The sun. [volume], April 28, 1912, SIXTH SECTION BUSINESS SUPPLEMENT, Page 14, Image 82

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14
THE SUN, SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 1912.
E
JJnltffl .States Worsted Mills
First Depended on That
I Country.
WORK LONG DONE IN HOMES
Invention of Cording, Spinning
and Wenvlnjj Muehinery
Led to Fnetory System.
Aaareault of th" invention of machinery
for carding, spinning anil power weaving
the factory system in wool manufacture
developed npidly in England, says the
Trzttle Manu'a'turcf Journal, and this
change wa well advanced lieforo it started
In the Unltd state, whem It continued
for a long tlrnn to bo carried on as an In
dustry of tlw h-)tn'j, as in Canada The
upply of mrino wool was short and the
breed of shier" poor In th Unite 1 Stat",
and it was only in s02 that the first flock
of m?rino she-p was intrjluced hero
By the time the embargo on trade whs
laid on which preceded the war of IMS
several thousand merino sheep were Intro
duced hero. but that conllict tnrnd the at
tention of they 0111? republic to the need of
both wool growing and woollen manufac
ture The price of merino wool rose from
St a pound in lSOTtoS'jatid $2 00 during the
war Cornp'lM to rely on its own efforts
In consT,unce of the nin-lntercour.s
act of Wl, the wool clip Increased from
less than 1 l.OOI.OT) pounds in Hio to lO.frtO.
OOK) pound? in 1"12. nnd during th four
or five years preceding th" war no indus
try was no prominent in the public ryu as
the manufacture of wool The fame of
. rnerinonheep spread until som" rarns sold
for more than $1,000 each, while broad
cloths were sold at times as hich as $t;
per yard Up to this time Creat Britain
had been looked to as the source of supply
of woollen cloths and while certain duties
were placed on imports by th" flrt tariff
the duty of .". per cent on Mich Roods
showed that woollen manufacturing was
not one of the industries sought to be
developed The United States in fact
was the bet market in the world for
Ilritish cloths and the value of woollen
goods rose 50 per cent in nine years, or
about 40 per cent.
"As might be expected," says Mr North
In "A Century of Wool Manufacture,
"factories for making army and navy
cloths, blanN't. negro cloths and broad
cloths, the great staple woollen manufac
tures of that time, sprang up in different
parts of th" country, stimulated by the
enormous rise in the price, of these neces
sities," and many cotton mills were di
verted to the manufacture of woollen
goods This development was helped by
the introduction of steam in American
woollen mills and by the more extensive
iw of the spinning jenny, which was
first introduced here only In isoj. The
decree to which the minds of the people
were centred on the textile industry at
this time tnav be gauged ,v the fact that
of the 237 patents issued in th" United
.States in 1S1? more than half were for
procesws in the manufacture of wool,
cotton and linen.
After this great impetus to the wool
nnd other tertil" industries it might seem
strange that the close of the war in lMr
was followed by a general collapse of the
home industry while the imports of
woollens and cottons Increased nt a tre
mendous rate Hy tln (ireat lirltaln
shipped to the United States woollens and
cottons to the nmonnt of $70,000,000 and
merino sheep dropped from hundreds of
dollars a head down to a dollar a head
The reason the home industry was en
easily shattered was that th Uritish wool
len industry, which was round-d by
Edward III in the thirteenth century
under a radical system of protection com
bined witha strict prohibit ion of t ho ox port
ofrawwool, had by this time become th"
great special industry of the Jfiitiidi os
This preeminence was fortified and main
tained by a rigid prohibition of the exjiort
of machinery and appliance of the trade
under pain of heavy fines, to which im
prisonment was added, and the policy of
thus holding the scctcts of the industry
was in fact pursued down to the era of
free trade under Victoria
During the earlier periods of the exist.
Boiton Office:
176 Federal Street
MILLS AT BRISTOL, PA.
Wm. H. Grundy & Co.
