The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-06-04
FOR FREE HIDES
A Great Struggle With the Senate
 Against the Proposed Duty
A STRONG PROTEST NEEDED

The Payne Bill etruck Of the Duty on
 Hides, but Aidrieh Plans to Put It
 Back at the Demand of the Beef
 Trust-rhs Farmer Gets No Benefit
 From the Hide Duty-The Independ-
 ent Tanners and Shoe Manufactur-
 CTS the Country Over Make Hard
 Fight For Their Industry.
 Will the United States grant a mo nopoly of tanning leather to the beef packers at Chicago, in addition to that which they have already in the pro duction of beefa That is the real question involved in the contest for free hides now going on at Washing ton- In this contest there are on the one side the packing interests and on the other side all the tanners and shoe manufacturers of the country as well as the consumers.
 The Packers crippiins the Tanners. 5 The packers already control the pro- duction of the greater part of the hides produced in the United States. Un- der the present Dingiey tarin they have for twelve years been enabled to get a high price for their hides by req son of the duty of 15 per cent on the foreign article, and they have grown rich during this period, while the tan- Ders of leather have had smaller profits during these years of prosperity than ever before in a like period. These tanners have been looking forward for a long time to a revision of the tariff, in the hope for relief from the injury they have felt from the duty on hides. Recently the Chicago packers have en- gagged largely in the business of tan- ming leather and are now using their production of hides and others which they purchase for this purpose. The Independent tanners must therefore either abandon the business or get their supplies of raw material from foreign countries. But they will be at a great disadvantage in tanning leather in competition with the packers. They do not object to fair competition. but they do not want the government to give the packers a special advan- tage over them in the shape of a duty on foreign hides. In short, they do not want. . tanning monopoly to be created by the tarin for the packers, thus putting ost the people who have grown up in the business.
 All Loss and No Gain For the Farmer.
 A pretence is made that the farmers' and cattle raisers get some benefit from the increased price of hides caused by the duty. It has been shown conclusively, however, that this is not the case, as the price of the ami nal is based on its beef value and not on the value of the hide, which is a very minor part. The packer who takes of the hide and sells it is the one who gets the increased price be- cause of the duty. All intelligent farm CTS know very well that the packers pay little or none of this increased value of the hide to the farmer when they buy his cattle. The duty on hides does, however, add to the cost of the shoes worn by his family and the harness used on his horses.
 Moreover, the duty on hides does not cause the production of a single ad- ditional hide in this country, because cattle are raised for beef and not for the hide. This country does not and cannot produce sufficient quantity of hides. It is therefore most absurd and wrong to injure the leather and shoe manufacturers of the country by de- priying them of the raw material need ed In their business and to give a practical monopoly to the big packers.
 The consumsrs Must Protest
 The Payne bill as passed by the House of Representative made hides free, but 1t is the intention of the sen- ate to restore the duty of 15 per cent on hides. A vigorous protest should be made by the people against this duty, the only effect of which would be to foster monopoly and add to the cost of necessity of life.
 Hidden rredsure IntEngIana.
 In England when hidden treasure is