buying a vir-
gin wool garment, is in the same
category as the merchant who
pinehes the coat together in the
back SO as to make the customer
believe II fits him perfectly about
the chest.
We do not allow the manufac-
turer of rebuilt auto tires to sell
them as new; we don't permit oleo-
margarine to masquerade as butter;
we have pure food and pure drug
laws and the farmer. along with
the consumer and the merchant
wishes to see a truth-in-fabric law
which will protect them
Premfun Upon Use.
Now there is a premium placed
upon the use of shoddy. The man.
ufacturer tries to make a garment
that will sell for less than his COM
petieors, and so employs shoddy. for
II Is cheaper than virgin wool. Thus
the sheepman always has with him
the competition from the wool which
has been reworked as many as six
or eight times.
The wool grower. of course. Is
not asking that shoddy be not used
but he does insist upon the manu-.
facturer being REQUIRED to pass hrs
wool on the public in honest form
labeled so the buyer may know
what he Is purchasing. Take away
the virgin wool and the shoddy
would not last long. The farmer
has seen the shoddy business ad-
vance by leaps and bounds in the
last few decades. Figures ius,
made public by the census show
that In 1913 there were rs estab-
lishments manufacturing shoddy
cloth, whereas in 1914 there were
only 81. With the rapid rise in the
use OF shoddy, the sheepman has
been growing poorer and poorer.
Right now, in the west, the herds
man Is in a deplorable condition,
hit by an unprotected slump in the
market, high freight rates, and a
greatly reduced and out-of-gear
buying power. He has Jared worse
than the average farmer, whose
products have dropDed so per cent
In value in the last year. while the
things he buys have only low
ered-2o
AT this time we have in this
country about 100000. 900 pounds
OF wool and new clip at hand. In
normal years We cannot use more
than 6oo.oo0.o0O pounds. and It is
the belief of the farmers that the
buying public should have the ben
eht of this great supply of wool
and that they should be able to buy
properly labeled fabrics showing
the amount of virgin wool they
contain The farmers think the
passage of this bill is even more
important than n tariR IN ,r-ao,, .,