The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-05-25
where THE SHOE Is PINCHED
Continued From Page Fifteen

IS to allow NOBODY TO DO anythiu-
directly or indirectly connected Wi.
the steer which it can do. 1t ownas
the hides; why should it not tan them
And promptly it began to ACQUIRE
tanneries. There is no space here L.
| go into the history Of the steady alb
soption by the packers Of this great
American industry which has been 60
ing on in the last few years. It is
the familiar tale: all that is essentiaI
here is the fact that today the united
packers, Armour,Swift and Morris con
troll fully thirty Of the largest tanner
les in the country. There is no well
informed and candle person in tn
leather or shoe trade who does not sa-
that it is inevitable that the packer
should soon own, control and operat-
the entire leather business of the COur-
try.
And the next step? Signs of uhae
il will be are already abroad. Repea1-
ed rumors have come that the A.
mours were going into the shoe bus
| ness. The alarm that they meant not
only to absorb shoe making but har-
ness, betting and other leather mani
featuring has sounded!
In the reports of the recent tar
hearings IS a letter from the preside
OF the Wholesale Saddlery Associat.er
of the United States protesting againsr
the duty on hides. In this letter H.
writes:
The statement that follows may az
pear to you very far fetched, but it
my confident personal opinion that il
the condition which confronts leathar
manufacturers and the manufacTuT-
ers and the manufacturers Of leather
articles continues and advances viii
the same strides during the next ten
years that it has during the pas fiFe.
not only will the beef packers contrg
the manufacture Of the leather, bur
they Will likewise control by owner
ship the shoe, harness, betting, and
other leather industries"
And this is only one Of the several
such intimations to be found in the
reports. There is nothing surprising IL
it. That the packers should absorl
the manufacturing from leather il
quite logical as that they should MAX.
leather.
And what is to be done about il
Certainly any special advantage which
these combinations ave through tho
tariff should be taken away. Hid
and flax should be free as the Pawn
bills provide-though whether the
Will be when it is finally passed, no
man knOWeth.
There is 10 rational interpretations
of the doctrine Of protection which
can defend the duty still left on linen
thread. All that decently can be asked
for it is enough to cover the dlfter-
enc in wage cost here n abroad
enough to defend Mr.. Barbour in the
United States from Mr.. Barbour II
! Ireland. According to the calculations
of a practical independent thread mar
doing business in both countries. thu
actual difference at his time. IN tu6
cost Of production in Ireland anU Tn
United States is not over six cents
pound. But the Payne bill fixes tn
protection Of the three linen threads
most used in shoe making 10 Il cents
IS Sd cents and 20 cents. It is doubt
ful that this reduction is sufficient.
now that the linen thread maker gets
his raw material free, to produce am
effect at all on the price to the trad
The duty is still grotesquely prohlb-
tive.
Whether the relation Of the Unitao
Shoe Machinery Company to the shu-
IS oppressive to the shoe manufacture
and to the inventor is too compllcatr
for discussion here. 1t is one which
deserves dispassionate and serioHs
study. To the writer's mind the So
riOus point is not so much the leasr~
Of which the would-be i~ndependent
shoe manufacturer complains or til
practice of requiring that he buy Ger
tain supplies Of-the concern to use I'LL
machines he is getting rent free, but
rather the practice, of not selling tn
shoe manufacturing equipment so thai
the shoe maker can never carry OF al
independent business. He is always d.
pendent. This practice, as has bee:
said. is no invention of the connpan>.
They found it in all branches OF the
business when they formed the con-
bination.
Here then is where the shoe j.
pinched; certain it is that if We car
not find legitimate and fair checks O."
these rapidly expanding monopONe
one or the other. or the two in a
entente cOrdiale, will soon form IT.
greatest trust the world has ever Sc.
"a perfect nucleus for the socialist@
state! Fresh support for the fan1Illa-
a~cgn1nPnt hat the most affantiNp c--