The New York herald., 1879-08-31
JOHN B. butcher Tells the History of
the Union Stock Company.
COST OF YARDING CATTLE.
Extent of Jay Gould's Reform in
Erie Finances.
SARATOGA. N. Y, August 80. 1879


New York and vicinity were owned by private
parties; some years prior to its organization
the Eric Company built stock yards at Oak
Cliff the Pennsylvania road also built stock yards at
Communipaw, making strenuous efforts to obtain
control Of the cattle business about this time the
New York Board of Health published certain aroi-
trary rules, which precluded the driving
OF cattle through the streets. The stock
yards in New York referred to were located
Mt 10th street, not contiguous to the waSer'
and cattle unloaded at Manhattanvlle had to be
driven three miles to market. Commodore Wander.
bt began to look at the matter and consulted VIII
ness with regard to it, The Union Stock Yard and
Market Company was then projected by witness.
Five blocks of land running from Eleventh avenue
tho RIVER and from Sxteth to Sixty-ffth streets.
were purchased. The capital stock Of the
company was S1,0Co.000. of this 100000 We're
paid in The panic OF 1873 parayZed
tho project; Commodore Vanderbilt was called upon
and requested to take the property out of tine hands
OF the projectors build the yards and lease them to
the Stock Yard Company; Vanderbilt did not want
Erie to have any stock yards; the neces-
sity Of such yard to his roads was
urged; the proposition was to pay clean
ten per cent the investment of the railroad;
The yards completed in the spring of 1875 and
d lease made upon the terms stated. BY subse-
Qucnt amcnCment OF the capltal Stoch Oh
the stockyard company wasdecreased to 81. 7.2OO.oO0
every dollar of which paid in cash. Witness
thought the Erie yards at Oak Cliff still used
Q. Are they not. as a matter of fact. used under
an Arrangement between you and Mr.. MCPHERSON?
A. think not.
Q. Don't you know? A. Well. my construction
would be that they are not; the arrangement re-
ferred to made during the progress OF the Evener
arrangement; for a number Of years the stock
yards in and adjacent to the city of New
York had been great disturbing clement in the
Efforts Of railroads to maintain satisfactory rates for
transporting cattle; effort made by all these
stockya ards to control the MARKET the Erie Railway
had access to the stockyards of the Pennsylvania
road and also delivered stock to their yards
and to the yards of the Union Stockyard
and Marked Company; it was found after division
OF the live stock had commenced that tho same
trouble existed between the stock yards; there
competition. by reason of which it was absolutely
impossible TO maintain the rates agreed upon for
transportation; never heard OF any cutting in the
rates Of yagdaee
YARD ARRANGEMENTS AND CHARGES
This arrangement for pooling the yardage was
then mate the witness did not think the result had
been the abandonment of the OakclH yards though
they still the great difficulty is that the
markets i'll New York are too much cut up; efforts
haye been made to concentrate the market faclities
the more you can concentrate business the less viii
be the expense. and it also brings the buyer
and seller III market: under the pooling arrange
nlent rs now existing the yardage il pooled upon
the basis that cattle divided among the
three trunk lines. therefore it is immaterial to
which yard the cattle when necessary to equaize
yarase cattle carried from yard to yard Tree of
charge. but cattle would be delivered ut
any yard directed by the consignee; ninety
nlne per cent of all cattle arriving in
New York go into the Union stock yard and Market
couipany's yard; the pooling arrangement also
provides that on cattle forty-hve cents per head
shall be the yardage rates. calves ten cents,
charged tor hay consumed III the yard is So per hum
dred, Tor corn 81 90 per 100 pounds; no allowance
is made 10 the owner of stock yarded for manure;
cattle are yarded on an average OF twelve hours;
cattle unloaded and fed in Albany. and arriving
in New York soon after: are not fed there ii sold
immediately; il not sold soon they are fed; yard
age on cattle is collected before delivery but on
small stock is charged IN the freight;
it is collected with all back charges
and freight: the Stock Yard Company is
responsibility to the railroad company for freight
and back charges under the terms of the contract;
breaHg up of the evener system has not broken up
the pooling arrangement, as the railroads now per-
init shippers to ship they please. but give them
lower rate II they ship directed by the railroads;
this the shippers do largely, thus accomplishing the
equalization without the intervention. of eveners.
Witness never knew of any at tempt to establish an
upper yard by other parties for the purpose of
curing cheaper yardage. which was crushed out by
the railroads.
70 the question, What dividends do your COM
paay declare its stockp objection made by
counsel or the stock yard ON the ground that that
was looking into the private affairs OF private cor
poraton, and that they ought not to be compelled
10 inform their competitors what dividends they de-
ciarod.
AIR. 3terne replied that this was corporation
controlling the terminal facilities OF a railroad
paEy which should properly be controlled by tho
railroad company ITSELF and therefore 1t clearly
within the scope OF the Committees power 10 make
The amount OF dividends paid subject
profits were made which should have been made by
the railroad company in the proper conduct of its
business. Further tho pooling arrangement was
testified to as doing away with competition. and.
therefore. no harm could result from statement OF
the dividends.
The Chairman thought the inquiry proper; but as
NJ. butcher preferred not to disclose the matter
publicly, the committee and counsel would inspect
the books, and II they found the dividends unusu-
ally high they would then make It public.
g. When you wore. Us you testified. director in
the Harlem road il part of your business to
lock after Legislation at Albany? A. No. sir.
WHY rHE EyESEn SYSTEM WAS SET ASIDE.
O. Wel legislators. then, didY A. No. sii; 1T was
1t witness suggestion that the evener system was
broken up by Mr.. Vanderbilt; before the evener
syeein was introduced the Grand Trunk Railway was
OF tho country, and was in fact, doing the princi
pal part OF it, the Michigan Central at
this time was working in harmony with the Grand
Trunk; the Pcnnsy ylvania. Eric or New York Central
had 10 means OF knowing ascertaining what
1a'es We're charged or obtained by that line from
Chicago TO Boston and other Now England points;
our rates prior to the eveucr arrangement had
run very low run down low that there
was money in the business for companies
transporting cattle; it by of this fearful
comp petition that this method devised both tor
dividing the live stock traffic between the three lines
ana with view 10 establishing some rcnunera-
two rate Tor the roads: responsible in
the i've stock business one from each
road. selected to do the business and they did
it for long time to the satisfaction OF the conpa-
nics tar as tho companies concerned; il
of the companies behind the percentage allot-
ted to it by the agreement those teven-
cfs) called upon to make that up;
Eir Eastman selected by the New
York Central Company as their man to whom they
could apply II tney agrevcd and did not got
their percentage; this business commenced in
june, 1875, and witness thought 1t was con-
tinued under subsequent notifications of the
agreement up to April Ia OF the present
year, by increasing shipments road
flpy reAtTailcd them over another, ana by that
means business made they could not con-
troll outside shipments if. those evcners should
that means other lines did not get their
pecccntage they compelled to make 1t
,ip. Witness could not tell the proportion
OF outside shipments to the nuiuOers. shipped by
eveners, but thought that the latter did not ship
over om-tlird OF the cattle; an agreement was i'll
tended to give the companies some aaeq uate compen-
Hation for trans portatton; the hrst rate was