- VF1 s"r'.(WfWWA
The Commoner
22
.VOL. 14, NO. 7
f.
;v.
,i
Kf "I-"-
? ...
The "Ruined" Wool
Never
Tho following press dispatch tells
tho story of tho wonderful prosperity
that has struck tho wool growers of
tho west. Desplto tho tremendous
ylold of wool there is an active de
mand at high prices and buyers aro
thronging tho shearing sheds in tho
wool centors of tho northwest. Tho
dispatch follows:
Ponvor, Colo., Juno 27. Desplto
tho gloomy prophecies of those who
hold that any reduction of thoN tariff
on wool would bring ruin to western
sheep owners, tho sheep-shearing
Reason, which is under full headway
in tho woHt, novor offered moro flat
tering prospects.
Tho fleocoa of Oregon sheep will
run heavier, as there is an absence
of tho oxtroraely hot aun which
burns out tho oil In tho wool and
which makoB tho shoop of tho south
west shear tho lightest of nil. But
tho groat ranges of tho Rocky moun
tain country support countlesB mill
ions of shoop, Montana and Wyoming
loading with nearly 6,000,000 each,
tha formor stato bolng a few thou
sands in tho lead.
Theso tremondoua flocks bring up
tho wool production, ovon though the
floocos run somewhat lighter than in
raoro favored grazing localities. The
a vera ere weight per fleece in Montana
and Wyoming is about seven pounds,!
whilo Oregon will run as high as 10
and Now Mexico as low as 5.
ORIGIN OP WEST'S WOOL IN
DUSTRY It Is significant, howovor, that the
shoop business of tho great wool
states originated in Now'MoxIco. In
1871 a band of 800 Now Mexican
sheep wrnj trailod to Wyoming, and
from this small start tho tremendous
wool business of that state and Mon
tana has grown.
nJ?ontana now snoars about 33,600,
00 Pounds of wool very season,
while Wyoming shears about tho
same amount. The total value of the
wool product of either of theso states
K normal year will run from $6,
000,000 to $8,000,000. This year the
buyers aro active and aro at tho
shearing stations in groat numbers,
dickering for tho wool as it is sacked.
Tho errowth of th nnni k
Industry has made the wool growers
more independent than of old, and
fewer sales are made "on the spot."
GREAT WOOL DEPOT OP THE
WEST
There are great warehouses in Bil
lings, Mont.; Casper, Wyo., and other
wool centers. The heavily loaded
wagons, creaking under wool sacks
and drawn by ten or twelve horse
teams for hundreds of miles across a
semi-dosert, como into those wool
Stations all during tho summer.
If tho demand is slack, or If own
ers aro holding for a better price, tho
wool stays in the warehouse for
months. In olden days tho wool
grower was compelled to soil as soon
as shearing was over at tho market
price then prevailing, becauso of a
lack of storage facilities.
The shearing in tho sheep states is
done in systematic fashion by regu
larly organized crows. There are
shearing stations in all parts of tho
sheep raising section.
At shearing time tho shoop -are
moved toward these sheds, which
are supplied with machinery. A score
or moro shearers strip the fleeces
from the shoop in much less time
than the work could bo dono with
tho old stylo shears.
Theso shearing crews begin in
Arizona and Now Mexico In the early
spring and work north. In June and
July they are In the heaviest part of
their work on tho groat northern
Industry Prospers as
Before
ranges. They are generally paid by
the fleece, and a skilled shearer can
make from ?7 to $10 a day.
WOOL: THE TARIFF SURPRISE
Dubuque Telegraph-Herald: When
Smoot, whom the lamented Senator
Dolliver described as "the greatest
shepherd since Abraham," was loudly
lamenting the disaster to visit the
mountain sides of the western states,
where grazed the bleating sheep, and
tho palsied hand to be put upon the
woolen mandatories of the east, in
the free-listing of wool in the new
tariff, he was dncere, let us believe.
