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Protecting Shoddy

Protecting Shoddy image
Parent Issue
Day
19
Month
August
Year
1892
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Under the high tariffs on wool and woolens since 1860 the growth of the shodL[y industry has been phenomenal. Shoddy is a comprehensive term, and in common parlance inoludes all the various vrool substitutes nsed in manuf acturing, escept cotton, cow's hair, etc. There are two classes of shoddies; the first is made from the waste pieces of woolen goods left over in the manufacture of ready made clothing, and the second from old woolen rags collected from the ash barrels and refuse heaps of our large cities. But like other industries, the shoddy industry has grown to such an rtent'that there have, been added new tenns to describe the producís which fonnerly went under the general name of "shoddy." Chief among these are "extracts," which are made from mixed cotton and woolen goods by the application of an acid which eats out the cotton, leaving the woolen fibers intact though much impaired. At the same time extracts are subdivided into two classes - first, those made from waste pieces of cloth not in use, just as new shoddies are produced, and second, those made from old mixed rags picked up froni all conceivable places. Stiil another term is used to describe a certain class of shoddies. This is mungo, which applies to the fibers produced from hard or superfine rags by machinery specially ' adapted for the purpose. So great has been the improvement in machinery used for working up shoddies, mungo and extracts that they are now used in all classes of woolen goods, and are so disguised as to be detected with great difficulty. The growth of the shoddy industry cannot bo better shown than by a com parison of the census figures since 18(50. The following table shows the number' of establishments, the capital invested, the number of workmen employed and the value of the producís during each census year: Prodnienis. tal. men. uct. 1860 30 $10,500 290 8102,500 1870 58 815,50 633 1,708(692 1880 73 1,105,100 1,282 4,989,615 1890 94 9,208,011 From a product of $402,500, in 1860, this indtistry hasincreased until, according to the censtis of 1890, the product is $9,208,011, or au increase of 2.1S7 per cent. Thcragh the growth of the woolen industry as a whole, including the shoddy industry, has been considerable since 1860, it has not been in proportion to the growth of the shoddy industry. In 1860 the value of the woolen gopds produced in the United States was $65,596,364. In 1890, according to the last census, the value of woolen goods was $338,231,209, showing au increase since 1860 of 415 per cent. The value of the shoddy product in 1890 shows an increaso of 84 per cent over that of 1880, but the woolen industry as a whole shows an increase of only 26 per cent in 1890 over the product of 1880. Nothing will sliow better the great growth of the shoddy industry and its present extent than the figures from the census of 1890. In the following table is shown for each of the large woolen products the amount of wool used and the amount of shoddies, extracta, cotton, hair and other substitutos for wool: Per cent. Wool used. tutes used. substir Pounds. Pounds. tutes. Woolen goods. 185,347,944 98,640,386 &5.1 Worsted goods 97,701,474 7,574,264 12, Feit goods 6,729,083 4,201,344 38.4 Woolhats 4,537,953 453,951 9.1 Cárpete 56,887,866 6,054,011 9.6 Knit goods.... 21,669,393 37,206,934 63.2 Tot&ls, 1890. .372,873,713 154,130,890 29.2 This great growth of the Bhoddy industry fully bears out the declaration made by the shoddy rnanuf acturers in 1888, when they protested against the Mills bill, which put wool on the free list. In the circular which they issued they said: "Our industry would be ruined (by free wool) and we .and those dependent upon us would suffer. There is only one way to avoid this loss to ourselves, and that is by the defeat of the candidato of the free trade party, Grover Cleveland. We have detennined in the coming election to support the candidates of the protection party, Harrison and Morton. Their election we coneider to be indispensable to the maintenance of our business." Free wool would be the death of shoddy.

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Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News