Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1857-1858, 1857-04-18

o'oCi -H6 e''~ R'SPAiSNJj III VIC" VI eHO vi
HANGED value of hides and leather, of ma
king corresponding advance in the price
OF shoes. At one of these meetings let
ter was read from ore of the principal
leather merchants of Philadelphia showing
that the high price of leather is not to be
attributed to speculation. We make the
following extract from the letter
PHILADELPHIA. April s, 1857.
WM. B. GREYER, Eco Dear Sir: In reply
to y'ur inquiry whether the piesent high price Of
leather is caused hya speculative movement on the
part of the dealeis IN the article, answer most de-
cidedy no. In confirmation Of this | need only
state that at The present moment, Eve thousand
sides could not be furnished by ell the commission
bouses in Philadelphia and Baltimore put together
if one dollar poaRd offered for it. If it were
asp"culative movement, it is reasonable to suppose
that large shipments would soon be made from 9TH
er countri to meet the demand but SO far Is this
from being the case large orders are now in New
York from England for leather. 1t is equally cer-
tain that there is accumulation of stock in the
tanncries indeed, the tanners have been so anx-
ious get their stock into market early that they
would scarcely allow 1t TO get dry. For several
yeers past the quantity OF leather sold 10 New York.
in quantty amounting in the aggregate TO about
four millions of sides per annum while the popus-
ton OF the country has been increasing very rap
idly, and the consumption of leather with it. Mar
ufactores of every kind multiplying in every
section of the county, and they REQUIRE a very
large quantity of leather for betting, &c. feel
very confident that the supply of oak tanned Span
ish SOLE leather will be very limited this year, be
cause of the small number of hides sent out last
Hon fhoc Len of Ella eko.vv ha
we have no means yet of knowing. Under these
circumstances, can see no prospect of a decline
in prices for the present. nor the future, until we
can get supply sufficient to meet the increasing
consumption from some quarter, and where that
supply is to come from, ! am at loss to know.
The meeting adopted a resolution max
ing an advance of 90 per cent. on shoes;
but we learn from the North american that
manufacturershave not generally responded
favoraby to the proposition. We appre-
bend, however, that an advance will neces-
sarily ensue at an early day.
The following article from the Philadel-
phia North American, called out by these
meetings, is interesting:
1t has now become fixed fact that hencefortrh
the public must reconcile themselves to pay great
y enhanced price for foot gear or else relapse into
the good old fashion of Romulus and the Sadness
and walk about in all the simple ty of hickory san
dals and thongs OF hide. In London, not long since
the Shoemaksrs' Union held public meeting to
take measures for the regulation of future prices
and to lay explicitly before the public the reasons
why an advance was imperative. These were not
only numerous but plausible. First was the fact
al a., f.. -.
pampss of South America bad been nearly exter-
minated by disease and BY indiscrimnate slaughter
Second, that the market had in a great measure
been drained by the immense quantities Of manu-
featured leather which had been sent to supply the
allied forces in the Crimea Third that the peas
antry oil France aud Germany who, for geueri lions
past, had worn their characteristic wooden shoes
now di-carding them regardless of the higher
cost Of calves skin and morocco. fourth reason
that the cost Of manufacturing leather is every
year becomi greater With the disappearance
Of oak and bemlock forests, which the constant de
msnds OF ship building and architecture gradu-
ally encroaching upon, the only availabl. astringent
used by the tanner is also placed further and fur
Their beyond his reach. The period when bark
could De he'd for little more than the mere expense
OF stripping it has long since passed 1t is now an
expensive article, and frequently has to be trans
ported very considerable distances.
of London and Paris must, at least in a modified
extent, apply here, and consequently the same eff
fects must be felt. From the magnate manufactu-
rer who employs thousand operatives, down to
the most insignificant of those employers all are
complaining grevously Of the pressure upon their
business, and the imposs0ility under existing cir
cumstances OF obtaining profit Two meetings
have been hell by the trade in this city, and al
though no decisive action has been taken, the mat
| lv Load IN Of
| Manufacturers and Dealers Association, Atthese
| meetings an effort made TO advance the prices
twenty per cent. beyond present rates, but it
! unsuccessful a considerable number of the trade
declining TO adopt such course. Ii appears that
| although the advance on leather has been great,
that upon hides is still higher. The increase upon
! the former since l848 has been one hundred per
cent while upon the Litter it is at least three hun
dred. We learn aso, that in England aud on the
Continent hides are still dearer than here while
| buyers from England now in New York real
izing profit by shipping hides to Liverpool. At
! New 0h ans Also there are large orders now be-
log filed for heavy slaughter hides from France.
In connection with this subject may remark,
that not many years hence the northern and north
western tier Of counties of Pennsylvania must form
the nucleus of the tanning business of this country
that is unless il shall be found cheaper to trans
| port bark than to transport leather. We have
aDove referred to the increasing scarcity OF th in
dspensaLle article. 1t will De but few years be-
fore almost every other section will be stripped of
| its forests, and here among the hemloek and oak,
| the former Of which is comparatively inexhauSti-
be must the bulk Of the tanning business be locat
ed. We believe the largest and most profitable tan
merry 10 the State, il not 10 the country, is at JeI
sew shore. Contiguous to it is a vast magazine of
bark In fact, the location is just upon the borders
| OF the lumber district The machinery is propell-
| ed by water power The hides are taken direct 70
the tannery and the leather thence TO the city by
canal; While the bark Is purchased from rusGics,
who peel il Z" upon shares" for the owner Of the
timber. Tanneries in Ghs sectou-and there are
many OF them-couduct their business with great
economy and have a manifest advantage over Others
who compelled TO pay extravagant prices for
the necessary astringent besides having to trans
port it long distances TO the place Of its consump-
lion. The leather question is one that appeals 70
| the heels of every man. woman and child The
present prices of fool-gear are high too high for
toe pockets OF the million; and yet the profits Of
the business are 90 small that many cordWaners
on the eve OF relinquishing the business Tn re
is now q capital chance for any inventor who shall
! discover some mode by which the tardy process OF
tanning may be abbreviated, and which will at the
same time produce good an article as is now fur
nished. Could leather be turned out in the same
number of weeks as IL now requires months, very
great difficulty would bn overcome, aud the heart
of the bother be made TO expand with prospect
of some amelioration OF bis circumstances. Can
not some one succeed ia supplying this desidera-
tumf
IETKRIoR DEPARrMEsT- Wtthdraral of Ian as
81 MiSres0ta.-Severai weeks since, We announced
that the Commissioner of the General Land Office
had Withdrawn from sale location ali the offered
lands falling within the probable lines of the rail-
roads established under the grant Of Iand by Con