The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-12-05
BOOST IN COST
OF FOOTWEAR
SHORTAGE IN LEATHER SUPPLY
WILL FORCE PRICE HIGHER &C
CORDING TO MERCHANTS WHO
HAVE RECEIVED LATE QUOTA
TIoNs ALONG THIS LINE.

North Dakota merchants who have
received late quotations from shoe
manufacturers say the price OF all
grades Of leather shoes Is certain to
increase. A decrease in the production
Of hides and hide products has been
accompanied by an increase in the de-
mand for footwear, it is said. The
rapid depletion Of the herds has cur
tailed the supply OF hides and leather,
as we'll as Of meats. and the manufac-
turers Of shoes frankly say that mer-
chants must expect higher prices.
The spread Of European and Amer
lean fashions in footwear among the
oriental races is also a factor in send
ing UP the price Of leather. Every time
a heather takes to wearing shoes he
helps to boost the price Of footwear.
Shoe manufacturers are in agree
ment that all leather footwear will be
considerably higher in price within a
or so. Mems shoes Of the quality
that sold in 1904 for SO cents whole-
sale, had last year advanced to $1.23,
or about 33 per cent in eight years.
"1 az SalA SIoSS OIL the sort That
sold for 1925. wholesale, In 1900. sold
for $3.05 in 1912. In the past two
years alone the price Of leather has
advanced from 20 to so per cent.
our house does not expect to be
able to sell shoes any cheaper for the
condition Of the cattle market makes
certain that reductions in the price
or leather cannot be expected" said
tn treaveling I'm a letter I have
just received it is asserted that while
in the price of hides and
hide products will occur from time to
time, the underlying tendency in the
price movement has been upward for
the past twenty years and promiss
to continue in that direction.
Decrease in Production.
hi largest part Of the domestic hide
supply is obtained from cattle other
than mich COWS, in other words from
me peer and range cattle. but there
has been a gradual decrease in the
number Of beef and range cattle in the
united States during the past thirteen
years. In Texas in the thirteen year
Perloo the decrease was Al, per cent;
for the United States as a whole it
was 29 per cent. During the same
period the increase in population in
the United States was rs per cent. This
yOa4 1SAdS Will market approximately
0O0,O22 head Of cattle compared with
8.00O,5 $40 head in 1900 The produc-
ton of cattle in the United States this
year totals $4,000, 900. The pom
,uIat1on of the United States is esti-
this year at So, 900, 900, compared
with 75,O00s9 94 in 1900"
In 1900, it is said, there were for
every 100 people, sixty-two beef cattle:
in 1910, there were for every 100 peo-
pie, forty-five beef cattle, and in 1918
there are for every 100 people thirty
seven beef cattle.
If the cattle continue to decrease at.
the present rate, and the population to
increase, 1t Is not too much to say hal
i've years from now there will not be
more than thirty beef cattle for every
100 OF population. 1t is fair to assume
that supply Of cattle in 1918 will be
less than half what 1t was at the be-
ginning Of the century.
The shoe business of the United
States is flourishing and hides must
be imported in immense quantities.
The increase in middle weight hides
since January, 1911, has been 40 per
cent. The increase in Ohio bufr has
been 80 per cent and the increase in
the cost of Chicago city calf skins has
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