TOP MAKERS AND
WORSTED SPINNERS
FOR
Men's Wear, Dress Goods and
Knitting Trade, both in Gray
and Mixtures
in
Mills at
Utica, N. Y.
ence of these laws no known instance Is grew to iw.ono.ooo in lJ and has since 'but Iran-formed the shee,, raising bu-i-recorded
iti which a perfect textile ! then reached an average of over .mo ooo.rmo ness of th" country. In lwl there wi. mil
machine was smuggled into the Lmted
States from f!rcjt Britain. The model
that were Introduced were so imperfect
that it might fairly bo said that the people
of the United States had to invent anew
the machinery by which, after trying
difficulties, the textile industries of the
country were nt last established. At a
iaier .Tirxi uiey were 10 reap mo auvan- t maintenance and seir-suniciency more
tnjte of this, for some of the most im- clearly in mind thnn any idea of devclop
portant improvements in the textll" in- . ine a mere trade theorv Whatever the
dustry of th" world had their origin in
the United States during the lat cen
tury A catalogue of theso would sur
prise persons unacquainted with textile
manufacturing, who associate all prog
ress in this field with the primary inven
tions of Ore-it Hritam.
Henten hy the older and better organ-
i7ed Hritlsh industry, the textile man-
ufacturers turned to Congress, and the
result was a long series of tariff experi- I worsted industry at first depended on
ments In which protection was alternately j Canadian wool, anil the Hrm establishment
given to manufacturers and farmers, i of that industry created in turn a branch
who had become increasingly ant.ago- of wool growing which Ii id not lxvn po.
nistlo to each other. It requited another ! sibl" in the United States Wore.
war, that of th" great civil cnnflct of
ISHI-HJ, to force home to the roople r,f the
United States the conviction that the pro
duction of Its necessary textil" fabrics
tTiu-t U an es-entlal patt of its national
policy "The war of lfl " siy.s North,
"recreated tho American wool manufac
ture." And this new policy U-gan with
adequate protection to United States
wool, by which the production of the raw
material should ! first secured 'Ihe,
result of this to the farming interests
was that tho domestio wool clip, which
in IVVi was reported at flO.If.i.oi'O liounda,
1
PhiladephU Office :
108 S. Front Street
GLOBE WOOLEN
MANUFACTURERS
tounds in recent vears in a grand total
of .VO.noo.Ort) pounds worked up in the
.-.ii. 1
'
. . ... i.,, ,n u.it-. wiviiiM' it "mam utiM-ivi
that the founders of the merican nation
in creating a group of manufactures
which is one of the marvels of modern
industrialism had the problem of self-
motive this much appears plain, that the
industries based on wool, silk and to a
large extent upon cotton were the off-
spring of a strongly protectionist tarifT.
and without that tariff would never have J'1! ,n" c.oun,T M?" or utliwostern on
leen created ,?r'0, -V 1 Ml''hi:an nloni- hl niT.tmO
oeen created. fheei, more than all CanndA fitimr... i..
We may now consider the history of the
Canadian woollen trade as influenced by
the tariff, and this will I)" very instructive,
liecatis" the creation of the United States
' Under th" reciprocity treity of
' raw wool from Canada was admitted free.
