Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-13
SHOES MAY COST MORE
Increasing Scarcity of Hides
...- and Skins.
WISH OF MANUFACTURERS
Call for the Removal Of
the Tariff.
FOREIGN MARKETS CAPTURED
Popularity of American Workman
ship Abroad-University students
in Germany and America.
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

We are threatened with an increase or
- per cent or more In the price OF boots
and shoes and are told that 1t is neces-,
sary because Of the tariff on hides and
skins At the recent meeting of the RIA
tjonal Association OF Boot and Shoe Man
ufacturers It was shown that labor has In
creased 25 per cent and the cost of
material 20 per cent during the last five
years making the total increase In the
expense Of production SO per cent There
has been a general advance in the retail
price OF boots and shoes of ordinary quail
ties from Is to 25 per cent The cost OF
the better grades and the high-priced fancy
shoes has remained about the same. The
manufacturers at the recent meeting as
serted that there would have 10 be an adj
ditional advance in prices In all grades
unless Congress removes the duty on hides.
This attitude of the manufacturers and
the statements upon which 1t Is based
seem unaccountable in the race OF the
fact that we are now exporting to foreign
markets nearly forty million dollars worth
Of boots and shoes and other leather goods,
while our imports for the last year of sim
liar articles were Sl2,952.5l9. These I'M
ports We're made up of gloves. So AZ, 4"i;
morocco skins. S2.3ll6l7; fine dressed kid
and Calfsklns. $2,9S2,S2S, and patent ana
,uameled leather 1851 ,345. Our exports
were the cheaper qualities OF leather and
priced boots and shoes
AS has been shown in recent letters, the
number Of cattle in the United States IL de-
Ginning. while the population Is increasing
very rapidly. In addition to the regular
natural increase, we are receiving million
or more immigrants every year, and they
all wear boots and shoes and require other
leather goods.
Scarcity of Hides and Skins.
Referring to this subject. Mr.. +. c.
Jacobsen OF Chicago. editor of Hide and
Leather. which IS recognized as the au-
thority In the trade. said the other day:
1t is evident that the people of the United
States are increasing faster than the cat
tic supply, and that explains why hides
Dnd skins are comparatively scarce today
and are selling at record breaking prices.
II may not have occurred TO the general
public that hides and skins classed
by-products. and yet they are the basic
material for the production OF leather and
the many important industries come tied
herewith Conditions prevailing in the
hide and leather trade and kindred indus
tries are unprecedented Manufacturers
are getting from 20 to 80 cents per pair ad
vance in shoes, and II looks as though
prices viii continue TO rise for leather and
shoes. In face of moderate supplies of
hides. we are faced by the fact that leather
Is becoming more popular than ever for au
tomobiles, sporting goods, furniture and
other purposes outside of such staple in
dustries as the production of shoes, har-
ness, betting, etc.
1T is a very bad feature of the import
tax of II per cent on foreign dry hides that
It bears more heavily the working pco-
pie than any other class We import
large quantities OF dry hides from South
America, which are made into what are
known as dry-hide sole leather. This Ieath-
Is used largely for cheap, heavy shoes
for working people, and such shoes require
greater weight Of leather than the lighter
and more expensive shoes the soles OF
which are mostly made out of sole leather
from packer or domestic green sailed hides.
Hides and skins that do not weigh over
twenty-five pounds each come in duty free,
and this includes calf and kidskins sheep
and goatskins nearly all of which are used
for the medium and better grades of shoes.
According to the government statistics. we
are exporting nearly 500. 900 pairs OF shoes
each month, and this is why the shoe and
leather trade Of the United States are con-
stantly agitatiug for a revision of the tariff
uu hides. so as TO get their raw material
as cheaply as possible.
Capture of Foreign Markets.
The statistics concerning our export trade
In leather goods furnish an interesting
study. Notwithstanding the tariff on hides
and the growing scarcity which has con-
trlbuted to Increase the price of raw ma,
terials our manufacturers can compete in
foreign countries with the local producers
and make money. This is due to the ST.
perior machinery and the more intelligent
labor employed in the tanneries and shoe
factories OF the United States We Import
hides In vast quantities from every corner
OF the globe. from Europe. Asia, Africa.
Australia and the Islands of all the seas
convert them into upper leather" splits"
buff grain and sole leather and then
ship them out again 10 be manufactured
into harness. boots and shoes and other
articles. and in many cases, to the very
countries from which the raw materials
came. And notwithstanding the tariff i'm
posed by the Dingley act, our exports have
increased from S12.2T5 40 In 1890 TO S27,-
lj9.6l4 In 1895 and S3S. 9t6 .I22 In 1909 About
one-halr OF these totals has been upper
leather for the use In the manufacture or
the uppers of boots and shOes-a total of
Sl6.lS5,SO5; about one-fourth is sole leather
and nearly all the balance except about a
million and half dollars worth of mis-
celianeous articles. was represented by a
standard quality OF substantial but low
priced. machine-made footwear
Tho ''uppers" went to the following conn