Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1919-09-16

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picked out as the shining light in prof
lteerlng Is not clear. Because. as a
mater OF fact. the retailing of shoes
repeatedly has been shown TO be one
OF the most economically conducted
! lines OF retail trade. There is also
10 be considered the great basic fact
that shoes today are cheaper In the
united states States than anywhere
else In the word, quality for quality
shoes, MS matter of fact, are not
hish even now when you take into con-
SlueFation the comparative value OF
! o'her commodities, For instance, take
| IoWas biggest money producer. corn.
| rem bushels at todays market price
VIII buy SIS pair OF shoes, a case of
/ eggs VIII buy a $3.50 pair. and those
shoe prices denote luxury shoes not
the kind that used to sell for s35O and
- the statement frequently Is
near" tnat 80 formerly bought the best
Shoes 10 be had. That statement. II
amended to read "the best shoes TO
be bought In Marshaltown and cities
| or like class would be all right. bu:
- never bought. in my experience Of
~ years, the best shoes made. Henry
Garside, a BROOKLYN manufacturers
product. sold for from sl2 to SIS Is
years. $50, as likewise did Thomas
Corts OF New York. But in those DAYS
shoes of that class .were not in de-
mand outside Of cities Of the first
class. Today Marshalltown, to a lin
tied extent, demands those grades, and
even people who can't afford them de-
sire them and it's well they do. as it's
this human desire to improve living
conditions that spells progress, hut it's
not necessary to spend SIS to $50 for
shoes unless you want to. A good
stylish shoe can yet be had for So to
$40. and If you just want good leather
shoes and are not particular for the
! latest STYLES. YOU can buy plenty at
from 81 to $3.50.
But the above statements probably
do not answer the popular inquiry:
why are shoes that formerly retailed
at 81 now being sold Mt $50 I'll try
and make that plain The cattle herds
OF France and England alone have
decreased 100000 600 head since 1914.
From Russia. to whom We formerly
looked for large Quantities of horse
hides. calf and goat skins. we have re-
ceived practically none for four years.
In fact, our total imports of leather OF
all kinds has decreased over 40 per
cent. and for the same period of time
our exports of shoes have increased
over 30 per cent. and on leather of all
kinds mot shoeS) over TOO per cent
South American, India and Australia
are practically the only markets left
us except our own in which 10 obtain
any, appreciate supply of green hides,
and in all those markets we come into
competition with buyers from foreign
countries who are buying. as ! previ-
ously stated. for countries where shoes
are selling for higher values than. in
the United States, and we in conse-
quence had to meet the price If we
wanted the hides. The INQUIRY might
occur 10 the lay mind right here, why
not let the foreign buyers have these
hides he was so willing to pay fancy
price for and nut an embargo on our
own hides produced here and keep them
at home for the American consumer!
The reasons were that We only pro-
duce As per cent of our requirements
in calf skins and none at all In goat
skins (from which vici kid is made)'
ard today IS per cent of all our won1-
ems shoes are made. of kid skins. be-
cause thatsis the tqnly skin that will
produce ths. fine stladss women now
demand. and the only skin that VIII
make a fine. soft wearing leather suit
able to the finer grades Of shoes.
This skin is relieved some by kan
CARGO skin. which is likewise an i'm
portation from Australia. The COW
hide. which is our large production,
makes sole leather and when split 10
bring it down in weight and thickness
makes the cheaper, gffdSs OF mems
dress shoes and work shoes, and even
of that we don't produce enough for
our needs. In regard to an embargo
we are the largest tanners OF leather
in the world. We takesthe raw hides
from countries like India. China, South
America, Australia and numerous oth-
ers, tan them here and sell them back
the finished leather. II we were to
refuse TO sell them the finished leath-
er thy would refuse to sell us the
hides. start their own tanneries, and IN
a year we would be worse Off than
now.
feel most Of your readers are
aware of the shortage OF shipping. the
enormous increase in ocean freight
rates and ocean insurance, the I'M
mense raise IN price of chemicals USED
IN tanning. including dyes. but they
probably are not aware that 1t re-
uuircs 140 distinct operations per-
formed by labor to complete shoe
from the leather. not saying anything
about the labor that enters into the
tanning of the hide the telling OF the
maple trees IN Maine from which the
lasts are made, the labor that enters
into the construction of the paper car
tons and paper shipping containers, all
down thru the line until the fnshed
shoe represents so per c-nt OF its Vaiue
in labor costs, and labor costs have
advanced in the shoe industry com
mensurate with the increased cost OF
! living. ~as
| Now in none of these above factors