The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-05-10
FREE HIDES
Statement of the Case of the
Shoe and Leather Manu-
facturers.
(F'rom a speech by former Governor
Douglas of Massachusetts, before
President Roosevelt, Novem-
Der Is 1869

(From a speech by former Governor
Douglas of Massachusetts, before
| President Roosevelt, Novem-
| Der Is, 1869
| We are not here as the representa-
! tives of New England only but mere
to represent the whole of this great
body Of manufacturers of 100000 900
| worth of shoes. We employ some
thing more than 100000 workmen and
pay something like $4,000, 900 to wage
earners. We come here unanimous
to ask and are united in favor of the
| reduction of the duty on hfdes. rms
great industry, producing an absolute
essential to civilized life. is greatly
oppressed and burdened by what we
believe to be needless tariff duty on
hides. We are firmly convinced that
| this duty not only handicaps our IN
| dustry and prevents it's proper growth
| and expansion, both domestic ana Tor
eign, but that it is an evil to the coun-
| try as a whole. Without, as we lpe-
lieve, serving any good purpose, TINS
| tariff duty heavily taxes articles es-
sential for the health and comfort OF
| every man, woman and child In this
land, and thus greatly increases the
cost of living. This tax bears most
heavily upon laboring people, who
| spend almost as much for shoes, per
CAPITA as do our professional people.
/ Moreover, the cost of the leather In
i the cheap, heavy shoes worn by the
/ great mass of our people is proportion
/
and highly finished shoes.
| Thus while we are pleading for the
consideration of the interests OF those
| engaged in manufacturing and repair
gagged in manufacturing harnesses,
bags, belts, ETC., we are also pleading
for the consideration of the welfare OF
so, 600, 600 people who wear shoes.
About 240 DOC, 900 pairs of shoes are
made annually in this country. The
differences in the prices Of sole leather
between this country and CANADA,
where there is no difference on hides,
which equals from about four to seven
cents a pair on the average factory
cost of our shoes. And in this con-
nection, Mr.. President. wish to make
quite clear to you that while seven
cents additional cost on a pair of shoes
| may seem an unimportant matter to
| the ordinary person, that amount rep
resepts more than the profit made by
the average manufacturer. So you
can understand we are pleading for
| the very existence of our industry.
Previous to 1912 hides and skins were
admitted free of duty. From 1912 to
1872 they were dutiable at from to 10
per cent. From 1872 to 1897 they were
| free Of duty. In 1897, after twenty
| five years of free hides. a. duty Of 10
per cent. was put on cattle hides, 9TH
err hides and skins being left on the
| free list. This Is per cent. duty, so
per cent. higher even than the war
! duty levied from 1861 to 1872, was put
on despite the protest of the boot and
shoe manufacturers.
| In July, 1897, hides were but nine
cents a pound. After this date they
began to increase rapidly, and have
continued to advance, until on Novem-
a pound. There is good reason for
believing that the Is per cent. duty on
hides is of no particular benefit either
to large or small cattle raisers. and we
x--&l 4toA III Izr&x -
levied primarily for the benefit of the
cattle raiser. In this country cattle
are raised and slaughtered principally
for beef. Hides are an incidental pro-
| duct of the butchering business. 1t
| is absurd to suppose that putting a
tariff on one Of the by-products of the
! beef industry will materially change
the prices paid for cattle. These
| huctuate, or would f1uctuate IL there
were no combinations to interfere with
economic laws. in accordance with the
supply and demand for cattle for beef
purposes.
between the prices of steers and of
their hides is shown clearly by Stats
tics for the last ten years. Thus,
while the prices of hides are now Is L.
in July, 1897, the prices Of steers have
averaged, except for the year 1902, but
| little (perhaps Is per cent? higher
than before. The exceptionally high
PTtCoS Ol lux were ,Qu0 TO the very
small corn crop Of 1901. During the
last three years the prices of cattle
have. declined materially, while the
prices of hides have risen. Thus,
while prices of cattle are now lower
than October, 1904, prices of hides are
now more than 40 per cent higher than
then.
We may, then, be reasonably certain
does not protect or benefit the cattle
raiser. 1t does however compel all
farmers to pay higher prices for boots,
| shoes, harnesses, saddles and other
leather goods.
l. 1t is essential that we import large
quantities of foreign hides. Our i'm
ports for the fiscal year ended June
80. 1905. were valued at $14,949.62s. We
own boots and shoes. About rs per
cent. of all leather made in this coun-
try is made from imported hides and
skins. Could these come in free of
duty, and should leather decline here
to the level of foreign markets. we
could not only make cheaper shoes for
ourselves but we could increase our
export business many fold. For,
than sS,o00,0o0 worth of shoes a year,
handicapped as swe are Sby what we
contend is an onerous, unnecessary
and unjust duty.
Governor Douglas read a letter 10
| show that leather in the Canad,sn
market sold at from 2 1-2 to cents a
pound less than in the nited States.
| This difference, the Governor explain
ed, was caused by the Is per cent duty
on hides. Continuing he safd:)
In the boot and shoe industry we pay
the highest prices paid on earth, but
we have the cheapest labor when eff
ffciency and product are considered.
Neither we manufacturers nor our en-
ployes are protected to any consider
| able extent by the duty of Is per cent
on boots and shoes. We will consent
to a reasonable reduction of this duty
willingly in order to obtain free hides
and cheap labor.
All we ask is free field and no
favor either in our own or in foreign
markets. Take away the duties that
prevent us from obtaining leather at
the same prices paid by our foreign
competitors and we will not only hold
our own markets with or without
| duty on shoes but we will invade for
eign markets on an extensive scale.