When the number of farmers engaged in wool raising is compared with all
the farmers in the country and the small proportion they bear to our
population is considered; when it is made apparent that in the case of
a large part of those who own sheep the benefit of the present tariff
on wool is illusory; and, above all, when it must be conceded that
the increase of the cost of living caused by such tariff becomes a
burden upon those with moderate means and the poor, the employed and
unemployed, the sick and well, and the young and old, and that it
constitutes a tax which with relentless grasp is fastened upon the
clothing of every man, woman, and child in the land, reasons are
suggested why the removal or reduction of this duty should be included
in a revision of our tariff laws.
In speaking of the increased cost to the consumer of our home
manufactures resulting from a duty laid upon imported articles of the
same description, the fact is not overlooked that competition among our
domestic producers sometimes has the effect of keeping the price of
their products below the highest limit allowed by such duty. But it is
notorious that this competition is too often strangled by combinations
quite prevalent at this time, and frequently called trusts, which have
for their object the regulation of the supply and price of commodities
made and sold by members of the combination. The people can hardly hope
for any consideration in the operation of these selfish schemes.
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