SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 81 



wool manufacturers should be placed in the same position as 

 if, like the European manufacturers, their wool were exempt 

 from duty. A specific duty is placed upon the cloth, intended 

 to exactly reimburse the duty paid on the wool. But this 

 specific duty gives the manufacturer no protection : and he 

 has at least equal claims to protection with the wool-grower ; 

 for, irrespectively of the wisdom of the policy of any protec- 

 tion, if it is adopted, it should be applied to all domestic 

 industries. Our tariff laws therefore provide, in addition to 

 the specific duty on fabrics, neutralizing the wool-duty, an 

 ad valorem duty for the protection of the manufacturer. This 

 system of compound duties is the only one which will permit 

 protection to the grower without injury to the manufacturer. 

 It was adopted after great deliberation, has proved highly 

 advantageous to both interests, is attended with no difficulty 

 in its administration, and should be retained. 



American Mills the only Market for Domestic Wool. We 

 have deemed it proper to refer to these highly important 

 relations of a wisely adjusted tariff to the wool manufacture ; 

 because the prosperity of wool-production and sheep hus- 

 bandry at the South, and its further extension, absolutely 

 depend upon the prosperity of the American wool manufac- 

 turers. It has been shown elsewhere that the value of all the 

 wool exported from this country does not equal the value of 

 the playing-cards which we have imported. For many years to 

 come, the sole market for the wools of the South must be her 

 own mills and those of the North. It is doubtful if the 

 South will ever be able to export wools to foreign countries 

 in competition with Australia, the Argentine Republic, south- 

 ern Russia, and the Cape of Good Hope. The wool-growers 

 of the South will, therefore, best advance their own interests 

 by favoring the national policy which promotes, by reasona- 

 ble and just provisions, the interests of their consumers, the 

 manufacturers. 



Wool- Growers' Associations. The Southern wool-growers 

 should, besides, establish direct relations with their consumers, 

 the manufacturers, and consult them in regard to the charac- 

 ter of wools required for fabrics ; but, above all, should encour- 



11 