Canadian heep th"n were nltnost wholly
of th" I"ico.ster, Cotswold, Lincoln and
similar long woqled varieties, arid at a
time when th" worsted branch of the
woollen industry had attained a ditinct
! preeminent"., in other m inufacturing
I countries this afforded an easy opening
for the establishment of this branch in
the United States Hy ti" time th" treitv
c.itn" to an end sixteen thriving worsted
mills were in opeiation, founded on the
wools obtainable from Cuiad.i. which wore
notd for their strength and soundness
i l'p to this titn" little or no attention hid
l"en paid to breeding long wooled sh""t
in th" United States; jn fact, there was a
i prevalent Idea among farmers that the
j country was not suited for then br""ds
of sheep, The abrogation of th reci
I procity treaty in lWlraisda new problem
and the new national pilioy of protection
all round threatonnd the very existence
of th United States worsted industry
The situation was disclosed by a memorial
to Congress from the worsted manufac
turers, from which tho following para
graph Is quoted:
The manufacture of worsteds, which
la Just beginning to have an important
development In this country, owes Its
eilstenoe to the reciprocity treaty which
admitted free, of duty the wools of Can
ada. The farmers of upper Canada of
English and Scotch d"ont, naturally
prejudiced In favor of th-5 shesp hus
Iwindry which prevails at home as Eng-
land Is still called In the colonies and
Having a last" for hnglisli mutton, im
ported sheep 0f the Leicester, Cotswold
and Down races, whio h have thriven
admirably on thn naturally rich limestone
aolls of upper Canada, The present
production of wool from these sheep in
Canada is about fl.noo.non pounds. The
Canadians have no fine wooled sheep,
(meaning morlnosK Protected by a tariff
they consume about J.'KKI.OOO pounds of
their own wool in the manufacture of
coarse cloths, including tweeds, which
have been imported largely into tho
United States, notwithstanding the duty
on cloths; and we use tho balance of
3,000,000 to 5,000,000 "
They added that the introduction of the
finer lines of Worsted goods and the un
exampled development of this branch of
test lies were due to the command of Canada
wools, which were "fully equal to the Eng
lish combing wools"; but there was not
enough of such wools grown in tho United
States to keep one of tho worsted mills
running Thev were fair enough to admit
that If these combing wools were to be
grown in the United Stutes the worsted
l munutactures would fall into lino with the
national olicy provided their industry
' could be protected Mifllciehtlv to hold the
trade during the eriod of transition
I heir views were met by Congress and tho
result bus been tho marvellous develop
meut that has since taken place in the
textile industries of tlm country Tho
census of 1U05 showed that the United
States textile manufacturers employed
capital to tho amount of $1,313,321,605
land produced goods to the annual value
of l,215,03fl,7P2 Tho capital invested in
tho woollen branches alono was over
$477,000,000. nnd the annual value of the
products $517,000,000
I Tho United States tariff or ISflJ not only
recreated tho United states woollen in
duitry and expanded the worsted Induitry
OF FINEST WORSTED AND WOOLEN FABRICS.
pnougn oi tn cominng wojil such a.
Cf"wn nada to keep single worsted
'"ill in th Mates ninnitu'. while in Ohio.
for instance, the quality and yield of wool
iieaij ih'iow mai oi i-intario .mw
unio lias over 1.0ft.OJrt head and the comb
ing wool of that State far surpasi-e.. On
lario wooi in qua it v. will e m tota niiati
tlty Ohio exoeisjs the product of all
Canada. Montana now raifes over .fion.
head of sheep and the wool of that
.States brings an average of 10 to 1.1
cents a oiind more than wool of th"
same quality and from the same breed
of sheep crown just across th" Imrder in
the Canadian province of Alberta. Michi
gan is a State relatively Insignificant in
, KoRraphical area with a climate and soil
l'i7 had l.ion.noo head, or less than hilf
as many as Michigan. There urn nine
i States in th" American Union which h.im
more sheen than th" whole f). .mini,, i.
Thus the imition of a dutv on raw
wool and a still higher duty on manu
factured goods not only .tabllhed
the worsted Industry but gave birth to
the long wool -deep breeding branch of
the I tnted tatoo livestock indu-lrv
Hut what wa. the result in Canada,
where the idea or fro., raw material ,
'ailed has been a tradition 'p.'"ialv
rcnpeet.ii in the textile trades? Unw WO(;
has always been on the fre list in Canada.
ii
Pequea Hills
William Wood & Company
Fancy Worsteds, Cassh
meres, Cheviots, Piece
Dyes, Wool and Merino
Yarns, Uye
22nd and Spring Garden Streets
Philadelphia, Pa.