But he was wrong. The wool
grower is prosperous as never before
because he is getting more for his
raw wool. And woolen manufactur
ers are prosperous as never before
because, put on their mettle, rather
than encouraged in indolence by
sheltering tariff schedules, they are
finding that they can compete with
the world and keep their own mar
ket. Tho Boston Transcript, pre-eminent
among standpat newspapers, re
viewing t.hn wnnl tnnrlrnf In 4. ..
of May 7, makes theso interesting
and enouraging observations proving
, a wuntij iB not going to pot
and that the woolen industry has not
""'' uul ut!o uesu-oyea oy tne Wll-
SOn-Underwonrl-RlmmnTiei tniWtt u,,i
l,r. K .. J . - ... UUl,
ii ua uvvu Kivea new lease of life. We
quote:
High prices are prevailing every
where. Tho experience of the first
five months under freo wool Is so
surprising as to force a recasting of
all predictions and a radical revision
of opinions as to tho outlook. Few
would have dared to predict, in the
height of the tariff agitation of last
year, higher prices at the opening of
tho 1914 clip.
So surprising is tho situation that
conservative dealers are afraid to
operate heavily in the new clip wools
for fear that the boom will not last.
The shortage of wool all over the
world is held partly responsible 'for
the conditions, but abnormal condi
tions in English and continental
goods markets are supposed to be at
the bottom of Mm onnHn.,.1 ,i ,
-- "- wunuuou UUUlUUa
and the advancing prices for raw ma-
roMnl A Inn 1J. 1 1 .- -
lu'""- -"-1BU is saia mat American
manufacturers underestimated the
strength of tho position of the home
mills and were thereby induced to
make prices altogether too low on
their goods.
fiJhlV,8take. ls now bein& rati
fied. Prices of goods already have
been advanced 5 to 10 per cent, and
son Tm "f the -weight sea
son is likely to see values up to the
highest point where competition from
abroad may be minimized. With the
higher prices ac which wool is sell-
5Sfatnhi0me a.n? abroad' lt Is certain
that light-weight goods must brine
?rreiin!oney- Meanwhile tho mills
aro all busy. "ib
Another aspect of the situation is
brought to mind by the foregoing
mnt fPniCGS ,abrad can hrdly be
made to apply to raw wool without
fn?lraafi0ng t0PB and mak
ing it all the more difficult for Eng
lish and contlnonal manufacturers to
compete with the American mills for
tins side. High prices abroad will
cut off .importation of wool, tops Tnd
yarns as well as goods, a'fact tHat
will benefit wool-growers as well as
goods manufacturers. All this in di
ttos clearly why the wool and
woolen goods trades are at sea.
HIGH PRICE FOR WOOL
Springfield Republican: Woolen
and worsted mills aro fairly activo.
and somo of them aro working on
extra time. Raw wool is making
history by constant rlso in price,
being now from 17 to 21 cents a
pound. No such high prices for wool
prevailed In the past twenty-five
years, except in two years, and it
appears a real blessing to our woolen
manufacturers that this raw material
was placed on the free list. As it is,
they have at least the advantage of
the world market to draw supplies
from.
The cause of the high price of wool
is not obscure. There is a world
wide shortage. In this country land
formerly used for sheep grazing has
been planted with grain; but agri
cultural development has likewise
encroached on grazing lands and the
sheep Industry in Europe and
Australia. Furthermore, at this par
ticular time, the demand for wool
Is very heavy on account of the Bal
kan war and the war preparations
made by European powers.
PROSPERITY AND SHEEP
San Francisco Star: The' demo
cratic tariff was going to put all
sheepmen out of business, wasn't it?
It was going to bankrupt them, and
clog the almshouses with their fam
ilies, and for many months the stand
pat papers have been drizzling hot
tears over the prospective ruin of the
sheepmen. But the predictions have
gone to protest, and H. Sinsheimer
of S. Koshland & Co., (San Fran
cisco) who knows something about
sheep, mutton and wool, says:
I cannot see that the admission of
wool free of duty has had any In
fluence on the prosperity of the wool
growers of California. The advance
in the price of wool is due to the
general law of supply and demand all
over the world. London is the cri
terion of prices the world over. When
sheep are at high prices as they now
are, it ought to pay"to raise them,
considering the return from wool.
How are the reactionaries to line
up the sheepmen for a return of "re
publican" prosperity, when a wool
expert talks in that way?
