Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-07-09
\ FEW SUGGESTIVE FACTS ABOUT
LEATHER.

Many otherwise sane people believe
in the tariff as a cure-all; that we can
not have too much of it, and the higher
the duty the better off we are. These
are the people who believe we ought TO
have a tariff on hides, although the
leather industry with one voice pro-
tested against il so strongly that Nc
KINIEY was compelled to abandon that
feature of his tariff bill in order 10 re-
tain Massachusetts, in the Republican
column. We direct the careful atten-
tion Of these innocent folks TO the fol-
lowing facts taken from the Boston
Boot and Shoe Recoriero the I'd instant.
They are interesting:
A rise in the price Of boots and shoes may
In the near future be looked for as there
has been an upward movement in the
leather market during the last few days,
SAYS the star of Montreal, Canada The
leather market said a well known agent
this morning, mas been going down for the
past ten years and seems now 70 have
touched the bottom
What is the immediate cause of the rise
In pricesf o.
principally the immense sale lately to
United States buyers of hides. They ran
short there and came 10 Canada and bought
large quantities of hides. The English
buyers have also been here and made very
large purchases Of leather. No less than
sixty thousand hides were shipped from
here TO England a fortnight ago.
Has the rise affected all kinds OF
leather"
"All kinds of leather made from slaught-
er hides, such as the best kind Of pebble
leather, which has advanced from II = 10
l3i5 TO Il; split in which there Is an ad-
vance Of about one cent; buff from II TO
Is, and upper, which has gone up from %
10 26 Dry hides for sole leather purposes
have not advanced, but the market is much
irmer, and rise is probable
Has the price Of hides advanced at the
same rate.'
The advance in leather is from TO Is
per cent, while that in inspected hides IS
about 40 per cent. The tanners are hold
ing of raising prices as long as possible
How Will this affect the shoemakers.'
Those who have booked large orders 1t
the very low figures stand to lose pretty
considerably unless they have laid in a
large stock Of leather which many have
done though many have not
y lobbcr in a large way of business IN
this city showed a number Of letters ana
kilograms from manufacturers refusing 10
ti.l orders 40 the prices quoted a fortnight
ago, but asking from 10 70 - per cent adj
vauces
What, in the face Of this condition,
would De- the effect of the duty which
Mckinney proposed TO put on hides
which would prevent us buying hides
abroad? With free hides the price has
gone up 40 per cent, because of short
age Of hides in this country. What then
would be the effect of prohibitory
duty on hides that would prevent us
buying them abroad? Ii would simply
mean the stoppage OF the leather indus
try in this country, the throwing of tens
of thousands Of working people out Of
employment, and an immense rise in
the price Of an leather goods, prob
ably. Obviously there could be no
other result. Yet we find men in Con-
grcSs willing 70 sacrifice one of the
greatest of American industries and
double the price of boots and shoes, at
the beheSt Of the Chicago Dressed Beef
Combination, that that already i'm
mensely wealthy concern might get
higher prices for the hides of its
slaughtered cattle, its oifal. OF course,
a substantial contribution to the Re
publican corruption fund was expected
in return for this sacrifice Of great in
dustry. sacrifice happily defeated by
the firm protests Of the people at
whose prosperity the blow was aimed,
aud by the knowledge that il would cost
the Republican party more votes than
could be bought back by the Doodle
furnished by the dressed beef monopoly.
This is the size of the friendship of
the Republican leaders TO American in
dustry. Several other industries have
not been 50 lucky TO escape from their
alleged friends, and which will suffer
from the passage of the prohibitory Me-
Kiulcy bin as the leather industry would
suffer from a prohibitory duty on hides.
Many Of our industries need. and the
people are willing to grant them protcc-
ton, even after quarter Of century
Of it: but none Of them need prohibitory
protection such as the Mckinley bill
promises and the effect Of that measure
will Doe TO so disgust the people with the
whole system that they will demand
something pretty close to its abolition.
The trusts and monopolics that are be-
hind the Mckinley bill and for whose
special benefit the measure is designed
are by their inordinatc greed fast Strang-
ling the life out of the goose that lays
choir ero1Ipu prrS