Salesrooms
No. SI Leonard St., New York
No. 410 Medinah Temple, Chicago
No. S72 The Bourse, Philadelphia
COMPANY
Sales Office,
381 Fourth Avenue, New York City.
and though there is it nominal duty of 3 , slightest knowledge of the processes of
rents a pound under the general tariff (I manufacturing will see that as a system
i ents a iund under the preferential tariff for developing either a wool growing in
in favor of fireat Uritalni.it is not enforced, 'dustry or a native textile industry the:
The total duties collected amount in some present Canadian woollen tariff is ii for-ve.ir-
to less than $10 Not only is wool tuitous assemblage of unrelated eW
practically free, but tops anil noils, with- ments. the outcome of chance or the ap
out which there can tie no logical begin- peal of individual manufacturers who
tiing of a really native worsted industry, could impress their personal views upon
are also free, while some kinds of yarns a gox-ernment
are f ris. and all varus of whatever kind are
admitted for the knitting trade at
per cent wh"ii imported from (Ireat
Britain under the preferential tariff and
;n er cent when imported from foreign
countries Hags of all kinds are on the
Ir"" list l he -pref crent.il taritl, it may
here Ih explained, is a recent departure in
Canadian economics, dating back to 1897.
when n discrimination of 25 per cent !-
low the general tariff was allowed in favor
of goods from Cireat Britain, this dis-
crimination being increased later to one-
b-T of years, ending with the adoption of
third, wltti n few exceptions t-oranum-
tlw "national policy" in 1S7S, the tariff
or Canada was a level revenue tariff of
17', r cent With the national policy
th" dime", on textiles ranged from :n to 40
1-rccnt .while now, under lb" nreferen-
tial tariff, th" duties on linished woollen
I ..: .l. !.. I
inn. vii-i."i iui-.- si"""" " K'-"'
:tn tn-r ent . but blankets and flannels
at" admitted at t cent , and piece
gocxis may imisirted to t tinisnert or
lived at l A er cent Under the general
tariff the duties on woollen and worsted
goods are 3.'i per cent. Any one with the .
and Finish
The statistics of other live stock show
that horses, cattle and swine have fairlv
kept pace with the growth of population
in both countries, and the sole exception
to this law is in the cae of sheep In
fact, in proportion to population Canada
has more horses and cattle than the United
States. So far from this being the caso
with regard to sheep, these animals have
actually diminished by one'-third since
i7i. If they had increased in propor-
tlon to population in this period th" nuni-
ber of head would be over 3,4na,um; and if
they unci lnerea.secl in the same ratio as
horses nnd cattle the number would l
over 4.(io.ooii. or double the number
actually existing.
Tho manufacture of woollens Here re -
1 maned a domestic Industry down to the
first quarter of the nineti-enth centnrv.
when nower machinery was introduced
I .L ii ...In I .
unci ioe i-ariiuig tiiiu lulling ueiariiuenis.
itl 27 there were ninetv-one tvirdlnir
mills and seventy-nin" fulling mills in
lower Canada and in upper Canada in
there were lsfl carding mills and ltt
fulling mills. By the middle of the cen
tury ther were In nil Canada about too
carding and fulling mills and ?.Vi estab
lishments where weaving was carried on
GEO.
r n" ,,Xf ' vrV'SV
Manufacturers of
WORSTEDS
1 and
WOOLENS
Men's and Women's Wear
Selling Agents
H. M. STOCKTON & CO.
79 Fifth Avenue, New York
ty macninery, anu rx'.ines mevt
were about W) hand iorn . r
over e,fA') yards jf hf tie.u
Tho making of homepun Moth . fi
to Increase with the trr iwth f
lion down to ISM, when th" pro bii
the provinces and ferrlton-t now f
-I
411
I.
tng tno dominion was at. jut
of cloth per year. I'rom that dat. 5
machinery rapidly superseded " (
pinnlng, we.ivltK an 1 Knitting tipire..
if
anu iy itai nn priKiuct or tt. ,.t
loomsInhomepunandfl,inneiadin.t , .'d
to tWOS! yards, of wtich a lifie ,n'c
than half was made in th" Proi.i 'f
Quebec. The cens".i.s of IM1 gave ( ,t j,
377 woollen inills.uid 2sl places where k
ting was carriwi on, many oi i w .
