15 



I desire to dwell a little longer upon woolen goods, they enter so largely 

 into consumption and are in so general use. In no department of manu- 

 facture, I concede, is there such a difficulty of making a comparison of 

 prices at different periods as in the woolen manufacture, on account of the 

 differences of style, finish, and raw material of the fabrics from year to 

 year. I have confronted all this in my investigations. The only arti- 

 cle forming a proper standard of comparison is flannel, which is the 

 basis of all card-wool cloths. In a report made to the Syracuse conven- 

 tion in 1871 the following statement was made by the secretary of the 

 National Association of Wool Manufacturers: 



Reliable returns from, the two leading agencies in the country, representing 

 more than twenty different establishments manufacturing flannels, show that the 

 gelling prices of flannels in September, 1869, two years after the passage of the 

 tariff of 1867, were in one house 21 per cent., and in another 16 per cent, less in 

 gold than in 1860. On the other hand the books of a mill producing cloths more 

 and of greater variety than any other establishment in the country, and em- 

 ploying 2,500 operatives, show an advance in wages in gold from September, 

 I860, to September, 1869, of 37 per cent, for female operatives and 50 per cent, for 

 male operatives. The secretary of the Wool Manufacturers' Association in his 

 annual report in October, 1880, says : 



" The present year affords us the first opportunity for many years of making 

 an exact comparison with the prices of 1860, since our currency is of the same 

 value as at that period. 



" Those most familiar with the markets estimate that ordinary woolen goods, 

 constituting the great bulk of consumption, are now obtained by consumers 

 from 12i to 25 per cent, less than goods of the same quality could be purchased 

 before the war. To be more specific, ingrain carpets, the principal article of 

 consumption in this class, was sold at 12 per cent, more in April, 1860, than in 

 April, 1879, with wool about the same, but an increased cost of labor in the same 

 period. I am authorized to state that dress goods selling in 1860 for 20 cents per 

 yard are now, in 1880, selling for 15 cents per yard, a saving of 25 per cent.; that 

 the saving to American consumers in the product of five mills in New England 

 making dress goods of an annual value of $10,000,000 is 82,500,000, and this too 

 with higher prices of wool to the farmer and better wages to the operatives.'' 



Since '1880 the reduction of cost in dress goods to consumers has 

 gone on with accelerated ratio. I have in my hands a return from the 

 Pacific Mills, the largest mill for producing this style of goods in this 

 country, which is as follows: 



" I give you below the average net prices obtained for our worsted goods for 

 the period of six months, ending 



Cents per yard. 



May 31, 1872 20.06 



May 31, 1877 16.82 



May 31, 1880 15.43 



May 31, 1881 14.52 



May 31, 1882 ,. 11.22 



