Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 July 1909 — "Hides of Cattle." [ARTICLE]

"Hides of Cattle."

Only about one-third of the hides and skins of animals imported into the United States pay Import duty. Not all of the duty paying stock goes into shoe leather. The average man and average woman are very particular and very sensitive as to shoe leather. A walking trip that isn’t “worth shoe leather” is a popular standard of good-for-nothingness, so that high priced shoes may, act as a damper on enterprise, whether for profit or pleasure. The dutiable group of hides and skins under the present law is known on the schedule as ‘‘hides of cattle.” Other groups which pay no duty include skins which are used in manufacturing the finer and lighter grades of shoe leather. The government estimates that imported hides and skins represent but one-third of the value of this material used in. this couptry. We export annually leather and manufactures from leather equal to about 50 per cent of the value of the hides and skins imported. The duty of 15 per cent upon “bides of cattle” has been maintained in the hope that protection would develop the hide industry up to the point where it would supply the home demand. Many congressmen and senators continue to favor the duty on the ground that it encourages home industry and has no vital bearing on the price of shoes or other articles made from leather.