St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-09-06
Sen. Page and Sen. Bailey.

The assertion of certain democra-
tic senators that Senator Page of
Vermont got the better of Senator
Bailey, the fiery senator from Texas,
seems to be borne out by the Con-
gressional Records report of the in
cident.
Senator Bailey was in error as to
an overstatement of the loss or dam
age to the American farmer by rea-
son of the duty on hides, according
to Senator Pages understanding of
the matter. Senator Bailey had
stated that the loss to the farmer
was $3.50 per hide.
Senator Page, who knows thing
or two about hides, showed that the
average hide weighs about SO pound
and the average high price of hides
up to the passage of the Payne-Al-
drich law abroad was 10 cents per
pound. This, according to Senator
Pages argument, meant that a So
pound hide is worth $500, and that
Is per cent duty means rs cents.
Senator Page in the course of his
remarks said:
''The senator from Texas speaks
of no hide being dutiab1e except
heavy hides. All hides, or all that
are known in the market as hides,
hide only as a hide when it weighs
rs pounds. OF the hides the farm
ers raise in this country there are
two classes. There is the class
known to the trade as extremes, run
ming from 25 to 40 pounds; then
there is the class known as Bluffs,
weighing 40 to SO pounds. In adj
dition to these there are the steer
hides, but they are smaller in guam
tity. l say to the senator, in all
good faith, that in my opinion the
average Of hides is below, rather
than above, 60 pounds, and there
fore, it cannot be true that the loss
is $3.50 on a hide, or even $1.00.
Nov, one word more in regard
to the control of the Swifts, because
1 suppose there is no harm in coming
to that fact in the concrete. 1 say
to the senator that 20 years ago it
was possible for a tanner to go. into
the Boston market and buy of any
one of half a dozen hide dealers
three, four, and five thousand New
England hides. I want to say to
him that to day I do not believe
there is one place in New England,
outside of Swift's and one other,
where you can go and buy 5000
New England hides; l do not think
you can buy 5000. The facts are
that in nearly every prominent city
of New England the Swifts have
bought out the hide business. The
exceptions are very few, including
Pittsfeld, Mass, and three or four
smaller towns. They absolutely con
troll 70 to 80 per cent. OF the coun-
try kill of hides in New England.
With that control in the hands of
the Swifts, and being, as I believe
they are, the largest tanners of New
England, indeed they are fast COM
ing to be the largest in the country,
because they are constantly enlarg-
ing their plants-with that fact so
patent that nobody to day in the
leather trade denies it, it comes to
this, that controlling the country
hides and 40 per cent. of the pack
Eers' hides, the large tanning firms of
the country are compelled to buy
their raw material-their hides-of
their competitors, condition so
ruinous that it would, in my judg-
ment, have driven out of business
in a few years the Independent tan
ners of this country. The fact that
we opened our doors to the whole
world and gave them a chance to go
into the worlds markets to buy their
hides has been their salvation.
zone word more, because l know
we are getting to late hour, l want
to make one further statement in
regard to hides. We are a prosper
Gus people, and year by year the
price of the raw material which en-
tiers into the manufacture of boots
and SHOES has been advancing. l
want to say to the senator that today
the price of calf skins is higher than
ever before in the history of calf