Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-05-25
Range Delivery.


Range Delivery.
The Journal has on former occasions
the subject Of selling cattle at
range delivery and renews its advice to
all concerned to exercise the most scru-
pulous honesty in making such trans
fers. When straightforward bargain
is made between honest men this is the
practicable, proper and profitable man.
ner Of making transfers of large stocks
and ranches. 1t is profitable alike to
seller and buyer, and when it is unan-
imous and well understood custom for
sellers to dispose of only what they pos
sess, range delivery will be the only sys-
tenn of making transfers. When large
herds are sold and have to be gathered,
counted, and branded, it puts the seller
to great expense as it requires a vast
amount of work and time to gather a
herd of cattle scattered over several
counties, for it must be remembered
that while it is comparatively easy
business for man to find and brand
his calves when working on the range
with his neighbors-each helping the
other-that it is an entirely different
thing for ranchman to take his own
hands and gather and brandon help to
brand his entire herd. Hence sellers
can easily afford to take from one to
three dollars per head less-according
to circumstances-when selling at range
delivery than when put to the trouble
and expense of gathering and counting
their cattle.
The buyer, too, is benefited by this
system of delivery as it is unnecessary
to tell anyone who knows anything
about handling cattle, that gathering,
branding and jamming them together
for days at time, having them in dry
pens or under close herd, off their rang
es, does not improve the cattle at all.
The simple result of this is that all the
horses on the ranch are run down and
not unfrequently die, andthat cows with
calves are crowded and jammed about
until the calves are born dead. These
are some of the unavoidable evils re-
sulting from gathering and counting
herds and it will require no further ar
gument to convince buyers that they
can afford to pay few dollars more on
the head for cattle running at liberty on
a good range. than for cattle run down
and jammed around until all are gaunt-
ed up, reduced in flesh and until cows
are made to lose the calves which they
would soon bring forth, provided al
ways that the buyer knows he is getting
the number of cattle that he pays for.
When cattle are selling at $25 per head
it cannot be denied that there is great
temptation on the part of the seller to
exagerate the number of cattle he is
selling. Great as is this temptation
however, sellers should remember that
man is morally and legally RESPONSE
BILE when he sells something he does
not own.
Al ~ who would disdain to draw q
check Oh bank where he has neither
money nor an established credit; man
who would disdain to misrepresent his
financial standing in order to commit
the crime of obtaining money under
false pretences; man who would dis
dain to steal or rob, should also scorn to
sell that which he does not possess. In
doing so he not only is guilty of fraud
and Of injuring a man who has trust
ed in his honor, but he has exposed
himself to the penalties of an offended
law. Not only this, but he has commit
ted crime against his fellow stOckmen
by injuring the great industry of stock
raising. So long as cattle are raised,
and while men have money there will
be stock sales and transfers, and it
needs no argument to convince every
body that where the business is con-
Quoted honestly, range delivery is the
proper and profitable way of making
transfers. But once destroy confidence
in this system of delivery, then every
herd when sold must be counted and in
the aggregate vast injury and loss is
entailed on cattlemen-both buyers and
sellers, and the stock interest at large
suffers. The Journal however is pleas
ed to be able to state that complaints of
Misrepresentation in the manner al
luded to are few and far between and
that confidence which has never be-
fore existed, now prevails among buy
ers. 1t is to encourage this honest
dealing on one hand and to retain con-
fidence on the other as well as q desire
to benefit the range, ranchmen and
dealers at large, and to see square
deal" between every one, that this ar
ticle is written.-Texas Live Stock
JourIa'.