'being operators of hand knit'ir.e ,i
i chines, as tho total hands empiuve 1 ,
knit goods were only 1. 1 13 So long as t (
l annul luott o in otn uie rii"iom v. iert
mill and purchased back th pr i.
of finished cloth the wool grower a. j
manufacturer throve together Uu a,
more mcMlern processes were ad( r i ir I
larger factories were erected the f,ir, . r
ceased to take a personal interef. , r-,
manufacturer and began to I tiy r t
hirgely from th" storekeeper, th" t
chant tailor and tho ready made clclilni
manufacturer
It was to the interest of these t
and the newer generation of whole.il,
dry goods dealers rather to -el loritrn
made goods than Canadian beaue of ths
greater profits obtainable. This was dj
to the greater variety of styles that could
be had abroad, the patterns and "makei"
r t f'nrinrllnn f r., 1 a li.ilhf mnr.li r Ii.
1 ited than no' and being easily iuWtiSed"
j by the consumer The wonderful expert-
ne.-s oi r.urooean oiaiiuiaci irers in tn
use of shoddy and vegetable fibr
to mix with wool has given greater or.nnr.
, tunlties for profit to th" merchant, and
these causes have led to that systematia
I detraction of Canadian goods and system
I atio praUe of foreign goods which ha
resuileu in constantly widening th
breach between tho Canadian consumer
and the Canadian woollen manufacturer.
The result has been that, with the eicep
tlon of the knit goods branch the woollen
Industry has been for years in a state
of decav. and. while the ratio of the anrA
i is continually increasing the imports of
loreign raw wool useu tn ine Canadian
woolln mills also increases to the dis.
placement of the Candian raw material,
while the Canadian grower of sheep
has to ship his wool ab.-oad chiefly
to the Unrted States for want of a market
at home.
Will any one who remembers the wear
ing qualities of the goods made bv th
Canadian custom woollen mill from Cana
dian wool deny that they were of Intrinsi
cally better value than the modern fabrics
manufactured abroad' It Is well remem.
' bered that oven against the duty consider
able quantities of Canadian tweeds were
' formerly shinned from tho maritime
provinces ana I'nner and lower Canada
to Boston and New York, but It is not
well know-n that the name "Halifax
tweeds" was derived not from Halifax,
England, as is supposed, but from Halifax.
Nova Sootla.
Under the Canadian tariff the principle
of protection does not come into force
until it has gone past the Canadian farmer.
Tops and noils nro on the free list, and
it is manifest that every pound of tops
and noils displaces a pound of Canadian
wool. It is equally manifest that no
worsted manufacturer would pay th
higher rates of wages In Canada and estah
lish a worsted combing plant here to com
peto under such conditions with the
cheaper labor of England or Lurof".
This explains why there are only three
worsted combing plants in Canada and
why oil of the., import more or le.-is of
foreign tops to supply their spir.- lis;
plants. And yet in other eountne.
worsted manufacturing has made m're
progress in the lat thirty years than the
carded wool brunch Tho worsted in
dustry of the United States, for instance,
now consumes lOl.onn.ooo pounds of raw
wool a year, while the carded wool in
dustry only consumes ir7.fpoo.i) pounds
a year. Keeping in mind tho fact that
the wools of Otario and eastern Cana !a
arc especially ndipted to the worsted
trade nnd ttnt the wools of th" western
provinc.s, though of different character
are also quite adaptable to the worsted
trade if modern machinery is used, (!
reader will cease to wonder whv the
Canadinn lanner is forced to ship
much of his wool to tho United State
under the handicap of the tariff and
why the Canadian woollen manufacturer
goes across lh "-"AN to get wool, t ins,
w.lt . i....t.i I - l. ! l
i j I.,- '7 .
I In th" VJis of th- hwt c-e-Vtury when the
1 United States worsted ' Industry wa
j developing so fast it occurred "to two
i enterprising manufacturer of the vilhzo
f l L,. i, . it .'T.. ii, J. K
.. i.uiihii .inn
rarr, that thes- won d start a worsted
factor- They installed a plant hot
llnding th" conditions against them thev
applied for a change in the tiriff This
Is'lng refused they were forced to move
to the States, and llllls it w"is that the
business which was suflocated here under
free trade condition was established
in N'ev.- England.
C. HETZEL CO.
Chester, Pa.
FOR