New-York tribune., 1905-11-16
THE DUTY ON HIDES.
REPEAL STRONGLY URGED
Shoe and Leather Men Cal on Presi-
dent-He Says He WaS Misquoted.

Of the movement to secure repeal Of the duty
on hides. The delegation numbered In all
twenty-eight men, representing the various in
dustries interested. In addition to the remarks
Of Governor Douglas there were addresses by
several OF the other members of the delegation.
Following the presentation OF the views and de-
sires Of the delegation the President assured
them that their interests should surely receive
the painstaking attention both OF the executive
and Congress.
In his address Governor Douglas said he and
those with him represented the manufacturers
Of s300.000.0o0 worth of shoes. employing over
hundred thousand workrnen, and paying some
thing like s75.o00,0o to wage earners. and they
were unanimously in favor of reduction Of the
duty on hides. The interests they represented
would willingly consent TO reasonable reduc-
ton Of the duty Of 25 per cent on boots and
shoes IN order to obtain free hides and cheap
leather.
LEATHER INTERESTS REPRESENTED
A. Augustus Healy representing the Hide
and Leather Association of New-York City. said
he appeared in behalf Of association COM
posed Of more than one hundred firms, with an
aggregate capital Of over 5000, 100000. engaged
in tanning and dealing in hides and leather. He
said:
We Join the shoe manufacturers in the desire
for the removal of the duty on hides. For
twenty-five years prior TO 1897 hides were free
of duty. During that time there was very
manufacturing, but Of cattle raising as well.
The removal of the duty on hides. therefore,
certainly would not impede the growth OF the
cattle raising industry IN the United States
There is q great scarcity Of hides all over the
world We require for use in this country from
25 to so per cent more hides than are raised in
the United States Obliged as we are to go
abroad for these additional supplies. and with
the markets Of the world In their present empty
6IJtJy m n
furious at the present time, and has necess1tated
material advance In the cost of leather and
the cost of shoes. Relief from this duty is,
therefore, now most urgent necessity.
After the departure of the delegation from
the White House President Roosevelt authorized
the publication OF his remarks the object OF
its mission. In the course of his remarks he
related an experience he had last winter with
a committee from Massachusetts, of which
Henry NJ Whitney. recently the Democratic can
didats for Lieutenant Governor Of Massachu-
setts was member. He said that Mr.. Whitney
had rnisquoted him IN the campaign which was
closed few days ago. and declared that he was
constrained to believe" that Mr.. Whitney had
deliberately misrepresented what had oc-
CURED" With this experience in mind, the
President declined to enter upon discussion Of
the subject Of free hides at this time.
The address of the President was as follows;
PRESIDENT PROMISES ATTENTION.
thank you for having taken the trouble to
come here; [ am indeed glad to see you not only
in your personal capacities, but as representa-
tives Of OF the great business industries OF
the country.
say shall have my most careful consideration
The great interests you represent are exceed4nsly
important; their welfare Is OF concern 70 tne
whole country; they deserve and will surely re-
ceive the pafnstakng attention Of both the Pres1-
dent and the Congress 1t is. of course unneces
sary TO point out that no change IN tne ot 49,
can be made keeping in view only the interests
or desires of one State Or one locality; the Ia"
must first take tangible shape in the lower house
Of Congress, and must therefore rouslly cor
resnond to the sentiments of the citizens or
the several States as expressed tnrougn ther
representatives therein. Where the interests
and therefore the sentiments based on these IN
terests are diverse, as is almost Invariably the
in reference to the details OF all tariff mat
ters. the law must normally aithough not +lI III
variaby represent a compromise ana nutUdt ~
concessions and one outside OF congress
can de6niteIy foretelI the exact shape such a
COMPROMISE will ultimately take. 1t is my outy
to state that before receiving this committee
had received a letter from the GoVernor-eIect
of Massachusetts, the Hon. Curtis GuHd, 5r
Tn this letter evidently the first he has Written
i'm what may be called the official character WIN
which he is now vested by the SURFACES OK MS
fellow citizens. he urges IN me slroL5Sssr @ as
an immediate revision of the taflII anu eS-
pecially removing the duty from hides
DELIBERATELY MIsREPREsENTED.
sbo,1d like TO discuss the whole situation
with vou freely and Informally. But unIortu-
rately my experience with committees from
your state. Governor Dougis' oItors WIltell shont
year ago forbids my doing SO. ouch O. tlee' i.4
and necessarily informal and tentative as
cusson is obviously of beneht only II those Joli-
inc fn n recognize as a matter of honorable ooii-
cation the duty of not attempting 10 give @ ron
memory what must necessarily De an ALP0L-
fact and garbled version Of what took place
yy17an the President of the United states DELL
nitely and formally expresses hirnseh LOT pun
lication on question OF great AaCioAai LIllLot 1
tance what he says should not De Ielt 10 ILlS III
perfection of memory, often colored by interest,"
but should be put beyond the posslplllty OF mis-
understanding by careful preparation anu @ Coll.-
initial to writing To try to repeat from memory
what the President has said when year has
elapsed is to show entire Indifference 10 accu-
racv as well as to propriety. Yet this is pre-
ciseIv what Mr. Whitney did in the Massachu-
setts campaign that has just closed he pre-
tended TO quote what L had said during the
course of the long and informal interview with
his committee a year before, notes of the
conversation having been taken at the time Not
only did he misquote the words used buL py
sI1nnressng almost all that I had said and by
giving what he purported to give entirely apart
from its context he absolutely. and as am con-
strained to believe. deliberately 1nisrepresented
what had occurred; and he knew Well that 1t
was impossible for the President Of the United
States to enter into personal discussion ABOUT
the matter with him
with this experience IN view 7 cannot enter
into any discussion with you on the merits Of
your proposal and must content myself with
saying that il shall receive my most earnest at
tentive and respectful confederation
After the conference w B. Rice of Rice &
Hutchfns. of Boston, said: I'VE were much
pleased with the interview. think every man
present was Impressed with the Presidents de-
sire to do the square thing by US"
In response to an inquiry Mr.. Rice said that
I'm the course Of the interview the President in
quired SIS TO the attitude of the late Nelson
Dingley toward the duty on hides T. L. Pick