SHEEP AND TARIFF
Some of our sheep men are begin
ning to get scared for fear the re
duction of the tariff on wool will put
them out of business. Many thought
that when the tariff was again placed
on wool after the Cleveland admin
istration it would mean a great boom
to the sheep business. Such was not
the case. A bunch of sheep-killing
cur dogs can put a man out of the
sheep business a great deal more
quickly and effectively than the re
moval of the tariff from wool. Tariff
or no tariff, sheep properly handled
will remain a profitable farm animal
The appetite' for mutton is IncrTas
Jg, and it is from the standpoint of
meat production that the sheep busi
ness must be carried on. There is
really no good reason why a change
in the tariff should drive the sheep
foT ' 5E8 ?dapted .t0 their Po
tion. Tho farmer himself can al
ways consume a certain portion of
mutton at home, and this local con
sumption can undoubtedly be it
creased if other meats remain high
n price. At the present time mu on
m? 0W?rst-PrIced meat food the
market. Kansas Farmer.
'DESOLATION" IN MISSOUBI
SfWff W001- 5?&WS
frying chickens, 35 "enta- SW'
an ordinary yearling calf brings $40
and up; horses and mules almost out
of sight. Manufactured goods are
lower clothing from one-fourth to
one-third; hardware down some and
sugar $4-50 a hundred, pounds it
has been $6.50 and $7 per hundred
for eight or ten years. A man can
sell a 200-pound hog for $16, buy a
hundred pounds of sugar, and have
$12.50 left; under the republican
tariff he could have only $9 left.
Some difference; see?"
DIAMONDS AND AUTOMOBILES
FOR IDAHO SHEEPMEN
Boise (Idaho) Statesman, June 22:
The Statesman's special livestock
market reports the other day gave
the sale of 750 Idaho lambs, shipped
from Bellevue by Laidlow & Baptie
and sold at South Omaha at a price
that nets the owners at Bellevue
$5.48 a head. This is said to be the
highest net price ever received for
Idaho lambs.
The promise is rosy that 1914 will
be a banner year for the woolgrower.
Wool has brought a good price and
there has been an enormous percent
age of lambs this year. On one
lambing ground over 10,000 lambs
were obtained from 8,000 ewes.
More diamonds and automobiles
for tho sheepmen.
WYOMING SHEEPMEN "RUINED"
Rlverton (Wyo.) Review, June 5:
The highest price paid this year for
Wyoming wool was received .by P.
W. Olson for his 200,000 clip.
Crimmins & Pierce of Boston paid 21
cents per pound for this wool. Covsy
Bros, of Afton near here received
20 1-2 cents per pound.
MR. ROOSEVELT'S AMAZING CON
' FESSION
Mr. Roosevelt testified that in
lO he was prepared to send the
federal troops into Pennsylvania with
orders to seize the anthracite coal
fields and operate the mines. Instruc
tions were actually issued to General
Schofleld that Le "was not to pay at
tention to any court orders or any
other authority than me."
There are countries which tolerate
government of that sort. Mexico en
dured it for years. Diaz's generals
and receives did "not pay attention
to any court orders or any other au
thority than me." American citizens
should be highly Interested in know
ing how near the republic was to
Mexicanisation in 1902, and what
they may fairly expect should Mr.
Roosevelt ever again become presi
dent. New York World.
Victims of Scienco
Visitor "Where's all the folks
gone to? Don't see a soul." Tho
"Old Man" (on the door-step) "AH
shot to pieces. Durn these. 'Home
iiiconomy- magazines anyway. 'me
wife's been gone since Fri'day trying
to find an unheard-of drug to use In a
simple remedy for freckles; the
cook's been working since last even
ing on a flve-minuto hasty-pudding
recipe, and my daughter Is laid up
with burning herself In & 'Home Me
chanic' bath-tub that she made out
cf a thimble, two sieves and a mile
of lead-pipe." Puck.
I. ...
Has It In the Family
"My dear," remarked Jones, who
had just finished reading a book on
"The Wonders of Nature," this really
is a remarkable work. Nature la mar
velous! Stupendous! When I read
a work like this It makes me think
how ruorile, how Insignificant is
man."
"Huh!" sniffed his better half. "A
woma- doesn't have to wade through
400 pages to find ont the same thing."
Judge,
),- .