558 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



even when honestly administered. But it was not honestly adminis- 

 tered, or, perhaps, to speak more properly, fraudulent practices brought 

 most of the wool in under the 3-cent duty, when it should have paid G 

 cents. This, of course, was a great gain to the manufacturer, but of 

 no benefit to the farmer. It was the first time since 1828 that duties 

 were put on manufactured wool over and above the amount of protec- 

 tion required by the manufacturer, sufficient to compensate for the duty 

 upon the raw material. The total amount of imports of raw wool from 

 1861 to 1864, both years inclusive, is shown in this table: 



Pounds. 



In 1861 31,638,533 



In 1862 43, 698, 138 



In 1863 74,412,878 



In 1864 91,026,639 



Notwithstanding this large importation of wool, three times as much 

 in 1864 as it was in 1861, and a continued large importation of manu- 

 factured woolens, the number of sheep and the product of wool increased 

 very rapidly, sheep advanced in price and everything looked prosperous- 

 From 1861 to 1865 Ohio fleeced wool averaged at New York, in currency 

 66 J cents per pound, 23.64 cents higher than the average of the thirty- 

 five preceding years. The large importations of raw wool did not dis- 

 turb the wool-grower whose receipts were so bountiful, and the increas- 

 ing demand for wool, and the flourishing condition and rapid extension 

 of manufactures excited his mind to a degree beyond any former period. 

 It was believed that the consumption of wool would be permanent, and 

 that woolen goods would supersede those of cotton. There were others 

 who looked further into the future. These were perfectly aware that 

 wool had practically no protection, but anticipated that the war debt 

 would demand for years an amount of revenue which would, under the 

 adopted theory of discrimination, insure the speedy and adequate pro- 

 tection of wool. Nowhere was the mania for fine- wool growing so prev- 

 alent as in Ohio, and nowhere are wool-growers so mercurial and prone 

 to run from one extreme to the other. 



The Ohio growers saw, when peace was about to come upon the war- 

 ring sections, that the great demand for wool would measurably cease, 

 and that with the overproduction of our manufactories and heavy im- 

 portations of raw wool under a low tariff, wool-growing would receive a 

 deadly blow. They joined in a movement looking to the union of the 

 wool- grower and the woolen manufacturer in the demand for a tariff 

 that would protect both interests. The result was a convention of the 

 wool-growers and the wool manufacturers at Syracuse, N. Y. ? December 

 13, 1865. 



One of the prominent members of the convention, in a report some 

 years later, says of it : 



The convention of 1865 is memorable among other things for the conflicting senti- 

 ment in the woolen industry which preceded and was the cause for invoking it. A 

 difference of opinion, amounting to actual hostility between the two interests sun- 



