The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-11-09
CATTLE KINGS OF THE SLOPE.
The Snobs and SnObocracy of the Pacific Coast
The Men Who Own Cows.

The Snobs and SnObocracy of the Pacific Coast
The Men Who Own Cows.
San Francisco Letter to Post Dispatch.
This is the land of luck, and fortunes favors,
like the rain, fall pretty much alike on the just
and the unjust. OF all the kings have seen up
to date, whether mining cattle or railroad king,
the last-named go to- the front in the matter OF
assumption and ridiculous selfimportance. 1t
is small wonder that Californians detest the
railroads; the real wonder is that the antagonism
between the people and corporations has not
gone to sang uinary extremitles. Fortune has
favored some shockingly unjust men,
and they abuse their power and position very
much as one might suppose Warren Hastings
did his ascendency in India.
The magnates here are veritable nabobs, and
their attendants even assume a languld super
ciliousness to the last degree presumptious and
insane millionaire whose interest lies largely
with the roads, assured mo that those corpora
tons had entirely overdone the eXtortion bust
ness, although he believed their enemies had, in
some instances, unnecessarily abused them. At
the den of railroad king all the underlings,
and they are legion come and go at the call OF an
electric bell, and the autocrats are as difficult of
approach as the Car of Russia, but when one
meets them there seems to be little in the intel
lectua or general ability to warrant their exclu-
siveness. Their homes are palaces their grounds
are Shaws Gardens, and their attendants and
eouipages are gorgeous and innumerable. The
cattle kings of the coast Miller and Lux, are rated
at 49, 000 900 to $40, 1000, 000 and were poor men
twenty years ago. Mr. Lux told me that they
had about 90, 900 head of cattle and 115, 900 head
of sheep of which latter they kill 5000 per
month. They own an irrigating canal worth
81 900 900, fences 300 miles in lenth-a fortune
in itself; in California, 10000 acres of land; in
Nebraska. 10 900 acres, $1,000 acres of alfalfa
grass. They lately bought s, 900 cattle in Ne
braska, with large land anda water privileges
Speaking of ranches and herding, he said:
"Our free grass is a matter of the past. The
Legislature is against u.s. We are compelled to
-. o,f or, Flo do
damage at all we must pay heavily, as the people
are prejudiced against any one they may be
pleased to call a monopolist And yet by
their severe measures they are constantly en-
HANGING the price of meat. We are compelled to
buy land and fence it, which involves a vast out
lay of money, and of course we cannot give that
money away They must build fences, anyway
and if the smaller holders would fence securely
against stock, we could Craze at less expense,
and they could have cheaper meat, but you
can't make near-sighted man see long dis
tance-he must pay for his spectacles. Califor-
mia as a grazing State is a thing of the past.
And then, you see, we are heavily taxed. We are
rated arbitrarily at fixed sum per head and
there is no lodging or securing revaluaton at
a lower figure We are interested largely in
Oregon, Nebraska and Montana and in every
thing that pertains to the cattle interests of
those localities, and will either be present in St
Louis personally or by representative. The
convention is a necessity to the business, and no
cattleman should fail to lend his countenance or
COUNSEL we must stand together or all will suf
fer. And the people, the consumers, will suffer.
have no doubt that if the citizens of the United
States could understand the matter, they would
see that their interests and ours are identical
One thing has hindered the growth of the
cattle interest which as hurtful influence
will, to great extent, disappear after the con-
vention in st. Louis, and that is the timidity of
capital with respect to cattle growing. Former
ly banks and bankers only loaned to a
cattleman at rates of interest which
no other business could pay, and the
consequence has been that ranchmen have
had to thrive under grievous loads Now that
the matter has become better understood the
cowman gets more reasonable rates. but even
vet the feebler men are unfairly dealt with, and
they must all look to the convention and its re-
suit for relief from many determinations against
them