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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 52, 28 February 1873, Page 4

» The American,. Wool Market.— The' Jlrgus writes :— lt is a hopeful circumstance for the Australian wool-grower that the feeling of hostility to the import duty on foreign wools is daily gaiong ground in the' United States. It is found that the. higher \the r duty, the lower is the price realised for his staple by the flockmaster, for whose protection the impost is nominally levied.* In a lucid interval, the American Congress, it was in the year 1857— adopted a tariff by which all wool costing 18 cents a pound or less was admitted duty free. During the four succeeding years, the price of common wool was actually higher than during the four preceding years. From 1861 to 1869, protective 1 principles were once more in the ascendant, and what was the. result? Every grade of American wool decreased in value; and protection, instead of stimulating home production, actually caused a reduction of 40,000,000 1b on the clip, and led to the slaughter of no less than 4,000,000 sheep. An American writer of .reputer, XJoloneLGrrosvenor,; declares; that the protective duty on wool " has taken ! money from the farmer's pocket, and has deprived both grower and manufacturer of that measure of solid prosperity which, under low^duties and with free wool, both had attained;" . This was the experience of England from 1802 to 1828. In the latter year the mother country abandoned the /Impost, and the price of British wool ' has been higher -ever since that judicious step was taken than it bad been previously. , Between the, import duty on wool and on woollen fabrics;, the people of the United States, pay jSQ ..per _.cent. more ior their clothing than the people of any other civilised country in the world; and every American 1 tourist quits New York with empty trunks, j and returns to it from London or Paris with a welUstocked ' wardrobe... , .