The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-02-04
HUMANITY IN TRANSPORTATION
DECREASE OF LIVE STOCK.

DECREASE OF LIVE STOCK.
I'VE copy the following from the Inter
Ocean in relation to the Report Of Mr..
Wilson, on the Transportation question.
Mr.. Wilson handles this question in
mastery manner, and is probably as well
posted as any man in Congress on the
subject. Whatever he undertakcs.is done
thoroughly, and Congress and the people
are beginning to understand and appreciate
the worth of the man. Since this selec-
ton was put in type we have received
from Mr.. Wilson COPY Of the Report and
lind it contains many facts of interest to
the public. If we had space we would
like to publish it eItire
During the past three or four years
good deal has Seen said in the papers con-
corning the humane proposition OF trans
porting ANIMALS Intended to be slaughter
ed for food to the Eastern markets IN
what arc known as palace stock cars.
Like every other proposition based upon
the idea OF alleviatng suffering, the prop
osition was greeted with much favor
though much that was said Of it may have
been instigated by the parties owning the
patenss ON these cars. 1t was claimed
Cor them that, as the animals could lie
down be easily watered from any ordina-
~ railway tank fed at any stopping place,
thty could not only be transported with
greatly increased comfort to themselves,
bat that they would be in much better
condition when received in the Eastern
markets. The advocates of this lnnova-
ton 'fn Transporting finally besought the
interposition of Congress, and asked that
= bill might be passed compelling the rail
road companies to haul over their lines
all such palace stock cars rs might be Of
fercd for that purpose. This bill was re-
ferred to the Committee on Agriculture,
and the subject was handed over to the
Hon. James Wilson, of Iowa, a member
of that committee. for his examination
and report He is himself practical
farmer, stock raiser. and shipper, and he
entered into an investigation Of the sub
ject with much zeal. He not only thor
sOughly studied she subject, but persuaded
q shipper to load one of these cars in this
city, taking passage himself in the same
train in which it was hauled through to
New York. He has just written his re
port, and, from the pains he has taken, is
entitled to speak with some degree OF au-
thority. 1t is his opinion that the palace
stock cars are no improvement over those
at present in use, and for the following,
among other reasons: They are exceed
ingly difficult to load, and wild cattle can
only be put into them by the use of such
extreme force as to incur great liability 10
injury. Animals can lie down, but as the
palace stock cars are now constructed,
only in one constrained, unnatural posi-
,tion, from which no healthful rest can be
secured. True, they can be fed and wat
cred dd li6itum, but experience shows
that cattle lose their disposition to eat
and drink when they are on the road.
This is due to excitement and fear and
consequent nervous exhaustion. Wild
cattle from the southwest, which are sub
ject from their natures to most abuse, can
only be loaded into these cars with very
great difficulty, or not at all. Tame, quiet
cattle, which could be easily put into the
stalls of these palace cars, are now care
fully treated by shippers, whose interest
it is to get them INTO market in as good
condition as possible. The palace cars
arc longer, heavier, and consequently
more expensive to haul. The experience
of shippers, and we presume they can be
relied upon to tell the truth, for the hui
mainly question is one upon which their |
own property largely hinges, is to the eff
feet, that unless suffering from overload
ing, the animals 60 through quite as com
Portable in the common as in the palace
cars. The first day on the road is the one
in which they suffer most. The greatest
trouble arises from occasional overlooking
but this is a wrong which the railroad
companies themselves are seeking to pro-
hibit. EMBELLISHMENTS of meats sell
dom arise from any incident Of transport
alton, but is due, generally, to the dis
ordered condition OF animals before they
reach the western stock yards. This evil
can be remedied by municipal law where
the meats are sold. Lastly, it is deemed
inexpedient to subject producers to the
UxactiOns of any patent monopoly until I
Congress snail have remcdied the unequal
operations of the patent laws, which is
now o large element In making grainrais-
ing profitless. As the cost of transporta
ton, which is now heavy, falls upon the
producer, the passage of such an act as
this before Congress shall have prohibit
ed excessive frcights, and provided the
machinery for making such prohibition
effective. would be an additional tax up
on production, very much like erecting
the supeEstructure in advance of the foun
dation.
But Mr.. Wilson's report becomes highly
interesting and valuable for other peril
nent reasons. Looking into this subject
OF transportation, and its present and
prospective burdens Of taxation, he turn
ed his attention to the sources whence our
supplies of live stock now come, to feed
this country and for export to other coun-
tries. The facts he has grouped together |
are OF the highest Importance to Western |
agriculturists, in. their bearing upon the
subjects of production and wealth. The
live stock interest-from which source |
alone onc-fifth Of our products for export /
are derived-is not keeping pace with the
growth of population In fact, so rapidly t
is this discrepancy increasing, that the /
time is Fastening when our laboring class
es, like those of Europe, will be unable to
indulge in the luxury Of animal food,
statement which goes far in the direction
of confirming the theory of Malthus. Pop
ulation is increasing; the production of
live stock decreasing Mr.. Wilson finds
that cattle, sheep, and swine are decreas-
ing in the manufacturing States, and that
they are not increasing in many of the
Southern States. Neither are they in
creasing as fast as they should in the great
grain producing States Of the West 1t il
q startling fact that there were fewer do
nestle animals in the United States in
1870 than in 1860. 1t is questionable in
deed, whether we have to-day as many
swine in this country as we had in 1850,
Notwithstanding the extremely high price
Of the products of these animals. The
pioneers of any country are able to raise
but few domestic animals, and must there
nh ;nh In - 1vs |
, speedier return, impoverishes both the
soil and its cultivator. This is true Of the
production of cotton and tobacco. The
South has been too poor since the war to
raise her own meats, and is, therefore, still
to depend upon the Northwest
Tor her supplies. Cattle and sheep are
slightly increasing in Great Britain, while
swine are decreasing. These facts are
succinctly set forth in tables accompany
ing the report, to which we may have
occasion to refer hereafter.
Reform-improvement-in the modes
OF shipping live stock may he looked for
IN the direction Of specdier transportation.
when double-traek freight railway
shall have been constructed from he heart
OF the great West to the seaboard, where
on cattle trains can run continually with
out being interfered with by passenger
trains, live stock can be taken to mar.
ket in oRc-half of the time which is
now required. Many cattle are now
in this city and sent East in
quarters, and this mode will be more gen
orally pursued as transportation becomes
gpeedier and the causes which now pro-
duce delays are removed. But for the I'M
faslidiousness of Eastern ca
tercrs, all meats, especially those for Win
ter consumption, might go East in this
shape at the present time, and the human
lty question would not come in at all.