IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF IRON AND STEEL OF ARTICLES ON WHICH TONNAGE IS REPORTED.

In detail, the exports or iron and steel, by values, were as follows:

EXPORTS OF IRON AND STEEL-VALUES.

It will be observed that the principal increase has taken place in the heavier, cruder lines, like steel billets, steel rails, plates and structural material.

REVIEW OF THE LEATHER TRADE OF NEW-YORK,

FOR THE YEAR 1904.

THE leather trade is one of the most important industries of the country. In value of product and its manufactures it stands third, being only exceeded by the output of iron and steel and of foundries and machine shops, unless we class the slaughter and packing of meats with the manufactures, in which case leather would be fourth. The census of 1900 gave the gross value of leather and its manufactures as in excess of six hundred and fifteen millions of dollars. It is the raw material or largely so of many other manufactures as chiefly boots and shoes, harness, belting, bookbinders, pocket books, traveling bags, furniture, carriages, hatters, and in recent years clothing for outing wear, etc., etc. It is, therefore, a widely diversified industry and each department of it is almost as distinct as a different business.

It may be divided into three great branches; leather made from hides of cattle, that from skins of goat and kid and that from the skins of sheep. The leather made from hides comprises most of the branches named above. That from the skins of goat and kid mainly for fine upper leather for boots and shoes, the bookbinders, pocket books, hatters and outing garments. The leather made from the skins of sheep also enters into the same manufactures as that from goat to a greater or less extent, and generally for articles of lower priced qualities.

During recent years the leather business has shared the progress of many other of our industries, changes in method taking place with the introduction of modern scientific processes, though these are being brought about gradually in a manner consistent with the traditional conservatism of the trade. The wood of the chestnut and other trees is ground and the tannin extracted, where formally the bark only, principally of oak and hemlock, was utilized for tanning. Chemical methods also are to a great extent supplanting the former use of bark, etc., and superior leather is thus made. The excellent quality of American leather is now recognized and well established in all the markets of the world.

The year 1904 has been on the whole a prosperous one for the industry, though it has been hindered to a considerable degree by the very high prices of hides and skins during all of that period. These have prevailed not only in the domestic market, but in all the countries of the world, indicating that the consumption has

fully overtaken the supply and that the level of prices attained is likely to be continued. While an advance in the manufactured product has also been obtained, it has not been commensurate with that of the raw materials and this acts as some hindrance to a full volume of business. With the close of the year, however, buyers and sellers seemed to be coming more nearly in agreement as to future values and the prospects are that, with the establishment of confidence on the part of the buyers in the maintenance of these, a full volume of business will be done; the general conditions and prosperity of the people at large justifying this expectation.

The high prices for hides have naturally given point and impetus to the agitations for the removal of the import duty on them. It is generally acknowleged that this works a great hardship to the leather industry and does not yield a return to the Government or to any classes of our people in any degree compensating for the imposition of it. Its result is that the home buyers of boots and shoes and other leather products are compelled to pay higher prices, while on the other hand buyers of our leather abroad are able to procure it and also its products at lower prices. It can scarcely be doubted that this duty largely contributes to the maintenance of the abnormally high prices for domestic hides. It is hoped that the new Congress will restore all classes of hides to the free list on which they were for many years.

Our export trade of leather and its manufactures has shown a steady growth and well distributed throughout foreign countries. A large gain was made in the exports of sole leather, those for 1904 being 43,870,238 pounds, valued at $8,685,190, against 33,501,774 pounds, valued at $6,320,663 for 1903. The larger part of this was owing to the greatly increased exports to Japan, these being nearly two millions of dollars in excess of those for 1903. This important development was directly due to the war, but it seems fair to assume that we shall continue to hold at least a considerable part of that trade for the future. Exports of upper leather (with the exception of glazed kid, which showed some decrease) also marked a gain of more than half a million of dollars. A noticeable feature of the export business in the manufactures of leather was in boots and shoes, illustrating and giving point to the remark heretofore made regarding the effect of the duty upon hides. Our exports of boots and shoes to the United Kingdom tell off by nearly half a million of dollars, while the export of sole leather increased to an approximately equal sum. Notwithstanding this decrease in the export of boots and shoes to Great Britain, the total exports were in excess, though not so largely as otherwise would have been the case of those of 1903. The total exports of leather and its manufactures of all classes amounted for the calendar year to $35,824,492, against $32,723,605 in 1903 and $30,551,072 in 1902. The table that is appended here with shows our foreign commerce of sole and upper leather for 1904, with a comparison with the previous year: