The Topeka state journal., 1911-09-21
AFTFR THE SHOE TRUST.

That President Taft's administration
is working diligently if not noisily, to
bring to the bar of Justice all Illegal
com mbinations of capital and monopo-
lies, more commonly referred to as
trusts. is made apparent again by the
unexpected announcement from Bos-
ton that the government has secured
indictments against the principal of
ficia1s and one of the large stockhold
ers in the United Shoe Machinery COM
pany, which is the backbone of the
shoe trust" These indictments allege
conspiracy in the restraint of trade
Not only in the dissolution Of this
company in prospect but the men un-
der indictment stand a chance of go
ing TO jail as we'll as being fined. And
few jail sentences for the trust
magnates who are guilty of violating
the Sherman law are needed. They
will be far more serviceable in bring
ing illegal monopolies to time than all
the fines or orders of dissolution that
might be promulgated against them.
Indeed. it would not be a bad plan to
amend the Sherman law SO that more
severe prison sentences might be
handed out.
Certain it is, or at least, this is the
opinion of the average consumer, that
the "shoe trust is deserving of the
swatting it is apparently about to get
For the past several years the price of
shoes has been going UP and up. OF
course this increase in the price of
shoes was at first attributed in the
main to the tariff. Before the revision
of the tariff was undertaken two years
ago. Ida M. Tarbell, for instance, de-
voted much time and energy to
series of articles showing that the high
price of shoes was due to the duty on
hides She had figured it out that if
hides were admitted to this country
free of duty there would be an imme-
diate saving to the people in their shoe
bills of many many millions of dollars
a year in the aggregate. The duty was
taken off of hides in the Payne-AIdrich
tariff law. That law has been in oper-
alton for two years. Has the price of
shoes dropped to lower figures? No
body who has bought any has noticed
any reduction. There is no doubt that
free hides should have a tendency to
reduce the price of shoes. But the old
law Of supply and demand gets in its
work in this connection and during
unusual demand for leather that did
not prevail heretofore; namely the
leather that is used in such quantities
for the seats and coverings of automo-
biles This was a leather demand
that was not considered when the fig
uring was done that free hides would
necessarily effect a reduction in the
price of shoes
Anyhow free hides, and reduced
duties on boots and shoes did not do
the trick. There was a deeper reason
for a keeping up of their prices The
government seems to have laid its
finger on the sore spot in the proceed
ing it has brought against the United
Shoe Machinery company, which has
succeeded in gobbling up most of the
shoe machinery manufacturing con-
Germs in the country. This company
controls practically all the machinery
that is essential to the modern shoe
trade. 1t has been levy
ing tribute accordingly. 1t has been
the lever that has helped to keep up |
the price of shoes. If the government /
succeeds in smashing it, and punish
ing its promoters as they seem to de-
serve, a great victory will have been
won in the interests of the people.