The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1906-10-26

by products OF the beef Industry
will materially change the prices
paid for cattle. These huctuate
or would fuctuate if there were
no biHations to interfere with
economic laws, IN accordance
with the supply of aud demand
for cattle for beef purposes. AS
"A matter Of fact there is little or
no connection between the prices
Of steers and of the hides. This
fact is shown clearly by statistics
for the last ten years. Cattle are
slaughtered for beef, and their
prices are fixed, not according to
the prices of hides, but almost tx
clusively by their value for beef
purposes.
FREE SOLE LEATAER DE-
MANDED.
Under present conditions, | am
of opinion that the removal of
the duty on hides alone would
not result in giving us lower
prices for sole leather. Unless
free hides are accompanied by
free competition in the tanning
industry. the prices of sole
leather can he maintained at the
level of prices in foreign markets,
plus the duty of 20 per cent. on
imported sole leather. That is,
present prices would be main
tanned. The sole leather tanner
would then get his hides for
about ID per cent. less than the
present prices and could sell his
product at the present prices.
The sole leather trust is now said
to produce some 10 or 10 per
cent. of all tue sole leather pro-
duced i'll this country. 1t has
purchased many of it's cOmpeti-
tors and is reported to be nego-
tiating for numerous other indie
pendent tannerieS. Ii it owns
or controls all. it will. with free
hides, be enabled to add many
millions of dollars. to its present
large profits. According to the
1900 census, 10, S3S, 962 hides,
costing ST., 1874, 100 were used in
the tanning industry. AS the
prices of hides are now about 80
per cent. higher than i'll 1900,
the tanners must pay over 500,
600, 900 for hides, even il they
consume no more than in 1900.
a saving of 10 per cent, then,
means to them increased profits
of about Sl5, 600 a year. We
maintain that If the tanners, by
means OF free hides, save So,
100000 year i'll the cost of
leather, this saving should be
passed on to the manufacturer of
shoes. That we would pass along
TO the weaTerS of shoes goes wit b.
out saying when it is known that
there is free competition III the
manufacture and sale of shoes
and that no trust now exists or
is likely soon to exist in our in
dustry.
While, then. free hides will be
u boon to sole leather tanners,
it is improbable that they would
be a boon either to boot and shoe
manufacturers or to the people as
a whole. Free sole leather, with
.ree hides, would be a boon to
both shoe manufacturers aud the
public. Ii we are to have only
fee hides or free sole leather, it
is, therefore, FAR more important
to us and TO the people that we
have free sole Leather rather than
lree hides.
While flee sole leather would
curtail the profits Of the tanners,
it would not iLjule the industry
as "a whole, or the workers en-
ployed in it. This is shown not
only by experience but by the
application of the theory OF pro-
lection to the factSe The imports
of sole leather were no greater
when the duty was only 10 per
cent. than when the duty was 20
per cent For the years 1892
1898 and 1894, the total imports
of band, betting and sole leather
were but SO, coo For no three
years since 1897 will the import
amount 10 more than Sl30.000
The total labor of producing
sole leather does not exceed =
per ceut. of the value of the fin.
iShed leather, and is probably
less than D per cent. According
TO different tanners, it varies
from l to u cents per pound.
AS leather is worth from 20 to 40
cents per pound it is clear that
the average labor cost is less than
per cent. The labor cost of pro-
ducing leather in Canada, our
greatest competitor, is about
the same as here. There is, then,
under the theory Of pro- ection, no
excuse for a duty OF even . per
cent. on sole leather. 1t may also be
said that very little skilled labor
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