"THE ANGLICAN CHURCH CON' STITUTION."

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1652, 20 January 1913, Page 8

"THE ANGLICAN CHURCH CON' STITUTION."

Sir,—ln your leaden of .Wednesday Inst on the atovo subject, you state that should the Church of New Zealand separate from the Mother Church, "the present generation would not see the cross rf. a i't' or the 'dot of an 'i' removed" from''Bible or Prayer Book. - In view of the attempts made in Parliament last session to maio a serious and objectionable alteration in tlw Table of Affinity—to legalise the marringo of uncle and niece (deceased wife's sister's daughter), and seeing that the New Zealand clergy raised no protest in defence of their Church, I consider separation would have most disastrous results in this country.—l am, etc., "CHURCHMAN." THE PRICE OF LEATHER. Sir,—As regards tho state of tho hido and leather market being so high* and which, means that boots .will' bo dearer, I '•ncloso a cutting, taken from the "Superintendent and Foreman" of November 20, 1912, thinking that same might bo of interest to your readers, and also explaining tho situation.—l am, eto., • , MANUFACTURER, Dunedin, January 15..

Tho enclosure i 9 as follows:—"Striking ovidenco of the deficiency in the domcstio hide supply is furnished by tho present record-breaking, import of foreign hides and skins. In the opinion of a leading shoe manufacturer excessive importations might weaken the hide market, but even tho present volunio ' of imports,' which is nearly 48 per cent, in excess of last year, is not sufficient to offset the de-. creased .domestic cattle ■ slaughter and growing ' consumptive requirements for leather, so says the New York L Wall Street Journal. In connection with) its bearing on tho domestic situation, however, it is interesting to note that for tho eight months ending August 31, hide and skin' importations totalled 409,000,000 pounds against 278,000,000 pounds in the corresponding period of 1011, 350,000,000 pounds in the first eight months of. 1010 and 357,000,000 pounds, in the samo period of 1009, which was tlie previous record year. Tho falling off in the domestic supply is evidenced in almost as striking manner l>y tho fact that the number of cattle 6laughtored at five of tlio leading Western markets from January 1 to October 12 showed a decreaso of . oyer 31 per cent, compared with the corresponding period last year, being exactly 2,884,733 head, against 1,235,860 tho year ' previous, or 1,351,127 less. This alone means a shortago of 2,702,251 sides of leather. Hide, prices show no tendency to soften. In tho Chicago packer market heavy nativo steers are quoted 193 to 20 cents, compared with 16J cents, last year, and 153 in 1910. Going back to 1903, present quotations compare with' 10} to Hi cents, for heavy native steer hides, an advance of 83 per cent. In practically all varieties of hides thero has been a corresponding increase. With the exception of 1907 tho prico of hides has mounted steadily for the last ten years. Although very largo importations of hides may check the prico advance, it is unlikely that they will materially lower" values owing to the fact that, liido shortage and high prices arc world-wide. In tfiis connection it is interesting to note that tho Russian tanners in 1010 wero paying 32 per cent, mora for their hides than in 1903. Even t.'iough iacrewij domcstio cattle supply might re-

lieve the market an tho United Statos, its result,would not bo felt for a period of one or two years.' Those conversant with tho situation can, therefore, sco nothing ahead but continued high prices.