Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-05-04
CONGRESSIONAL. /,
Tho BIiI for the Establishment Of q
Bureau Of Animal Industry
Engages tho Senate.
The Combination ofsBsef ana Pork Packers
on the Ncrtbern nasrkets severely
Handled by the q. natoIs.
Fiftissh Congress.
ID. THE SENATE.


md will be taken up to-morrow at the
close of tie morning business.
The Senate then resumed consideration
Of the bill for the establishment OF bu
reau of animal Industry and to facilitate
the expectation Of live stock and theil
products.
Mr.. Palmer addressed the Senate 10
support of the Dill and had read various
communications "to show the animus Of
he opposition to the blll," which was, he
said, "macbine work right through" The
general Idea conveyed was thai the oppo.
.ition came from tie ex sting bureau OF
animal industry. In conclusion he ex-
pres sed hope thst the bill would pass.
Mr.. Vest said that II one-hali Of what
wss said in the cor iespondence he had
just heard was true, the Commissioner OF
Agriculture should be hurled out Of eff
cial life, disgrsced and dishonored. ii
the Commissioner had used his official
position to defeat or advance legislation
ne was unworthy to bea messenger in
much less than the head Of thst great de-
pxrtment, but he (Ves } could not believe
these statements. He had been inter-
ested in the search for truth all through
the labyrinth Of speech and literature on
this subject. He could not support the
bill. He proceeded to speak of what
he called "tne cattle syndicate"
and said that the people we're
helpless and within its power, that 1t was
the most terrible TYRANNY ever exercised.
rnere were five men or i've firms in the
CITY of Chicago which regulated the price
of cattle every cay. They met every
night and decided the prices for n. X.
day. The Missouri farmer who found
from the market quotations that cattle
we're or 81 cents pound. shipped his
cattle to Chicago, but when they got
there he found that the syndicate had put
beef down to 2 or p cents. He could
not store his cattle, a, they would be d.
minished every day IN weight and quality,
and so he WAS c0eiced to sell.
He went to an agent of. the Armours and
was told that the price was % cent?, SO
he went to another agent aud got the
same answer. He was met al over the
city with the unvSrytng response Of "a
cents per pound, and he HAD to take II.
So that these men owned the, cattle rails
er'sproperty, and confscated 1t as II they
possessed the right to take 1t from his
farm without paying one cent. Talk.
said Mr.. Vest, shout trusts, talk
about pools, the csttle pool Of
Chicago is the most Infamous tyranny
that ever existed in the Unlted States
T 3ey have got collar on the cattle pro-
know no remedy for It. The
remedy would deserve monument
more enduring than this capitol. He
would perform the highest benefit to the
people and tc the Cattle raisers Of the
country. aa
Mr. Plumb slso had something 10 say on
the SAME subject In his opinion the worst
omoinstion in the country WAS the com
otrbeef and pork packers having
its headquarters in Caicsgo There was
no other combustion, the Standard Oil
trust, the sugar trust, the copper trust, or
any other trust that had had 30 powerful
and 80 bsneful an Influence as that
combination. For years the price
Of cattle to producers had been
going down. They h,d gone down
be thought, so per cent. In the ssme
time the prices OF meat to the consumer
had gone up and evsry single dollar of
difference had gone into the pockets OF
That Combination. So perfect WAS their
control that they knew absolutely not
only how many csttle were to arrive each
day in Chicago, but over what road they
we're to come, where they had been
shipped from, their character and the
men who shipped them. When the cattle
reached Chcago the syndicate's repre-
sentatives were sent to see them and to
put price on them, and that was the
price at which they had tol
BE- sold, unless it WAS lower.
No cattle commission man dared to set up
Tor himself in Chicsgo. His occupation
wonld be Immediately gone under the
operation Of this tt1st. Under the opera
lion of this trust the price of cattle had
declined unnecessarily. 1t was safe to
say that on every steer OF three years old
and upwards, raised west OF the Missis-
sippi river during the past five years, the
market value had been by this comblna-
lion reduced to not less than $40 head.
The damsge to the state OF Kansas
alone during that period had been
more than $40, 000, 900 AND tn wealth OF
the syndicnIes had grown proportion
stely. They had committee now, hav-
ing in their pockets the money Of this
'stock ring" to get Congress to give
them control Of the question OF Cattle
quarantine. With that control Chicago
would be made "opsnwater" and st.
Louis could be guaranteed against.
there WAS the same influence
in ST. Louis and in Kansas City.
This "com Dine" had made railway ofic-
Ials partners in their STOCK yards and
partners in their feeding stations and
had gwen them shares out OF all the
profits divided by them from the time the
cattle were shipped until the cattle
re ached the absttoir in New York
Dr. elsewhere. Step by step they
1sd come 20 a dnal CONDITION where they
actually fixed the prices Of cattle just as
.nough they were the men who raised
hem and were the only persons in the
world who did raise them. When he
considered that they proposed to hsve
Congress riget the anal chsin on
he cattle industry in their
,ehalf, he WAS lost between admiration
md indignation at the audacitY. He be-
ieved that the Commissioner of Agricul-
ure would do az well with the powers |
given in the bill SIS anybody else. He had |
,rest confidence In him. He
would trusts him a thou
sand fold before he would = tfust |
my one in the combine. he belilyed In |
irving to the Commissioner OF Agrieul. |