Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 June 1909 — THE WEST AWAKE [ARTICLE]

THE WEST AWAKE

The Leather Manufacturers In Mass Meeting JO SAVE THEIR INDUSTRY Strong Statements to Congress Against the Duty on Hides—The President of a Cattle Company Shows That the Cattle Raisers Got No Benefit From the Duty—How Senstore Can Bo Influenced. At the recent mass meeting In Chicago by the leather manufacturers to demand free hides, at which meeting there was represented more than DO per cent of the entire output of leather goods In the great central west, a very Interesting letter by A. D. Browne, President of the Hamilton-Browne Shoe Company of St, Louis, was presented to the meeting, indorsed by unanimous vote and forwarded to Washington by telegraph. This letter was addressed to Senator Dolliver, urging him not to stand with ’Aldrich for a duty on hides, and contained the following straightforward statements: The West end East United. "We of the west have been working hard in conjunction with the eastern manufacturers of boots and shoes for the abolition of the 15 per cent duty on hides, knowing, as we do, what the continuation of it means to the Independent tanner if he cannot get relief from this burden before it is too late to save him. "We assume that your attitude i& inspired by a feeling that the growers of cattle are benefited by the 15 per cent duty on hides. This is not the case. The writer of this is largely interested both In the manufacture of shoes in Missouri and In the growing of cattle for beef purposes in Texas. The cattle company of which 1 am president sells annually from s(>o,(K>o to ,$75,000 worth of beeves and has done so for 1 therefore speak hot in any theoretical manner, but by the letter. Hide* Merely a By-product. “I know from actual experience that the animals that my cattle company breed and sell to the packers are valued from the beef standpoint entirely and that the hide is merely a byproduct along with the horns, the bones, the hair and the hoofs. The writer as a manufacturer of shoes, one of the largest In the world, is therefore in a position to see the operation of this iniquitous tariff on hides from both sides of the line of division, and I say to you in the light of the knowledge that 1 have acquired through actual experience that unless the present 15 per cent duty on hides is abolished it is but a short time until the Independent tanner will be forced out of business or into clerkships with the packing-tunning interests as they are now constituted. "Do uot allow yourself to be persuaded that you are working in the Interest of the west when you lend your support to the proposition to place a duty on hides. We of the west do Dot want tills duty. It operates directly against all of the best interests of the west and south and profits absolutely no one but the packers. "I realize the full weight of the statements I am making to you and hold myself responsible to you for the facts embodied in them. But do not give your vote for a duty on hides upon the theory that you are protecting the west against the east. This is not the case. Urgent Demand* Needed. One of the telegrams from the convention to one of the senators read: "You must stand firm for free hides. The country outside the trusts demand ft" Aggressive and persistent demands of this sort have proven to be the most effective way to Influence senators. The senators appear to think that the silence of the people in the face of proposed additional plunder signifies indifference.