464 [Assembly 



eign hides from here; while by duties which are in effect prohibito- 

 ry, and with the advantage of a draw-back of five per cent on for- 

 eign hides imported through the States, she is enabled to supply 

 herself with leather trom her own tanneries cheaper than we can 

 furnish it. 



Since the removal of duties on leather in England, considerable 

 shipments of oak and hemlock leather have been made to that coun- 

 try; but owing to the fact of its being a new article, with the qual- 

 ity of which the consumers there were unacquainted, it met with but 

 partial favor and dull sale. The system of economy so rigidly car- 

 ried out there, demands that we should prepare our leather to suit 

 their wants and prejudices. Instead of being shaped in sides with 

 the head and offal attached, they prefer it in butts, in other words, 

 the hide so trimmed as to be free from head, shanks, and other less 

 valuable parts, which are used for different and inferior purposes. 

 Several parcels have been so prepared, and immediately met with 

 ready sale at remunerating prices, and extensive stocks are now in 

 process of tanning, especially adapted to the English market. Our 

 superior natural advantages in the cheapness of hides, bark, and fa- 

 cilities of tanning, render it certain that we shall supply that coun- 

 try with leather. The difference in the cost of bark alone, is as 

 five to thirty, and bark constitutes one third of the cost of tanning 

 in this country, and much more than that in Europe. 



The opening of this business to us, in England, will act as a 

 powerful stimulus to our tanners to excel in their trade; for although 

 improvements in quality, and economy in the art of tanning have 

 been steadily advancing, we have not made that rapid progress 

 which ought to have resulted from our natural advantages. The 

 mass of consumers in this country prefer an inferior article at a low 

 price, rather than a good article at a high price; in other words, 

 they will wear out two pairs of poor shoes in preference to one pair 

 of good ones, notwithstanding the latter may be intrinsically the 

 most lasting and serviceable. In England, the reverse of this is the 

 case. There, consumers will wear the best and most durable, be- 

 cause they are in fact the cheapest. 



The display of leather at the last Annual Fair, was unquestiona- 

 bly the best yet exhibited, and nearly all the articles shown, chal- 

 lenge competition with the like manufactures of any country in Eu- 

 rope. The French have heretofore excelled in the manufacture of 

 calf skins, mainly in one or two particulars, toughness and mellow- 



